Monday, April 23, 2012

Never again

...will I run two races less than a week apart.

I've learned in my short time in this sport to never say never, but seriously. Never.

On to the Tar Heel 10-miler recap. That's why you're here anyway, right?















The race started in the UNC-Chapel Hill football stadium. This was a big marketing point for this race, although I actually think it was a terrible idea.














That line of people extending from the START line all the way around the stadium? Yeah, it kept going. I lined up behind the 10-minute mile pacers and was basically all the way across from the start line, with many more people behind me. Once the gun went off, I didn't actually start moving for what seemed like years and by the time I got to the start line, the clock was already at almost 9 minutes. And that's where I started to freak out for the first time during the race. I think the stadium start could have been a good idea had this been a much smaller race.

The temperature for the race wasn't bad (60 degrees) but the humidity had to be hanging around 100%. My plan was to stick close behind the 10-minute pacers, but after about the second mile at an average of 9-minute miles, I couldn't even see the pacers anymore because they were so far ahead of me. What's the point of even having the pacers?! Really really frustrating.










The first 4-ish miles I felt like we were repeating the same route over and over, which was basically hill after hill after hill. Around mile 4 I was already drenched in sweat and frustrated at the route and was so ready to quit. A DNF didn't sound so awful at that point. Around mile 5 I passed a woman vomiting up all her hydration stores and realized that I was ok and things could be worse! I finally was able to get some sports drink and it gave me back a bunch of motivation (it's the little things in life).













It wasn't until after I passed the water station that I realized that was the station with GU and that I just screwed up and didn't get any. Frustration returning.

The next 3/4 of a mile was entirely downhill and was so amazing...until we turned another corner into another hilly neighborhood. I did a lot of walking the next couple of miles. My quads were tight and I was out of water and wishing I'd had that GU. At the mile 8 water station (yes, two miles before the finish line), I was able to grab a GU and more water. Why did I do this so close to the finish line? I knew what was coming.
















Entrance to Hell.

















It's probably a good thing this wasn't closer to the beginning of the race or pulling a DNF probably would have been even more tempting. The best part of it was about halfway up, there was a dude cheering us on in a bathrobe and slippers.

Fast forward to the finish, aka-where everything kind of fell apart.

As I was approaching the finish line, the announcer was yelling for people to hurry to section 301 (I'm making up this number because I don't remember what the actual number was) in the bleachers for their medal and food. All I wanted at this point was a sports drink or water. I *think* I was handed a sports drink (or else I picked it up. I don't remember that either), and had to ask a random stranger if she'd mind opening it for me. All I wanted to do was down it but was being shooed up into the bleachers.
























Mike and my new friend (actually his friend, whom I just met after the race. I make strangers my friends if they come highly recommended by my actual friends :), Nicole found me and showed me the dude handing out medals. Up in the bleachers. Strangest thing ever. He didn't even put it around our necks. Also, they look pretty cheap compared to the ones from last year. But I digress.

Purple. I know, you're all shocked.



















Once I felt like I was hydrated enough to form sentences again, we went in search of food. After a trek around the outside of the stadium, the only food to be found was banana halves. So I ate one and tried to imagine it was a bag of chips or a bagel. To no avail.

As with every race, the volunteers and police support were awesome and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the people in the neighborhoods who came out to cheer for us.

Unfortunately the cons outweighed the pros for me in this race. There were far too many people for the starting venue and the finish felt haphazard and poorly planned. Mike said this was his best race so far, which is awesome! Will I run this race again next year? Probably not. But I'm glad I did it this time.

16 comments:

  1. When I finished the NYC Half, the lady handed me my medal, and I was like dude, no! can you put it on me like the olympics?! Generally, I don't care if a race has a medal or not, but if you're handing out medals, they should at least put them on the finishers, IMO.

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    1. I have to disagree. Those people are volunteers taking their time to help us out, it's nice enough that they are out there, they don't need to touch hundreds of nasty sweaty necks too.

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    2. Well said Alyssa! I've always been handed my medal in races...I didn't realize it was that unusual? Maybe because I'm just slow? LOL!

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    3. No I think the Marine Corps marathon was one of the few times someone put it on me. Usually they hand it to me.

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  2. Way to get across the finish line! Sounds like the hills were pretty rough. I am not a fan of hills, so I am impressed that you even attempted this:)

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  3. Wow, this sounded miserable. It seemed like you hated the entire thing from start to finish. Maybe 10 miles isn't your lucky distance?

    I do hate crowded starts too, but if there is chip timing then I don't care how much time it takes to cross the start line!

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    1. Me too! Did they have chip timing at least?

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  4. For my big Philly halfs, I didn't cross the start line until 20ish minutes after the gun went off. But I knew to expect that and I also couldn't see anything other than the people immediately in front of me. Might have been more annoying if I had to watch people wrapped around the entire stadium slowly leaving. I'm surprised they wouldn't let people out of one of the big doors behind the end zones to hurry things along. Kind of mean to make you walk up the bleachers at the end, too!

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  5. I HATE humidity, it can really make or break any kind of run and make races miserable. You did finish, though, so that's awesome!

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  6. Nice job sticking it out! I guess I won't mock you for the Gu at mile 8 since you missed it at mile 10. I just realized that duh it has to be chip timing if they give you a special split just for that hill. Pacers suck. Wilkie is totally your new friend because we are all going to hang out when I visit.

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  7. This kind of sounds like it sucked, the hills, heat. I mean that in a 'way to kick ass though' kind of way. :)

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  8. Way to finish! If there is a "challenge" within a race, I'm not signing up for it. F Laurel Hill ;)

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  9. My running group does the pacing for the local races, and yet, I still get annoyed if they're off. Pacers being over a minute fast is beyond wrong!

    What is it with races skimping on the post-race food lately?

    Way to finish a tough race!

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  10. You had to go up in the bleachers after a race to get handed your medal? That does suck especially since you missed the GU earlier. Great job finishing a tough race.

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  11. Hey new friend! I will also not be running this race again. Just not impressed with the overall layout and organization.

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  12. If I had to climb bleachers after a 10 mile run, I'd probably throat punch someone. Sounds like a one and done kind of race. Great job getting through it!

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