WALK Magazine

Some of the Buckeye Striders before the start of the race: Vince, Deb, Elaine, Me and Steve.

Yesterday’s 10th Anniversary Capital City Half Marathon was fantastic! Everything about the race went smoothly from the packet pickup to the finish line and after race party. This review is not going to go into minute detail, but here are some highlights.

The trash cans throughout the city were sealed.

We arrived early race morning because we were a little concerned that added security might cause delays. Turns out the additional security measures were nearly inconspicuous. Other than the built in trash cans throughout the city being “temporarily out of order,” nothing was screaming security.

There were plenty of port-a-johns at the start.

The sound system was really good! Even in corral F, we heard nearly everything — including a jazzy saxophone rendition of the National Anthem. Beautiful.

The pre-race music was really fun. The playing of Sweet Caroline was such a hit! Everyone got into it.

The corrals were released in waves. I didn’t check to see how long it took F to get to the start, but it didn’t seem long. The crowds were spread out and it made the start really nice. More big races need to do this.

There was music throughout most of the course. It was fun seeing the band from the junior high school I attended playing near OSU’s campus! Most of the music was very upbeat and helped me keep a pace. There were more DJs than bands and that was fine. “Call Me Maybe” was the song heard most often.

It was breezy and I was cold, so I wore a sweatshirt until it was tossed around mile 3.

The course went north quite a way, then turned to go south on High Street. This was my favorite part! Going along High Street from campus to downtown was so fun! First, it was a straight shot, second it was fun to see how all of the neighborhoods and businesses along High Street change. I loved it.

Somewhere around mile 8 or 9, I picked up the pace, and Elaine  slowed a little.

The course continued south of downtown into German Village (I love German village), then ended up back on High Street where we turned north to the finish line. A couple of blocks before the actual finish line the side of the street was fenced off to keep the crowds back. There were red, white and blue flags on the fencing. It was very pretty and made me feel like picking up my pace even more!

Side note: In the last 3 miles, I passed a TON of runners! Yea, me! A lot of them weren’t walking — I was passing them as they were running.

Jeff Hogan from Channel 10 was at the finish line announcing. He was in the street giving everyone high fives as we approached and cheering us on. He was very encouraging (and cute).

Me after the race.

I crossed the finish line, received my medal, had my picture taken and waited a minute for Elaine. I didn’t see her right away, so I kept going through the food area. I was handed water, a bagel and an orange. Here I ran into Jim and we went on to the after race party in Columbus Commons.

As we walked I started to get cramps in both legs. I’ve never had that before. I probably should have taken some Gatorade at that point. I kept walking and they went away.

We were funneled through a fenced area that was so well organized! A big sign said that once we left that area we couldn’t go back. There was so much food here and so many people handing it out, I have no doubt that even the slowest finisher would have received a bagel. It looks like there were bananas early (I would have preferred a banana) but I’m OK with what I received.

We walked into the park and instant sensory overload! A band was playing and there were people everywhere! There were “booths” selling food and tequila. We found one handing out chocolate milk, (I chugged a cup) then I went to the entrance to wait for Elaine and Deb.

After Deb and Elaine arrived, we found the family reunion area and caught up with Vince, Meng and Steve. There were tables and chairs and lots of shade. It was a nice place to rest. There was beer and champagne in the party somewhere, but I didn’t have the energy to look for it.

When we finally left the after race party — about 4 hours after the start — the finish line was still set up, an announcer was still encouraging finishers, there were spectators, and the last few walkers had just as good of a finish experience as the rest of us! How great is that?

My watch time said I finished in 2:57. I was surprised to see my official finish time was 2:55! I didn’t train as well as I had hoped, so I am very happy with that! Shoot, I was happy with 2:57.

This race was very well organized and even with extra security, went off without a hitch. David Babner and M3S did a fantastic job! I highly recommend this race to anyone wanting to do a Spring half marathon.

  (146)

Me and my friends after the Columbus Marathon holding plastic bags that hold our bagels.

I admit it — I read Runner’s World. (I’m still a walker, but since there is no WALK! Magazine anymore…)

Today I read an article by one of the columnists about his running his first half marathon. It was a nice story. But at the end of the article he admitted to taking three extra bagels for his kids.

My immediate reaction was anger.

OK, this guy had never run a half marathon before. Newbies make mistakes. I tried to let it go.

But then I thought about all of the races I’ve entered where there was not enough food for me or my friends at the finish. I remembered the half marathon runner who walked away from one race carrying 12 doughnuts without blinking an eye or thinking about the full marathoners behind him. I thought about the guy who carried sandwiches to his kids (who did not race) when I didn’t get one sandwich. I remembered my friend Deb nearly collapsing at the end of a race that was unusally hot and there was no water or food for us. (She sat on the curb about to pass out, then we went to Wendy’s.)

This article appeared in Runner’s World! I have the impression that most of their writers are pretty fast runners, maybe they don’t know what it is like in the back. I had to say something.

So, I sent an email to the magazine. I congratulated the columnist on his finish, then suggested that RW not encourage people to take more food than they need, there are plenty of people who are a lot slower than a 2-hour half marathon, and they would like a bagel, too. (I hate to admit this, but I even made a grammatical error in the note! Ugh!)

I just sent the email earlier today and have not heard back from the magazine. (I’ve edited magazines. With the amount of email RW gets, I know I might not hear back.)

When I posted my thoughts about the article on the WALK Facebook page, I was a little surprised at the number of walkers who read the article and had the same reaction. If a bunch of walkers felt that way, I wonder how the huge number of runners who are slower than 2 hours who all read RW feel about it.

I’ll let you know if I receive a response.

(If you listened to my recent podcast, you know Deb and I are obsessed with bagels.)

  (253)