Race #185
Half Marathon #67
2021 Race #1
2021 Half Marathon #1
South Carolina Half Marathon #48
Greenville (GHS/Prisma) Half Marathon #7
I knew that I wanted to run this race. I love the course and the organizers usually do a spectacular job putting on the race. I did not register until fairly close to the race, waiting to see the organizers Covid prevention protocols. Once those came out and I saw how strongly the organizers had worded them, I felt reassured. I wish I could have stayed reassured. Instead, as you will see below, the race organizers talked a good game but ended up acting like everyone else in the area, failing to enforce their rules.
The game plan for this race, according to my training plan, included 6 easy miles to start, 5 miles at 1:50 half marathon pace (8:24), and then finishing the remaining 2.1 miles at an easy pace. Since I ran with Mom, I knew that the 5 miles in the middle would also include walking to fuel at the start (after mile 6) and in the middle (after mile 9). She seemed game so we aimed to complete the miles as prescribed.
Mom and Ellis came over to pick me up around 6:30 and we headed out to Travelers Rest for the start, arriving right on the dot at 7 as instructed by the race email. I love how faithfully Mom follows these instructions. If only the rest had followed the rest of the rules that faithfully. That meant hanging out in the car for about twenty-ish minutes before walking over. I had already seen plenty of runners failing to follow the instructions so the longer we could stay safe in the car, the better.
We started walking towards the start and I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of follow through. Mom had to speak calmly to me several times.
Mom needed to use the restroom so we waited in the porto potty line for a little while, missing our corral start but these corrals had only one sign indicating the number and no one on the side enforcing the number of people starting in each wave; we ended up starting in wave four.
I felt crowded from the start. So many people packed onto the Swamp Rabbit Trail which while wider than a regular bike trail, does not offer nearly enough space for that many people. I felt so uncomfortable. Both Mom and I looked for ways to pass as many people as we could and get to open space as soon as possible. Hence, we had way too fast of a first mile. Oops.
Mile 1 – 8:56
After I saw that first mile split, I knew we needed to pull back the pace so. we could attach the middle miles with the necessary intensity. We had to stay alert to our surroundings so we could pass when necessary but successfully pulled back on the pace, not all the way back though to the pace that we normally hold for long runs.
These miles passed fairly easily as we kept up this pace through the hilliest portion of the course.
When we passed the first water stop I could not believe my eyes. They ran this like a normal water stop with open cups and volunteers handing them to the runners. It felt like a gauntlet every time we passed through the water stops.
Just prior to completing the third mile, Ellis cheered us on, joking that we were almost there. He got a video too. (I included screenshots below.)
Mile 2 – 9:06
Mile 3 – 9:04
We slowed to a walk, pulling over into the right lane which led to Travelers Rest High School which we passed at the time. I assumed that people would continue straight in the regular lane but as we walked, people still wove around us. It made no sense but we kept going, clocking the only 10 minute mile of the race.
Mile 4 – 10:06
When we first started running again after eating our fuel, my stride did not feel as smooth as it heard before. I remembered something that I had not had to tell myself in a while. I reminded myself that I could make my stride feel normal again. I focused on that and the feeling of ease returned. After that I focused on making sure I maintained easy pace through these miles so I would be prepared for the next five miles.
Mile 5 – 9:05
Mile 6 – 9:04
While we walked to fuel at mile 6 a rather interesting duo passed us. We had previously passed them commenting between ourselves about the apparently large lung capacity of these men as they talked and ran. Right when they passed us this time, the song “Bad Blood” started playing on my phone. They sang along quite loudly.
Then as they passed the Furman entrance by the trail where a large number of people spectated. These two men started hamming it up; one even slowed a few steps and slapped the other on the butt. Okay then.
While this provides some humor, after a while it would get awkward. Thankfully we passed them quickly after we started our faster pace miles.
Quickly I encountered the first difficulty of these faster pace miles, the interference of the trees and my Garmin reception. It made it difficult to make sure that we had gotten to the correct pace and that we maintained. it as well. Instead of getting discouraged when I saw a slower pace, I just figured out if the effort felt easier and we needed to pick up the pace or if the pace felt the same and the pace I saw on the Garmin did not match our actual pace.
Mom surprised me in the middle of these three miles by talking, telling a story of some sort. She had expressed doubt about her ability to maintain the pace but not only could she maintain the pace but she could carry on a conversation too!
I wondered if Mom and I could just run through the full five miles at pace and then just fuel after. Mom said that she would try but then she started to doubt herself. I quickly reminded her that she definitely could, that she had just told me an entire story. We ended up taking a walk break to fuel which served to rejuvenate us both.
Mile 7 – 9:08 (includes fuel break at beginning of the mile)
Mile 8 – 8:33
Mile 9 – 8:29
When we started running again at the fuel break I told Mom that if she needed to drop back during these two miles she could. She told me that she did not really want to run alone. I told her that she could definitely do this and we got through the next two miles with relative ease.
Neither of us expressed regret when we finished those couple miles though and walked a little to fuel before finishing the race.
With a little over half a mile to go, we turned off the Swamp Rabbit Trail for a short detour due to the resurfacing of that section. As we headed up an unexpected hill, I wondered if they would have us go straight across the street near the TD Stage instead of down the underpass and back around because the organizers had assured us that the race remained a certified 13.1. Nope. They had us use the underpass. While most times a Garmin measuring long would not really mean anything, I knew this time that the Garmin measured the distance correctly. I have run the SRT enough times to know.
As we curved back around, the girl in front of me swung wide and then cut directly in front. I had to stutter step to avoid a collision. As soon as we curved around onto the final straightaway I poured on the speed, determined to pass her and as many other people as I could.
I also ran so fast because I could not believe my eyes. The finish line looked like it always did, crowded with people, so many people that they stood side by side at least three rows deep. Some even walked down the path the opposite way of the course necessitating a veer on my part to avoid them. What on earth happened to all those strong words about maintaining six feet distance so that they could continue to hold the race?
I felt so uncomfortable as I finished. Mom crossed the line a few seconds behind me. I told her that we needed to get out of there as soon as possible. There were too many people. We booked it out of there and up the steps towards Main Street and away from the crowds of people as fast as we possible could before texting Ellis to tell him where we waited.
Although I’m proud of the race that Mom and I ran, to continue to race in events like this before more complete vaccination and diminishing infection rates would be utterly irresponsible. Greenville will continue to hold these events, apparently, but I will not participate.