HEY YA’LL! So I’m sure you all aware that last weekend I ran the Detroit Women’s Half Marathon! Due to poor planning on my part I wasn’t able to prepare a race day post like I normally do.. I know, I suck.. SOOO instead I’m going to wrap it into one.. Well, give you the logistics of the race as well as how it went!
Let us start with the ‘race day post’ and just give you a lay out of the race. The race was run on Belle Isle in Detroit, MI. There we did 2.25 loops of the Isle to get the whole 13.1 miles in (13.16 by my GPS, but we’ll get to that later.) So check it out.
So there it is. We started at the lower left of the Isle then you can follow the arrows/numbers from there. NORMALLY I really hate either ‘loop’ or ‘out-and-back’ races, but for this race I really enjoyed it. It was nice knowing exactly where I was and knowing where the turn was to go in for the finish. Though since it’s an island you can bet that at the turns it was WINDDDYYYY! Mostly at the ‘top’ (Lakeside Drive) turn.
So, race day.. I got there at around 7am to wait for everyone I was meeting. I know I’d told you that I’d talked both of my sisters into running, but I forgot to mention that I’d also talked on of my best friend from high school’s moms (Wendy) into running it too. ALSO a friend that goes to school with my boyfriend (Rachel). It was three of the five of our first halves (Wendy, Rachel, and my little sister Marilou.)
We found someone to take our picture, sadly when Wendy was finding her daughter.. It was a bit chilly pre-race (I actually didn’t end up rolling up my sleeves the whole race… Guess who finally after 23 years knows how to properly dress herself?! THIS GIRL!)
Alright, anyways.. they started a few minutes behind (10 or so) because people didn’t know that you needed to get to a race early.. Well, more like there was congestion getting onto Belle Isle.. But I mean, that’s why you plan to get to a race close to an hour before it starts.. or in my case, as early as you can so you don’t freak out about being late.. This day I figured an hour was sufficient, especially since I knew I was going to be in my car just hanging out for a bit.
Anyways, so we were off! I started running with Rachel around a 9:40pace.. We both said that we were going to run our own pace. Luckily for us ‘our own pace’ just so happened to be the same pace. I wasn’t going to take off, and neither was she. We even helped push each other a few times.. She would get a bolt of energy and keep the pace where it was, then within the next mile or so it was my turn to do the same thing. This was ALL without talking about it, it just happened.
Let me tell you. It was AWESOME having someone to pace with! I don’t think I would have ran that fast without her! I ended up around a 9:34 pace, and I think she was right behind me with a 9:39 or so! It was so awesome! Wendy finished before Rachel and I! She was just under 2hours!! That’s my next BIG goal.. a half under two hours.. I think I’ll just try to finish Clarkston, but for next year under 2hrs is a goal!
My older sister finished just under three hours I believe. I saw her when I went to my car to grab more clothes. It was beautiful running weather, but I was chilly after I was done.. Next year they need to make sure that they have those shiny blankets that help keep your heat in when you’re done running.. That was probably the only FAIL on their part.
I saw her again when I went to the DMC tent to use their foam roller. I knew they had one since I went to the EXPO to pick up our race packets. So I had to run over and cheer her on.. On lady said, “You have too much energy”.. It’s true. I was pretty hyped after finishing.
So after my older sister came in, either of us had seen my little sister, so I shot her a text. I knew she had her phone and it just seemed logical. She told us that she was coming up to mile 13, aka: close to the end. I knew that she had to be between the turn at mile 12 and the end so I took off to meet up with her. It was her first half after all, I knew she was hurting (she’s had knee surgery AND she didn’t train), so I wanted to encourage her to finish strong.
She did! She ran over the finish line, then walked straight to the DCM tent for some ice.
All in all, the race was great! We had a fun time, the weather was nice and it was a great experience for everyone!
Healthy In Detroit 