The Clearwater Halfathon is quickly becoming one of my favorite races, if not my favorite. In fact, Jen and I even contemplated doing the full marathon this year. Taking into consideration my recent injury (and Jen having the flu), it would have proved to be a mistake of epic proportions. Well, maybe not epic, but you get the idea.
I drove up to Jen on Saturday morning, and we spent the day in Gainesville. We went to visit Angel later in the afternoon, and then an early dinner at Gator’s Dockside in the Villages. I was pretty beat after that, and went to bed around 9:30 pm, knowing that we would be out the door by 4:00 am on Sunday.
Clearwater is about two hours from Jen’s house; needless to say, there was not much traffic on the road. It was pretty cold last year when we did the race, but the weather would be almost perfect for this year’s event (56 degrees when the race started). We picked up our race packet, and were immediately disappointed with the shirt. It was long sleeve cotton, and the design was nothing special. In my opinion, you should expect nothing less than a tech shirt when you run a marathon or a half marathon. Apparently, I was not the only one who felt that way.
As we waited for the race to start, there were 362 runners for the full marathon, 781 runners participating in the half, 439 runners doing the 5K, and 135 runners brave enough to take on the 50K Ultra. My right knee had been bothering me recently, and it turned out to be a condition known as Patellar Tracking Disorder. This means that the kneecap (patella) shifts out of place as the leg bends or straightens. In most cases, the kneecap shifts too far toward the outside of the leg. My brother diagnosed it for me a couple of weeks ago, and gave me some exercises to correct the condition. Thankfully, it was nothing that would prevent me from running in the future.
It was more overcast than last year, which made the running conditions ideal. As we made our way over the bridge, we saw a runner throw her shirt away. That’s not really unusual, as many runners buy cheap shirts and sweatpants to toss when they start to warm up. What was unusual was the force in which she ejected her shirt. In fact, it made it clear over the bridge. I told Jen that maybe she was giving it to a homeless person, or she just didn’t know her own strength. I felt great, but Jen was struggling a bit, due to her recent illness. I had no pain in my knee, and all was going well. My only criticism was there were not enough water stations, especially in the beginning. That being said, the volunteers were very supportive and enthusiastic.
Jen and I separated around six miles into the race. At that point, I caught up to the woman who tossed her shirt over the bridge. She told me that it was the race shirt that she jettisoned. She didn’t really care for it, so she wanted to “donate” it to some homeless people living under the bridge. The expression “beggars can’t be choosers” came to mind at that point.
I ran really strong the last few miles of the race, and never felt better as I crossed the finish line. As I waited for Jen, I took time to take a photo with my fellow superheroes. The finisher’s medals were outstanding, which almost made up for the race shirts.
I HIGHLY recommend this race for the scenery, the course, and the professionalism in which the event was organized. The beer and the chocolate milk was an added bonus as well.
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