THE MELBOURNE MUSIC HALF MARATHON - 02/01/2015

As I embarked on my third half marathon in as many weeks, two thoughts were going through my mind: A race that I have not participated in before, and only a two-and-one-half hour drive to get to Melbourne.  Jen ran this race last year, and had nothing but great things to say about the experience.  I was unable to run with her, since it was scheduled the same day as the Miami Marathon.  There would be no conflict this year, and we both registered way in advance (along with Marlo).  My long-time friend Doug chose this race last year to run his first ever half marathon, and registered once again this year.  Throw in a fun bunch of Turtles, and now the weekend had all the signs of a truly great adventure.

I left my house around noon on Saturday, and drove straight to the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront, the site of the expo.  After going to the expo in Miami, it’s safe to say that this one was a bit more “intimate.”  I did purchase a pair of TAC compression socks, as well as a RooSport magnetic pocket.  The shirts were just okay, but we got a hat as an added bonus.  I’m not a big fan of white tech shirts, and all of the artwork was on the back of the shirt (not a fan of that either).  Jen, Marlo and I checked into our hotel, and proceeded to make plans for dinner.  Jen selected the Island Pasta Company, and we rendezvoused with Angel, Jill, Niki, Angela, Doug, and his wife Mary.  The food was tremendous, and the service was even better.  After a quick detour to Starbucks, it was back to the hotel for an early curfew.

The race start time was 7:05am, and our hotel was very close to the venue.  I set my alarm for 5am, but woke up much earlier than that. It took us five minutes to get there, and parking was a breeze.  We met up with the gang for some pre-race photos, and made our way to the starting line.  There were a total of 1,356 participants running both the full and half marathons (226 for the full, and 1,130 for the half).  Since I would be “flying solo” for this race, I had a gut feeling that a PR could be in my future.  With my iPod and bluetooth headphones in place, I was ready to rock and roll (pun intended).

I got off to a quick start, and was feeling really good.  There was live music at almost every mile, which added to the excitement of the race.  With the exception of running over the bridge, the course was basically very flat.  It was about five degrees warmer than last week’s race in Miami, but it never got really hot.  I ran strong and steady the entire time, and knew it was going to be close to setting a new PR.  I was a little disappointed in the aesthetics of the course, but I think that my expectation level was probably too loftily.  I’m pretty sure Clearwater and Miami in back-to-back weeks set the bar too high.

With a little more than one mile to go, I knew that going back over the bridge was going to all but kill my chances for that elusive PR.  That being said, I crossed the finish line with my best time in over five years!  Needless to say, I was ecstatic with the results.  Doug missed his target time by three minutes, but was very satisfied with his performance.

The food and drink after the race was top notch.  It included beer, pizza, Dunkin Donuts, and Pollo Tropical.    Overall, I was very pleased with the event, and would definitely consider running this race again.

KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON