First of all, this was the most fun half marathon EVER!!! I had so much fun, mostly because my friend, Erika, from college was here. She is such a blast to hang out with and even more fun to run with. I usually run by myself, especailly over long distances, so it was a nice change to run with people.
The race itself was uneventful and really really nice up until about Mile 10. At Mile 10, it felt like someone was trying to hammer a big old nail up into my heel. It was the plantar fasciitis acting up again. I knew I was in for it because I didn't take enough time off running after Pike's, but I was hoping I could just get through this race and THEN rest. Not so much. 
After the race, Erika and I had a few beers. I took this picture of Erika through the fence that they had around the beer garden. I was joking that they wouldn't let her out because she drank too much. We both kept getting tickets for free beer (through no fault of our own, haha)!
So, Dan and Noah and I piled into the car on race day and went into downtown Denver. It was an easy drive, Noah was really good, and we found Erika and her group easily at the big red chair with the horse on it near the Denver Library. Noah was wearing his skeleton jammies and refused to take them off the rest of the day, in spite of the fact that it was 80 degrees by 11:00.
We all headed to the bathroom and then to the starting line with 10,000 of our closest friends and we were off! Dan and Noah cheered us on, but the crowd was so big I couldn't even see them. They went to breakfast during the race and then watched us at the finish line, but I didn't see them there either. Poor Erika was freezing at the starting line so she had on a trash bag. Race chic!
The race itself was uneventful and really really nice up until about Mile 10. At Mile 10, it felt like someone was trying to hammer a big old nail up into my heel. It was the plantar fasciitis acting up again. I knew I was in for it because I didn't take enough time off running after Pike's, but I was hoping I could just get through this race and THEN rest. Not so much. Erika was so nice. She coaches running teams and she totally got me through the last three miles. My foot hurt so freaking bad I just wanted to stop every second. But she kept me talking and we ran all the way to the end. The last three miles were pretty slow, but we made it! Our official time was 2:14:53. I was ok with that considering the foot.
After the race, Erika and I had a few beers. I took this picture of Erika through the fence that they had around the beer garden. I was joking that they wouldn't let her out because she drank too much. We both kept getting tickets for free beer (through no fault of our own, haha)!
Dan and Noah played by the stage (they had bands playing. Noah was very happy with a ball he got at the post race expo. He named the ball Scott.
I am so glad I ran this race. It is a great one. Next year it is going to be the Rock N Roll Denver Marathon, which will make it even better. Erika wants to make it an annual tradition and I am all over that! I may even be up for the full, depending on what I do for Pike's next year. If you are looking at running a half or full marathon, I HIGHLY recommend Denver. They had some great sponsors and everything was really well run.
1 comment:
good job on your half!
have you ever heard of a club (english?) where the leader marks the route by dropping flowers. i think they run to bars during the runs too.
our neighbors used to do it here in kc and had a lot of fun.
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