Just a few words about the Manchester 1/2 Marathon I ran last weekend. First off I went there with quite low expectations since I haven't been able to train as much as I had last year. I also had a cold which I got over about a half week before the race so I was thinking that I would be happy with a time between 2 hours and 2 hours and 20 minutes. I got to the race fairly early, wondered around a bit, warmed up and then stretched while in line for the Jiffy John. After the JJ I headed over to the starting area. The weather was decent considering it was nine in the morning and the time of year. (No rain which was a plus.) The race seemed to start before I knew it. For some reason I figured they would have the mayor, who was there, or someone making an announcement but instead everyone just started. I started out with a comfortable pace. The first couple of miles are fairly flat so I was able to ease into the race. When I got to mile two they had a time clock and I was at about 19:30 or 19:40 and I was thinking that it wasn't bad considering it took a while to get over the timing mat. I kept up the pace through most of the race. At each time clock I kept checking my progress and notice I was doing about 9 minute miles which for me is a pretty good pace. One point in the race where I gained some ground was through Livingston Park which has a gravel path we went through. People must not be used to running on it or are afraid of rolling an ankle because I was passing people left and right. I guess all my trail running this season paid off in that section. Anyways I was able to keep up the 9 minutes mile through the rest of the race and even picked it up some at the last mile or two. I know I picked it up the last mile since it is downhill or flat the whole way. I finished with a gun time of around 1:56:25. My net time was 1:55:46. It still wasn't enough to place me in the top half of my age or gender but I was still very happy with my time since it was a person best for me for half marathons. I also was happy because I wasn't expecting much with how I've been training. I final note. The race was great again this year as far as community coming to cheer us on and the police and volunteer clue was plentiful. (At least on the 1/2 marathon section.)
Jim
