On 11/5/2017 I made a triumphant return to running races at the
City of Oaks. My company sponsors the afterparty so I got a discounted entry fee, and when the emails came in I jumped on it. Ok, so triumphant might be a bit of a stretch. I'm still very overweight, it wasn't going to be fast, and I had no idea what the arthritis would let me get away with. In 2016 I ran the full marathon here, and that has remained my last marathon.
Packet pickup was smooth the day before, I had no problems getting up and getting to the starting line, parking was easy and I made my way to the starting line with a few nerves starting to kick in.
 |
| at packet pickup |
 |
| Big crowd ahead of me |
 |
| bigger crowd behind me! |
 |
| Ready to run? it's a little chilly |
 |
| NC State's bell tower served as the start/finish line area |
The course at City of Oaks is beautiful. It winds through downtown, into Cameron Village, then back around to campus. Short, sweet, plenty of steep but short hills, and very scenic. The full marathon course gets lots of time on the greenways as well, but the 10k course didn't come anywhere close to that.
My only real hope (not even calling it a goal) was to break an hour, and sure enough I finished in 57:31, a 9:16/mile pace. Mostly it just felt good to get back out there and be among the crazies again.
 |
| Finally at the finish line |
 |
| at 8:30 am, bud light is actually a breakfast beer |
This is still a great race and I'm really glad I got out there for it. My last race of 2017 gives me hope that I can return to marathons again next year.
1 comment:
way to go! That is an excellent pace considering you are just getting back to it! I am glad that you are back to running as there is nothing worse than not being able to do something you love for reasons out of your control. I am sure the weight will come off and you'll be back to your old times in no time at all!
Post a Comment