Hyannis Half Marathon Race Report

Drew, Justin, Shawn and I met at Walmart in Seekonk at 8:15am errr I mean 6:30am. Had a nice relaxing drive over to Hyannis - and no traffic either. We picked up our race pack and shirts with no problems then headed over to the hotel room my sister had at the resort to relax/strech/get changed. Laura having a hotel room allowed us to relax and stay comfy right up until race time. Thanks Laura! We all got ready and headed out to acclimate to the cooler temps outside. Temperature was chilly but not cold and the rain was supposed to hold off until after noon.

Justin, Drew and I set ourselves up at the back of the 8 minute groups, while Shawn and Laura headed back to the 10 minute group. The start was slow (as usual). The gun went off and there was that intial surge then the stop, then the walk, then the run, then the stop again. When we hit the starting mat we were basically at a brisk jog. Drew and I were able to get off to the side and pass quite a few people. I turned after about a tenth of a mile in to find Justin and I did - and that was the last I saw of him.

Drew and I ran the first mile together at a 8:34 pace which was a bit faster than I wanted for the first mile - but whatever. We did alot of passing in the first mile, which included hopping up on sidewalks (which I hate doing). Second mile (still with drew) was at a brish 8:02 pace. Somewhere in the third mile drew seperated himself from me and was just a bit ahead of me. Third mile was 8:08(ish) - I mis-clicked my split on my watch on this one so this is an estimate. Then the "screaming lady mile" aka mile 4. Lady had her headphones on and insisted on talking to the guy next to her the entire time - she had no idea how loud she was. I heard her from over a quarter mile away. Not sure what she was talking about - but I was able to block most out and hit an 8:16 4th mile. I never saw Drew again somewhere in the 4th or 5th mile. Then I was on my own. And per usual - around mile 7 or so I lost track of where I was in the race and had to ask another runner. Something about miles 7,8,9 I drift (or too focused) and lose track of where I am - and my brain is too mushy to figure it out by doing some basic math. Right at mile 9 or so, I regained my focus again. I found a nice pocket of runners (me and 2 others) that were at about the same pace. once I hit mile 10 I just told myself "only" a 5k left. I tried to do some quick math and realized that I was not gonna PR this one. That realization was kind of deflating. I know you cant PR every race - but I like to be in the hunt at each race. Right before the end - Shawn and Drew (having finished the 10k already) were standing on the side cheering me on. I was able to kick it hard from that point and finish really strong (thanks again guys). After I passed through I looked down at my watch and was thought I was short of my PR. I de-chipped my shoe, got my medal and then headed down to cheer on Justin.

Justin came down the road a little while later looking good. It started to drizzle and I started to get cold and a little crampy - so I headed back to the hotel room. I didnt get to see my sister finish (sorry sis).

Once the results were posted on CoolRunning- I realized I had PR'd the race by 4 seconds. And those 4 seconds can only be attributed to my strong finish - which was soley cause of Shawn and Drew and the support they threw my way at the end. Although it was only 4 seconds faster than Manchester, my splits (below) were much more consistent which was one of my overall goals for my training races.

We all got cleaned up and headed back to RI - with a stop for lunch at 3:00 where I ate a burger, fries, the rest of Laura's burger and Justin's left over fries. Then an early dinner at 6ish that consisted of 3 slices of pizza and chips.

Great race, great trip and I look forward to running it again next year.

Splits
8:34
8:02
8:08
8:16
8:16
8:17
8:19
8:23
8:21
8:14
8:19
8:22
8:13
1:00 (last bit)