Race Report: Spirit of St. Louis Half-Marathon
April 9, 2006, St. Louis, Missouri
As I made my way downtown in what looked like perfect running conditions (temps in the 40s), I had two things on my mind - what to wear and how would my legs feel after grinding out 40+ miles on my bike the day before in some SERIOUS winds.
The crowd was thick. In a few years time the marathon/half-marathon weekend has grown remarkably. For the first time at a major running event, I was assigned to the elite section at the start. As we milled around nervously, I saw all the familiar faces along with some I hadn't seen in a while.
Soon we were pushing forward across the timing mat and running toward the Arch before heading to the brewery. Despite the bigger crowd, I spotted a few spectating friends in the early miles. Always good.
At the first mile marker, the pace was fast. I didn't see a mile marker again (my only complaint) until mile 5 as we headed north on Broadway. My watch said I was holding my mile 1 pace. Really? Was it because of the cheers for the lead woman just ahead of me from the runners heading south and spilling onto the median to find room to run?
After running back through downtown, the next few westward miles were quiet and rolling. Near the turnaround around mile 9, the STL tri club had a good presence and as I made the turn I couldn't believe the masses coming toward me.
Suddenly there was an image of a schoolroom chalkboard in my head. In big white letters I envisioned PEOPLE=ENERGY.
As some friends (some of whom were on their way to running the full marathon) spotted me and gave me a shout, I got a sense that I was having a good race. Could the perfect conditions and energy from the 8,000 runners push me to a new personal best that I had set just a few weeks earlier?
PEOPLE=ENERGY....Hey, there's Activeness' John and FOA Diesel! Later I would meet John for the last 6 miles of his 40-mile run for his 40th birthday. (Incredible job, dude!)
I was approaching the end now. What a difference from last year, where I had a tough day running the full marathon on such a hot day. When I made the final turn and realized I was on the verge of crushing my 1/2 marathon PR by over a minute, I got chills and couldn't help but pump my fist as I crossed the line, 37th place overall out of 6,300 and 2nd in my age group out of 378.
This was probably my best-ever running race result. Based on the emails I got after the results were published, it seems my friends agreed. PEOPLE=ENERGY. Thank You!
As I made my way downtown in what looked like perfect running conditions (temps in the 40s), I had two things on my mind - what to wear and how would my legs feel after grinding out 40+ miles on my bike the day before in some SERIOUS winds.
The crowd was thick. In a few years time the marathon/half-marathon weekend has grown remarkably. For the first time at a major running event, I was assigned to the elite section at the start. As we milled around nervously, I saw all the familiar faces along with some I hadn't seen in a while.
Soon we were pushing forward across the timing mat and running toward the Arch before heading to the brewery. Despite the bigger crowd, I spotted a few spectating friends in the early miles. Always good.
At the first mile marker, the pace was fast. I didn't see a mile marker again (my only complaint) until mile 5 as we headed north on Broadway. My watch said I was holding my mile 1 pace. Really? Was it because of the cheers for the lead woman just ahead of me from the runners heading south and spilling onto the median to find room to run?
After running back through downtown, the next few westward miles were quiet and rolling. Near the turnaround around mile 9, the STL tri club had a good presence and as I made the turn I couldn't believe the masses coming toward me.
Suddenly there was an image of a schoolroom chalkboard in my head. In big white letters I envisioned PEOPLE=ENERGY.
As some friends (some of whom were on their way to running the full marathon) spotted me and gave me a shout, I got a sense that I was having a good race. Could the perfect conditions and energy from the 8,000 runners push me to a new personal best that I had set just a few weeks earlier?
PEOPLE=ENERGY....Hey, there's Activeness' John and FOA Diesel! Later I would meet John for the last 6 miles of his 40-mile run for his 40th birthday. (Incredible job, dude!)
I was approaching the end now. What a difference from last year, where I had a tough day running the full marathon on such a hot day. When I made the final turn and realized I was on the verge of crushing my 1/2 marathon PR by over a minute, I got chills and couldn't help but pump my fist as I crossed the line, 37th place overall out of 6,300 and 2nd in my age group out of 378.
This was probably my best-ever running race result. Based on the emails I got after the results were published, it seems my friends agreed. PEOPLE=ENERGY. Thank You!
posted by JPD at Friday, April 28, 2006
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