Montgomery Half-Marathon

I've viewed so many articles, race reports and news clips about this event, I don't know what's left I can say about it.

Drew's race report covered the event pretty well from front of the pack perspective, putting in PR (Personal Record) on his quest to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Amanda's blog post covered the event well, also. She is quickly moving up list of fast local females who consistenly leave me in the dust. She also PR'd at this race.

My running buddy Kym Klass, a local reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser, has (at least) two articles in today's paper. An "Extra Mile" column about riding in the lead car, and one about Virginia Jacks, who worked at an Italian Ice place I like to visit.

Pictures from the Montgomery Half-Marathon can be found here.

I got to the race very early, as usual, and did some walking around the area. The other regular early birds were around as usual. The weather was great, not too warm or cool.

The event was well organized and started on time. There was plenty of support and cheering neighbors along the way, much improved over last year. The beginning of the race is a two mile climb to highest point in the race, then flattens for awhile, running through several historic neighborhoods, college campuses and the Governor's Mansion. At mile 10, they throw in a curve ball, a short steep section along Perry Avenue, and another just before the Capitol. Get past those, and the home stretch is (mostly) all downhill.

I didn't have my fastest pace, like many of my running buddies did, but it wasn't my slowest either. I wanted to beat my time from last year at this race, and I accomplished that.

The post race festivities were also well-organized. Plenty of post-race refreshements, a band, and lots of activities. It was an overwhelming success for the city of Montgomery.