MOUNT DORA 5K & HALF MARATHON – December 17 & 18, 2022

It’s far and few between when you live in South Florida and the temperature dips below 70°.  Not bad, except when you want to go out for a run.  During the summer I often get up as early as 4am to run…and it’s already 80°!  Not as bad as folks trying to leg out some miles in the cold and snow (and do most of their winter running on the treadmill), but it would be nice to get a break.

 

One break coming up!

 

Even though it is already December, you never know when a cold front may hit.  This was to be my eleventh consecutive year running the Mount Dora Half Marathon, and only a small handful of times has the thermometer dipped below 60°.  This weekend would be different.

 

Glenda and I drove up on Friday afternoon and picked up our race packets.  Not super-thrilled with the shirts, but they would be hard-pressed to beat last year (outstanding).  We did a late supper at the Goblin Market, which served as our “unofficial” anniversary celebration.  We were married on December 20^th and eating here has become an annual tradition.  We then walked around in 56° weather and checked out the holiday lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 5K on Saturday started at 8am, and it was 47° when we got to the starting line.  The sun was out in full force, so it didn’t really seem that cold.  This was a walking event for us, since that was the only condition I could get Glenda to sign up. The course itself is through some very quiet neighborhoods, and we hung around until the end to chat with some folks we know.  We ate breakfast in the cottage, did some shopping and took a boat tour on Lake Dora at 2pm.  We did this last year and really loved it.  One major difference was the lack of other boats in the Dora Canal because of the colder weather.  I highly recommend the Premier Boat Tours if you are ever in this area.  We ate an early supper at the Olive Branch, which has a very diverse menu for us picky eaters.  After another walk around town, it was an early lights out for the half marathon on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was 56° as I approached the starting line.  I wore my Sandhouse Running Club Hanukkah shirt, as you will see in the photos below.  As cold as it was, I knew I would warm up at some point.  I usually opt for the compression sleeves instead of a long sleeve shirt (just keeping my options open).  851 runners crossed the starting line at 7am.  This was down a little bit from last year (926).  I was a little stiff for the first few miles, but I knew that I would warm up as time went on.  I took of my compression sleeves around the four-mile mark, so my strategy paid off.  My one and only complaint about this race was the shortage of water stations on the course.  After giving Weston props for having a water station every mile, this was not the case.  It was okay because of the cold weather, but it would be a bigger concern in the heat.  I think I noticed this more because I started to run with only one small water bottle.  Maybe I should add this to the suggestion box 🤓.

 

 

 

 

 

I ran a very strong race, but a very slow time.  I never wanted to blame the knee brace in the past but let the blame rain down!  As I was ready to cross the finish line, Glenda was there snapping photos to try and make me look good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to do the 12 Miles of Christmas on December 24^th (this is a training run; probably no blog post).  The temperature should be around 47°.

 

Happy holidays everyone!