Slacker Half Marathon - 1:36:19

Ran the Slacker Half Marathon today 1:36:19. Nowhere near my sub 1:30 goal for Slacker this year.

What I thought were allergies on Friday turned out to be a cold, it got worse as the day went on with a sore throat and a lot of congestion. Woke up Saturday for the race and I was sick. If not for Zach I would have just bagged the race and gone back to bed. So I decided to run with Zach at his pace and see how long I could go. We were thinking 8 min miles but ended up closer to 7:20, he's in good shape and did not fade like I thought he might. He kicked it at 12.5 and I couldn't keep up so he beat me by about 30 seconds. I was fatigued.

But it was a fun experience with Zach, great weather and he loved the course and the post race activities. I'm disappointed I missed my chance for sub 1:30 half, and probably no chance of it again this year, but happy to have another race with Zach and the fun day running and hanging out together.

Garmin Watch Data for Race

Slacker 1/2 Marathon Results

Pre-Race
As I said above, I woke up sick, forced myself out and got Zach up for the race. We left the house about 5:45 - Race started at 8 with a bus ride to the start from Georgetown. For future reference, should have left earlier because it took a while to park at Georgetown and the bus lines were long about a 15 Minute wait. We saw Belvin and his wife, one of Zach's coaches in the bus line. Then saw Survil and his friend as we waited for the buses. We had about a 15 minute wait. The race organizer got on our bus before it left and said the porta-pottis were delivered to the wrong location and it was a "50 yard" walk from the start, closer to 500 yards. Took 10 minutes to walk to the bathroom from the start area. Other than that, well organized with a bag drop. Blue Skies and temps around 60, so we dropped everything in our bag drop and run in singlets. Good thing cause it got hot later.
We got in line for the race about 50 rows back. The sun was hot on us waiting for the start, they had a 15 mintue delay to get everyone there with the buses.

Start - Mile 5
Slow Start and rough with the parking lot and road there at Loveland, narrow in spots. We had to pick our way around a bit to get up to an 8 minute mile. Ran that first little hill easy, Zach too despite the altitude for him, we harldy noticed a bit. When we got to the top I told him it rolls from here. I was having trouble breathing a bit when we picked up the pace as we started downhill. The road was smooth and easy to navigate around runners. We got into a good pace.
Ran the first Mile in 8:10 with the slow start and the hill, then around 7:30 for the rest of the dirt section of the first 5 miles. Zach really liked this section. Pine Trees, Mountain Smell, Sunshine and shade, streams. We passed Blevin and his wife about mile 3. They started ahead of us and were going just a bit slower. They are training for St. George and running her pace, Blevin was just getting over a cold, I told him I just caught one.

We got to the flat part of the trail and the sun was out and it was getting hot. I told Zach the hill was coming up on the road and it would be hot.

Silver Plume Miles 5-10
We started up the frontage road on the only major hill, about a 1/2 mile easy climb but at 9,800 feet. It's a grind hill, the sun was beating on us. But we ran it pretty well, we passed quite a few runners and there were some walkers. When we got to the top, it was a nice relief to be running down again. We got into a good pace, closer to 7 minute miles. I was feeling some fatigue from my cold and not breathing right, but Zach was running strong and showed no signs of fading and I wanted to stay with him. We had a Gu at mile 6 and a good hydration there, that gave us a boost. I was telling Zach about running the apex of the curves and how Georgetown to Idaho Springs was a lot of this. It was hot, but there was an occasional cloud that cooled things off quick. A beautiful morning for a run in the Rockies, Zach and I were eating it up.
You cross under I-70 and there you are headed toward Silver Plume. This section if flat, sunny and seems to last forever. A relay exchange at mile 9 just as you get there. Finally you get to the bike path which is next to the railroad, a bit of uphill and then fast downhill. The bike path always gives me a home stretch boost.

Georgetown Miles 11-Finish
Great views on the Bike Path of Clear Creek crashing down the canyon and the railroad, some clouds to cool us off and fast downhill. We took another GU at the water stop just past mile 10 in the rest area parking lot. Hydrated well here and then picked it up for then next 2 miles down to Georgetown. Ran sub-7 Pace. My cold induced fatigue and short breathing were gone, we felt good on this section and passed a lot of runners that were fading. Ran through the switchbacks fast and then onto the road by the railroad station. Very nice. Then we got to the flat part of Georgetown with a mile to go. I told Zach we might be able to shave a few seconds off his PR of 1:36 but we'd have to push it. The flats hit me hard, fatigue came back and my legs were dead, reminded me of Boston the last 6 miles. At mile 12, Zach poured water on his head and started to pull away from me, I wanted to stay with him but didn't have it. He kicked hard the last half mile and really pulled away. He finished in 1:35:48 (a PR by 13 seconds) and I finished in 1:36:18. 6 Places behind him. We hugged at the finish and had a Popsicle.

Post Race
Slacker has one of the best and my favorite post race activities. Popcicles, hot dogs, soda's, Gatorade, goody bags, finishers medals, tech shirts with a cool logo, Beer Garden, raffles, puppies, all in the middle of downtown Georgetown a cool little mountain town. Zach really enjoyed it too, he didn't want to leave. Saw Susan C there, she ran the 4 mile and won a loaf of bread from the Silverplume bakery. I had a beer with Blevin and his wife and talked about the race and their training for St. George. Zach was eating it up, he did not want to leave. We dipped our feet in the cold mountain stream that runs through Georgetown, hung around for the raffle and post race awards. Zach got 5th in his age group, no award, but he did really well considering he did not really train for a half marathon and did no distance work.




We caught the shuttle back to the car and drove home and got home around 1:30. I hit the shower and the bed. I was sick as a dog but glad I had done the race. Disappointed in that I did not hit my sub 1:30 goal or did not even get a shot at it, but happy that I could push through and run what I did with Zach.
Thanks Zach for a great day running and a fun race.