I woke up around 5:45am so I could get to my friend Dana's house at 6:30am to carpool. Kelly and Min arrived and then we were off to the Shore. I can't remember the exact time we got there. I'm sure it was before 8am as we didn't have trouble finding parking and the lines for the porta potty weren't horrible. We were hanging out near the porta potty's to meet up with some MRTT friends and after a while the line got really long. I'm so glad we got there early to use the facilities.
Here is a pre-race pic of us.
We made our way to the start line about 10 minutes before the race started. It's a smaller race with about 1600 runners running the half marathon. There were no corrals or waves, so it made for a crowded start. It would have been nice to have pacers but I guess it being a smaller race, it was not offered.
The national anthem was sung and then we were off running. I felt really good at the start, but there was some weaving and congestion in the beginning that I was not happy about due to slower runners. However it didn't take long to break free and keep at a good pace.
The course was nice. We ran the streets of Asbury and on the side streets of some neighborhoods.
We ran up this street and at some point turned around and ran back along the same street. What I liked about this part was seeing runners on the way back. I got to see my friends throughout the race and cheer them on. The below pic was taken from my friend Dana. She was our driver, photographer, and cheerleader. She even made a sign. I saw her twice on the course and was happy to see her each time. Thanks for everything Dana! :) This was probably around mile 6 where I was feeling ok but started to feel tired.
It was at around 7 miles when we finally got closer to the ocean and onto the boardwalk.
At this point I was feeling more tired. I'm not sure what was wrong but my legs just couldn't go faster. From here on out, my mile split times just got slower and slower. It's ok though because I was enjoying the beautiful scenery. It was so nice to see the ocean. It was pretty interesting running on all sorts of ground types - from concrete, pavement, boardwalk wooden planks, and even sand at one part. It made for a challenging run. The sand part was horrible, I'm just happy it was just about 10 yards, but still it was tough and we had to do it twice.
It was pretty cool to running so close to the ocean.
The last 4.5 miles were hard for me. I was hot and tired but I trudged on. When I saw the finish line, I tried my hardest to sprint to it and was just so happy to finish. I finished with 2:01:49.2. Not happy about the time, but I'll take it. I think I need to work more on hydrating before the race especially if it is going to be a warm day, as I finished with a bunch of salt on my arms and face.
Happy we finished and with our medals.
After the run we headed to the Convention Hall to pick up our shirts for the race.
Here is the shirt and medal.
Overall a great race. It's pretty flat and I don't recall any hills at all. Loved the scenery and seeing the beach was so nice. I think I just had a bad day, so I would love to do this race again. I definitely recommend this race to others.
