Running The Race, All 13.1 Of It!

Before The Race

On Sunday the hubby and I finally ran the half-marathon we had been training for since July. This particular marathon was benefiting the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, and had the theme of
superheroes. So, of course Jake was Batman, I went as Wonder Woman and my younger sister went as Batman, too :-)

The day started out a little cold and wet, and because of that we decided not to go down to the event early. By the time we got there, took the shuttle to the site of the event, registered and warmed up it was go time! This is one thing I would change if the weather had of been better, as they had lots of things to see and do that we missed out on.

Right away it was evident that they put a lot of work into organizing and pulling off this event. The registration process was super smooth. They had everything you might need there and everything was clearly marked.

The Start Of The Race

At The Finish Line

The actual course was pretty tough for several reasons. First of all running 13.1 miles for your first race ever probably isn't the best idea. I would recommend that you do a 5k just to see what it's like and to really be able to enjoy the event. This particular course was also quite demanding with many hills, at least 5 long ones that I can remember, and one of those hills being at the very end of the course. Along the way they had water and sports drinks every 2 miles, which was super helpful. They also had several musicians and lots of crowds of people to cheer you on.

Jake and I started out really strong, probably averaging a 9 minute mile for the first 7 miles, which for us is pretty good. Also, between mile 4 and 9 my knee was pretty much killing me, so maintaining a good speed was hard! At mile 8 we split up, as Jake needed to slow down some and I wanted to try to keep up my pace. I was able to until the last couple miles. By mile 12 I was in dire need of something to eat, and was feeling lightheaded. I made the decision to walk up the last hill, as I figured if I fainted I would never cross the finish line. That walk probably added at least 5 minutes to my time :-/ But I did get to run across the finish line, and then eat tons of food! So it's all good :-)

Overall the event was pretty awesome! In hindsight I would do a few things different, and while I initially said, "Never again!" The further I get from the pain the more I think I would like to do more runs in the future :-)

If I do decide to run another race it will definitely be one with a theme! It was so much fun to see all the superheroes, some recognizable and others were created by the runners. Also, as we ran along the course the crowds that were cheering would call out the superheros. So, if you've always wanted to be called Batman, Superman or some other heroes name, just run dressed up as them :-)