"Fast Half" Marathon, Hamilton MA

Ethan and I ran the Fast Half Marathon in Hamilton this morning. This is a new event in the YukanRun series. The course is advertised as flat and fast, although it is not quite flat. There are a few not insignificant hills but it's not a bad course. I run part of it as part of my regular Wenham training loop.

I wasn't expecting great things today. I've been building up my training in preparation for the Mad Marathon in Vermont in July, but I still weigh in the neighborhood of 200 lbs, more than 20 lbs heavier than I ran the Goofy in January. I better not be this size when I run the marathon in July!

My plan was to take the race out comfortably and see what happened. I ran in the neighborhood of 8:30 miles in the first 5k and sped up a bit as the race went along, ending with a 1:47:57 at an 8:14 pace. I ran hard but didn't put it all out there, as avoiding injury is a lot more important to me at this point than shaving a few seconds off of a half marathon time.

This was Ethan's first half marathon. We ran together for about the first 4 miles, then I pulled ahead a bit after that. He finished in 1:49:40, which will give him a good corral at the Disney Marathon next January. He also came away with some big blisters on his feet, a typical rite of initiation for first time half marathon and full marathon runners.

Here are Ethan and I prior to the start:

And Ethan just after the start. I'm just in front of him and you can barely see the top of my head.

Here we are rolling in to the finish:

 

 

Tapleyville 7 Mile Race

This is the second year for this race, and the second time I've run it. The start in downtown Danvers is just a half mile away from our home, so how could I not run it?

Last year I ran it in 56:01 and I improved this year to 53:24, which works out to a 7:38 mile pace. Ethan ran it as well, finishing in 53:09. He had trouble finding the start and didn't actually start until more than a minute after the gun had gone off. (This doesn't matter for your time as your race bib contains a chip that records when you cross the start and finish lines).

Next up is a half marathon in Hamilton, MA on May 15.

I'm also running the weekly 5k - the D5K - here in Danvers on Wednesday evenings. I've been lowering my times each week and I'm down to 22:10 for the 5k. Hoping to break 22 minutes in the next few weeks. These results are posted coolrunning.