St Michaels Half Marathon - 17 May 2014 - Third Place in Age Group & PR

1:39:23 Chip and 1:39:32.4 Gun
41/1260 Overall and 3/57 M35-39

I had not raced at the half-marathon distance since the 2012 Marine Corps Historic Half preferring to race at the full or ultra marathon distances, but having a chance to pick-up a bib on a transfer, I decided to give St Michael's a shot.  The race bills itself as "Ridiculously flat and ridiculously fun" but a number of runners I had talked to about the race had warned me that their organization was a little suspect. 

Race Plan.  After finishing racing four marathons in 16 days at Cincinnati Fly Pig Marathon on 4 May 14, my focus had shifted to preparing for the North Face ECS DC 50 miler on 7 June 14.  I had two weeks since my last race but I was not tapering, so my race plan was simply to head out at marathon pace around a 7:30 minute/mile and try to hand on for 13.1 miles.

Race Day.  I got to St Michaels about an hour prior to the scheduled start, picked up my bib and got warmed up.  The race includes a 10K and 5K in addition to the half marathon and the 10K was scheduled to start first at 7:30 with the half marathon starting 10 minutes later using the same start line.  The 10K started about ten minutes late and there was no really ordering of getting people lined up for the half marathon which led to a bit of a free for all at the start line.  I was lucky enough to be near the start and was able to start fairly easily but for a faster runner trapped further back it was probably rather ugly.  I got off to a good start, running a couple seconds a mile under pace.  The course headed out through St Michaels and then looped around a golf course, rejoining the main road around 4.5 miles.  Through the first six miles, I was running very well and was about 30 seconds ahead of plan, but after that point some fatigue set in and my pace eased back to closer to 7:40 min/mile.  I was able to hold that for the most part for the rest of the race.  The course was then largely an out and back along MD 33, turning around at 7.75 miles.  Once back into St Michaels around 11.5 miles the course then ran along a rail trail to the finish.  I largely was able to hold my 7:40 min/mile pace through the end, setting a new PR at 1:39:23 which was good for 41 overall and third place in the M35-39 age group.  The finish area was very congested and not well set up which made the finish a little frustrating.  I have linked to my Map My Run file here. 

All wrapped up, trophy in hand

Expo, Finish, Bling and Travel.  I did race day packet pick-up, so I didn't have a chance to see the mini-expo on Friday.  Packet pick-up seemed relatively well run but perhaps a little short staffed with volunteers.  The finish area was very badly laid out and not well signed.  They had an OK selection food but finding the area was a challenge.  The finish festival was in downtown St Michaels and was a good event but again it was not well signed and required some searching to find. 

St Michaels Finish Festival

The race shirt and medal were both good.  I was able to drive to St Michaels on the morning of the race which was about an hour drive from the Annapolis area. 

Final Thoughts.  The St Michaels Half Marathon is a race that is well suited to picking up a fast time and was a fun event.  It is improving but still suffering from some organization issues.  Compared to some of the other half marathons, it is on the pricey side for a local race.  I am glad I ran the race and I had a good time.  Now back to focusing on preparing for the North Face ECS DC 50 mile on 7 June and Hatfield-McCoy Marathon on 14 June. 

Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon - 4 May 2014

3:43:58 Chip
577/3980 Overall and 76/333 M35-39
Fifth 26.2 of 214 and 16th career 26.2
Ninth US State

I had first heard about Cincinnati's Fly Pig Marathon about a year ago and with all of the positive reviews I had seen, it was a natural fit into running four marathons in a 16 day span.  Having just come off my first back-back weekend on 26/27 April, I was curious on how I would perform.

Race Plan.  Based on running around an average 8:30 minute/mile pace at the Gettysburg Marathon (second day of the back to back), I was planning to head out around that pace for the first 16 miles and then try and push down toward 8:00 minute miles the rest of the way in if possible. 

Race Day.  Flying Pig has an early 6:30 am gun and I got to the start line near Paul Brown Stadium from my hotel across the river in Covington KY just after 5:40.  I have linked to my Map My File here. 

An early morning start

With the Marathon Maniac photo at 6:00 am, I probably would have been a bit better served getting there around 5:15. 


Flying Pig Marathon Maniacs

The race started out heading west toward Great American Ballpark before crossing over the Ohio River into Covington KY for about one mile.  The course looped back into Cincinnati through a relatively flat section through the downtown.  I struggled to keep my pace down through the first miles and by the  time I hit the main hill in Eden Park I was running around 90 seconds under my projected pace.  A bathroom break there however put me a little behind schedule and I pushed the pace a little through the middle section of the race to get back on my planned pace.  The course support was excellent but the section around Mariemont Square (15-17 miles( was especially outstanding.  The temperatures which had been moderate at the start did start to creep up a little by 15 miles into the race.  Coming out of the Mariemont Sqaure area is was becoming clear that I was not going to be able to drive the pace down below 8:30 and in fact I was going to be hard pressed to sustain that pace.  My pace sagged a little through the next four to five miles before stabilizing in the last few miles.  The section along the Columbia Parkway following Mariemont Square was a little boring but it moved into a really well supported section along Riverside Drive with a few rolling inclines.  The race finished by Great American Ballpark on a nice quick downhill finish. 

Headed to the finish

Course support was excellent with water stations located about every mile along the course.

Expo, Finish, Bling and Travel.  The Fly Pig Marathon had an excellent race expo with a wide variety vendors in the convention center.  Bib pick-up was across the street at the race hotel.  The finish festival was well done, although the recovery area was perhaps a little too extended and the baggage pick-up was a bit of hike.  The rest of the finish festival was quite good in a park along the Ohio River.  The medal and shirt are somewhat unique and in addition the marathon participants received a nice mini duffel bag. 

Flying Pig Marathon Shirt and Medal

There were a wide variety of hotels within walking distance of the start line including several in Covington KY.  I traveled to the race by car, splitting the trip to Cincinnati over Friday evening/Saturday morning with a long drive back on Sunday to Maryland which was a little ambitious.

Overall, the Flying Pig Marathon was an excellent race which I really enjoyed.  It had a good course and an outstanding race day experience.  This is definitely a race I would like to run again.