For my third half marathon I chose the the 42nd Metro PCS Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. The event took place on Sunday December 4, 2011. 8:00 AM at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. I know, I'm just a little late in posting the results here, but I will try to be more timely in the future. In any case, the event benefitted the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for children, with 1 million dollars being donated to the worthy cause. There were 13,000 registered half marathon runners and 6,000 registered for the full marathon. There were also 5,000 five-person relay teams that pre-registered for the event. As a bit of motivation, there was a $25,000 total marathon purse, with $5,000 awarded to the overall men and women's marathon winners respectively. The race was covered and televised by the ABC affiliate, WFAA channel 8 from 8 - 11 AM. Something interesting happened when I picked up my bib #, chip timer, and shirt on Friday morning at the sponsors expo at the automobile building in Fair Park. Many of us runners were asked to write a message on a sign with the title "Why I Run the Rock". Additionally, we were recorded on video saying a few words about why we run. Channel 8 ran our videos on a few big screens along the race course, as well as a selection on the live broadcast. I had recorded the video on my DVR, so after the race I looked at the recording and was surprised to see my video on TV. This video was later included in a series of YouTube videos. My brief video is on video #3. Check it out here. There were just too many sponsors at the event to mention here. Check out their web-site: www.runtherock.com for the full list. You can also view the race results too. Arlington High School student, Virgilio Martinez, who ran the last 2 miles of a 16 member boy and girl high school relay team, passed and defeated the Kenyan marathon winner. There were over 300,000 spectators along the race course, cheering the runners as we ran. It was great. I arrived early and parked behind the automobile building. This is where I, and other runners, gathered together before the race. This was the first race that I've run where we were assigned a corral to line-up before the race. Because there were so many runners, it took me about 8 minutes just to reach the starting line. If you think that sounds bad, just keep in mind that the last runner crossed over the starting line in 38 minutes. At this point it wasn't raining, but that would change soon enough. The race-time temperature was about 42 degrees. It was basically impossible to pass the other because of the thousands of runners on the course. At about 1 1/2 miles into the race, Teresa Nichols ran up beside me for a minute. Teresa is a member of the awesome Run-On training group that I run with (10:30 pace). I told her to go on ahead of me. I was doing my best, but wanted to pace myself for this long race. My favorite racing store and training location, Run-On!, had several tent locations along the course handing out towels to everyone. Thank you Run-On! There were also several bands playing music while we raced. At about 3 miles into the race, it started raining. But thanks to a suggestion from my son John, I was prepared. I brought a bottle of Rain-X at AutoZone and put it on my glasses. It worked very well, keeping the rain off my glasses. Thanks John. From mile 5.5 to about 9, I had to face my worst enemy, hills. This is where I slowed down my pace. A little past the 8th mile, the marathon runners turned left, and I followed the other half marathon runners to the right. The good news is that the rest of the course was pretty flat except a few spots. My plan was to increase my pace at the 9th mile (after clearing the hills). There were timing mats placed at the 5K, 10K, and 15K marks. My 5K time didn't register, but my 10K time was 54:08 and my 15K time was 1:23:47. I crossed the finish line the time of 1:57:16, a 8:57 / mile pace, and a new half marathon PR! I finished 1993 out of 9,675 half finishers, and 1371 out of 4057 men. There were an impressive 5616 women finishers. Great job ladies. I placed 15 out of 90 in 60-64 age division with my coach Tom Mason. This was amazing race to run in. With all my health problems, I never thought I could run long distance races like this half marathon. Thanks to Run-On!'s training for the past year, I feel like I am able to run at my best potential. Special thanks goes to Jennifer Kimble and all the Run-On! coaches for keeping me in great physical shape, as well as USMD Prostate Cancer Center in Arlington, TX for keeping me healthy and cancer free. I trained and ran my races the best I could. I wanted my little brother Jimmy to be proud of me and hoped he would try and exercise a little. He was a diabetic like me and our father, and he had several minor strokes and other severe health problems. In April of 2011, he passed away just 6 days after his 54th birthday. I believe that I am blessed to be able to run. Do yourself a favor and make today the day you begin your love of walking and running for your better health. If I can do this, you can too. Just start slow, and anything is possible. Place Bib Overall Men Overall Chip Time Pace 15/90 20795 1989/9667 1369/4051 1:57:16 8:57 I run to raise awareness for prostate cancer and to benefit my community. www.runningforacause.tumblr.com |
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