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| The 2008 edition of the Cellularsouth Half Marathon took place in Madison, MS on December 13. It is a nice course with rolling hills. The race starts at entrance to Madison Central High School, goes south on Highland Colony Parkway to near County Line Road and back to finish in front of school. A temperature of 29ºF with a strong wind (º24F) at the start of the race was not an obstacle for 170 insane runners and 21 walkers who decided to battle the freezing weather conditions and participate in the event. Dale Griffin was the overall winner with a time of 1:20:19. Staci Stanley claimed the victory in the women's race in 1:37:20. Race Report by Ginny Dufrene Kelly and I got a very early start heading to Madison to run the half marathon. I warmed up with a 1 mile jog and then was ready to get started. I saw Nestor heading to the starting line and we chatted for a couple of minutes. He offered to pace me for the first few miles, but of course, I knew better than that. He is a speedster off the line. I had hoped to run 1:50 today, which I thought was very realistic, but no. I finished 1:52 which is exactly what I ran in Feb. at the Mardi Gras half. This is how sad I have become with the PRs, I am currently waiting for the race results to be posted to see if I have a pr over Mardi Gras. MG was 1:52:28, today, my Garmin says 1:52:19. I think I was only 2-3 seconds from the start of the race. Hee Hee. I know I know, this is really sad, but you might recall that I really wanted to get PRs in all of the distances, while I am 40. I still have until March 4th to complete the half marathon and the full marathon. If today was an improvement, even by seconds, I will take it. After the race I enjoyed visiting with Kelly, Nestor, Neil, Bridgett (from Brookhaven) and Sonja. Kelly and Neil both ran PRs today, congrats to both of them. Both Kelly and Neil were only in their second attempts at the half, and both had big improvements. Way to go! A few more updates from the Madison half marathon. Nestor was 3rd in his age group, Neil was 2nd in his age group, Kelly was 3rd in her age group and I was first in my age group. I also found out that I did officially get my PR in the half by 5 seconds. Ha Ha (this is what it has come to these days). I also looked at each of my miles during the half. I have a range of splits from 8:12 - 8:41 for 12 of the 13 miles. For mile 12, I ran 9:01, if I had stayed on pace for that mile, even with another 8:41, I would have had a 1:51. O'well, maybe next time. It was a good race anyway. I am just thankful that I am healthy enough to be "in the game." Update by Nestor Raul Anzola As Ginny already said, all the Pine Belt Pacers placed in their age group. I was just lucky that the other guys from my age group in the Jackson area decided to stay warm at home. Neil, Ginny, and Kelly set PRs for the distance. I had been battling a cold for the last 3 days, so I was not sure if would be present at the race. Since I had already planned to go there, I just woke up early and drove to Madison. At the beginning of the race, the cold weather and especially the wind were killing me. I could not breathe at all and had to run with my mouth wide open trying to get some air through. This time I ran a little different. It was a combination of the "Raullian Fast-to-slow Run Method" and a little bit of the "Jeff Galloway's Plan". Thus, I started fast (what a surprise! isn't it?) and then slowed down in the last miles. However, I decided to stop at miles 2, 4, 7, 9, and 11 and walk 30 to 45 seconds in each. Well... it worked somehow. I did not get one of my best times but at least broke the 1:50 mark and felt OK after the race. I settled for a comfortable 1:48:51. The medal I got was also a surprise. Generally, when running in or nearby Jackson, I never get even close to place in my age group since they have a selected group of fast guys running in the 40-44 age group. I guess they were smart and avoided this cold run, and they are not suffering the bronchitis I am "enjoying" today! :) ©Pijume Diwesi Pic1. Full moon in the way to Madison Pic2. Ginny and Sonja Dufreen enjoy the weather Pic3. Kelly the Little Mermaid Spears placed third in her age group Pic4. Beauties and the Latin Beast Pic5. Raul and Neil Pic6. The volunteers cheered loudly for everybody Pic7. Overall winner, Dale Griffin Pic8. Top female, Staci Stanley Pic9. Jack and Cathy Ward, the MTC leaders Pic10. Neil placed 2nd in his age group Pic11. Surprise! I got third place Pic12. Ginny is the winner of her age bracket
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| 1 | 2 | 11 | 4 |
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| 9 | 10 | 3 | 12 |
