This past weekend was the Dallas Marathon, Half, & Relay. This was a big one. A sold out event. Live TV coverage. Huge city. Running royalty like Meb, Deena Kastor, Ryan & Sara Hall.
I ran the half. I was hoping to PR, and maybe break 1:40, but it wasn’t in the cards. I still had a decent race and a great time!
Big state, little medal…It’s all good in da hood.
It all started the day before at the Expo. I had carpooled down with three female friends…Mistake!!! They treated it like a shopping outing, hahahaha! We were there for hours. At least it gave me plenty of time for red carpet photos.
White sunglasses.
Red sunglasses.
After that, it was time to rest up for the race! But like most pre-race nights, I didn’t get much sleep (kept thinking I’d miss the 4 am alarm). But luckily I made it up early to carpool down with another friend. I was glad we were there early to avoid the stress of running late. We chilled for a while before heading to the corrals.
On the way I bumped into Meb! The Meb! But I let him alone so he could focus on his race. I’d see him again later…
I also ran into a bunch of non-Olympians…
Some runner friends before the race.
When I got to corral A, I ran into a bunch of members of the WRRC who I trained with most of the summer/fall.
I thought we were supposed to wear our grey t-shirts that day.
Then it was time to race! After some fireworks and confetti, we were off!
The elites waiting at the starting line.
There was about a 15 mph wind, and it was in the 60’s and like 90% humidity. There was mist in the air and the streets were wet with slickness. The first 9 miles were generally a long steady incline.
Da course & elevation
Conditions weren’t great for a PR, but I gave it a go anyway:
5k ~ 25:08 ~ 8:06 per mile
10k ~ 49:15 ~ 7:46 per mile
Halfway and so far so good. But then the humidity and hills took its toll. I started to slow.
15k ~ 1:14:12 ~ 8:04 per mile.
Finish ~ 1:45:01 ~ 8:01 per mile.
Final Results ~ 501/8441 Overall & 75/510 Division
I was hoping to break the PR I set in October, but wasn’t happening. I was still happy because this was my 2nd fastest half to date!
On da course.
I haven’t always viewed this race in the best light. But I gotta say, the changes they made this year were great! Except for a few bail bond and pawn shops, the course was pretty scenic. I like how we went through many Dallas landmark neighborhoods.
And the energy was terrific! In particular the crowd support was AWESOME! And it was great to see so many friendly faces along the way, like my pal Tory who went all out with his cheer station…
Tory, the sign master.
There was definitely a lot of creativity by the spectators.
After the race with my pal David, and his malfunctioning umbrella.
It was also cool during and after the race, where I can’t even count how many racing friends I ran into…
My friend Sylvia..I’m pretty sure that was her first half!!!
Another cool thing was my local elite friends had a good showing too. Our friend Brent got 7th place overall in the marathon! And my buddy Logan came in first place overall in the half, with a time of 1:08:20!!!
Logan at the finish!
After the race, it was time to celebrate!
Group shot 1.
We had a rotating group of some really strong runners join us for some craft brews.
Group shot 2.
But I gotta say, the COOLEST thing that happened that day was Meb giving me a high five! He was running the first leg of the relay. After he passed the baton, he hung around to support the runners. When I saw him, I made a detour to hit that opportunity (literally)! So cool! And what’s even cooler, later on I got to meet him formally!!!!
Me & Meb. Like peas and carrots…or maybe tortoise and hare.
All in all it was quite a whirlwind. I’m still processing it all. I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed this race. I may have to sign up for next year already!!!
How bout you? Did anyone else race Dallas? Hang out with any Boston Marathon champs recently? Seen any creative race supporters lately?
-Scott
Piratebobcat 