EWEB’s Run to Stay Warm Half Marathon Race Report

Freezing temps, wind, and rain. The weather forecasters could not have been more wrong! It turned out to be a beautiful, clear, sunny day! I was getting pretty nervous in the days leading up to my first goal race in a long time; I was really just hoping there wouldn’t be any ice or snow to slip me up! But I couldn’t have hoped for the weather to be any better than it was!

The race didn’t start until 9am. And, since we drove down the night before, that meant we got to “sleep in”! (Anything past 6am is sleeping in to me!) I ate some of a cinnamon roll (since the oatmeal included in the continental breakfast was inedible) and started feeling a bit nervous.

We got to the packet pickup area at a little after 8am, and waited in a brief line. The pickup was inside a heated building, which was nice, but the room was a bit small for all that was going on, and I think with the large turnout, it got a bit jumbled up in there. No worries, though. I got my bib number, picked up my chip, and stayed inside to be warm. Half an hour before the start time, I used the (real) facilities, and just counted down until it was start time. Soon enough, it was time to line up, so all the half-marathoners headed out to the start line.

The race started right on time, and there was plenty of room at the start for everyone to spread out. After we finished weaving through EWEB’s River Edge Plaza, we found ourselves on the bike paths that would make up most of the race course.

Just after the start (I’m in the green shirt!):

About a mile into the race, we crossed over the Willamette River for the first time, and went around a bit of an extra loop on the North side of the river. We came back around toward our initial river crossing near Mile 4, where we met up with the 10k and 5k’ers. At first, I thought this would throw me off my race, but it was actually a bit of a mental boost. Up until this point, I felt like there were a lot of people passing me (although I would eventually see many of them later), but it was pretty empowering to be able to pass people running a shorter race than me. It definitely made me feel fast.

I went into the race wanting to hold an 8:30 min/mi pace, but I definitely started out faster than that. I was just hoping I wouldn’t pay for it later.

Mile 1: 8:02
Mile 2: 8:20
Mile 3: 8:15
Mile 4: 8:31

My friend K was nice enough to jump in with me from Mile 4 to Mile 7, to keep me company, and make sure I was feeling good. I was definitely feeling good, and able to keep a little bit of a conversation up at this point. Everything felt nice and smooth, and really pretty easy! J cheered me on from Mile 4 and Mile 7 (he was helping drive K around, and also there to cheer me on!) so I had him grab my gloves and hat since it had warmed up so much!

Meeting K and J:

Running with K, still feeling good:

Mile 5: 8:33
Mile 6: 8:21
Mile 7: 8:16
Mile 8: 8:04

About a mile after K took off to meet me on the other side of the river, things started to feel not quite as easy. Mile 8 is also where we had about a 0.4 mile out-and-back, which felt a bit discouraging, but after we made it through that, we crossed the Mile 9 marker, and crossed over the river for the final stretch.

Mile 9 wove through some neighborhoods, but soon enough we found ourselves back onto the bike path system. Mile 10 is when it really started to get hard. I told myself “Only 5k to go!”, but really, 5k seemed like an awfully far way to go! I told myself just to keep going. Although I was feeling tired, I still sped up a bit during this section, which may be because I was passing a few familiar faces.

Mile 9: 8:09
Mile 10: 8:01
MIle 11: 7:54

I think my friend K and J saw me during Mile 11, so maybe that’s why it was so quick? But I know I saw K again about halfway into Mile 12. She ran with me to the finish, and I’m so glad she did. I was struggling, and mentally I just wanted to slow down a bit, but K kept me focused on my breathing and on keeping a smooth, even pace. I stayed strong, and the time just kept clicking away. Soon enough, K told me to charge ahead, so I did! One final turn and I could see the finish line. I totally didn’t catch up with the 2 girls in front of me, but that’s ok. My legs definitely gave all they had. Finally I crossed, with a smoking new PR!

Getting really tired! Can you tell?:

Me and J at the finish area:

Mile 12: 8:12
MIle 13: 8:13
Mile 13.1: 1:54 (6:48 avg pace)

Garmin Results:
13.28 miles: 1:48:44 (8:11 avg pace)

Official Results:
13.1 miles: 1:48:49 (8:19 avg pace)
Age Group: 6/44
Overall: 139/462

(Apparently, my chip didn’t work. But I’m not too worried about it. I was only a few seconds behind the start line, and those few seconds didn’t put me over into the next minute! ;)

I’m really proud of myself for this race. I ran it smartly, and really think I gave it everything I had in the moment. It was a great day to race a half marathon, and I definitely killed my time from Helvetia! Part of that is because the course was pretty flat, part of that is because I’ve learned to run smarter, and part of that is because I’m faster.

It was a great race, with a good course and good organization. And It was for a great cause! (From the website: “All proceeds benefit EWEB's Customer Care Program to help income-eligible customers who are having difficulty paying their utility bills.”) It was also a pretty great preview of a good portion of the Eugene Marathon! (Which J and I may or may not have signed up for…)

Since this was my 2nd half in 15 days (and also my 3rd or 4th within 90 days), I qualified to become a member of the Half Fanatics. Say hello to Fanatic #652! :)

I want to continue running half’s (hopefully 1/month for a year, if I can handle it in my schedule!) I really like them, and not all of them need to be races! :) We’ll see how I do!

In the meantime, it’s again time to run for fun! My next half is the Holiday Half on 12/12! And I have a turkey trot on Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!