The Emerald City Half Marathon — August 24 in Dublin, OH — was a good race!

The temperatures were a little bit warm at the start. The funny thing is, if this had been a normal August, it would have felt cooler than typical. However, since we had a very mild August, we didn’t have the chance to acclimate and it felt much warmer than it was.

Between the quarter marathon and half marathon, there were about 3,000 people at the start. It’s a nice sized crowd for the course.

The start was in waves, which helped to spread everyone out a little bit. I really like a wave start. I’m not positive, but I think it took about 10 minutes from the first wave for us to cross the start line. I was with Deb, Pat and Nancy and our plan was to hover around a 14-min mile.

The first couple of miles there were a lot of people around us. We had to weave around slower people, but it was not overly crowded. Between miles 2 and 3, the quarter marathon participants turned off, and the course really thinned out!

The temperatures did go up throughout the race, causing Deb and Pat to slow down a little. Nancy and I were able to maintain our pace.

We were on main roads for several miles, went through some beautiful neighborhoods, then around mile 6 we entered Glacier Ridge Park. We stayed in the park and on walking trails until about mile 11. Then we were back on the main roads to the finish.

There were plenty of water stations throughout the course, and a couple of us took advantage of porta johns without lines. (Always a plus when no lines.)

At the finish line, race director David Babner welcomed us and I even got a high five! We  received a great medal and water, and as we turned the corner there was tons of food left. We had bagels, bananas, chocolate milk, and more.

I finished in 3:08:17 and Nancy in 3:08:18. According to the race results I averaged 14:23 per mile. According to my watch I walked 13.2 miles, and averaged a 14:17 pace. Pat finished in 3:10 and Deb finished in 3:14. Our friend Steve finished in 2:58 — his third half marathon in under 3 hours this year!

Though this was a slow finish time for me — my half PR is closer to 2:53 — with the temperatures warmer than I’m used to, I was OK with it.

Overall, this is a good race. the shirts are always nice, and they fit. The medals are great! There was plenty of water and lots of food afterward. I didn’t go to the after-race party, so I can’t comment on that. If you are near Dublin in August, I would recommend entering this race.
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Hints for this Race:

• Register early for the best price.
• Arrive early! Parking is tight and traffic in the morning is heavy.
• Parking at the hospital is better than trying to get to Kroger.
• M3S always offers women’s shirt sizes. Be aware of that when choosing your shirt size.
• There is the potential for this race to warm. Do your best to be acclimated.
• If packet pickup is at FleetFeet, be aware that rush hour traffic to the store is pretty bad.

 

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