Sunday, 4/27/2014 - Flower City Half

Sunday, 4/27/2014 - 2 runs of 1.3 and 13.26 miles, 39F, 81% RH, 9 mph NW wind, wind chill 34F.

I woke up around 3:30AM or so and got out of bed 4AM. I knew I was going to go back to sleep so I just surfed the web and got ready for the Flower City Half Marathon. I wore my Brooks tights, red long sleeve tech, heavy gloves and orange Fleet Feet hat. I wore my Brooks jacket for warmth but kind of knew I would shed it.

I kissed my darling wife, Christine, goodbye and was out the door at 6:03AM. Due to light traffic I was down to the Blue Cross Arena by 6:12AM. I sat quietly in the car and then walked around the BCA to hang out for a while.

Garmin Connect Activity for Warmup before the Flower City Half

I headed out for a 1.3 mile warmup run at 7:51 pace just up and down Exchange St. I got warm and left my Brooks jacket at the car. I got a drink of water and headed to the start on the Broad St bridge. The course on www.mapmyrun.com is here.


I lined up between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace group signs and said "Hi" to Prem who was going to run with the 1:40 pace group. I wished him luck.

The start of the Flower City Half Marathon - taken by Barb Boutillier

The start was uneventful. I soon got into an open spot and cranked out a 7:56 pace first mile into the Susan B Anthony district. Then it was by Silver Stadium at mile 2 and down State St. Up Main St to East Ave for mile 3. I passed the 1:45 pace group on the way to mile 4.

Somewhere on East Ave (I think) - taken by Barb Boutillier

Somewhere on Park Ave - taken by Anzhela Knyazeva

I was running good. Back down Park Ave for mile 5. I felt my right Achilles tighten a bit. I started a run with itty bitty walk breaks for the rest of the way. Then it was up S Goodman St for mile 6. The 1:45 pace group passed me going up the hill into Highland Park.

Around mile 7 in Highland Park - taken by Tim Raggets

I saw Bill Beyerbach in Highland Park around mile 7 just after I had my only Gu. I crossed Mt Hope into the Mt Hope Cemetery at mile 8. The solitary bagpiper was there again. The hills in the cemetery were just as hilly as last year. I was making peace and suffering a little bit with my right Achilles by continuing my itty bitty walk breaks. I exited the cemetery just before mile 10. Only a 5K to go! Now I was running along the east side of the Genesee River by the U of R . I kept my running stride just as well as I could ... mile 11 and then mile 12 just before the Ford St bridge. 1.1 miles to go! Up and over the Ford St bridge to the west side of the Genesee River and north on Exchange St. A long mile. I cranked my stride up as much as I could and ran it in. I could hear and then see the finish. In the chute ... I heard Ellen Brenner call me in ... and done in 1:46:55 by my Garmin.

I was exhausted and staggered a few times before I caught my breath. I went into the BCA for some post race grub (pizza, banana and an apple). I met up with Kevin Clinefelter (1:32:24, 1st in my M55-59 age group), Mark Herberger (1:36:39, 6th in my M55-59 age group) and Prem Kumar (1:39:35, 26th out of 156 in his M 35-59 age group) to compare race stories.

I had to email Yellow Jacket Racing to get my time posted on the website. YJR responded quickly ... thanks, Matt Avery! Officially, I finished in 1:47:12, 8:11 pace. I was 397th out of 2242, link here. I was 14th out of 75 in my M 55-59 age group, line here. My splits were: 7:47, 7:46, 7:50, 7:35, 7:51, 8:19, 8:35, 8:55, 7:48, 8:24, 8:03, 8:24, 7:49 and 6:57 over the final 0.26 miles. Oh, there was the Wegman's Family 5K with 1129 runners that started 15 minutes after the Half, results here.

The local news covered the Flower City Challenge. Way up in front, "Kip" Tisia won (and three-peated) the Half in 1:07:34 and Karen Blodgett won for the women in 1:21:31.

Links from the D&C here, WHEC TV here, WROC TV here.

I was home by 11AM even after a brief stop at Wegmans for coffee creamer, 4 donuts and 8 cinnamon raisin danishes. My darling, Christine, had a kiss acoffee waiting for my arrival ... mmmm! My feet were up ... lots of sitting, drinking coffee, lounging, Facebooking and blogging soon ensued. I did limp around the apartment occasionally.

My right Achilles "problem" appears to be back ... joy. Hopefully it will heal quickly. I have a lot of races that I am signed up for and want to race ... not just run. But all in all ... a good day.