I’m two weeks late with this but I ran the North Face half two weeks ago. This race historically marks the end of my “season”. This year’s race was special because Zevan and two of his high school cross country buddies were making their half marathon debuts.
The Boys ran well, finishing in something like 9th, 23rd and 50th overall. I had an ok day – I didn’t have terrific climbing legs (a motif for the year) but I was pretty solid on the flats and downhill and was able to keep my act together for most of the day. Although my time was a bit slower than later year, the course changes made a bit of s difference and I finished in a higher overall place than last year.
One thing that did bother me was that the course was mismarked. It did not impact my race as they recognized and fixed their mistake by the time I came through. The Boys, however, were sent up and over the wrong hill, which added 1.5 miles to their overall distance. If it was me, I wouldn’t have been bothered too much but 13 miles was already a stretch for the Boys and having additional mileage added was a bit much. They were all absolutely cooked at the end. I told the race director what I thought and he was sympathetic although he did say “well, that’s trail running for you” – which kind of bothered me. That might be trail running but I also think a race director has an obligation to get the course right. Anyway. I won’t belabor the point because they did reach out with an apology and free registration for next year’s race. I thought that was an appropriate way to handle things.
So, that’s a wrap on 2016. Next big race up is Way Too Cool. This will be my fifth running of Cool and I am doing it with a bunch of my boys, including Wiley, Rob and Phil. So, that will be fun. Until then, I am going to ramp down the miles a bit and recover.
Perpetual Motion 