OBX Half-Marathon 2008
It wasn't the same being back at the OBX without any of the original wakeobxers except Ron. But we returned for the Year 3 event with our daughter-in-law's family. They had selected the OBX half/full marathon for their yearly family race event. We rented a big house that ended up being right on the race course, which made it handy for the folks that didn't race (including Meredith who cheered hundreds of racers as they passed by). Four of us did the half this time around: Ron, Nancy, Sue (Nancy's mom) and me. Nancy's cousin Karen was the lone marathoner this year.
The course had been tweaked a bit since the inaugural event we attended. They moved the finish line to the waterfront in Manteo (at the Maritime Museum). The made the finish so much nicer: right on the water, a big street party and tons of activity. The starting points were a bit different, but for the most part the route was the same. The biggest difference (beside the fact they did much better with the number of port-o-lets at the starting line) was that the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Once the sun came up, it was a cloudless beautifully sunny day with enough breeze to keep the racers cool. The number of racers had also grown, with 3000 starting the half and around 1200 the full. They started us in waves, which helped with preventing too much jamming up in the first few miles.
I had a much better race than I anticipated, particularly a week after the half ironman. I did the 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours, 15 minutes, at a pace of 10:18. That got me 12th out of 68 in my age group, which was the fastest pace I've managed in over a year!
If you wonder who that pirate guy is in the picture, it's not Ron! They had this whole pirate theme going (giving prizes for costumes, no I did not participate.....). But I did get my post race picture with a wandering pirate as we waited for everyone to come in.
Hey, OBXer's, we should put this race back on the table for next year, it's really a very nice event when the weather is perfect!
The course had been tweaked a bit since the inaugural event we attended. They moved the finish line to the waterfront in Manteo (at the Maritime Museum). The made the finish so much nicer: right on the water, a big street party and tons of activity. The starting points were a bit different, but for the most part the route was the same. The biggest difference (beside the fact they did much better with the number of port-o-lets at the starting line) was that the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Once the sun came up, it was a cloudless beautifully sunny day with enough breeze to keep the racers cool. The number of racers had also grown, with 3000 starting the half and around 1200 the full. They started us in waves, which helped with preventing too much jamming up in the first few miles.
I had a much better race than I anticipated, particularly a week after the half ironman. I did the 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours, 15 minutes, at a pace of 10:18. That got me 12th out of 68 in my age group, which was the fastest pace I've managed in over a year!
If you wonder who that pirate guy is in the picture, it's not Ron! They had this whole pirate theme going (giving prizes for costumes, no I did not participate.....). But I did get my post race picture with a wandering pirate as we waited for everyone to come in.
Hey, OBXer's, we should put this race back on the table for next year, it's really a very nice event when the weather is perfect!
posted by Susan at 3:58 PM
1 Comments:
Way to go Susan and Ron! Makes me want to go back next year but only if the weather is perfect!
Love the pirate.
Lynn
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