Race Chronicles #5

2018 Heights Half Marathon

May 19th was the 7th annual running of the Heights Half in Huber Heights.

This is a relatively flat out and back USATF Certified course, starting at the Huber Heights YMCA and running through the residential neighborhoods of the Huber Heights community.

I first learned of this race through the running in the USA website, which is one of my favorite resources for finding races. It is a great tool, and can be used to search for events by distance or location all over the country.

A few friends of mine from my local running group also recommend this race, stating it was a flat course and there would be age group awards.

I stopped by the packet pickup held at the Huber Heights YMCA on Friday afternoon during my lunch. It was approximately 15 minutes away from work, and by heading out on Friday I would be certain of where I needed to be on race day. The pick up was quick and I received a technical shirt and bib for my race.

Race Day

The Half Marathon started at 7 am, followed by a 5k at 7:30.

I started off the the race with one of my Five Rivers Teammates, Brian, but after the first mile realized he was a bit faster than me, and I intentionally slowed myself down. I was running almost the exact same pace as my last Half Marathon.

One thing I especially enjoy on an out and back course is seeing and passing the other runners along the course, and counting each runner to determine my current rank. At the halfway point I was in 20th place and 5th Overall Female. I was running strong and fairly consistent 8:45 pace. My goal was to stay at a steady pace and try to hold on to a top 20 finish. I passed a few people along the way and finished 1:55:43 for 16th overall and 4th Female. I also won 1st in my Age Group and received an additional medal.

According to Strava this was a PR, however my official time for my last race was 1:54:59. Perhaps the two races were not the exact same distance, or I didn’t hit the tangents just right. I will simply have to run even faster and get another PR, that way I won’t have to wonder which one of these is my real PR.