Next week I have the Cowtown Half Marathon and I'm really looking forward to throwing down a fast time. Its not TOO competitive of a race so its possible I can be top 10 if not top 5. I'd be ecstatic with top 5! Unrealistic goal is sub 1:20. Actual goal is new half mary PR. Sub 1:21:24... Which was set on a stupid fast course in Austin. If you know anything about the Cowtown course it's that it is not flat!
Speaking of half marathons I went down and did the Austin half marathon last weekend. The plan was to use it as a training race and get some good distance in. Scott and I are both going to run the Little Rock Mary so after the half we both ran another 3.5 miles totalling for ME 16.6 miles. I finished the half mary in 1:24 which I was happy with. Felt great. Even with that "mediocre" time I was 4th age group outta 271 and 27 overall outta 5900+. Hmmm.
So now that I've mentioned the Austin Marathon I want to address a few things. I look foward to that race every year. This year when I registered I noticed the fee was close to it not more than $90 for a half marathon. Knowing that its always a good, well run race I payed the dough. To say the least I was UNBELIEVABLY dissapointed with the quality of the race this year. I'll just start from the very beginning. I show up to the race expo only to find there is a LINE for packet pick up that lasts about 20mins. That is UNheard of in the marathon world. After winding my way through this line I finally get my packet w/ my bib. Well that was about it. In the plastic bag was a bib, pins, some random magazine, and some race info. Seriously? $90 and thats ALL we get in our packets? ok.. I think. Maybe the race shirt will be good. Ummm.. yea no. I get in the LINE for that part of the process ONLY to find out they're OUT of Medium, small, and Large shirts. WOW. I put down specifically on my form when i payed MY $90! How in the world do you run out of shirts? Unacceptable. I took an XS shirt and gave it to Courtney. We then walked the expo and left. Dissapointed.
The next day I raced and actually enjoyed the race aspect quite a bit! A great course w/ excellent course support. The finish line was great and the medals were high quality. I grab my finisher shirt and get out of the finish area. I was impressed w/ the finish line food, etc. Later I do find out that the finishers for the full mary got tech shirts. While thats understandable I dont see why we got "organic" cotton shirts after dishing out $90. Something i'd like to see in the future is either a cheaper race, or more quality.
I WILL NOT, be paying for that race for awhile. Someday I will be back to try it again and see if its going in the other direction... Up.
Whoo. Done with that :) In other news I did NOT make it into the Double Iron :( So I have replaced the race w/ a 100K trail run up in Oregon. In order to register for that one I have to have at least run a 50K. So I'm going to do the Hogs Hunt 50K in Huntsville, Tx. (see 2009 calendar on the right) I'm excited to really push the limits this season.
I hope everyone is doing well. I'll check back in soon, hopefully before Cowtown next weekend!
Included are some pictures from the Austin half marathon.
_Jacob_
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