Randy Riley(MM14470, DA3218, HF16432) – Fall Classic Half Marathon Strongsville, OH. This race is held entirely in Bonnie Park. By now the colorful leaves are all gone and there is nothing to make this course interesting yet it is a wonderful course for runners. It’s a double out and back on a closed two lane road. It’s flat with up and down grades but no hills. It’s wide too so this course is perfect for front fast runners as well as mid to back runners who want to run in groups without blocking people. The aid stations are well spaced with plenty of volunteers. There’s even beef and vegetarian chili at the finish. The finisher medal is a well designed beautiful Sun catcher. AG awards are a coffee mug.
Last week I mentioned that the Battleship Half was my personal best of the year (2:26:40). I crossed the half way mark today at 1:14:58 putting me on pace for a 2:30 finish if I could hold it. However my eyes were blurry and miss-read the time. With only a quick glance I thought it was 1:13:18. My brain quickly declared if (big IF), I could hold the pace for the next 6.55 miles I could beat last week’s time by 4 seconds. Some crazy neuron tucked deep in my brain said, “Go for it, Riley.” (Note: Every runner I know is this driven). Any time my gps watch said I was slowing on the upgrades I dug a little deeper thinking I could get a new 2024 PR.
And…The official finish line clock showed I ran the second half 4 minutes 14 seconds faster and beat last week by 58 seconds! The irony is that if I had read the halfway clock correct I would never have pushed the second half that hard. 1st place AG. YTD HM #21. Lifetime HM # 240. Half Fanatics 100 Half Marathons Club #medalmonday.
Photo and Post credit Randy Riley(MM14470, DA3218, HF16432)
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