Columbus half

On our way to Columbus for our first 'travel' race.  

It was SNOWING as we left Northeast Ohio ~ and sat for 20+ minutes on The 90 in a traffic jam...at 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon.

Jackson made me my very own sign & I think it's the best sign ever made for me.

We ate our spaghetti and meatball pre-race meal ~ I love the excuse to eat pasta ~ and planned our morning...a 4:15 wake-up so we could drink our coffee & eat our food & be out the door between 5 & 5:15.  Love the fact that Dodd's just as anxious about the 'getting there' logistics as I am.  Because if you're not anxious about that...you just don't understand the anxiety & then I feel like a big dork.  It's more relaxing for me to get there and wait than it is to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep (that I'm not getting anyway)   

We get out to the car...and we have to sit and wait for the frost to melt off the windshield... it was {as promised} a delightful 32 degrees {or colder}.  But as we were sitting there...I remembered no one had any money to pay for parking.  That would have been disastrous!  Ran back in to get the $$ and we were off.  And we were early.  And we got great parking two blocks from the start.  And we looked like homeless people in our throwaway jammie pants and sweatshirts & the blanket Dodd had wrapped around him.  We took a walk to the start line & I think I was the first person in the potty trailer.  Then we waited in the car.  

The start was so well organized.  You had to flash your bib to get into the start area & then you had to flash your bib to get into the correct corral.  We were in A...and thought we were all that with the elite peeps.  There were a ton of port-a-pots in the corral & each corral was fenced from the other ~ which was rather funny, but very organized to avoid the crazy crunch of people.  The countdown clock was running & I knew the start would be on time.  Four minutes to go they sang the national anthem & played  the Chicago Bulls theme music...I forget what it's called...and sent off the wheelchair racers.  Then they blasted AC/DC Thunderstruck & at the end set off fireworks from the top of the start line & off to the side...The adrenaline was PUMPING!  What a start!  Then we were off to Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run. Icing on the cake.  I'm jumping up & down & singing & smiling...and it was hard not to GO...except there were 19,000 people crammed around me.  Let me mention the crowd.  BLEACHERS lined the road for the first quarter mile with cheering and shouting and rock starring.  We turned the corner & couldn't hear Bruce anymore...but we could hear the next band & as soon as we couldn't hear them...there was another band.  There were people THE ENTIRE COURSE cheering and playing music and dancing and waving signs.  It was AWESOME.  And then each mile was 'sponsored'  by a child being treated at Nationwide Children's Hospital.  Some of the kids were there high-fiving runners, but all had a tent and family & friends cheering and holding signs. & then there were signs telling you a little bit about each kid.  It was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.  What these kids and their families live with daily...and here I am doing something I love to do.  My life is not hard.

Mike and I sort of ran together.  And I really enjoyed not pushing it.  We did finish together, hand in hand.  Here's the link to that video

And here are our stats...Mike and I had the exact same finish time:

Here we are...freezing after the finish ~ Dodd with is AMAZING PR of 1:39:46. {exactly 10 minutes ahead of us...WOW}  He got his medal engraved with his name and time {first time I've seen that option at the end of a race} AND he got to bang the PR gong.  

Great to run Craig's favorite race.  Honestly I can see why.  Columbus is done right ~ and there was a part of me that wished I wasn't making the turn off at 13.  I bet the full is just a cool as the half...especially since the full goes through OSU & the stadium.  If I don't get to do Marine Corp, I'm running Columbus full next fall.  It's a delightful 32 degrees at the start.

Team Beef represented ~ We got a LOT of shouts out for our Team Beef attire. And this was the first time I've run a half (anything over a 5k actually) without my iPod.  And I'm so glad I didn't have it.  The crowd was such a part of the experience.  I my be spoiled for any other race.

What I Wore:

32 degrees (or slightly colder) at the start with very little to no wind ~ sun came out & it warmed to the low 40's by the end of the race.  I was VERY comfortable in my underarmor capris, a light long sleeve black undershirt & my Team Beef sleeveless top.  I wore gloves until mile 6 or 7 & tucked them into my pants...wasn't sure I wouldn't want them again.  Pulled my sleeves over my hands a few times, but didn't get the gloves out again.  Forgot they were in my waistband until they fell out IN THE PORT-A-POT at the end of the race.  After that trip, I only had one glove, which I wore because it was cold.  All the spectators had on winter coats!