Cheap half-marathon

Cheap Half-Marathon – I originally signed up for the Cheap Marathon ($35) with the hope of breaking three hours.  Unfortunately, the oblique/hip/glute injury in February ended any plan of a spring marathon.  I was recovering pretty well and had a couple of shorter speed workouts in the two weeks before the race so I moved down to the half marathon.  I still wasn’t ready to race but figured I’d seed myself at marathon pace (6:52’s) and do the half as a hard workout.  With very few runs over 6 miles it’d be interesting to see if I had the stamina to keep an even pace through 13.1 miles.
 
Race morning was cloudy and cool (40s) and seemed just about perfect for racing.  I was a bit surprised when I got to Derry which is only 15 miles north and it was sunny and a bit warmer.  I headed out on the Derry rail trail heading north from downtown.  The section along Hood pond is under construction and pavement has been completed up to North High Street.  That leaves less than ¾ of a mile of rough dirt trail to be completed to connect with the Londonderry section of the trail.  Great progress.
 
After warming up I headed over to the start.  It was great seeing so many GLRR friends (and others) and I even had a few moments to catch up as I was seeded 64^th in the 500 runner field.  They were starting two runners every 10 seconds, so I’d have a chance to run with someone.  The marathon runners had started earlier so there was even a chance to run with them.  The guy who started with me shot out and it felt a bit fast but I wasn’t sure, so I stayed close until my watch beeped at ½ mile.  Too fast!  I let him go and for the next 2 miles I tried to find the right comfortable pace.  I had the race broken down into four parts.  Part 1 to the Windham Depot (mostly up hill for 2.9 miles) then part 2 to the turn after Roulston road (mostly down hill for 2.4 miles) then reversing those sections.  I hoped to pick it up a bit after the turn if I felt good.  After the Depot I started reeling in some fast starters and even ran with a guy from 3 to 5 miles.  A bit after 5 the little 10 year-old kid from GLRR and his dad went hammering by!  I decided to pick it up a bit and go with him.  I ran my fastest mile of the day (6:27) and the kid was still pulling away, so I settled back down into my pace which was in the low to mid 6:40s.  It was fun seeing the leaders coming back and also seeing the lead marathon runners.  The kid and his dad were the only half-marathon runners to pass me.  I did get passed by 4 or 5 marathoners who were finishing their second loop.  I felt pretty good, my oblique wasn’t sore but my glute was yelling at me (which is pretty much typical right now).  I kept steady through 8 or 9 and after passing back through the Windham Depot I started to feel tired.  I’m just not used to running for more than 45 minutes or so at a time.  I didn’t fall apart but my last five felt like more work with miles of 6:43, 6:42, 6:37, 6:41, and 6:53.  The last mile had a tough little hill as you got off the rail trail for a short loop in Derry.  I think in any other race it would be a minor bump but after 12+ miles of rail trail it seemed huge!
 
I ended up running 6:42 pace (1:27:53) so 10 seconds a mile faster than planned.  In a bit of a surprise I won the 55-59 age group and took second in the 50+.  Jim Rhoades ran an excellent 1:23:30 to finish as top senior. The GLRR kid set a new American Record for 10 year old with a 1:23:20. Fantastic run, but I would never say it is a good idea to let a kid that young run that far.  I hope he is still running a decade from now!.

Place     Div       Div Pl    Name                City, St              Bib #    2.9m     6.3m     9.7m             Finish Time
32         M50-54   1        Jim Rhoades      Lowell   MA        749       19:06    40:49    1:02:54             1:23:30.1
42         M55-59   1        Dave Dunham    Bradford, MA     764       19:18    42:14    1:05:14             1:27:53.1
52         M50-54   2        Ted Coyle          Scituate MA        767       19:35    42:35    1:06:26             1:29:49.9
56         M50-54   3        Eric Beauchesne Chelmsfd, MA    750       19:20    43:01    1:07:40             1:30:41.4
62         M50-54   4        Tyler Perrin       Litchfield, NH    787       19:55    43:25    1:07:46             1:31:19.7
67         M55-59   2        Boris Dzikovski  Chelmsfd, MA    795       20:07    43:52    1:08:33             1:32:52.2
86         M50-54   5        Joe Loureiro      Andover, MA     205       20:39    45:33    1:12:02             1:38:40.4
110       M55-59   3        David Audet       Concord, NH     775       22:53    50:05    1:17:39             1:43:56.4
115       M50-54   6        Didier Weizman Dedham, MA     819       22:02    48:22    1:16:09             1:44:18.9
116       M55-59   4        Bill Newsham     Brookline, NH    875       23:53    51:27    1:19:26             1:44:45.2