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The race was GREAT!!!! We started out in Corral
#15 (the last corral). We made our way towards the front of the
corral to line up for the start. It took us 10 minutes to get to the
start line. The race started in front of the Museum of Art (the one
where “Rocky” runs up the steps). The first approx. 4.5 miles were
through the city. We headed down the Ben Franklin Parkway around
Logan Circle towards City Hall. We then made our way through the
historic area and then back to the Ben Franklin Pkwy, back around
Logan Circle towards the Museum of Art. We did very well through the
city. We were running 1-1 ½ min / walking 3 ½ - 4 min intervals. Our
pace was way better then we had planned, but the road surface (black
top, cement, slope, a lot of uneven areas) was starting to do a job
on us. John’s knee & ankle started to bother him & my knee started
to bother me. But other then that we felt pretty good. So we make
our way back towards the Museum of Art, back under the Start Banner,
bear to the left and start our long trek along the Schuylkill River.
We were in the sun for the next approx 1 ½ - 2 miles. Thankfully it
wasn’t too hot of a day yet. We slowed down our pace a little
because of John’s knee & ankle and my knee hurting, but other then
that we were doing great. It was nice running/walking along the
river. Just before mile 9 we cross the river at Falls Bridge and
start making our way back along the river towards the finish line.
Just after mile 11 my knee started to really hurt. Every step was
torture, but with less then 2 miles to go there was no way I was
stopping. John’s ankle was getting worse too. I think the slope of
the road from the center to the curb was what was doing us in. We
moved up to the center of the road so we were no longer on an angle
from the slope & that seemed to help some. We walked the next couple
of miles (sometimes very slowly). We came up a slight incline
through an intersection and from there we could see the Finish Line
up ahead. We picked up our walking pace a bit and then ran in strong
through the finish.
Here’s the numbers: There were 13,045 runners
registered, 11,119 finished the race. I crossed the Start Line
before John & we crossed the Finish Line together, so John’s finish
was 3:18:08 and mine was 3 seconds behind his in 3:18:11. (this was
our chip times) John’s overall place was 10,869 and mine was 10,874.
Our average pace was 14:48 mpm (minutes per mile) And……if you ever
have a day that you want to eat as much as and whatever you
want…….do a half marathon. We burned 2,972 calories.
Overall the race was GREAT!!!! Except for the
knee, I felt fantastic through the whole thing, never really feeling
out of breath or tired. It was an amazing experience. I can’t tell
you how great the sense of accomplishment felt as we crossed the
Finish Line. Our goal was to just finish the race with a mini goal
of trying to finish at least close to 3 ½ hours. We well exceeded
those goals which only made the sense of accomplishment even better.
We are looking forward to the next one. LOL |
