Louisville St. Paddy’s Day Half Marathon Recap
12 Reasons why my 12th half marathon was all hustle and no luck for this leprechaun:
#1. The weather went from 75° on Thursday to 30° with “feel like” 22° on Saturday.
#2. I pulled into Beckley Creek Park at 8:08 a.m. and it took me 25 minutes to park.
Entrance to Beckley Creek Park from Shelbyville Road.
#3. This was the first race where I was so late that I missed the start by almost 15 minutes.
Photo Credit: Smug Mug for St. Paddy’s Half Marathon &5K Louisville March 13, 2017.
#4. I forgot to tie my leggings in the waist after a quick restroom break before the race.
#5. I was stuck behind all the 5K leprechauns until they hit their 1.5 mile turnaround.
#6. Beckley Creek Park is beautiful, but the concrete paths are very hard on my knees.
A view from one of the bridges.
#7. My phone went dead at mile 5, so I was stuck holding a huge Galaxy Note for no purpose at all. No pics. No Drake station on Pandora.
#8. The hills that I did not train for have my quads feeling like I ran a marathon instead of a half.
#9. Seeing all the fast runners smile at me as they made their way towards the finish, and I wasn’t even half way.
#10. Headwind the entire second half of the race.
#11. Running up the hills I crossed over the first time.
#12. Not placing in my age group. I was 3 minutes slower than the 3rd place finisher.
Results:
Time-1:54:25, 8:43:57 pace
Age Group- 6th out of 42
Gender- 34 out of 241
Overall- 97 out of 423
Highlights:
*I spotted Jess from the first marathon training group I ran with in summer ‘13. Like me, she is done with marathons and focusing on more family races with her boys who have taken a liking to the sport.
*Fun costumes!
*In the sea of mostly white people showing their Irish pride was a black lady in pink. It had to be Minnie representing the Alpha Kappa Alphas. I yelled out the window, “Hey Soror” as I turned into the lawn to park. She was supporting her daughter April for the 5K. I was already late so why not take an ussie for the blog:
Sorors for life!
*The race swag was nice and the announcer had a great sense of humor. The St. Paddy’s Day half shirt is good quality and something I will wear on St. Patrick’s Day this week.
Long Sleeve Zip Tech Shirt, Pint Glass, and Finisher’s Medal.
*After the race, I took an Epson salt bath and jumped on 64 to get my pot of gold in Madison, WV as I visited my Grandma and Uncles.
Kelsie Lou
I have missed a couple of starts in the past myself, but 15 minutes? What happened?
LikeLike
It was a slow process to park. As people grew impatient, they began to take spots in the parking isles and that made it an even slower process and unsafe with more people walking so close to the cars waiting to park.
I gave feedback to the race directors on how to improve the situation.
Luckily the race was chip timed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Two thunbs up KelsieLou!!! 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you for reading about my running journeys!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Whew…I guess it can’t always go right! That being said, you did awesome, lady! You are such an inspiration. And I love reading about your races. We still need to get some Indian food and get caught up. And I have a swag bag for KDF for you!! 😀 So…let me know a good time and let’s do this thing!! Your strength and your perseverance and your sense of style are such inspiration for me.
LikeLike
Hey Karen! Glad to read that you’re on the mend again.
I’ve been thinking about joining a Tuesday hills session. After this past race I need some hills in my life.
I will be in touch soon!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I look forward to it!!
LikeLike
Wow! What a day and a race! You’re a very strong and determined women! You go girl!!!
LikeLike
Thank you C.Rae!
LikeLike