Race #167
Half Marathon #57
2019 Race #11
2019 Half Marathon #6
South Carolina Half Marathon #43
King’s Mountain Half Marathon #1
Originally I thought about running a 5 miler that is part of a local trail series. However, I could never find where to register for this race. I have a thing for half marathons this year, well have had for a while, so I looked for South Carolina half marathons to see if I could find any more to add to my race calendar. I found this one and signed up. Why not?
Earlier in the week, however, my legs lacked any sort of pep, especially the pep I would need to conquer the hills of this race. (Turns out that there were a lot more of them than I thought!) I briefly considered a DNS but then decided to go for it. To my surprise and delight, Mom decided to run the half with me. Ellis came along to run the 10k!
We left Greenville at 6am and the trip went quickly, mainly because I laid down in the back seat having stayed up late to watch Endgame. Totally worth it. When we arrived in the state park, as opposed to the National Battlefield that I visited before and where I thought the race would take place, we grabbed our things and waited for the start.
I realized several miles into the race that we should have taken a picture with all three of us since we were all racing but did not remember soon enough.
Promptly at 8 we were off.
The first mile told us right off the bat that this race would challenge us. The first hill held two significant climbs, crazy steep. Um. Welcome to the mountain I guess. I also knew after this first mile that we were in for a long haul.
Mile 1: 10:15
We entered a bit of a rhythm for the next few miles, interspersed with several more elevation changes. I knew the whole time though, after the first mile, that I needed to use the bathroom and it was a long way to the finish line. Looking for a possible bathroom, in a state park where not many opportunities provide themselves, distracted my mind for the next three miles which felt fairly active.
At mile 4 (per my Garmin…it ended up being significantly off based on the mile markers…we found one set up at the trailhead for the horse trail. It was our favorite, potholes! (Mom and I started calling the pit toilets we encountered far too often on the Utah trip, potholes and the name stuck.)
I felt so much better and knew we made the right decision even though it cost us time, a miniscule amount in the long run.
Mile 2: 8:57 (what were we thinking!)
Mile 3: 8:53 (again, we ran too fast for hilly conditions here)
Mile 4: 9:12
A little before our pothole pitstop, the course had turned off the pavement road and onto a hard packed dirt road with some gravel thrown in. On either side we had plenty of shade as well. However, after the 10k turn around point, the road started undulating like a roller coaster ride. I have never climbed inclines that steep on a race. We had to to walk several times throughout this section which lasted most of the rest of the race course.
My legs felt crazy heavy, especially to power up the hills but I kept going and walked whenever Mom suggested it. I also walked, starting around mile 5 or 6 at every water stop except the last one. This race did it all right with plenty of water stops, gatorade, and snack items like gummies or oranges or pretzels.
Finally, we reached the turn around but still had a ton more race left to go.
Mile 5: 10:59 (this includes the pothole pit stop)
Mile 6: 9:35
Mile 7: 11:42 (crazy hill!)
Mile 8: 10:59
Both Mom and I wondered how much more climbing we could get in this race; we certainly found out.
In the last section of the race, we dealt with even more hills, walking up those crazy steep hills and consoling ourselves with the thought that as long as we kept moving forward, we were making progress, slow progress, but progress nonetheless.
It seemed like every time we turned the corner, we faced another hill. Only during one early section did it feel like we could get into a good rhythm. All the other times we ran for a while, walked when the hill got too steep, and picked it back up when we could.
Mile 9: 10:08
Mile 10: 11:16
When we rejoined the paved park road, it appeared to flatten out and Mom and I once again got into a good rhythm again. I felt tired but at the same time just a bit energized. We were close to getting this done!
Mile 11: 9:36
Mile 12: 9:54 (In this race, that counts as fast.)
With about a third of a mile before the finish line, we spotted Ellis in the distance, having already finished his 10k, and coming 2nd overall. He waited to take pictures and mentioned that the rest of way was easy.
I think he has a crazy definition of crazy of the word easy. Sure the first half of what remained took us downhill, relatively easy but the second half, the half right in front of the finish line takes you up one last steep hill. What a cruel finish!
Mile 13: 9:43
.3 nubbin: 11:08
Final Time: 2:16:40
On a course like this, with the level of work emotional, physical, and mental that I had put in this week, I expended all I had, I’ll take that result, one of my slower times but an enjoyable time overall. I even managed to win 2nd in my age group – say what?! – and Mom won third! Talk about a role reversal.
The elevation profile, as proof
I really enjoyed this race and so did Ellis. He already has his eye on coming back to the half marathon next year!
Plus, we got to see Josiah, Tori, and Baby Ronan!
