Hampton Half Marathon

The first race of the season is in the books, the Hampton Half Marathon that I ran last Sunday.  I have a knack, it seems for just barely missing running goals. I was hoping to run sub 1:50 and ran 1:50:03.

As I did in the Jingle Bell Half Marathon in December, I didn't look at my watch until the latter part of the race; only in the last mile as a matter of fact. It was clear I would be close to running sub-1:50 and stepped on the gas as best I could, but it wasn't enough. I'm satisfied with the race though, especially when I stepped on the scale later and saw I was close to 200 lbs. I'm actually amazed I could run that fast carrying that much weight.

It was a great day for a race, especially for early March. No ice or snow and the temperature at start was just above freezing, with moderate wind. I knew from the forecast it would warm up considerably so made sure to not overdress, as did many of the other runners (see the picture below). It turns out a long sleeve shirt over a short sleeve was perfect.

It's a great course, mostly flat with some incline in the middle miles, with a lot of miles run right along the coastline.