There is nothing more odd than running a 5k at 6:30 at night haha but I wanted to do it anyway. The Illinois Marathon offered an “I-Challenge” option this year so knowing that I’d need a long run that weekend, I signed up. It consists of the 5k Friday night and then either the half or full marathon the next morning. At that time, my intent was to race the 5k and just use the HM as my long run. Anyway – I took off early on Friday to meet Ryan, Dave, Melisa and Stacey at Often Running so we could head over to Champaign. I have to admit, I was nervous for this race. We got over to Champaign in plenty of time and went and checked out the expo. Then before we knew it, it was time to warm up. We all changed into race gear and Ryan, Dave, Mike and I went out to run the course. There were lots of people already lining the streets so it was cool to actually get to see that while not racing.
Finally, it was time to shed our warm ups and do some strides before the start. I found a spot a couple rows back. We were off! I kept my pace conservative and steady… keeping myself from going out too hot. It was cool to hear everyone cheering us the whole way – something you don’t get when running the smaller races. I picked out a couple girls and we all seemed to pack together for most of the race, which was actually pretty awesome as I’ve never done that before. After we hit mile 2 one girl and I broke away and started to speed up for the finish. At about .75 miles left I was able to push past her and focus on the girl that was up in front of me. Knowing that we had to make half a lap around the stadium before coming through the finish, I told myself not to kick before going in – to wait until I was about half way around. The girl in front sped up before we got into the stadium, but I stuck to my plan and kept my pace coming in. Then, I heard Mike, Ryan, and Dave yelling “get that girl!!!” and I couldn’t hold back anymore… I took off and passed her for 6th place female overall! By far the coolest thing about this race, was that her and I chatted after the race and told each other “great race” and the 2 girls I ran with most of the race came up and found me afterwards to chat about the race. I have NEVER had that happen at a race where I didn’t know the other girls I was running against. Very awesome 🙂
So, Mike ran well enough to win 2nd place overall, Ryan won 1st AG, Dave won 1st AG, and I ended up with 1st AG as well. We got some cool pictures afterwards that I’ll post once they are available. I should have ran a little better, but I am thankful for the experience!!! And it was awesome to spend time with great friends and fellow racing buddies 🙂
Time: 20:59
AG: 1/362
Female: 6/2583
Overall: 80/4211
I’ll write another post about my first half marathon experience 🙂
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