The Year of the Run: That Dam Half Race Report

I normally blog about the expo and race packet before a race, but this time, I had nothing to blog about. I stopped at RunOn to pick up my packet, which turned out to be my bib and 4 safety pins. The girl asked me if I wanted a bag, but I passed. They were out of race shirts in my size; instead she wrote a note on the back of my bib so that I could pick one up on race morning at registration.

Very official note

I left myself plenty of time to get to the race and good thing since I got lost. I didn't actually have the starting address, so it was difficult for Siri to get me there. Thank goodness I remembered Catfish Drive and I made it to the race early. I headed immediately for the bathrooms, hoping to get in line before it got too long. I walked straight up to the port-o-potty with no wait. They were surprisingly clean. Then I grabbed a banana (after using plenty of hand sanitizer, I'm taking no chances with all the Ebola) and went off in search of my race shirt.

Apparently the didn't do a good job of ordering shirts. When I arrived at registration, they had no mediums (the size I thought I wanted) and only one small left. There were tons of extra smalls and larges...and were giving out postcards to order shirts online if they did not have your size. I grabbed the last small (it miraculously fits) and huffed it back to the car to drop it off. It was a stunning morning. Crisp, cool, clear and with a little wind.

This is the only photo of me all day!

The starting line was well marked and well organized. I discovered that this was the very first That Dam Half marathon race, with 1200 entrants between the half and 5k. No wonder I couldn't find any race reviews online! We started on-time. The race was crowded for the first quarter mile or so, but then spaced out quickly with wide streets to run on.

Starting line mania (not really)

Just before mile 2, you start running on the levee. It's an out and back course--though I was getting concerned that it was a point to point, for which I had made no plans, when I had passed mile 5, but still hadn't seen the race leaders go by yet. I just needed a bit more patience, because they passed by shortly after I started thinking I was crazy.

Golf course to the right, Lake Lewisville, dead ahead

The course was completely flat and I was feeling good and running fast. Each mile was hovering around a 10:10 pace. I had a PR on my mind, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what pace I had to run to beat it. But I put it in BEAST mode and tried to conserve some energy for the end. I also didn't stop to take any selfies, so no pictures of me with determination on my face!

This race had the best placed water stations of any race I've ever run--and today was my 17th half marathon, so that says a lot! There was a water stop every single mile of this race. They handed out paper cups of gatorade, or 8 oz bottles of water. It was fantastic; I did not even need to run with my own bottle of water for this race (though I did). However, if the race grows much, they will need more volunteers at each water stop.

The levee

The wind kicked up as we got out over the lake. It kept me cool while we headed out with the sun in our faces. Then it turned into a nice little tail wind on the way back to the finish line.

Is this a god dam?

I hit the finish line with no other runners close by, so the announcer read off my bib number and told me how great I looked as I crossed. He probably said that to all the ladies... I finished in 2:13:36, just 26 seconds short of my PR. I only needed to run each mile 2 seconds faster to break my PR. A little disappointing, but I'm very pleased with how well I did. I finished miles 12 and 13 in under 10 minutes each. I had gas left in the tank at the very end. I could have pushed harder, but I'm very happy with my results.

The finish line was well organized, with medals and water as soon as you crossed the timing mat. I knew there was beer, so I sniffed it out and gulped down a very refreshing ice cold beer. This beer rivaled the Blue Moon after the 2011 Tour de Fleurs (3 years ago and I remember that beer like it was yesterday). All in all, it was a great race. I can't wait to do it again next year!