Its #throwbackThursday so a great time for a race recap!  The weather really put a damper on some people’s finish & overall race experience at Cap City this year, but personally I had a great race and wanted to remember it as a positive event.

The expo was held at VUE this year and I dragged little man along with me.  He was excited to tag along… so excited he fell asleep on the way there. 🙂  The first volunteer I encountered was super helpful and walked us to where we needed to go (we had to make a registration change, as I decided to drop from the half down to the quarter.) We also had VIP passes so we made the treck upstairs to get our additional swag. I’m not a huge expo junkie, so the smaller size didn’t bother me at all, although I have several running friends that missed the traditional large-scale event. We got our goods, took some pics and headed out. Good news… smaller expo = quicker in & out!

Our dear friends from out of town decided to come down for the race, so we had a fun Friday night of “catching up” and watching all the little ones play (my two and my friend Kate’s two, ranging in ages from 1-8).  We laid out our clothes ~ weather forecast was lower 60s with a strong chance of showers, meaning layers to peel off and a hat to keep the rain out of my eyes ~ set our alarms for 5:40AM, checked the weather for what seemed like the 1 millionth time and left for the Columbus Commons at 6:20AM, ponchos in tow. We met up with some other groups of friends, took some group photos, of course made a pitstop at the porta-pots and finally around 7:40 made our way to our corrals.

The weather held off and we started promptly at 8AM.  My husband and our friend, Mitch, helped pace me as I was attempting a PR finish of under an 8:52/mile.  We started with the half pace group of 8:47/mile pace and stuck with them until they veered off a little after mile two.  The first few miles were SUPER humid & sticky and shortly after, the storm began to move in.  It rained lightly for the last part of my race and helped give me the extra motivation to finish strong… I wanted to get to that dry VIP tent!

I struggled the last mile.  I was tired, wet & my lungs felt like exploding.  I honestly thought about walking at one point.  The guys kept me going though, pushing me the last stretch with an 8:10/pace and a strong finish.

As I crossed the finish line, I proudly redeemed my medal & finally got a glimpse of my overall time… a new PR!  Although my Garmin said 8:25/mile average, my eventual chip time would be an 8:29/mile, but a much improved time which gave me a big smile. 🙂 We posed for a few photos, waited for a bit at the finish line, then started to head to the Commons as the sky turned black.

 

In the VIP tent post-race, we enjoyed drinks and FANTASTIC refreshments catered by Cameron Mitchell including The Pearl Grilled Cheese, Marcella’s Meatball Sliders, Hudson 29 Roasted Chicken Salad, Guild House Honey Cake Bites & Buckeyes.  I’m sure I put back on most of the 784 calories that my trusty Garmin claims I burned.

After hanging out for a while, the storm really started to move in and the race was eventually black flagged.  It was sad to see all the runners get moved off the course (some of our friends had trained hard and had to stop between miles 10-12), but lightening was all around us & safety was their priority.  Around 10AM, we decided to call it a morning and make a dash for the car.

Back home, our littles greeted us with hugs, stole all our snacks (granola bars, bananas & other goodies we’d collected at the finish line) and put on our medals with giant smiles.

After the gloomy, chaotic storm-filled morning, the weather in Cbus took a turn for the better and we were able to spend our afternoon and evening wearing tank tops & playing outside.  It was a fabulous weekend with family, friends & the Columbus running community!

 

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Note:  We know things got crazy during the storm.  A lot of feedback was provided and we are aware that not every runner had as positive of an experience as we did.  I honestly believe that M3S Sports puts on great events, values feedback and is consistently working to improve what they do.  Whether your experience was fantastic or subpar, we hope you’ll take advantage of the 50% off next year’s registration that M3S is extending to all 2017 participants.  They posted this message to their FB page last week…

“YOU “weathered the storm” last weekend and we want to CELEBRATE YOU at the 15th Anniversary of the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon, OhioHealth Quarter Marathon and Commit to Be Fit 5k on April 28th, 2018.  The week of May 15th, we are going to email all of you who participated in 2017 a coupon code to register for 50% off the early registration fee good ONLY on May 30th and May 31st. Registration opens to the general public on June 1st at the regular price.” -Giddyup, David Babner, Race Director M3S Sports.

Watch for their email and we hope to see you at the starting line in 2018!  Better yet, meet up with us at some of the other 2017 events, we’ll be at the FORE! Miler, Emerald City and The Ohio State Four Miler for sure!