Westminster Trail Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, April 20 (Easter)
Westminster, CO
Half Marathon #104
Colorado Half #40
Weather - SUNNY, warm

Since there are never races on Easter, we had to run the Westminster Trail half marathon, even though we had just run Beat the Heat the day before. Last year, there were issues with permits, weather or something, and the race ended up being rescheduled to the day of the Rock n' Roll. Needless to say, they probably didn't REALIZE it was Easter Sunday when the race was scheduled, and I'll bet it falls on a different day next year.

I've run a few races put on by the Endurance Race Series, and for the most part, they are pretty good. In the past, my biggest complaint has been shirts that are not gender specific. Imagine my surprise this race, when they ARE. Of course, the ladies shirt was long sleeve instead of short sleeves, but beggars can't be choosers!

The course is on Big Dry Creek, a place I have run many times. My dad was walking the 10k (up until an hour before the race, he was undecided on if he wanted to the half marathon or not, and decided to stick with 10k). We arrived about 45 minutes early, which was plenty of time to use the bathrooms twice.

It was SUNNY AND WARM. There were 4 aid stations on the out and back course, so I imagined we would have at least 7 stops, depending on where the last station was place. (7, if you were wondering, the last one was at the turnaround).

I was NOT looking forward to this race. I was still tired from my "active" week, and the hilly course at Beat the Heat had only made my legs MORE tired. Loose goals were to beat my time from yesterday and to beat a girl I recognized from yesterday's race.

I felt ok the first mile. Big Dry Creek is "mostly flat" with a few "hills" when you're coming out from an underpass. I had a fleeting hope of running the whole course. That lasted about 18 minutes. I was tired, struggling, and rather than push myself a few miles in, I took walk breaks. LOTS OF THEM.

Only section that resembles "single track"

And, as usual, the mountains look pretty

I knew I was tired going into it. I knew my legs weren't really going to cooperate. I was actually surprised at HOW little they were going to cooperate. You know what they say, once you walk, you can't stop! I walked almost every mile, and for longer than I should have. It was hot, I was tired, it was a nice day for a jog/walk though :D

The course was pretty much the same was the Redline Westminster course, and I'm sure the turnaround was at the same point. Then, of course, I started thinking about how miserable I was during that race, and wondered if I would even be able to beat THAT time.

The clouds finally came out with about a half mile to go, and I somehow managed to run into the finish. DEAD. I came *thisclose* to just walking across the line. Good to know I haven't quite gotten to THAT point yet.

Bib # 2085
Official Time - 2:21:39
Official Pace - 10:49
Overall Place - 77/103
Gender Place - 38/58
Division Place - 7/15 (woo hoo! top half AGAIN!)
Mile 1 - 10:00
Mile 2 - 10:56
Mile 3 - 11:30
Mile 4 - 10:45
Mile 5 - 11:18
Mile 6 - 10:47
Mile 7 - 11:06
Mile 8 - 11:07
Mile 9 - 11:29
Mile 10 - 11:36
Mile 11 - 11:17
Mile 12 - 11:30
Mile 12.77 - 10:48

As you can see, my Garmin measured the course VERY short again. And again, my sister's Garmin and her mapmyrun measured just fine. So clearly, the course was not actually over a quarter mile short, it's just my watch really sucks, and it sure would be nice if my Bia watch would show up one day...... (/rant)

I didn't see any water at the finish, but L insists it was there. (Speaking of, she ran yet another sub 2. MACHINE). There wasn't much left in terms of food and drink, but I did grab a bag of pop chips since I was STARVING.

Thoughts:

• Three distances, with staggered starts. There are never a ton of people at these races, so congestion isn't usually an issue, but the staggered starts are nice.
• The races are priced competitively, usually around $60, and they don't jack up the price a ton right before. HOWEVER, they have been known to offer better prices and discounts the week of the event (better than early bird), if they don't have a lot of participants, which I find annoying.
• Plenty of aid stations, all were well stocked with water and electrolytes. There were no gels on the course, but at the back three aid stations they had bananas and cookies.
• Related: they offer a free race entry if you volunteer at one of their events! I was hoping to be able to do that, but the only one I'm not running is too far away, and on a Saturday, the same day of A's fun run at school. Next year.
• Nice medals (not sure if they were for all distances or just the half).
• FINALLY, gender specific shirts!!! This is huge for me, and I really appreciate it!
• Calling this race a "trail" is a big misleading. The first mile is paved, and then it is "un-paved" - more dirt and loose gravel. Certainly don't need trail shoes and is VERY non-technical.
• Overall, a good event, I would recommend and probably run again.
• Unrelated to the race itself? HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE WHEN SUMMER GETS HERE? I think it was 54 degrees when we finished, and I was salty and sweaty and it FELT like it was in the 70's or 80's. What.