The Arizona Road Racers Desert Classic Half Marathon Race Report

I signed up for this race about a week ago on a whim. I knew I needed some motivation to do a long run this weekend since neither of my running buddies were going to be available. I waffled on signing up for a few days until I finally went to MarathonGuide.com (there was a marathon also) and read the glowing reviews from past participants. The cost was only about $40 and I could see from the chart on the race website that the course had a slight uphill on the way out and a slight down hill on the way back. Hmmm, a recipe for a PR? I was itching to test my speed so I finally bit the bullet and signed up.

I spent the night at my friend Jackie’s house Friday night since she lives a lot closer to the starting line than I do. It took me awhile to get out there with Friday traffic and so we didn’t get to eating dinner until about 8 o’clock. We had the yummiest Mexican food! We both ate until we were stuffed and then the waiter brought out some kind of deep fried desert and serenaded us with mariachi music since I had offhandedly mentioned it was Jackie’s birthday. The song went on and on. It seemed like it would never end! We laughed so hard after the waiter left. Then we went back to her house and watched a funny movie until about 11 o’clock. I finally hit the sack around 11:30 after setting my alarm clock for 4:30 am.

I had hoped those 5 hours of sleep would be quality but I was not in luck. I had a hard time falling asleep and when I finally did, I had terrible dreams that kept waking me up. First I dreamt there had been a huge earthquake which I woke up yelling about (no idea how Jackie slept through that!). Then I dreamt my teeth were falling out one by one and I was going to have to go to the dentist for some terrible procedure – that one had me waking up drenched in sweat and panicky (I HATE the dentist)! And finally, around 3 am, a helicopter started circling Jackie’s neighborhood and I awoke fearful there was some criminal on the loose. I couldn’t go back to sleep since that helicopter kept circling for more than an hour.

Needless to say, when the alarm finally went off, I was NOT well rested. I got up and did my usual pre-race routine, but the bagel seemed to sit really heavy in my stomach and my body felt out of sorts. I resigned myself to the fact that this may not be my day to PR.

I arrived at the race start at about 6:25 am and the race started at 7. I should have been there closer to 6 because I found myself a little rushed trying to get parking, and then standing in separate lines for my bib, timing chip and t-shirt. When I finally had all those things I had about 10 minutes to spare so I darted back to my car to ditch the t-shirt and extra clothes I was wearing. Luckily the parking lot was not far from the start line.

When I made it to the start line, to my surprise there was a porta potty that only had 2 people in line. I was able to use it and jump into the corral with time to spare. Before long they were playing one of my favorite running songs “Beautiful Day” by Aerosmith and the gun had gone off. It was still really dark, the clouds to the east were just starting to turn orange and pink. It WAS a really was a beautiful day. I was excited.

I snapped this pic of the sunrise right before the gun went off.

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We ran west along Bell road in the wide bike lane. No part of the road was closed to traffic in either direction but there were cones separating the runners from the cars. I was a little concerned about that, but that concern faded fast when the mass of runners quickly thinned out. The traffic on Bell was pretty light. It seemed like by the 2^nd mile I was at least 100 feet from the nearest runner.

Splits:
Mile 1 – 8:04
Mile 2 – 8:14
Mile 3 – 8:05

The scene was absolutely picturesque. I longed to stop and take a bunch of pictures for you all because it was just gorgeous.  We ran into the wide open desert away from town. To our backs, the rising sun made a fantastic sunrise (I kept looking over my shoulder and admiring it). It cast a pinkish hue on the mountains ahead of us. There was a lot of moisture in the air from this week’s rain, and the mist caught the light from the sunrise. On top of that, the full moon was sinking ahead of us and it became very large and slowly faded into the mist. I wished so many times I could just stop and take pictures! I chose instead to just try to take in as much as I could and enjoy the peaceful run for what it was. There was a photographer at the event. Click here to see some of his fantastic shots of the sunrise.

I snapped this one with my phone during the 2nd mile

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At about the 2nd mile, a tall skinny woman with long bleached blond hair passed me and proceeded to take off her sweatshirt right in front of me. I had to laugh. She had on full length running tights, arm sleeves, and an ear warmer headband, and yet she felt the need to strip down to her sports bra. I don’t get it. Is her stomach the only part of her body that doesn’t get cold?  “Barbie” got farther and farther ahead of me but at some point appeared to not be getting any farther. I decided that I would make it my goal to pass her in the end. Unfortunately I never got the chance because I think she must have been running the full marathon. I never saw her when people started turning around at the halfway point.

Mile 4 - 8:01
Mile 5 – 8:11
Mile 6 – 8:12

At about mile 3 I heard footsteps approaching and that’s when I met Mark. Mark was running the marathon as a training run for a 50k he was planning to run in a few weeks. Apparently he wanted to run a 50k before he turned 60 years old. I was surprised he was that old! We had a pleasant conversation that lasted until the turn around point. Turns out, we were both trying to maintain an 8 min/mile pace so we were a good match. It was great to have someone to chat with because this part of the course had the steepest uphill. I think I would have noticed it more if I wasn’t distracted by talking.

In the 5th and 6th mile we finally started to see a few runners trickle back towards us. Not as many as I expected! I wished Mark good luck as I made the u-turn around the cone and back towards the start. At that point I finally had to drop my Oakleys down on to my face as I was now headed directly towards the sun. Luckily there were scattered clouds, so it wasn’t too blinding.

Mile 7 – 7:59
Mile 8 – 7:47
Mile 9 - 7:54
Mile 10 – 8:01

I put my headphones in after having had them out for the couple of miles I ran with Mark. One of my favorite songs was playing and I was now running downhill. I realized I felt really GOOD, so I started pushing it.

Picture courtesy Mike Smith

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As I tuned back towards the start, I saw that most of the other runners were behind me. I encountered the most people between mile 7 and 8 and then by mile 9 I was totally alone. I could see no one ahead of me and only a few people far back behind me. So much for the strategy of trying to pass runners to gain speed. I had to dig deep and find my own motivation to keep up a fast pace.

Mile 11 – 8:03
Mile 12 – 7:45
Mile 13 – 7:36
Last .12 – :47

I kept picturing myself making a good hard sprint in the last mile so I held back a little until the Mile 12 marker. Unfortunately there was a decent hill in the last half mile, so it was impossible to see the finish line. I kept glancing at my Garmin and then at the hill and reminding myself that the finish line is probably right on the other side. I was right. When I finally got to the base of the hill I hit it hard and when I reached the top I could see that beautiful finish line. What a contrast from running the Arizona Rock and Roll Half, where the course was packed with spectators over the last mile. From the top of the hill I could see the finish line, but only a small crowd mingled around. I soared down the backside of the hill, which felt fantastic and flew over the finish line. There wasn’t another runner in sight! The clock said 1:44:45, a new PR!!!

The finish line

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There was little fanfare at the finish. Some guy sitting at a table with a computer and that was about it. I stopped suddenly and was told to return my timing chip. I could feel the world spinning as I tried for way too long to get my shoelaces untied. I finally got it off and then stood there to watch a few other runners trickle in. It wasn’t too exciting so I wandered over to the to the area where the food was. There was a nice spread of fruit and bagels. I grabbed a banana and half a bagel and the stretched and texted my friends until the awards were announced.

The awards ceremony was about 30 minutes later. I had a good feeling I placed so I waited anxiously. When they got to my age group, my heart kinda fluttered when they announced 3^rd place and it wasn’t me. I thought I must have been a few seconds too slow. But then they got to second place and I heard my name! Yippee! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten better than third place! I was excited. Here’s the cool medal that I got:

My First 2nd Place!

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Overall, I really enjoyed this race. The scenery was awesome, and it seemed to be well organized. Not much in the way of a crowd, but I had my fill of that at the Arizona Rock and Roll marathon. I was just happy that I didn’t have too much trouble finding a parking spot or a porta-potty! The water stations were well stocked and the volunteers were nice. I would definitely recommend if you’re looking for a small inexpensive race. Hammer sponsored the race, so we got a free hammer gel and water bottle in our goodie bag. The dry-fit t-shirts are way nicer than I expected too. Even the design is pretty cool. So overall, I’d say this race has pretty good bang for your buck!

Next up: The Lost Dutchman Half Marathon on Feb 14. I can’t wait!!!