half marathon

[mrs.beast]

Hi all
i am thinking of running the half marathon in Aug. Anyone done it? Anyone doing it? Is it really hot during that time? Any info would be great. thanks.

 

[Barbday62]

I did it the past two years. Yes its very hot. Last year was a record breaking heat and the race was in code red and could be cancelled at any time and turned into a fun run. Lucky I think it didnt. The race does start early and should be over by about 9:30, 10:00 so that helps a lot. The year before was not nearly as hot as last year.

Suggestions I have: Carry some sort of liquid on a pack with you. I have a small one that holds a normal size water bottle and I did break into my reserve more than once. The water stations are sometimes just a little farther than I care for and they did run out of Power aid this past year before I hit several of the stations. (I carry power aid in my personal bottle)

I train in Arizona all summer long at 4am. I do this to beat the heat but you know here its close to 90 degrees at 6am in the summer. I still had a tough time with the heat in California. I think its more humid heat in California. Be sure to practice where you live in some warm parts of the day so you know what its like. Labor day in California will always be a little warm even in no heat wave years. Its so doable though. Running through the parks was amazing!!

This past year they did a lot better with food at the finish line but the year before they ran out of almost everything before I got there. Lesson learned carry my own bannas and bagles, The year before I had a small parfait cup left with no spoons and oranges that people were able to self reach in and get (I could not bear to eat something that people reach in and grab themselves. You never know who went to the bathroom on the course and there was no where to wash hands)

Im not fast but they do requre you to keep a 16 minute per mile pace. I can do that at least. I did see pick up buses along the routes a few times so they do sweep people off the course even in the heat. Practice going faster than that just in case because they do really pick people up.

By the way I highly recomend "Marathons for Mortals" for reading and training programs. It was such an easy book to read and understand. Its a fun race and the medal is huge. I wont be doing it any mroe because I dont like to train at 4am all summer long. I decided all future races for me need to be winter or spring.

 

[mrs.beast]

thanks for the info. i just recruited 2 to run with me and 2 other families for th e fun run on Sat. we are soooooo excited.
anyone with more info, please let me know.