I was a first-timer at this one, pacing the 1:55 group. I had Kerry with me, she’s done this one a few times and knew where to go, where to park and where everything was. It was easy to find the bandshell and collect my pacer singlet and the sign. I made a visit to the men’s room and got to the start line area in time for the group photo for Palm Beach Roadrunners then the same picture for the Pace Team. I recognized Alex from Fixed Focus Photography, he was part of the team that would be doing the photos to be made available free to all runners.
The race began right on time at 7:00 am. I drank out of a water bottle, then threw that away at the end of the National Anthem singing. On the car drive down I drank SIS Beta Fuel, 80g of carbs. While waiting in the start corrals, I ate a Ucan gel to top off my energy. I introduced myself to the runners in my area and told them about the even pacing, how to hide their shoelaces and how we’d handle going through the water stops at pace. I met two ladies from Iowa, Maci and Pamela. I met a guy with grey hair that stayed with me until Mile 11. A young girl named Jen, a Miami area runner named Courtney, and first-time half marathoner Amelia. I had a bunch of others that ran with me once we started. Many times during the race I glanced back at our group to see that I still had a good group of runners together most of the way. A young runner named Nicole ran with me. She had run 1:55 as a new PR the week before at Disney. Her dad contacted Jim Crist to ask if she would be ok to run in that (my) group. Their concern was that the pacers sometimes start out to quickly, and they didn’t want that to happen to her in this event. Jim assured both Nicole and her dad that we would keep things as evenly paced as possible.
The race began with a start and less than half a mile of straightaway followed by a left turn. I started and kept conversation going, asking the group where they were from, who had done this race before and how many times they had run in this event. We crossed through Mile 1 in 8:47. A few in the group said, “Wow, we are right on our pace.”
The next 3+ miles were one long straightaway. We kept ourselves within 3-5 seconds of our goal pace. The sun was rising for our second and third miles. This made it easier for me to see the small numbers of elapsed time on my watch. Now I could give an update each mile and compare our pace to what we’d call “perfect pacing” for the rest of the morning.
Nicole ran with me for the first 5 miles then she eased ahead of us. I saw her up ahead a few times, then no more. My group was in good spirits, chatty for the first half of the race as we stayed close to good times at each mile. We wandered through several neighborhood out and back sections, allowing us to see the faster runners coming at us. I saw the friends I knew competing for time and the other pacers. Our group enjoyed this, I explained who Jeannie Rice was and shared a high five hand slap with her on one such neighborhood sighting. I encouraged quiet neighbors to cheer for our group. It was a good morning and a good bunch of runners trying for the under two-hour finish.
At Mile 8, I noticed some runners drift off our group. When we were on a long neighborhood curve, I looked back to see less runners following. A tall lady in a white shirt ran in front of me, she would speak in a different language to other runners that knew her. Each time our pace brought us up even with her, she’d surge ahead. She was probably one of the runners that looked to keep me behind her, and us catching up meant she was slowing at times. I told the group we only had 5 more miles to go. I kept the chatter going, now just telling stories that they could listen to without needing to reply or talk if they were working hard.
The course winds through a final neighborhood in miles 9-10. We were right on perfect pace for this segment. I felt it becoming more humid but thankfully no added heat from the sun. We made it back on to the long straightaway for miles 11-12. I reminded everyone to stay ahead of their thirst and drink plenty these last two miles. Jen ran next to me, she was running strong. Amelia I could see a little bit behind me. If she could keep us in sight she’d finish with a 1:55-1:57 in her first half. The euro lady in the white top was now right alongside me, keeping an eye on her watch and our pace. We ran well to the second to last turn, now folks along the sidelines were telling us we were very close and only had a small bit left to go. I saw Scott, my friend from home who ran 1:32 in the 50-54 AG for a 4th place finish. A man in a 2020 red, white and blue Boston Marathon jacket cheered for us before the final left turn. I had Jen and the euro gal with me. The finish line archway was only 300m down the final road, it was nice to roll in almost at perfect timing of 1:54:29.
drun4fun 