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St Jude’s ½-Marathon, Memphis
It was my first half-marathon. Race-time conditions: cloudy and 29. It was my first time in tights. Fortunately, there were many other “men in tights”. In training, I had run the distance, but not the hills. And there were hills. Many hills. My target time was 1:55:00. Becky Ryder gave me what would turn out to be excellent advice about race strategy. Basically, “Don’t go too fast too soon, no matter how good you feel.” 6,660 runners in the half marathon and 2,200 in the full. The start was on Beal Street, and the finish inside of the Memphis AAA baseball stadium. I started in corral # 5, the 8:40-9:00-minute pace corral. Our instructions were to start each corral two minutes apart. Corral 5 was so stoked that we stampeded and left on the heels of # 4, pulling away quickly from angry and frantic race officials. There were live music bands at every mile. From African drum band to country to grunge. The bands were great! At mile 2, Elvis (sideburns and all) did an inspiring rendition of hunka-hunka-burnin’-love! The course looped around back to Beal street in mile 3. We ran up a steep hill and over the top into the heart of Beal street. It was jam packed with screaming, cheering people. We Hi-Fived with folks for half a mile. (Yes, we all felt like celebrities!) I saw a hand-held sign which said: “You’re All Kenyans to Me!” Memphis folks LOVE their St Judes Childrens Hospital, and all the race money goes to St Judes. Mile 3 was my second fastest. I ran the first half of the race at a slightly faster pace than I intended. Worried up through mile 8 that I was too fast. Mile 9 in Overton Park was my slowest (9:10). Steeper hills and thinner crowds. Then we headed back toward downtown. At mile 10 the sun came out! The temperature shot up to 34! And all was right with the world! At mile 11, I was slightly ahead of my pace and wanted to see what I had left. I pushed harder. Mile 12 at 8:21, mile 13 at 7:55. We finished on the warning track in a loud and packed stadium. My final chip time was 1:53:02. Half Marathon Winner: Josh McAdams, 28, Cordova, TN, 1:07:52. Marathon Winner: Jeff Jonaitis, Tinley Park, IL, 2:19:47.
My Sister, Kathy Long ( in the pic), walked the half in 3:30:30 After-race food was great! Many hot soups, pizza, donuts, fruit, and free beer……few drank the beer. It was too cold. There were showers in the stadium and massages. I didn’t do a cool-down run, and paid the price with stiff legs. Our geographic area was well-represented. There were some 50 runners registered from Hattiesburg alone! Many more in the surrounding area. This was a wonderful experience! The race seemed to be very well-organized, from parking through the final ceremonies. My only disappointment was the absence of Elvis look-a-like runners! (maybe next year…..) © Eric Weill |
