sports

We just came back from Hickory where I ran the Charity Chase race. It was great fun, and I'm proud of my 2:23 result for the half marathon.

I was 3 minutes slower than in Raleigh two months ago, but the track was very challenging with lots of hills, and it was much warmer also.

It was great that Sasha was there; we left yesterday afternoon and spent a nice evening in Hickory, before getting up at 5.30 am to go to the race. Hickory is nice! We were pleasantly surprised: a cozy downtown area with lots of restaurants and places with outdoors seating.

The race itself was very well organized and there were lots of volunteers everywhere, very friendly folks. The scenery was beautiful, but especially the last two hills were very challenging ("Cemetery Hill" especially).

The start, a little before 7.00 am.

Guus in the crowd.

At mile marker 9. Very warm!

Split.

Mile 13... almost there.

Just after the finish line, around 9.30 am.

Tomorrow at 7.00 am there is another race, this time in Hickory, about 2.5 hours from here. We're staying there tonight.

I haven't trained as much as I should have and the course is supposed to be hilly, so I'm curious how it will be.

I don't often watch soccer anymore, but today I clicked on a link on CNN today and saw a picture. "Hey, I know that guy!"

The hero here is, once again, Van Der Sar, a Dutch goalkeeper who I've written about before.

Early in the morning the weather forecast for 8.00 am in Raleigh still mentioned thunderstorm, but when I arrived the weather was quite acceptable; overcast but no storm. I was really happy that the race would start on time, my first half marathon ever.

It was great fun! I finished in about 2 hours and 20 minutes (the official time will be posted on their website in a while), about 10.7 minutes a mile. That's better than my long training runs and it's a good first result that I can improve on a next time.

It's strange that the race that I've been training for so long is now over. I'll have to find myself a new running goal; I hope to find another half marathon for in a few months. And I promised myself I can buy new shoes now; mine are about a year old and have seen many miles.

Downtown Raleigh is beautiful, and I liked the track. There's a long out-and-back in the second half, where it's 4 miles up and then 4 miles down Hillsborough Road. The first part was a bit depressing because you see all the runners who are so much faster, but the second part was nice because you see the runners that are slower. There were music bands every few miles, a nice touch. It's wonderful to be able to run in the middle of the road! The surface is nice and smooth, and in the middle the road is flat so you don't walk crooked like you do when on the side of the road.

The race was very well organized. Parking was easy and very close to the start, and there was plenty of water during the race. The only thing that was a bit weird were the first two or three water stops, where there was essentially a cooler full with water and cups to scoop it out with. Not exactly a healthy idea, but with the bad weather it must have been hard to find enough volunteers. Anyway, a minor point on a great race.

I'm glad that I ran the track plus an extra miles two weeks ago. First, it's really nice to know that you can run the distance and finish it, so you don't have to worry if you'll make it. Second, I like to know the track as to estimate how much more is still to come. There were pretty clear mile markers but I liked knowing the track ahead of time.

Now, a very easy day... We're going to see two documentaries this afternoon.