Philly Half Marathon race report

[enfuego23]

This wasn't my favorite race:(  I didn't do too bad - 1:42:56 - about a minute and half off of my PR. al320 is right - Philly is NOT flat!
The hills killed me plus I prefer it a bit colder to race - it was 52 and a bit humid at the start. 

What I liked about the race:

- I was in the Black Corral and there was plenty of room to move around, stretch and warm up. 
- Corrals were organized pretty well and I got there at 6:20 and easily found my way into the      
  corrals - no problems with security
- Volunteers were great:)
- good food at the end - banana, orange, pretzels, fruit bites, and hot chicken broth - I didn't get  
  any but I thought that was a different approach to getting fluids:)

- nice medal and I liked the gear check bags

What I didn't like:

- Wasn't impressed by the expo - thought it would be bigger. 
- I knew in the first 3 miles there would be no PR for me - it was so crowded!! I was elbowed and  
  stepped on too many times to count:( The streets were really narrow and it was just too crowded
  for me - The wave starts didn't help. DH couldn't find me on
  the course because it was so crowded. 
- not a huge amount of spectator support - I never turn my music on before mile 12 and I had it on
  by mile 3. 
- Not enough water stops and gels weren't given out until almost mile 10
- Not a fan of the race shirt
- miles 7-10 were awful, rolling hills. My pace dropped to 8:20 on the last huge hill and sadly any
  hopes of a PR were gone. 

My quads are trashed and my toes hurt from the downhills. Oh well, there will be more races but I'm disappointed the race wasn't more fun. 

[appleaday]

Love the breakdown of the pros/cons. I bet you can easily beat your PR with a touch cooler temps and a more flat course! Still, nice time for a not-so-great day/race!!

[al320]

Congrtas! Thats still a great time!

Meanwhile, i thought there was too much crowd support. This was my first "big city" marathon. I wasnt able to get into a zone at the beginning, i found the crowds SO distracting. Mile 6-7 was non-stop crowds, i hated it! Its not for me!

And i didnt see any chicken broth lol

[Wines Not Whines]

Thanks for the race report!

Nov 18, 2013 5:55:42 GMT -5 al320 said:

Congrtas! Thats still a great time!

Meanwhile, i thought there was too much crowd support. This was my first "big city" marathon. I wasnt able to get into a zone at the beginning, i found the crowds SO distracting. Mile 6-7 was non-stop crowds, i hated it! Its not for me!

And i didnt see any chicken broth lol

This is interesting to me, because I've learned there can never be too much crowd support for me. I think I prefer big races. Clearly different people feel very differently about this!

[clseale]

I'm sorry that you didn't have more fun, but awesome job on another amazing time ! You've put up two very impressive halves in a short time. Congrats !!

al320, that's how I felt about parts of Chicago. I've done huge races before that I loved, but it was at a new level in Chicago. The crowds were amazing, but there were parts that I was thinking," Too much stimulus !!!" I think my hamstring troubles had me slightly irritated though. 

[cinco]

Sorry it wasn't the most fun race for you, but a fast time none the less. Way to go!

[gt7301b]

Great time, but sorry you weren't able to PR.

I am annoyed by the shirt too, last year's shirt was small on me. So I ordered a large this year, and it is huge.

[gummybear]

Still an awesome time!! Congrats!!

I too was shocked on how crowded it was.

ETA: Also, it was so crowded that in South Street some girl took out a banana to eat (while she was running). She dropped it and before she could even turn around to get it, I stepped RIGHT on it and squished it into the ground. She looked crestfallen and I felt bad.

[shauni27]

I am still super impressed by your time--nice work!

[libbygrl109]

Sorry it wasn't as fun as you had hoped. Still a great time, though.

[enfuego23]

Nov 18, 2013 5:55:42 GMT -5 al320 said:

Congrtas! Thats still a great time!

Meanwhile, i thought there was too much crowd support. This was my first "big city" marathon. I wasnt able to get into a zone at the beginning, i found the crowds SO distracting. Mile 6-7 was non-stop crowds, i hated it! Its not for me!

And i didnt see any chicken broth lol

There was good crowd support from miles 5-7 but I didn't see much after that. I guess I'm spoiled from the Columbus 1/2 - 100 bands on the course and tons of people.

I wasn't a fan of miles 6-7 - the street was so narrow and people were bashing into me trying to get their friends and family attention. 

[gummybear]

Nov 18, 2013 8:32:51 GMT -5 enfuego23 said:

Nov 18, 2013 5:55:42 GMT -5 al320 said:

Congrtas! Thats still a great time!

Meanwhile, i thought there was too much crowd support. This was my first "big city" marathon. I wasnt able to get into a zone at the beginning, i found the crowds SO distracting. Mile 6-7 was non-stop crowds, i hated it! Its not for me!

And i didnt see any chicken broth lol

There was good crowd support from miles 5-7 but I didn't see much after that. I guess I'm spoiled from the Columbus 1/2 - 100 bands on the course and tons of people.

I wasn't a fan of miles 6-7 - the street was so narrow and people were bashing into me trying to get their friends and family attention. 

West River Drive (and Kelly Drive in other races) is always BRUTAL as far as crown support and I hate it. RnR goes on both (so about 8 miles) of nothingness. It sucks.

[kellydelq]

I loved the chicken broth at the end but that hill near the zoo was just awful, pretty sure I cursed out loud a few times! I really enjoyed all the people along the way, especially since I had family spread out in different places of the city. My 12 year old ran with his running group (Students Run Philly Style- look it up, awesome group for young kids!) but he decided to stay with me instead of his friends. We were kicking ass until mile nine, he had some cramps in his nether regions and lost it, crying and about to quit. I pushed his butt to the finish line, I was not going to let him quit even if we had to walk or I carry him. We finished in 2:15 which was great considered we ran/walked the last four miles, we would have been sub 2 hours for sure if not which was our goal. Overall, we enjoyed the race especially since it was both of our firsts (well my second but first was last week). If you think you feel proud crossing that finish line, imagine how awesome it is to cross it with your baby boy

[Deleted]

That's disappointing. Sorry it wasn't a better race. I do think we're spoiled.

[taratru]

Damnit, you are fast! Great job!

[lovesherheels]

Wow -- I'm super impressed with your time! I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped, though.

[Susie]

Nov 17, 2013 21:53:03 GMT -5 enfuego23 said:

The hills killed me plus I prefer it a bit colder to race - it was 52 and a bit humid at the start. 

What I liked about the race:

- I was in the Black Corral and there was plenty of room to move around, stretch and warm up. 
- Corrals were organized pretty well and I got there at 6:20 and easily found my way into the      
  corrals - no problems with security
- Volunteers were great:)
- good food at the end - banana, orange, pretzels, fruit bites, and hot chicken broth - I didn't get  
  any but I thought that was a different approach to getting fluids:)

- nice medal and I liked the gear check bags

What I didn't like:

- Wasn't impressed by the expo - thought it would be bigger. 
- I knew in the first 3 miles there would be no PR for me - it was so crowded!! I was elbowed and  
  stepped on too many times to count:( The streets were really narrow and it was just too crowded
  for me - The wave starts didn't help. DH couldn't find me on
  the course because it was so crowded. 
- not a huge amount of spectator support - I never turn my music on before mile 12 and I had it on
  by mile 3. 
- Not enough water stops and gels weren't given out until almost mile 10
- Not a fan of the race shirt
- miles 7-10 were awful, rolling hills. My pace dropped to 8:20 on the last huge hill and sadly any
  hopes of a PR were gone. 

ITA with the bolded especially!  No gels until mile 10 was a waste - way too late - for people doing the half.

I enjoyed the crowd along Chestnut, but once you hit Drexel it was pretty weaksauce.  That is a bummer since there is no crowd support on the hardest, hilliest miles of the course.

[gummybear]

Do you guys think the lack of crowd support may have been due to increased security? The emails and warnings were a bit ominous regarding how difficult it might be to access race routes. I have never run this race before so I don't know what it "normal" for the course.

[Susie]

Nov 18, 2013 17:15:08 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Do you guys think the lack of crowd support may have been due to increased security? The emails and warnings were a bit ominous regarding how difficult it might be to access race routes. I have never run this race before so I don't know what it "normal" for the course.

I haven't done it before either, but I had guessed the lack of crowd support on the west side of the Schuylkill was due to how hard it was for spectators to follow their runners over there.  Calvin watched for me at Love Park (we missed each other), around mile 6 on Chestnut (high fived), and at the finish (he saw me).  But with the race road closures and with the car being in a parking garage, he had no hope of getting over to Fairmount Park or something to cheer.  Spectators kinda had to choose one side of the river to stay on, and center city had more "action."

He commented that if I do it next year he might just go to west Philadelphia with his signs and bells, since that's where I said I needed it most.