This was the second time I traveled to Philadelphia for the historic half so I knew the course was pretty flat and since temperatures were forecast to be cooler then last year I had hopes of a PR. My fastest half was in Hartford back in 2007 before I knew anything about training but for some reason I have not hit that single digit pace since in a 13.1 miler.
The race drew a crowd of over 12,000 runners including gold and silver medalist and headliner Ryan Hall the American World Record holder for the Half Marathon.
In an effort to ease congestion in the city streets a "wave" start was implemented this year and it was my first experience with the slow release process. Personally standing in the corral for an extended period is not the way I like to begin a long run. The course went through the downtown streets before looping back near the starting line at mile 4.5 and we were still standing there waiting to begin as the leaders passed. Once underway the race actually felt more congested then "normal" races since I was surrounded by such a high concentration of runners at my target pace.
When I finished the downtown portion of the race and looped by the starting area the leaders were crossing the finish line. Ryan Hall did win with a pace of 4:44 minutes per mile. I chugged along for another hour maintaining my 10 minute miles but fell off pace towards the end and finished 7 minutes behind schedule. Thinking it might be easier to adjust my expectations to a 10:30 pace in the future.
Philadelphia was the start of my busy fall season, in a few weeks I'll be running the Hartford Half and gearing up for the New York Marathon on Nov. 1st. Between race weekends I still need to earn a living so if you are looking to buy or sell a home on the Connecticut Shoreline contact Dan Cummings, The Running Realtor.
