Race recap: OUC Orlando Half Marathon
December 3, 2022
Pre-race
Packet pickup
This was the most annoying bit of the whole event, simply because I had to go downtown to Track Shack, the running store that hosts the race, and they were only open 10-6 Tue-Fri for packet pickup. I ended up just taking Wednesday morning off to get it done, which was okay because I have vacation time I have to use up by the end of the year anyway.
While I was there, I bought a new pair of Ghosts (15s) because they had a deal where you could get access to bathrooms with running water at the race if you spent a certain amount on Brooks merchandise. So it seemed like a good time to pick up some shoes that I would have bought eventually anyway.
Race day
I woke up at 4:45 so I could take the dog out and get ready to go in time to leave at 5:45. A little practice for the REALLY early marathon morning next month I guess! My dad dropped me off at the race, which was good because I didn't have to find parking. I dropped off my gear bag with a change of clothes/shoes and some wet wipes and set out to do as much of my 3 miles as possible to take me to 16 for the day.
Around Lake Eola, where the race started, the city put out a bunch of holiday lights. It was still pretty dark when I got to the park and the lights were still on, so that was a nice atmosphere for a couple of laps around the lake. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures.
After my third lap (I think?), I was still only at about 2.6 miles, but it was a little before 7, so I got in line for the bathroom before the race started at 7:15. It was good that I did because there was a long line on the women's side. The downside of the running water was that they had men's and women's restrooms instead of the Port-a-Potty free-for-all, so the men could walk right in and all the women had to wait like 10 minutes
The starting corral was quite crowded by the time I got through the bathroom line. I managed to snake my way up to between the 11 and 12-minute mile pace markers, but not as far as I wanted. But it was still farther up than I've been in recent races, so whatever.
Half marathon
Once we started moving, things opened up a little and I caught up with the 2:10 pace group, which was where I had decided to put myself so I wouldn't get excited and try to race the half. It was fun! I chatted with the pacer and a couple of other people about marathons, half marathons, Disney races, random obstacles, and so on. I felt really good the whole time.
The course was overall pretty nice. It kind of weaved around parts of downtown Orlando, and not surprisingly it was quite flat. There was one weird moment where a car pulled out of a driveway INTO the race just in front of us, which...?????? People were NOT happy. And separately, one woman tripped and fell right behind me but got up right away and seemed okay.
ID: Race map for the Orlando HM and 5K
The 2:10 group kind of ebbed and flowed - I think I was the only one who was there pretty much the whole time (besides the pacer obviously). As we came around the last corner, we picked up the pace and I ended up finishing in 2:09:26 - my slowest-ever HM time! I'm so proud
Post-race
There were a lot of goodies after the race! In the exit chute alone I picked up water, Gatorade, a banana, a mini muffin, a Gatorade chew of some kind, a packet of almond butter, a NutriGrain bar, and a carton of chocolate milk, along with a ticket to get even more things in the finishers area. I threw all of that (except for the Gatorade chew and the mini muffin, which I ate) into the drawstring bag I also received, because...I was still only at 15.75 miles
So I popped down a side street to get in that last quarter of a mile or so.
Then I made my way to the post-race party and picked up a bowl of rice and beans, a glazed donut, another bag, a hat, sunglasses, iced coffee, a can of beer, a tequila sunrise, and a scoop of ice cream
Quite a haul! I ate some of the food and drank the tequila sunrise while doing a little stretching.
After the race I had plans to meet a friend for brunch, hence the wet wipes and change of clothes. It was a little bit of a challenge to clean myself up and change in the tiny stall, but I managed! At brunch I had a burger and fries and a couple of sangrias, and then I went home and took a nap
Overall I had a really good time and would recommend the race!
The one picture I managed to take:
ID: 2022 Orlando HM medal
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