Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Arvada Harvest Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, September 12
Arvada, CO
Half Marathon #137
Colorado Half #70
Weather - sunny and warm


The Arvada Harvest half marathon was a free race for me. After we got rained out of our half marathon back in May, we were given a free entry for any race in the series. I had run this race before, although it was under a different name - a 9/11 remembrance run and a bit of a different course) .

Since the race didn't start until 8 I didn't have a super early wake up. I dropped A off at my parents house around 7, parked, and walked a few blocks to the start to get my bib. By the time I cycled through the bathroom line it was time to go.


The race was delayed about 10 minutes because of traffic issues (the first 3 miles of the course is actually on the main street of the harvest festival parade).

After not having run all week, I wasn't surprised that I immediately felt tired and run down. I took quite a few walk breaks very early on. This was going to be a long and hot day.

The first part of the course is on Ralston road, then moves onto the Ralston Creek trail:


And finally middle part of the course turned onto the Clear Creek trail, which I have run many times for training. It was really hot and my stomach was feeling off. I had to use the bathroom around mile 5 or 6, and actually had a runner break in while I was pulling my skirt up! Not comforting that locked doesn't really mean locked? I mean, wtf.

Being familiar with the course I knew that it was a gradual uphill on the way out and hoped I would feel better after using the bathroom and after the turnaround. I did feel a bit better, but it still felt harder than it should. The last quarter mile or so was uphill and I walked until I saw the finish banner.

Not the best day of my life.


Official Time - 2:27:31
Overall Place - 84/116
Gender Place - 52/78
Division Place - 24/33
Garmin Time - 2:27:32
Mile 1 - 11:31
Mile 2 - 11:13
Mile 3 - 10:41
Mile 4 - 11:10
Mile 5 - 11:07
Mile 6 - 13:50 (bathroom)
Mile 7 - 11:22
Mile 8 - 11:35
Mile 9 - 10:41
Mile 10 - 10:33
Mile 11 - 10:44
Mile 12 - 11:13
Mile 13 - 11:30
Mile 13.1 - 9:00

As I was walking back to the car I found the finish area. They had a keg of Colorado Native beer, so I grabbed a cup.
Ran into my super speedy teammate, Jay, in the parking lot. Right as we were finishing up chatting, my mom walked up with A. A and my mom had ended up walking in the parade with her school. Long day for all of us.

Thoughts:

  • A well-marked race. Just not my favorite as I've run this a lot of times and found it boring.
  • Very small, just over 100 runners. Other than the first 3 miles that are on road, this is all on bike path and there were no spectators.
  • Quite a few aid stations, all with electrolytes and water, and I believe some had gels (although I had brought my own).
  • Honestly don't remember what the shirt looked like since I didn't take one.
  • Can't speak for the price because I didn't pay for it, but this group has a lot of specials and I don't think it was that expensive. 
  • Decent medal.
  • GREAT finish area with an awesome local craft beer.
  • If you haven't ever run this part of town, this is a good one to try out. I likely would not run again as there are a ton of races in September that I haven't run yet.

2 comments:

  1. I love that you have so many races down there, wish we had more halfs up here. Great job even if you were running on tired legs! Love your outfit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are literally more races than I can even run.

      Delete

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