Atlanta Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Atlanta, Georgia
United States
Atlanta Track Club
40F / 4C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 35m 44s
Overall Rank = 385/9000
Age Group = m35-39
Age Group Rank = 48/708
Pre-race routine:

Logistics.. Get to Turner Field. Park cars. Jump in one car with group. Take one car to the start. Park easily right at the start. Wait till 6:45, then head toward the corrals.
Event warmup:

None.
Run
  • 1h 35m 44s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

Started in the first Corral, but the corrals were pretty narrow, and I got into the corral when it was full. There was no making my way forward, so I started in the very back of corral 1. That made the first mile a bit more difficult in that I had to work harder to acheive 'my' position in the pack. I wore my Garmin, and have splits through mile 9, when it shut off on me. I had a few miles below 7:00, and would say the first 8 or so probably averaged right at, or just above 7 min miles. After that, the uphills began, and my pace slowed. Not too much, but enough to drop my overall average pace to a 7:19 per mile for the race. Not much to note on the course. I took 2 gels with me, and tried something new. I knew I didn't really need 2 complete gels for 13.1 miles, especially considering the Ensure I drank pre-race, so what I did, is instead of fighting to get a whole gel in, I opened it, took in what I could in full stride, then threw the rest away. That way, I didn't struggle with getting 'all' the gel in a down. As it is, I would say I ended up taking 1.5 gels total.

I put my target for this race at 1:35. That's a PR on this course for me, but not an overly aggressive goal. I hit it dead on, and was happy with that. I am getting better at assessing where I am fitness wise, at any given point.
What would you do differently?:

Get to corral slightly earlier, and start about halfway toward the front.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around, saw a bunch of people, drank a beer or 3, then watched the Marathoners come in.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing.

Event comments:

A much improved experience with the addition of a race sponsor. The Weather Channel was a nice addition. There was somewhere between 8 and 9 thousand finishers in the half. I think next year it will sell out and definitely have over 10k finishers. Running on Thanksgiving has become a nationwide tradition, and Atlanta now can claim one of the best races out there in regards to the half marathon. Definitely something to be thankfull for.




Last updated: 2008-10-21 12:00 AM
Running
01:35:44 | 13.1 miles | 07m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 48/708
Overall: 385/9000
Performance: Good
I don't race with a HRM
Course: Point to point, new start for 2008. Much better. Corrals on Peachtree Industrial (Peachtree Street). Rolling hills until buckhead, then a nice downhill for a mile or so. Miles 8.5 to 13 are difficult, constant uphills. Enough to slow anyone down.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4