Ogden Half Marathon. I figured the competition would be light because the race filled so fast. I also knew Walter was running it, so he had a chance at winning it (which he did).
Got up to the start and got ready. Hung out with Walter and some other friends for an hour or so before the race. At the start line, I was surprised to see a number of young kids (fast, but questionable endurance). I talked to MaryAnn for a bit. She was literally the only girl up at the front.
In typical fashion, I did not run with any kind of watch or gps device, so I don't have mile splits. I run gadget-free when I race. It seems to help me focus on how I'm feeling rather than perceived effort.
Walter took off with some guy with dark, long(ish) hair. I talked to the guy after the race and I think he said his name was Ben from Provo? Not sure, but I'll just call him that. Anyway, they took off and had about a 1 minute lead after a mile. After that, things calmed down and they didn't seem to be pushing the pace too much, 'cause I was staying with them (although still back 1 min). Over time, that lead would grow to almost 4 minutes. At this point, there were about 4 high school aged kids right in front of me, and I could tell they were pushing the pace (for them), and wouldn't be able to hold on more than about 3 miles. Sure enough, I passed all of them up on the hill at mile 2. That put me in 5th. About mile 3, there was a guy about 30 sec in front of me that started up with Walter, but he was starting to fade. This guy was built like a triathlete or something... kind of looked like Steve Cooper from the back. In front of him was Connor Matz, who I later learned is only 13. About mile 3.5, Conner stopped to tie his shoe (rookie mistake), so Coop and I passed him up. After the kid got his shoe back on, he sprinted in front of us to take his former position (rookie mistake #2). At this point, I caught up with Coop and heard him breathing pretty hard, so I wasn't worried. I passed him and then focussed on Connor. Connor had headphones in and I could tell he was pretty young by his physique and the way he was dressed. So I started gaining on him during the downhill (mile 6) and eventually passed him at mile 8. We exchanged a few words, and I told him that I had run the first Ogden Marathon 10 years ago. This either impressed him or gave him the thought that I was some old guy who would probably die before mile 10. What he didn't tell me was that he was 3 at the time of the first Ogden Marathon. Once I got out of the canyon, I knew it would be tough. Last year, I started fading at mile 10, and I didn't want that to happen again. Fortunately this year, I felt good until mile 12, but that's where I hit the long, straight stretch at the end. A lot of people complain about this stretch, but I like it. It helps me focus mentally instead of keeping me guessing on how many blind turns are left in the race.
At the awards ceremony, I was sitting next to Ben. We waited like 30 min to get through all the age categories. Then the guy up front started whispering to a race official, and they anounced that there was a problem with the final finishers. They said one of us registered for the marathon and raced the half instead, so we would be disqualified. Ben told me it was him, and said it was ok & he deserved not to win anything. I gave my condolences, then ran up and collected the watch, shoes, and plaque. In the official results, I'm in 2nd place, but I was really 3rd.
I'm pleased with my performance. I think I'm stronger than last year, and I ran the course about 90 seconds faster (1:17:50 compared to 1:19:20 last year). That 90 second differenced happened in the last 2 miles, so that's a good sign on my endurance. Hopefully, things will progress this season and I'll see my 2:45 goal at St George happen.
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