Recap: Joplin Memorial Half Marathon
For some of you that don't know, the Joplin Memorial Race is put on to remember the people lost on May 22, 2011. Here is a little blurb from the Joplin Memorial Marathon website, "On May 22, 2011 an F-5 tornado tore through Joplin destroying many homes, businesses, and taking 161 lives. For the first and last mile of the Joplin Memorial Marathon course we display 161 victim banners that our runners run through. One name is on every banner displayed." This was definitely a emotional race as like Oklahoma City as both races remember people that were lost on a tragic day. This half marathon race I ran alone, but my friend Carly ran the 5K. Leading up to the race I was having issues with my knee and so I didn't know how this race would turn up but I was going to give it my all.
As the blurb stated the first mile and last mile displayed the 161 victims on banners. I was definitely emotional at the beginning just seeing the names and how many lives were taken. These types of tragic events are just terrible but what happens afterwards give me hope for mankind. Now living in a tornado area, tornadoes are more than real. While living in California I was far removed from tornadoes but now it is really serious. After passing the banners I had to get my head back in the game and the long trek. Whenever I felt tired I tried to remember why I am doing this race. I felt really good with the first six miles. If I can remember correctly I hit the 10K mark at about 1 hour and 5 minutes which is pretty close to my fastest 10K mark at just under 1 hour and 2 minutes. After that mark it was a tough second half. I started to have stomach issues and the next 7 miles were tough. I would run a little then have to stop and keep doing that method til the end. The people around were just amazing supporting each other throughout the race. Support is the one thing that gets me through the race and I am thankful for all those people. This race was one of the smaller half marathons I have done. There were 623 finishers and 258 of those runners were male. Even with my stomach issues I continue to run and even sprinted at the very end. I finished with an official time of 2:44:28 at a pace of 12:33. I place 17/20 in my age and was 491 out of 623 finishers. Even though it wasn't an amazing race in terms of running I felt an accomplishment of finishing another half marathon but also running for a purpose. I would highly recommend this race for what it does for the community and bringing everyone together to remember the people lost on that day. Also the bling was pretty dang cool.
Recap: Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon
Chicago Rock 'n' Roll was the latest race. I was kind of against "corporate races" because I want to be part of a race that a local community put together and was proud of/race for a cause. I will say the company putting on this race did an amazing job with the whole race experience. I was very pleased. Back when I ran the OKC memorial marathon several weeks after my friends had an idea to run the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll. I love to travel and I would be able to check some stuff off my running list so I was like "let's do it." I traveled to Chicago with my good friends Kevin and Kari, while Roksana (another friend) was already in Chicago. We flew out early Saturday morning to get there later that morning, get checked in and pick up our packet. Kevin's sister Kris (who lives in the Chicagoish area) and her daughter Tess picked us up from the airport, which was super nice of her and we were off to the hotel. We were able to check in early at the Congress Plaza Hotel. We decided to go with a suite and in downtown because there would be six of us and it was close to the starting line. Thus we wouldn't have to wake up super early. Anyways we met up with our friend Roksana and did some sight seeing while heading to the expo. We got to the expo about 3 p.m. and got our bibs for the race. Before we entered the official expo there was a large Brooks booth(ish). Apparently Brooks is a sponsor and so they were doing a ton of discount items. I was so tempted to buy several things but knew that I would rather run other races then spend all my money on clothes and shoes. Luckily I left the expo only spending $17 bucks on a singlet that I wore the next day. We did all the typical racer things like get free stuff and take pictures in front of the Rock 'n' Roll signs. After the expo we explored more of Chicago, mainly Chinatown and got some pretty authentic Chinese food. By the end of that day I had walk 10 miles, which I definitely felt and knew the 13.1 the next day would be fun...not.
Race day. All of my races (except OKC 2017) was chasing a PR. This race I wasn't chasing a PR, rather I wanted to stick with my friends and help support each other. One of my friends Roksana was having surgery later that week so she wanted to beat her PR. I decided to stick with her to help Roksana get to that PR. Everyone wanted to do the same so we started together and held on as long as we could. Sometimes it is hard to run in a group. The one nice thing about this race was that it showcased downtown Chicago and all that it had to offer. Having this route also helped get your mind off of the race and see Chicago (if you have never been before). At around mile 6, I believe, our group started to split, I didn't know what was happening but kept with Roksana to get her to a good pace and time. Come to find out a few minutes after the split Kevin told us that Kari had some sort of injury. We debated going back but Kevin and I knew that Kari would want us to continue along to get Roksana to a PR. We continued and about mile 10 I was hurting a little but didn't want to disappoint my friend in getting her PR. At mile 12/13 ish I took a small break, I couldn't keep going at our pace (even though it wasn't a fast pace). I took a minute or so to walk then caught back up with Roksana. We were close and I wanted to finish together. The last stretch was the toughest because it was a straight shot to the finish. I could kind of see the finish line but there was some distance to get through. Roksana and I finished at a time of 2 hours 48 minutes and 36 second. Unfortunately we didn't break Roksana's PR but it was one of the best runs she had til this day. That made me happy to help a friend.
Before this race I never paced the whole race. My mentality going into a race is to run as far and fast that I can and then take a break. Usually it's about 8-10 miles before I take a break but trying to be steady the whole race is another head game. I always warn my friends that I run alone but this experience changed my perception and that I could run with others (at a steady pace). This experience also gave me some insight on how my pacing is and that one day I could pace a group, which would be amazing. To give you some numbers I finished 8186 out of 9834 people and in my age group 563/603. The numbers don't really mean anything to me, rather the time does. Even though this was one of my slowest time this year, just being able to run with friends means a lot more.
As I take a break from half marathons until October, my next race is less than two weeks. I will be headed to Hutchinson Kansas to run a 10K with a good buddy of mine. This will be a special race for multiple reasons, the first reason is this is my friend's first race. He has never ran in a race like this before and to tackle a 6.2 mile race out the gate is amazing. He has been sticking to a good running schedule and I know he will do well when it comes to race day. In addition this is the first time this race is being put together thus I may have a chance to place. Generally new races don't attract a lot of people thus the competition is smaller. I'm not the quickest runner but can finish a 10K around 1:05 to 1:10, depending on the day. I'm excited to see what can happen, if I don't place it's not the end of the world as this race will help round out the second part of the year with 4 half marathons left in the year. The goal for the rest of the year is to finish and take care of my body. This is the most races and running I have done in a year so it is taking a toll. Whatever you do for your extracurricular activity make sure you take care of your body. You only have one of them and you better take care of it. Thanks for reading my gibberish.
Forgot to add I'm endorsed by Brooks now, I'm fancy that way.
