Savannah Half Marathon (updated)

Finally! It only took 7 races, but I finally got back down under 1:50! I know these races are more about finishing and less about the time, but it was really starting to get old that I could not get back to that time.  We’ll ignore that this was a fast course and a 14 year old girl beat her own age group world record at this race with a 1:17. . . .

I was excited to run this race mainly because it gave me an opportunity to go to Savannah, GA which I have wanted to for a while.  I love getting to the South and Savannah is one the prettiest historic cities in the South.  Savannah, at least the historic district by the water where the race started, is all old historic buildings from the 1800’s.  Most have been restored or renovated, but as you walk around the city you still get the feeling you could be walking around in 1911 rather than 2011.

The race expo was in the convention center across the river form downtown Savannah, so you could take a free sightseeing bus or the ferry to the center.  I took the bus over and we got a little tour and history of Savannah and took the ferry back since it took about ¼ of the time the bus took.

The race itself started in the heart of the downtown historic district and ran out from the city.  It was perfect weather, starting out around 48-50 degrees with a high around 60 for the day.  I was over ambitious when I registered and put my expected time at 1:48 so I ended up in corral 3.  I thought it was overreaching at this point, but stuck with it anyway.  I knew I couldn’t run with the 1:45 pace group, but there was a 3:40 marathon pace group so I decided to run with them to start since it would get me to the finish around 1:50. 

The race route took us out from downtown to the middle of nowhere outskirts of the city, which is ordinarily pretty boring but the morning was clear and cloudless and the people in the pace group were very pleasant and fun that the distance just flew by.  In fact, I was feeling so good I forgot to take my gu-pack at my usual 4-mile mark.  I took it as a sign I didn’t need two this race and only took one at the 6-mile mark.

It was around the 7-mile mark that I realized I felt good enough to pick up the pace, so I left the pace group and started to cruise a little faster.  At eight-miles it was apparently the place that spectators are told to watch the runners because it was PACKED.  It was like we came up to the finish line.  There were so many people, that the 3 lane road was squeezed to one lane.  We were running right into the sun and the only way to see where you were going was to follow the line of spectators.  I had to keep myself from really speeding up here, the enthusiasm from the crowd was infectious.

After that I hit a groove and kept running at my pace.  I realized at the 10 mile mark I could PR the race and ended up picking up the pace and ran a 7:30 mile.  This was a little fast but then I screwed up trying to scale it back some and my 11^th mile was too slow.  I pushed at the end, almost hitting a full sprint to finish the race (see below) but I knew I wasn’t going to PR.  After I crossed the finish line I just felt good, not tired, not worn out, just like I had a good work out and the strong finish made me feel good.  As it turns out I ran 1:49:08, which was only 37 seconds off my PR so that was exciting.  At this point it was time for the post-race music and beer.

 

After the race, I was able to go to a Mexican restaurant that turned the Duke/Miami football game on for me - great except for the score - and had those $7.59 beers. It was a great place to relax after the race until I met up with my friend Heather and her boyfriend Jim for dinner and continued drinking.  Heather ran the half marathon and kicked my butt with a 1:38:30, and Jim ran the full marathon and finished with an impressive 3:27:31.  The only annoying thing was that they both felt they ran slow…I hate fast people.  We concluded our evening with Guiness and the Alabama/LSU snoozefest, I mean defense struggle; as a former kicker it was torture to watch.

One thing I love about Savannah is something many people complain about: the smell.  Savannah has a paper mill nearby that, as anyone who has been around one could tell you, has a distinctive aroma that is generally not very pleasant.  However, for me it reminds me of the paper mill near my grandparents’ house in North Charleston, SC where I would spend time every summer.

All in all it was the perfect race day: flat and fast course, cool weather with clear skies, good friends, and cheap cold beer in a city you can walk around.  Every race should be in Savannah.

Tune in shortly for the 12^th and final race which is taking place on the Strip in Las Vegas…this one is going to get interesting.

Grand Slam Medal for running 4 Rock n' Roll Series
races in a calendar year.