Skip to main content

St. Joseph's Half Marathon Race Report.


The Half Marathon formerly known as the Stockton Half Marathon. Kind of. It's the same course. A month earlier than last year. Organized by different people. And called something different. Confused? Me too. 

I hadn't run a Half road race since this one...or this other one in Stockton around this time last year. Since the course was the same, my only goal was to beat my time from last year. I figured with all the trail time I've put in, it should have been a breeze. I'll cut to the chase. It didn't happen. And it didn't happen by about 6 minutes. 

At the start. I'm the head in the middle, smiling like a dork. 
How many of you have race photos that include orange plastic fencing AND a big rig?
 I do enjoy being able to ignore posted signs. Road closed? I don't think so. 
The point is not to put Stockton on blast for not being the most scenic place to run. Or complain and theorize about why  it wasn't my day or even to dwell on and feel disappointed about my time. Because we RAN A HALF MARATHON.

A wonderful amazing group of people, The Miracle Mile Runners got together for long runs on Sundays to prepare for this race. 

On the starting line I was surrounded by hundreds of runners and a cheering crowd lining the street. I love that feeling. 

Tony Vice, owner of our Fleet Feet, who put this all together, addressed us. I felt proud of our town. 

Along the way, I was thankful and honored that people I love were out there to support me. 

When I realized I wasn't going to blow my previous time out of the water, I was able to turn my disappointment and frustration into gratitude that I was healthy and able to run. 

When nearing the finish and turning the corner, and man shouted, "13 miles in the books!". I don't think I could ever not feel happy hearing that. 

Running is running.

Also, I was totally in the newspaper. 


I'll be back next year for the Stockton Half Marathon in Stockton called the St. Joseph's Half Marathon. 

Take me to the mimosas. 




Labels:

Comments

  1. LaurieOctober 27, 2011 at 7:37 PM

    Maybe next year the race will be a trail half. That would make sense to me.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Year's One Day 12 Hour (Uh, 7 Hour) Race Report

Here's the idea: You pay actual money to run around in a circle for either 6, 12, or 24 hours. This is how you choose to spend your New Year's Eve.  That's it. That's the course. Just keep turning right until midnight.  Each time you complete a lap, you pass under the finish arch, that is never actually the finish line, and over a timing mat that tracks the number of laps you've done and displays it on a screen. This should actually say, "KEEP GOING FOR MORE HOURS" You're looking at the same people lap after lap. It's the Golden Gate Bridge over and over again. You're not actually getting anywhere.  What is the point of what we are doing. That question is exactly why I love this race.  Here are hundreds of people, lap after lap, living entirely inside their own heads for hours and hours, each with a different answer to that question.  Last year I ran because I just wanted to find out if I could do it. I wan...
10 comments
Read more

American River 50 2014: There can be no other title except MY FIRST 50 MILE RACE REPORT

This is a big deal. Without fail, there is somebody at every ultra I've run that I hear say, Oh, I'm not really trying for anything today, I'm just using this as a training run for my self supported run across Canada next month. I'll probably just cartwheel the whole thing.   I heard this type of exchange on the bus on the way to the start. "It's only a 50 miler, so the heat shouldn't even be an issue." It's a good thing it was dark... The "it's only a 50 miler" comment snapped me out of the anxious mind chatter and got me refocused. The few weeks leading up to the race, any time it came up, GeNene would say to me, "This is a big deal." Then I started saying it, and understanding what it really meant. This is something that I used to talk about doing "someday". It seemed really far off. I believed I could do it, but it would happen to some distant future version of me. "This is a big deal" m...
2 comments
Read more

Skyline to the Sea 50k, I lived.

To say the week preceding the race was an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement. What I didn't know, was that it would be nothing compared to my experience out on the trail. I had said going in my goal was a sub 6 hour finish, and, unknowingly foreshadowing my race, I added, "but you never know what can happen out there." My decision to run ultras came long before my actual ability to run them, so after collecting a couple years of trail running under my belt I finally felt ready to take the plunge. Skyline to the Sea came at just the right time providing a net downhill course with just over 3,000 ft of elevation gain. If you're not aware of the on again off again drama that ensued surrounding this race, refer to my previous post  here . Race morning, standing at the trail head with over 200 other runners, a collective feeling of gratitude hung in the warm air as Wendell counted us down to start. Spectators lined the street above us, and the runners e...
10 comments
Read more