The race is a point-to-point half marathon that begins in Byron, MN, heading east to Rochester where it concludes. They transport the runners by bus from Rochester to the start in Byron. The Med City Half Marathon is a moderately sized race consisting of approximately 600 runners. The course consists of long rolling hills across the first 6 miles, but is relatively flat after that. Today was another chance to try to improve upon my half marathon times, which have slipped a bit since 2014. My best time in the half over the past three years was 1:33:30, run last year. It was a nice morning for a race. Clear skies, 55-60 degrees, with a steady 8mph wind.
As the race began, I was doing okay handling the rolling hills portion of the course until I reached the last hill about halfway through mile 5. At that point I struggled to maintain my pace and started having some doubts creep into my mind with regard to my ability to improve upon my recent half marathon times. However, coming down the backside of the last hill, I was able to get myself back on on target pace again. This gave me a huge boost of mental confidence which I desperately needed at the time and it really helped propel me mentally through the remainder of the race. I now felt like I was in control of my race again. Although battling increasing fatigue as always, I now felt mentally strong and confident that I could maintain my pace and fight through it to the end.
As the miles wore down and I approached the finish line, I was able to finish strong. My time was 1:32:20. My best half marathon time in 3 years. I finished 20th overall among 617 finishers and 1st among 16 in my age group. I don't race again until July 29th (Urban Wildland Half), as there aren't many meaningful races held in the summer months outside of local neighborhood 5ks.
Race Results:
http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/show?race=5395&rid=2138
Award Video:
https://goo.gl/photos/8BvuA281vyj9vEieA
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