Race Result

Racer:	Brad Payne
Race:	Patrick Henry Half Marathon
Date:	Saturday, August 29, 2009
Location:	Ashland, VA
Race Type:	Run - Half Marathon
Age Group:	Male 40 - 44
Time:	2:00:39
Overall Place:	529 / 1271
Age Group Place:	68 / 122
Comment:	Liberty, Humidity, Death

Race Report:

This was actually supposed to be a "training run." A little uptempo long run as I prepare for the fall marathon season. What little did I know that it was going to be a sultry contest of determination.

Even at 7:30, the humidity was over 90%. I had not slept well in a week, and my stomach was a little off. So I had all my excuses lined up as I drove to the race site.

Poor Farm Park is nice but too small for a 1500 person race. Parking was a challenge, and the race was delayed 15 minutes to allow folks to get in.

Gun, correction, cannon goes off and race starts. Tight roads keep us slow which is how I like to start these races anyway. After a 10:00 first mile I settle into my 8:30 pace which feels good until mile 4. Then from mile marker 4 to 5 is a steady climb that pretty much zapped me. After that it was pure determination. I simply wanted to get back to my car, but in order to do that, I had to run eight more miles. Except for that climb, its mostly flat. I grew up in this area so I sort of knew where I was headed. Fortunately they had plenty of water and sports drink in the latter miles because I needed every drop having exhausted my fuel belt 2/3 into the race.

I probably would have not allowed myself to finish over 2:00 had I been able to see my Garmin HR monitor. I was sweating so much it started shorting, chirping, and essentially became a distraction. Funny thing is I'm not normally a sweaty runner which is a testament to how nasty the humidity was!

Dirty trick they did: After the race started they moved the finish line back 0.1 miles so when I came out of the woods and didn't see it, I got a little irritated. But it was nice to finish. And stop.