46.5th Churchill's Half Marathon

Yesterday Joe and I ran Churchill's Half Marathon, version 46.5. Churchill's boasts being the second oldest race in Ohio and is sponsored by my favorite grocer, Walt Churchill. I ran the Churchill's Half in March 2012 while training for the Glass City Marathon. For some reason I didn't run it this past spring, then when the directors switched it up to a fall race Joe and I were on board.

Rob was going to run with us but at the last minute he had to pull out due to a death in his family. We didn't do any real training for this race, but we did just run the Chicago Marathon less than a month prior so we weren't concerned. I mentioned in a previous post that it's awesome that I can now just sign up for a distance race without really preparing myself for it. On race morning we both agreed that it wouldn't be a PR morning; instead we were just going out to run our town and score a nice shirt and medal.

This is a good shirt.

The route was a point-to-point--my first run on such a course. At about 7:30AM we headed out the door to drive up to Fallen Timbers in Maumee. During the ride up there I realized that I had forgotten to apply Body Glide to my toes and deodorant to my pits. Joe offered to turn around and go back home so that I could do those things, but I opted to just go natural.

We parked at Fallen Timbers in Maumee, boarded a yellow Perrysburg school bus, road back down to Perrysburg High School, hung out in their fancy-schmancy cafeteria for about an hour to keep warm (my Garmin tells me that it was 41 degrees with wind at 15 miles per hour--more on that later), then walked outside and to the start shortly before 9:00AM.

Walt Churchill himself fired the shot to signal the start and we were off. Joe and I went out a lot fast than I think either of us had planned. He said that he felt fine, but I wanted to back off early. Admittedly, I am fairly certain that any time I say that I want to back off I end up going faster. Joe and I maintained a pace that was a little too fast to start for about three miles. I totally dug on the route because it took us through our town. It's almost like I felt a home field advantage in a weird way.

No roads were officially closed but cops were holding traffic at intersections. On a Sunday morning on the outskirts of Perrysburg there aren't a whole lot of people out and about, but one lady waiting at an intersection in her soccer mom van was absolutely not having it. With her window down as Joe and I passed her she shrieked that "You can't just close the road without telling anyone!" Those of us who heard her laughed, exchanged comments about motorists being angry about runners, and then seconds later she was flying past us. She thought that she could outsmart the race by turning around, only to be held up again at the next intersection. She was trapped and it was awesome.

Mile 1: 8:02

2: 7:59

3: 7:52

So much for backing off. We encountered our first hill which was a big surprise. Hills? In northwest Ohio? We were running close to the mighty Maumee River for much of the race so I guess that's why it wasn't so flat. Another runner assured me that it would be the only hill for a while--I hadn't said anything, but he probably knew what was going through all of our heads. That's when I unfortunately lost Joe. I'm not particularly "good" at running, but I can handle hills. I hate them so much that my brain tells my legs to get me to the top of them as quickly as possible and that the shorter I'm on the hill, the sooner I'll feel relief. After that hill I found myself passing a lot of my competition. I figured that I'd eventually conk out and that they'd all pass me again, but I was going to milk the energy for as long as I could.

Mile 4: 8:08

5: 8:02

6: 8:20

We spent more than two miles on the same country road. The wind gusts were crazy annoying all up in our faces for a lot of that stretch. Mile 6 would be my second slowest of the entire race. I ate my 6 Gatorade strawberry chews hoping that there would be water soon so that I would wash them down. I can't remember exactly where the water was, but I'm pretty sure it was right before mile 8, which is also where we crossed the Maumee into Waterville. The Maumee River is a damn pretty river and it looked all majestic and shit. As I reveled in its beauty, I caught up to some guy who seemed lonely, pulled out his headphones, and started talking to me about running the Toronto Marathon three weeks prior. Although I was feeling okay--not good and not bad, I wasn't feeling talking to him. I peeled off from him after a few minutes of him talking about himself. The rest the race was hilly as a mofo, not just for northwest Ohio, but hilly by any standards. Absolutely the hilliest route I've ever run, be it racing or training.

Mile 7: 8:08

8: 7:53

9: 7:54

Just before mile 10 I could see a huge incline approaching. Race marshals stood at an intersection announcing that water was just at the top of the hill. The field of runners had thinned out; I'm pretty sure that the hills, which seemed to never have a descent after the peak, kicked some butts. I could see one of my former students running up ahead of me. I made it my goal to catch up with him, say "hi," offer some encouragement, and then hopefully hang with the kid and all of his kid energy. I managed to catch up to him, exchange a few words, and then I was somehow pulling ahead of him. Score for the old lady!

That water "just at the top of the hill" seemed really far away from the point at which that was announced. I drank a sip of water and kept on moving. I didn't know it, but the most hellish of hills to run at the end of a distance race was still ahead of me. When I got there somewhere in mile 11 I definitely slowed down. Some crazy dude flew past those of us struggling to make it to the top, screaming "SUCK THAT AMERICAN AIR!" He freaked me out and I was happy that he passed me. I got to the top to find a short stretch of flat ground followed by another incline to a bridge. After all, how else should I have expected we'd cross a major state route?

Mile 10: 7:48

11: 7:49

12: 8:27

That wind that I mentioned earlier? It was awful at about mile 12.5. We made a u-turn to head toward Fallen Timbers and immediately my eyes welled with tears. I still don't know if it was just a physiological effect of the wind hitting my eyeballs so hard or if I was actually crying, but it sucked, thus the approximately 30-second loss between miles 11 and 12. An older couple stood at the end of the wind tunnel shouting that the beer was waiting for me, then "Oh, you're not old enough for beer." Thanks, old people who think that this 29-year old looks like a kid! I was excited to be out of the wind's direct wrath and picked up the pace. The finish area had an awesome, dense, and boisterous crowd that extended probably 100 meters if not longer. About 50 meters from the finish mat a lady screamed at me that some guy was "right on [my] heels" so I kicked it into even higher gear.

Mile 13: 8:00

13.2: 1:23

Official time: 1:45:40

That's a 32-second PR and good for 3rd place in my age group!

So much for going out with no expectations.

Some lady handed me a bottle of water and Walt Churchill shook my hand then awarded me with my super cool medal.

You did a good job. Here, have some socks!

I planted myself in the crowd of spectators and cheered Joe into the finish. He didn't PR, but he finished with a solid time of 1:50 and some seconds. No worries--he still bears the title for fastest half marathon in our house because he destroyed the Glass City Owens Corning Half Marathon earlier this year. We went to the party tent, had a beer from the Black Swamp Brewing Company (it was a tasty red thing), I got my sad age group award (socks, really?), and then we drove home to clean up and have a celebratory, indulgent lunch at Social. a gastropub (I still don't like that name).

Apparently the Churchill's Half Marathon will now only take place in the fall. I'm kinda bummed because I like the "and-a-half" tacked onto the race number, but I absolutely look forward to running it again next year.

Do you prefer racing in your own hood or traveling to races? Ever run a distance race without training? Does a good run trump an underwhelming award?