Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon Race Report
Two inches is the difference between this weekend and the same weekend two years ago.
Yes, just two inches; that is, around the waist.
In 2005, I ran back-to-back half marathons in the capital cities of Des Moines, Iowa and Lincoln, Nebraska in 2:16 and 2:18, respectively.
And today, I could only muster a 2:23:20 in another capital city - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - after only doing a 10K day ago.
Lots to write about, but I've firmed up my position on two things after today's half marathon - 1.) that races should start following the USATF rule on headphones and get them off the course and 2.) that more races need completely closed courses.
On the latter, in about mile 10 of the half marathon and around mile 23 of the full marathon, I a truck crossing in front of racers pull completely in front of - and causing him to have to come to a complete stop - a hand cycle wheelchair racer! If the wheelchair athlete wouldn't have seen it coming and anticipated it, it could have been a head-on collision.
When we were in Fort Worth yesterday, I was curious to know the fastest finisher to complete the 10K with a set of headphones on. My expectation was about right. She said that the 16th finisher was the first one to have headphones on. Actually I thought it might have been a little later.
My goal was to try and stay as close to 10:30 per minute miles, which would have been about a 2:17-and change finish. But not having the miles under my legs tested my endurance a little bit and I came in at the 2:23:20.02 that I mentioned earlier. Here are what the splits looked like:
Mile 1 -- 10:17.94
Mile 2 -- 10:52.75 (21:10.69)
Mile 3 -- 10:24.47 (31:35.16)
Mile 4 -- 10:50.54 (42:25.70)
Mile 5 -- 10:35.90 (53:01.60)
Mile 6 -- 11:02.62 (1:04:04.22)
Mile 7 -- 10:58.56 (1:15:02.78)
Miles 8-9 -- 21:58.27 (1:37:01.05) - There was a timing mat at mile 8 that I didn't know that it was the mile marker. I deduced it later on in addition to hearing somebody talk about it.
Mile 10 -- 11:11.49 (1:48:12.54)
Mile 11 -- 11:00.12 (1:59:12.66)
Mile 12 -- 12:07.12 (2:11:19.78)
Last 1.1 -- 12:00.24 (2:23:20.02) - The last part was a gentle downhill, plus I was trying to stay up with a runner in a pink top who was carrying a set of nice balloons (without the stick, of course).
The half marathon course has a lot of long inclines, especially from between the mile 8 and mile 11 markers. Little Rock has a very slight, yet recognizable incline in the first half, but this is just a little bit tougher.
The volunteers on this course are absolutely great. It had the feel of a Motive Bison Stampede, which I believe is no longer in existence in Austin (or will not be). Some of the water stops were done in themes. (Not that any of that matters to me, but it was kind of cool to see people being enthusiatic about being out there supporting everyone.)
The finish line area is handled pretty well, but they could do a little better job in moving the runners into a food area to meet with friends who ran the race. Family and other friends who didn't participate can't get in this area, which is very good.
The biggest problem this marathon has is the starting corral.
Runners queue up on Robinson Avenue just west of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, but they didn't have the corrals go back far enough and people came in from the side streets like how we used to see the last many number of years in Houston. It all actually worked out pretty well despite it, but it looked kind of odd to begin with.
The organizers promote this as "A Run To Remember" in an effort to memorialize the 168 individuals who lost their life on or after April 19, 1995.
They had a 168-second moment of silence where the only thing that could be heard were the birds chirping. I had my doubts just before they did it and I was utterly impressed. And by the time that National Anthem was done being sung immediately after it, most runners were singing along as well. Very inspiring.
If you've been to the Oklahoma City National Memorial, you know that it is a very well thought out memorial to the victims that lost their lives. There is a center area where the building once stood. And in that spot, there is a very cool reflecting pool. (Cool in the sense of how they move the water through it to give a very sheer look.) In this area, you can walk around (and see the 168 chairs set up in permanent tribute to those that lost their lives) and also sit in a grass area on the other side of the pool.
It just was odd to see marathoners using it as a stretching and pre-race gathering area. I thought that it took something away from how respectful people should be about those who were forced to pay an awful sacrifice with their lives that day.
Many runners ran with bibs on the back of their shirts that said, "Running In Memory Of".
The absolute best one that I saw the entire day was as follows:
Yes, just two inches; that is, around the waist.
In 2005, I ran back-to-back half marathons in the capital cities of Des Moines, Iowa and Lincoln, Nebraska in 2:16 and 2:18, respectively.
And today, I could only muster a 2:23:20 in another capital city - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - after only doing a 10K day ago.
Lots to write about, but I've firmed up my position on two things after today's half marathon - 1.) that races should start following the USATF rule on headphones and get them off the course and 2.) that more races need completely closed courses.
On the latter, in about mile 10 of the half marathon and around mile 23 of the full marathon, I a truck crossing in front of racers pull completely in front of - and causing him to have to come to a complete stop - a hand cycle wheelchair racer! If the wheelchair athlete wouldn't have seen it coming and anticipated it, it could have been a head-on collision.
When we were in Fort Worth yesterday, I was curious to know the fastest finisher to complete the 10K with a set of headphones on. My expectation was about right. She said that the 16th finisher was the first one to have headphones on. Actually I thought it might have been a little later.
My goal was to try and stay as close to 10:30 per minute miles, which would have been about a 2:17-and change finish. But not having the miles under my legs tested my endurance a little bit and I came in at the 2:23:20.02 that I mentioned earlier. Here are what the splits looked like:
Mile 1 -- 10:17.94
Mile 2 -- 10:52.75 (21:10.69)
Mile 3 -- 10:24.47 (31:35.16)
Mile 4 -- 10:50.54 (42:25.70)
Mile 5 -- 10:35.90 (53:01.60)
Mile 6 -- 11:02.62 (1:04:04.22)
Mile 7 -- 10:58.56 (1:15:02.78)
Miles 8-9 -- 21:58.27 (1:37:01.05) - There was a timing mat at mile 8 that I didn't know that it was the mile marker. I deduced it later on in addition to hearing somebody talk about it.
Mile 10 -- 11:11.49 (1:48:12.54)
Mile 11 -- 11:00.12 (1:59:12.66)
Mile 12 -- 12:07.12 (2:11:19.78)
Last 1.1 -- 12:00.24 (2:23:20.02) - The last part was a gentle downhill, plus I was trying to stay up with a runner in a pink top who was carrying a set of nice balloons (without the stick, of course).
The half marathon course has a lot of long inclines, especially from between the mile 8 and mile 11 markers. Little Rock has a very slight, yet recognizable incline in the first half, but this is just a little bit tougher.
The volunteers on this course are absolutely great. It had the feel of a Motive Bison Stampede, which I believe is no longer in existence in Austin (or will not be). Some of the water stops were done in themes. (Not that any of that matters to me, but it was kind of cool to see people being enthusiatic about being out there supporting everyone.)
The finish line area is handled pretty well, but they could do a little better job in moving the runners into a food area to meet with friends who ran the race. Family and other friends who didn't participate can't get in this area, which is very good.
The biggest problem this marathon has is the starting corral.
Runners queue up on Robinson Avenue just west of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, but they didn't have the corrals go back far enough and people came in from the side streets like how we used to see the last many number of years in Houston. It all actually worked out pretty well despite it, but it looked kind of odd to begin with.
The organizers promote this as "A Run To Remember" in an effort to memorialize the 168 individuals who lost their life on or after April 19, 1995.
They had a 168-second moment of silence where the only thing that could be heard were the birds chirping. I had my doubts just before they did it and I was utterly impressed. And by the time that National Anthem was done being sung immediately after it, most runners were singing along as well. Very inspiring.
If you've been to the Oklahoma City National Memorial, you know that it is a very well thought out memorial to the victims that lost their lives. There is a center area where the building once stood. And in that spot, there is a very cool reflecting pool. (Cool in the sense of how they move the water through it to give a very sheer look.) In this area, you can walk around (and see the 168 chairs set up in permanent tribute to those that lost their lives) and also sit in a grass area on the other side of the pool.
It just was odd to see marathoners using it as a stretching and pre-race gathering area. I thought that it took something away from how respectful people should be about those who were forced to pay an awful sacrifice with their lives that day.
Many runners ran with bibs on the back of their shirts that said, "Running In Memory Of".
The absolute best one that I saw the entire day was as follows:
Running In Memory Of
4/19/95
9/11/01
4/16/07
posted by WalkSports.com | 10:31 AM
3 Comments:
I never once turned my iPod on during Boston. Of course I didn't need to because the course and the crowds kept it interesting the whole way.
I didn't during the 5k a week ago either, but I will admit to wishing I'd taken the time to get them out of the car to keep me motivated.
Great report! Congrats!
I did OKC last year. What a great run - Full or Half. Good job.
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