2013 DRHT Half Marathon Sweep Report

The Clean Sock Incident:
A few things to note up front. First, this was the 2013 race, not the 2011 race. Second, I'm consolidating my "Codename" portion of the report with the rest of the text here at the beginning. Thus the "fancy" new title. Now, let's get on with the show.

I arrived half an hour late and sweating bullets. I was exceeding the legal speed limit and was followed by a local police unit until I got within a block of the race start. I turned, the cop kept going. Guess I got off to a lucky start. As I was late, I missed helping out with parking cars for the first half hour. I didn't really miss that much but I still felt bad about showing up late to volunteer when I knew I should have been there earlier. Anyway, in my rush to get to work, I left my penguin feet in the car. Probably turned out to be a good thing as the parking lot turned into a mud pit after a while.

Yes, you read that right, penguin feet. You see, I figured I might as well dress like the socially awkward penguin that I am. Might as well give everyone a laugh first thing in the morning, right? At least this way they could laugh at me without feeling bad about it. So I directed traffic into the parking lot and generally waddled around like a penguin. I learned a few valuable lessons though. Some people can't drive worth shit and some people drive even worse than that.

After helping out in the parking lot, I ditched the penguin suit and got ready to run sweep. This was kind of a last minute decision but I decided I needed to get some exercise in and this was a good cause to help out with. We had an ATV that followed behind me to pick up anyone that dropped so I was the "unofficial" sweep. I cruised out after the last wave and kept a pretty nice pace for the first few miles. I'd catch up to the last person, stop and walk, then start running again. I'd repeat this process many times until about Mile 3 when the lead runners began coming back towards the finish.

Once the lead runners started, I'd stop running to let them pass, cheer them on, let them know their place, and how much of a gap they had to cover. Lots of fun, although the 7th place guy let out a grown when I told him he had a minute gap between him and 6th. Around Mile 4.5, I stopped so the lady in last place could go into the woods to go to the bathroom. From about Mile 4 to Mile 6, the last place runner put a pretty good gap on me. I'd stop for oncoming runners then dash ahead a few feet to stop again. After about the first 25 runners went by, I realized I should have been taking their pictures. This added to my time but it was no biggie.

Anyway, around Mile 6 I finally caught up to last place and slowly walked into the turn around point aid station. I refilled one of my bottles, turned around, and repeated the process all over again. From Mile 4 to the finish I picked up trash along the way. Mostly cups and gel wrappers but I also found a nice 2XU visor and a clean white sock. Not to worry, I checked and double-checked that sock for cleanliness before I picked it up.

With a little less than two miles left to go we had our first drop. The lady was pregnant and had been walking since around Mile 6. She also looked like she twisted an ankle or had blisters on her feet. So the ATV picked her up and dropped her off a bit later where her family was running an aid station.

Outside of that, I had a blast volunteering. Directing traffic in the parking lot was okay and sweeping was fun. So much fun that I'm seriously considering running sweep for the 50k this fall. Oh, and before I forget, I got to see Karyl-Lynne T. out there volunteering. Laura H. (http://www.dailymile.com/people/firstcampgirl) ran the race and claims to have met me but I'm horrible with names so I'll just say it was great to meet her so I don't look like a complete ass. Christine was there to run too. And I'm pretty sure I saw Kris D. running too. Saw a lot of familiar faces along the way and I hope everyone had a great day!

Photos:
Photos by Teri Priebe are here.
Photos by Gene Martin are here.
Photos by me are here.


Other Race Reports:
Jeff
Christine
Caroline

Weather:
Temps were about 35F when I got there but warmed to about 40F by the start. By the finish temps were around 50F. There was rain when I left home but it stopped by the time I got to the race. By race start the sun was coming out and it came and went with clouds all day. There was a light breeze that would pick up a bit by the finish.

Fluids and Fuel:
I had a small burrito and a small iced latte for breakfast. During the race I had two bottles of Hammer Fizz, one bottle of Hammer Perpeteum (with a dash of coffee), and my hydration pack with plain water. Recovery was a donut, three pieces of bagel, and Hammer Soy.

Aches and Pains:
My feet hurt a bit but I think that's because I forgot to put the rock plates in my shoes. Outside of that, I felt pretty good. My right hamstring would tighten up a bit periodically but it would go away when I drank more fluids.

Gear:
For parking duties I wore my penguin suit which is really nothing more than a hoodie with a penguin head on it. For sweeping duties I wore T-Star short, pants, and another pair of shorts over top. I wore a thermal shirt and a t-shirt. Wore gloves and a winter hat. I also took along my GoPro and my hydration pack.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 13:55
Mile 2 - 15:19
Mile 3 - 16:10
Mile 4 - 16:18 (average since I missed the split)
Mile 5 - 16:18 (average since I missed the split)
Mile 6 - 14:27
Mile 7 - 17:42
Mile 8 - 16:55
Mile 9 - 17:32 (average since I missed the split)
Mile 10 - 17:32 (average since I missed the split)
Mile 11 - 16:58
Mile 12 - 17:21
Mile 13 - 16:53
Finish - 3:33:23