GRAND RAPIDS HALF MARATHON

Have you ever accomplished anything in your life were you felt like you did the best you could? Seriously, the best that you could. You gave all you had. Ever had one of those efforts in your life?

After completing the Grand Rapids half-marathon on Sunday morning, I know for sure that I have had at least one of those efforts in my life. The jubilation of emotions that ran through my body as I crossed the finish line went from a sense of relief to extreme satisfaction within a matters of minutes.

Running those 13.1 miles is, without a doubt, one of the most satisfying things have ever accomplished. It was just a great day on so many levels.

The day started as "atypical running day" when I scraped off a layer of frost from the windows of my vehicle. Talk about a unique way to start your day before running your first half-marathon. A 35 degree start time is a bit chilly!

As for the actual race it was hands down the best race I've ever run. Some of the highlights that I can recall:

* I remember getting a nasty side stitch at mile 1.5 and thinking this is the last thing I need early in the race but fortunately it went away

* During the first three miles I felt like I was running slowly even though I was on a really good pace

* After mile 11 I felt like I was really "gutting it out" with what little energy I had left. Downtown Grand Rapids felt like it was five miles away not two.

* My right knee that I tweaked prior to the race never bothered me during the race

* Nice course! Fairly flat with some small hills to climb

I wanted to finish in 1:40:00 (7:38/pace) and I would be very pleased with that time. I ended running the course in 1:36:39 (7:22/pace)! Yeah, I was super excited about that time! Seriously, the words on this page do no justice to the absolute joy I felt when I saw my time. And my result gets better ...

... I finished third in my age group (25-29) out of 27 runners! I got a medal for that! I remember thinking after my 10K that it would nice to finish in the top three of my age group in a race sometime. I never once dreamed of doing that in my first half-marathon! I was just one second (just one second!!) away from finishing as the runner-up in my group. As I have reflected upon it, I can't find any place during my run that I could have made-up that one second. Seriously, during a 13.1 mile race I can't think of a spot that I "lost" a second or two.

... I finished 49th overall in a field of 892 half-marathon runners. Never figured that would happen either!

... Out of 26 runners, I was the top finisher from the state of Indiana. ;-)

Result Page

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures yet but the Grand Rapids Press did a great job of covering that - here.

The overall event in Grand Rapids is top notch! The staff is excellent, well prepared, friendly and everything you could ask for as a particpant. I highly recommend running this event! I could not have asked for a better first-time half-marathon experience.