I ran the 2011 Kansas Half Marathon on Sunday. I have race experience from doing 5K's and sprint triathlons the last two summers, but this was the longest race I had done. It was also my first race on the year, unless you count the 3.3-mile leg I ran at Brew-to-Brew.
Overall, I had a great time. I had a lot of support with friends coming out to watch, and I wasn't worried about the race itself. I kept in decent shape over the winter and had been training for about two months, so I knew I could make the distance. The farthest I'd ran - training or otherwise - was a 11-miler the Monday before the race, mostly on the River Trail in North Lawrence. I took my time on that workout, finished it around 1:40 and felt like I had enough left in the tank to go another two miles no problem.
My main concern was getting caught up in the excitement of the race, going too fast and then not being able to keep pace the last few miles. I didn't realize there would be pacers until the day before, so that might have been my favorite part of the whole thing. I thought realistically I would finish at two hours, but my ultimate goal was 1:50. I read it was a good idea to start with a pace group slower than your goal and then move up, so that's what I did. I started with the 2:00 group, then after about three miles I moved up with 1:55, and just ahead of 1:55 a couple of miles after that.
I felt the best at the turnaround on Mass. Street around 57 minutes. I was warmed up, had ran into a few other runners I knew along the way and had already seen a couple groups of people that came to cheer me on at different parts of the course, so that kept me going. I still managed to hold back at that point, despite wanting to turn it up a little bit. I didn't know if it was adrenaline, caffeine, or actually being prepared that had me feeling that good after running for an hour, but the last thing I wanted was for it to die out with another half hour to go. I told myself I would bump my tempo to an eight-minute pace for the last two or three miles, which is what I did. Catching the 1:50 pace group would have been great, but that didn't happen. I was plenty tired on my last mile and was able to leg out the last quarter mile fairly well, which I like to do no matter what the race is, so my in-race plan was about right. I finished at 1:52:30.
Rounding the bend at the finish of the 2011 Kansas Half Marathon by nnelson
I don't know if a full marathon will ever be on my agenda or not. I do know that after I finished, I was really happy I wasn't only halfway done. This probably won't be my last half. I learned a lot from it that I can use for the next one. Training can't prepare you for the adrenaline that comes along with an actual race with a bunch of other people, so that was great to experience and will definitely help for next time.
Comments
kbritt (Karrey Britt) says…
Congrats Nick! What an accomplishment!
jkealing (Jonathan Kealing) says…
Well-done Nick. My goal was to be done by 2h10, and I ended up being done in 1h58, so it's fair to say we both under-estimated our ability to kill a half marathon. I'm looking forward to running another one, because I know so much better how to approach it.
And you're right, having friends and family along the course made it so much better. Plus seeing you and Cody at the turn-around was pretty good too.
Cheers!
fabian_zimbabwe (anonymous) says…
Where can I find results for this event? Was it covered in paper? I've checked their website, but no luck there, either. Any info is appreciated...thanks!
d_prowess (anonymous) replies…
I couldn't find anything in the paper after the race either. Also, I heard that there was a problem with the 10K race and that some or even all ended up running less than a 10K because of a route error. Any info on that??
irunsowhat (anonymous) replies…
The 10k was .7 miles short. Upon finishing, the lady that finished in second place was wearing a GPS watch and informed me that the course only registered 5.51 miles. In my opinion, this was COMPLETELY avoidable and poorly managed by the race director. There was a sign pointing the 10k-ers to the right (just after the softball field) and the 1/2 folks straight. The 10k should have gone straight with them. From what I've heard, the 5k was roughly .5 miles long, which makes me think that sign should have been for the runners of the 5k. This is pretty unexcuseable considering they advertise the race as USATF Certified and they expect such a large turnout. Make sure these SIMPLE mistakes can be avoided.
As far as the race goes -- I think it has potential to do EXTREMELY well and draw people from all over to participate. The fact that they have moved the course three times in as many years is difficult to gain a faithful following. Advertising it as a marathon when it isn't is also going to cause a lot of trouble. Lastly, if you're going to make an out-and-back course, don't make it on a 10-ft wide bike path. There were a ton of complaints about people with headphones in who were on the wrong side of the path while people were trying to finish their race (in each distance) which suggests the route was poorly designed.
hitme (anonymous) replies…
The person failed to direct me at that intersection as well (he was punching the keypad on his phone) I heard the next person ask him and had to turn around and go back.
For a race with over 1500 entrants, there sure was a lack of post race coverage. I saw three pictures.
SWGlassPit (Tristan Moody) replies…
The results are posted here: http://www.onlineraceresults.com/even...
kbritt (Karrey Britt) replies…
I contacted Sally Monahan Zogry on Monday. She said Health Care Access would provide some race details when they became available.
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seancailteux (Sean Cailteux) says…
Congratulations Nick! As a runner, I know there was so much preparation that went into your 1:52:30. What a feeling of accomplishment you must have felt upon crossing that finish line! When I ran my 1st half marathon back in October 2009, I had a ridiculously ambitious goal of 1:30:00. I finished in 1:38, and then ran a 1:37 the following spring. Two weeks ago in KC I trimmed 3 more minutes off my time, running 1:34. That 1:30:00 gets closer with each race; and I'm confident that you will soon not only conquer 1:50, but reach well into the 1:40's and beyond!! Keep it up!
Willow_DV_Center (Willow DV Center) says…
Congratulations Nick! That's a great accomplishments! I hope you continue to achieve your running goals. We would love to see you at our 5k on May 6th - www.realmenwearheels.com
Have a great summer!