Running With Hart: Race Review - Kansas Half 11.1.2015

Yesterday I paced the 2:45 group for the Kansas Half Marathon in Lawrence, KS. The race started at 7:30 and is about a 30 minute drive from my house. I also needed to pick up my bib, shirt, and pacer stick, so I wanted to get there a little early. I ended up leaving my house by 5:45am to arrive and park by 6:15. It was dark and only 37* outside. Hello cold weather, I guess you're finally here. I mean, it is November and all, but I sure do like running in the warm daylight hours.

Wearing INKnBURN Chenille capris

Anyway, the race started on time. There was a good turn out, about 1300 runners. Big enough to feel big, but small enough to not take forever to get through the start shoot. I was pacing lead pacer this round with my tailer being Amanda. We'd emailed a bit before the race, so I knew I'd be lead this time. I left my trivia cards at home since I knew I would have to buckle down and really pay attention to my watch.

I had a great group of people with me right from the beginning. A few first timers, some with just 1-2 races under their belts, and a few like me who'd done this before, but know that it is just a good time. We really cruised along. The first couple of miles we had a good clip going, and I slowed it down in order to be able to maintain our pace through the entire race. Lawrence is a fun college town, and I always like running the streets. People are friendly, and on a quiet Sunday morning you don't usually have to be concerned with angry drivers or other road hazards.

At some point in the early miles, we did run over the Kansas River, and of course I had to jump.

And then about mile 7 we paused to take a selfie...

Me with Matt, Erica, Tara, Cassi, Jeff, Kaci, and Ruby

About mile 11 after running quite a while on the levy with its dusty trail, we were finally off. I paused for about a minute to let everyone empty their shoes of dust and pebbles if they needed to, and we were back at it. While I paused, tailing pacer Amanda passed me and took over as lead pacer. With just two miles to go, I really encouraged everyone to dig deep, find what reserves they had left, and to give it all. It is about this time that people really start to check out of the race mentally, and need that extra pull to get back in the game.

The last couple of miles were great, just like the rest of the race had been. Good volunteer support at the water stops. Great organization and course marking. It would have been nice to have a few more folks out on the course to cheer, but the last half mile or so was really nice with people out in their front yards cheering us on.

This might have happened in the last mile or so as well. :)

I finished the race at 2:47:15. A bit slower than the 2:45 mark, but just fine for the tailing pacer. I was excited to see my runners finish. It ended up being a beautiful day with the sun shining and 75* outside.

This race is part of the Harvest Half series here in Kansas. Three half marathons over three weekends in November. I'm looking forward to the next two, and really finishing out the Fall racing season on a high note. I've run all three races in the past, and each is good on their own. I think together it'll be a great series to look forward to each year.