Completed the Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon Practice Run – August 1, 2009
Ken Miller and I did a practice run through the Citizen-Times Half Marathon course this morning. We started just before 8 AM. Temperature was in the low 60s and it was quite humid. It was helpful putting the entire course into perspective in one single run. I had experienced portions of the course in four different training runs in the past, but there’s nothing like running what you’ll run on race day.
We ran faster than I had anticipated, but it felt great. I got a little hot after about mile 11.5 as we were running up Broadway in the sunshine. The temperature had risen and I was generating my own humidity as the sun’s rays evaporated the sweat in my clothes. We finished the course with an overall average pace of 9:17. Below is a graph of our mile by mile pace. The slowest was mile ten (uphill on Lookout) and the fastest was mile eleven (what goes up must come down — fast charge through UNCA).
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Nothing like two more years and 20 pounds to bring me back down to earth 🙁
Bob — impressive time in the 07 Thunder Road! Two minutes ahead of me. Nice work. Stuart Moran from Asheville was 2nd place in that race.
I think I saw you at the Thunder Road 1/2 in ’07 as well…we’re going to have to stop meeting like this!! lol.
I think the Lookout Hill will be tough for many mainstream runners because it comes after nine miles. But they’re rewarded with a fast mile after that cruising down through UNCA.
Depending upon how early you went out today I’ll bet it was a hot one. When I ran it last week I really felt hot on Broadway. It was nearly 10 AM, sunny and it had been quite humid all morning.
It will be a good challenge. I’m looking forward to it because I didn’t get to do any half marathons last year because of an injury. This is my first since the Thunder Road in Charlotte in December 2007. And I hope to do Bethel too.
I pre-ran the course this morning with a couple of friends. They didn’t like the extra hills (namely Cherokee and Lookout), but I’ll take hills over flat any day (the flat trails along Beaver Lake and WT Weaver are my least favorite sections!).
I hope the course is well marked/marshalled as there are A LOT of turns.
This is probably not a PR course (save that for Bethel) but will be a good challenge!
I was happy with the temperature. It was about 62 when we started. At start time of the A C-T race last year, the temperature was in the high sixties, and it was probably in the mid or high seventies at the end. I would have been comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt, if I had been a spectator. Running, I felt really hot.
I think this year’s race weather will be cooler. An average morning low for September 12 in Asheville is 58 degrees.
The 7:30 start is another bonus.
I like cool weather. I’m hoping.