Big D Texas Half Marathon
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I had kind of put races on the back-burner since classes, work, study, and home-life have kept me very busy this spring, but it was finally time to get out and get a couple more races (and, hopefully, awards) under my belt before I move into a new age group. Over the past few years, I have gotten comfortable being in a fairly non-competitive age group (women 25-29). However, turning thirty next year means I move into one of the most competitive age groups for women - ages 30-34. I’m hoping to learn a lot about getting stronger and faster from this new group…but it will be humbling.
So, the Big D Texas Half came up as a race to compete in because a fellow-student, Adeil Sanchez, from my Chemistry I class was running in it, too. It was his first, large organized road race, and I thought it’d be great to see him on the course and at the finish line.
David drove me to the Fair Park grounds, and I’m very glad he was there. Because of a very sad, unfortunate car accident that killed one woman and injured another man on I-30 only two hours before the race start, the highway was shut down. David did a great job, though, navigating through trucks and other cars to get me to the start on time.
The race start was delayed 15 minutes because of the highway conditions, but David and I visited, walked around, and stretched until the event started. And at 7:45 a.m, we were off!
I felt really good the entire race, slowing down to take Gatorade every now and then and to stretch a little. I conserved enough energy for the end, and I really tried to keep a consistent pace throughout. Early on, though, somewhere around mile 3, Adeil, the “rookie,” flew past me on a down-hill, looking very focused and strong. After another 6 or 7 miles, he was pretty much out of eye-shot!
The 13 miles really sailed by, and I’m always surprised at the end of a half marathon how quickly they really seem to go. At the finish line, I heard David cheering for me and saw him snapping photos. I also heard the announcer call my name. For probably the first time ever, I actually looked over at the clock to see what my finishing time was. I remember it reading something close to 1:43:05. Unofficially, though, I was listed as second in my age group out of 148, and I received a medal at the awards ceremony.
Adeil finished 10th in his age group (males 20-24), with a time around 1:40:38. David and I look forward to seeing him at more events.
I really enjoyed this race for a number of reasons. 1) It’s just the right size to not feel overwhelmed by people before, during, and after the race. 2) The awards for best aid station really seemed to get the volunteers motivated and energized when we came through. 3) The Fair grounds are a great venue because of plenty of parking, lots of space to walk around, and plenty fried snickers bars and hot dogs. 4) The announcer/director, whose name we still don’t know, is a genuinely nice man and very encouraging to the runners at all his events we’ve attended.
You can see photos here.
