Sarasota Half Marathon, 2-15-09

[MarkU]

I did that Sarasota half marathon last Sunday. It was my first half marathon and I trained for it starting last fall using the Galloway run/walk method.

It was a beautiful course, running along the Saraota bayfront, over the the mile-long Ringling bridge and then back. There were about 1,900 runners between both the marathon and half-marathon.

It was in the high 60's and very humid and it got a bit uncomfortable towards the end. Fortunately they had water & Gatorade tables every two miles along the course.

My target was a modest 3 hours and I finished in 2h:53m, so was pleased with that. I tried to run a conservative pace for the first half of the race and then pick it up after the half-way point. I actually did a negative split, running the second half seven minutes faster than the first. I felt pretty good until the last 1-1/2 miles when my hamstrings started to get tight.

Best part was that my 24 years old son, Scott, also did the race, finishing about an hour before the old man in 1h:57m.

A great day - already looking forward to next year.
Mark

 

[skeptic49]

Congratulations to you both! Way to go!

Best wishes,

Jim

 

[Guest]

Congratulations Mark! A fantastic finish for you, I bet it was pretty emotional for you as well.

Great picture of you and your son.

 

[tommy]

Congratulations on a successful race.
Glad the heat wasn't too much of a problem.

Best part was that my 24 years old son, Scott, also did the race,

Running a race with your son............................PRICELESS!

 

[tprice54]

Excellent job! Your first half and negative split! Please think about joining us in upstate NY for the Wineglass marathon....many other heart patients will be running as relay teams, roughly 8 mile legs.

 

[kodi]

Thanks for the great report and congratulations on the finish. You did what most runners don't do, went out slow enough to get comfortable then turned it on with the negative split. Great feeling running with one of your children, or should I say running after them again!!! I had the opportunity to run a 1/2 with my daughter last year in Jacksonville and she beat the daylights out of me. My only regret was I was behind her and couldn't cheer her on as she crossed the finish line.

 

[spartangator]

Excellent news. Glad it was such a good time.

 

[Eva]

Very impressive, Mark. Congratulations to both of you