Manchester, NH
Sunday, November 8, 2020
My third half-marathon of 2020, but my only one on roads.
Went up to NH for a 4-day mini-vacation, with the half marathon in the middle. While I really enjoy destination races, this one was more a case of there are so few races going on during COVID, this was one put on by a highly reputable organization, NH is the only NE state besides CT that Rhode Islanders can stay overnight without a COVID test, so why not go and do it and make a vacation out of it.
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| The individualized e-mail details from Millenium are quite impressive! |
We (Jana, Matthew, Brady) were staying at a hotel nearby, and I had already picked up my bib the day before, so logistics were pretty easy race morning. I arrived with just under half an hour to spare, and while I generally prefer closer to an hour, already having my bib reduced the amount of time I needed. After taking care of business and a short warm-up, I headed to the corral to get lined up on my cone. Like NH 10-Miler, this was a staggered start every ten seconds. Someone tapped me on my shoulder as I was lined up; it was Dave Dunham wishing me good luck. Of course, I had already scouted the competition ahead of time and like NH 10-Miler the race for our age group would likely come down to me and him (he won at NH 10-Miler). At NH 10-Miler he was seeded twenty seconds behind me, but here he was seeded 1 minute 40 seconds ahead of me.
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| Brady is wondering what I am doing, as I'm lined up at my designated cone during the national anthem. He actually tried to crawl through the metal corral fencing to line up with me! (Photo by Jana) |
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| The course consisted of two loops: Start to Mile 5: west of the Merrimack River, Mile 6 to Finish: hilly east of the river run. |
First loop: Despite being seeded 73rd (half and full marathon started together) and only two per wave, the time passed quickly and I found myself "on deck". Ready to go, I took off my mask at the designated area and put it in a zippered pocket (it was either this or throw it away, as many did with disposable masks).
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| And I'm off. It's really nice that Millenium Running provides free photos for participants of their events. |
The race starts and finishes on Elm Street, a multilane main thoroughfare in downtown which was completely closed to traffic for the race. I followed the cones out, marking the lane to run in for about five blocks before turning east and across the Merrimack River onto quieter roads. While there were hundreds of cones along the route, there was also a live course marshal at seemingly every intersection.
My first mile was a little spicy in 5:50. I think I seeded myself a few minutes too slow, as I started passing runners about a half-mile in and passed five to ten in the first two miles alone. After a decent climb in Mile 2, it was pretty flat and easy on a bike path return to the start for the second loop.
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| About two miles in. The form is still looking good at this early stage. |
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| So why would even post this awful pic? Because it's good to make fun of yourself! Am I throwing up, preparing a snot rocket, or chewing on my singlet? I can only guess that I'm wiping sweat off my face. --- About Mile 4 on Piscataquog Trail Bridge |
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| The same bridge, pic taken the day before while checking out the course |
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| Interesting cow at the end of bridge |
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| Finishing up the first loop, Mile 4.5 Pic by Matthew Looks like my form is breaking down already? |
Second loop: Runners were still starting the race when I went through the start area. This is due to the 2-person waves and large field (just over 1,000 total in half and full events combined), so it made sense that they had to have us go around the start area, but it was an awkward set of turns and definitely added a few seconds.
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| Mile 5 Passing Jana and Brady, as I start the second loop. |
And now the "fun" begins. The remainder of the course (7 miles) was entirely hills: two miles up, three miles undulating, two miles down. The only solace in the two-mile, 200' climb was a Manchester police woman blasting classic rock from her cruiser. That was definitely motivational! As I passed one of the lead women in the race, she mentioned something to the effect that the hills were unrelenting and at this point, she gave up on her time goals and was just trying to finish. That would be fair except that she should have studied the course and elevation ahead of time. It sounded like she didn't know what was coming. The Mile 7 uphill slog was my slowest mile split at 6:44.
In Mile 9, we got a temporary reprieve from the hills as we briefly left the asphalt roads to run manicured trails through Livingston Park along Dorrs Pond. I was able to pass two more people here, before exiting the park and resuming road climbs.
Miles 10 and 11 were constant rollers, and my legs were really fatiguing now. When we finally started Mile 12, I knew we were now in a downhill mode to the finish, and a small 30' hill at the end of Mile 12 seemed momentarily painful and punishing.
The final mile was pretty much a straight shot down Hanover Street, with a 150' sustained drop. With my eye on the finish, I accelerated and passed a number of runners here, although to be fair a number of them had to be going on to the full course, where veered off right before my finish. My final mile was a 5:47!
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| Snipped from finishing line streaming video from race organizer |
As I crossed the finish line, it was the opposite sight of the NH 10-Miler, with Dave Dunham now standing behind the finish line watching my finish and waiting for a comparison of times. Before we even compared our watch times, he said he thought I beat him this time, which the results bore out, but my a mere ten second differential.
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| Making my way through the finish line stash of food and drink |
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| As soon as you finished, organizers required you to put on a mask. They made it pretty easy, though, by giving away NH masks at finish line. |
Final results: 1:23:49, 26th out of 578 overall, 1st of 23 in age group. Full results here.
With about 700' of elevation gain of the length of the course, this course certainly is not a PR course. Which makes me all the more happier with my results! I think I had a put in an estimated finish time of 1:27. That was considering my all-time PR of 1:20:49 but also not having broken 1:23 even on flat courses in more than six years, and adding an allowance for hills. A good race!
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