Southern Fried Half Marthon - Nags Head, NC

Outerbanks Marathon -- Southern Fried Half Marathon

Race recap for state #14 -- North Carolina  11/12/2017


The best part of this race was that my family went along with me.  My mom, wife, daughter, Coral (Keeley's friend), and both boys.  Even better, Valerie and Noble ran in the race, and my mom rode her bicycle along with us.  We drove and had a fun road trip in the motor home.

Registration:

Registration for this race was through raceit.com

 Fee:

I received another discount through the 50 states half marathon club.  The fee was $85 and I got a 10% discount of $8.50 (for all you math averse folks).

The Expo:

The expo was super small.  The smallest expo I have been too.  Some of the races did not have an expo, but of the ones that did, this one was the smallest.  Of course, this was one of the only expos that I had time to kill and was actually interested in looking at some of the "stuff", but it being so small, they did not have what I wanted.  We browsed the exhibitors and bought a couple little things, some Nuun electrolyte tablets and Valerie bought a hoodie.  I really wanted a visor, but they did not have what I wanted. Oh well. 

Shirt:

The shirt was another long-sleeved wicking, tech shirt.  Now I am certain that I own more long-sleeved shirts than I have ever owned at one time.

Race Day:

The race was Sunday.  Valerie and Noble and Mom and I got up early and ate breakfast at 5:00am.  Mom drove us to the start.-- which was awesome, because otherwise we werre going to have to walk to the high school about 1.5 miles and take a bus to the start.
The weather was awesome.  It was about 50F.  It warmed up to almost 60F toward the end of my race, but was still nice.  I was a bit concerned the day before because it was in the 40's and super windy.... like 20MPH windy and that made it super cold, but race day was pretty nice.  MUCH less wind and a bit warmer

Race Start Time:

The race start was scheduled for 7:00am.  We started exactly on time.  I was in corral A, Noble was in corral B and Valerie was in corral D.  There was a 2 minute lag between corrals.

Course Map:

The web site is not working at the moment, so I do not have the picture of the course... but the race started in the middle of Nags Head (outer banks) and ran south.  It was pretty flat.  It ran through a neighborhood and around a golf course and the Kitty Hawk dunes (which, BTW I did not even see -- Valerie asked me, "wasn't it pretty?"  I said, "I did not see it!")... then back on the main road south.  There was a turn to the west at about mile 7 or 8 toward Manteo, NC.  Then a steep uphill section, up the bridge 55 feet to the 10 mile marker, then downhill and a right turn  into Manteo where we finished.

I was running 7:40-7:50 until the bridge.  I ran 8:23 up the hill and then in the high 7:50's until the end.  It kind of took the gas out of me.

I finished 7:56 avg per mile 1:43.58  Not too bad.

Transportation:

We drove from Florida to NC.. and back in my mom's motor home -- thanks mom.
We split up the driving between myself, Valerie and Grammie.  I tried to get Keeley to drive in there somewhere, but she would have nothing of it.

Weather:

So glad it was not freezing and super windy!  Thank you Lord!

Race Morning:

As I mentioned, we got up at 5:00 and made breakfast.  The trickiest part of the morning was trying to make sure that we all went to the bathroom adequately before we left.  We had one who couldn't seem to go at all and one that went four times.  not mentioning any names and trying to be as vague as possible.  The runners reading this understand what I mean -- actually I am betting everyone else does too.

Race:

The race was fairly small.  There were 1800 runners in the half, and 1500 finishers of the half.  There were no hiccups, so I am saying it was well run and organized.  The back streets were all blocked off and the main road had one lane blocked off.  It was actually plenty.  I did not feel any issues with traffic.  The Full marathon started 20 minutes after the half, so I did not see any of them.  The mile markers for the half obviously went from 1-13, and we did see the full marathon mile markers, but they did not join our course until they had already run 13 miles, so although we did see the 20th and 24th, etc... mile markers, it was not confusing because we knew those did not apply to us

Water/Food Stations:

There were plenty of water and nutrition stations.  Every 2-3 miles.  They had Gatorade at several stations and water at EVERY station.  There were nutrition gels at two stations.  I skipped the first two water stations again as I was feeling good and just decided to keep up my pace.  I well ahead of the 1:45 or 8:00/mile pacers after mile 3, so I just kept moving.  The next two stations, I had only a sip of water.  I really did not feel like I needed anything until after about mile 8 or 9.  I was pretty tired at mile 10, but that was because of the steep incline.

Scenery:

The scenery was nice.  I apparently missed the Kitty Hawk dunes, but the neighborhoods and the golf course was nice, and it was nice looking around on top of the bridge.  Valerie apparently stopped on the top of the bridge and marveled at the scenery, because, "It was so pretty!!!"  I did not stop.  Noble did not stop either.

Race Entertainment:

There were some nice spectators.  Most of the ones I saw, I saw at regular intervals because they were cheering for a little girl who had to be 9 years old. (there was an age restriction of 13, but there was no way she was 13)... of course Noble is 12, so I understand.  Anyway, she was running right along with me most of the way, until she passed me after mile 12.  Her dad rode his bike ahead and would stop and take pictures and she had fans doing the same thing, so they were there at multiple places cheering her on.  It was sweet.  My mom was doing the same for me, until she lost me.  I was going too fast, she did not think I was that far ahead, so I did not see her after mile 5 or 6 or so.  I remember a couple of entertainment places.  There was a guy in a shark costume and a girl in a pirate costume and a bear at the finish???  Not sure what that was all about.

Finish:

The finish was right in front of our condo.  It was awesome.  The finish area went right up the the entrance to the condo complex... so, after I finished, I waited for Noble and then went and took a shower and came back to meet Valerie.  Keeley, Coral, and Levi had just woken up and still had "sleep" in their eyes, but they strolled out just as I was finishing, so everyone had a cheering section.  Pretty neat.  The announcer called all three of our names and mispronounced each one.

Bling:

The medal was a nice medal.  Now we have three.



















The disappointing part is the post race pictures.  So far, the pictures consist of one area of the race and not even a good angle and not even the finish line

Good thing my mom was there and took some pictures.

Misc:

This was a nice race.  It was well organized and everyone seemed to be in good spirits.  I always seem to like the race when I run well.  I felt good and posted a decent time.  sub 8:00 miles is good for me right now.  It was also nice to have the family there and to be able to cheer them on.  I am super proud of my wife and my son.  Neither of them have run that far, ever.. and they both performed great.  Nice to see.   Also it is always nice to have my mom out there riding her bike along with us.

In all, it was a good race.  We made it fun as a family, had a little R&R and a good road trip.. oh yeah and we ran 13.1 miles.

I have Rehoboth Beach Delaware up next on Dec 2.  There is some talk of a Polar something weather pattern something -- it is supposed to be cold.  Snow in December in Delaware?  maybe?  I sure hope not, but we will see.

I also made a weird decision.  I scheduled two races in January.  I will be in Seattle for a week, so I decided to run the Saturday before my course in Washington and the Saturday after the course in California -- yes, that is just 7 days.  The one in Washington is "the rain race".  They schedule it specifically at a time where they expect it to rain. -- odd.  The one in California is at Pebble Beach.  1st time the 17 mile road will be utilized for a race and closed to traffic.  I don't think I will have too much trouble with the recovery time.  I ran Tuesday and Wednesday after this last race which was Sunday, and I feel good.  So, 6 days of recovery should be fine.  I'll let ya know.  Should be fun. 

15 Most Annoying Types of Runners

I just read an article, well it was more like the pejorative "clickbait" type of "article" where you have to click each slide to see the next one rather than simply reading the "article".  It was titled The 15 Most Annoying Types of Runners, and I had to laugh a little because, I think I find myself in 12 or so of them -- that is, many folks would place me squarely in the category of "An Annoying Runner".  Here are the 15 types that they recognized:

1. The Chatty Runner - well, that is definitely not me.  I don't like to talk much anyway, and particularly when I am running.  I am certain that I have missed numerous opportunities to bond with my 12 year old.  Together time and face time for a long time, but instead I told him that I am not likely to talk to him much, so stick with me and we can talk AFTER we run.  That's some great parenting right there.  lol

2.  The One Who Doesn't Understand Pacing - I have definitely had my moments in this area.  Of course, I would love to tell you that I am getting better, alas I still have my meltdowns.

3.  The Stubborn One -  Right off the bat, it may be easy to say that I fit this one pretty well, but they go on to clarify what they mean by stubborn.  They are talking more about the person who just won't let you pass them.  Every time you pass them, they speed up.  I know that is annoying while driving.  I don't like people passing me.  Particularly the closer to the end that I get.  I get super bothered when someone blazes past me at mile 9 or 10.  Where the heck have they been and why when I am about to pass out do they have enough energy to smoke me?  How does that happen?  Of course the difference is I cannot stop them from passing, so I just watch them blow by, cursing under my breath.

4.  The Social Media-Obsessed One -  I certainly would not classify myself as social media-obsessed, but I do post all of my runs and activities on Strava and a few of them make their way on to Facebook.  For me it is a sort of accountability.  I set this goal to run 50 half marathons in 50 states in 50 months, because without a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal), I would not likely accomplish much.  Then, after you create a BHAG, then you tell everyone about it, it is almost like you CANNOT not complete it.  Imagine, literally EVERYONE you know is aware of your goal, your quest and some of them you only see and/or hear from once a year, they ALL ask you, "How's the marathon thing coming?"  How embarrassing would it be to have to tell them ALL that you gave up?  That would suck!

5.  The One That's Naturally Gifted - I have always been fairly athletic, but I certainly would not suggest that I was naturally gifted - at running.  I have suggested all along that I am not a runner.  I feel like I have spent my entire life building a body type for something other than long-distance running, and now I am struggling to change my body type to be more "runner friendly".  For those of you in the know, you understand what I mean is I am fat and need to drop a whole bunch of weight.  Having said that, I have many times been passed by runners who are carrying much more weight around than me.  When I ran my PR in Arizona, I started right up front in the first corral, ran sub 8:00 minute miles -- felt really good about myself, and then at mile 11 I passed a lady who weighed 30 pounds more than me.  HOW DID SHE GET TO MILE 11 IN FRONT OF ME???  It is a mystery to me.  I'm just happy I was able to pass her.
The other aspect to this one is the perspective from the other side.  I have several friends who are secretly mad at me because I decided, with a lack of proper training to go run 50 half marathons, and actually run them, and I was able to just go and do that (for the most part).  I can see how that could be annoying.

6.  The One Who Always Flakes -  This is in reference to your running partner who doesn't show when they are supposed to.  Of course, I do not have a running partner.  I tried to make my son my running partner, but, well... he always flakes.  So, this one does not apply to me.

7.  The One Who Stinks -  This one made me laugh.  I am certain that I do not smell of roses and perfume while I am running or after.  I sweat, a lot.  The part that made me laugh has to do with a trip that I took recently.  I went to Seattle for a week.  I ran almost every day while I was there.  I only had one carry-on sized bag and I packed all of my clothes in zip-locked baggies to compress them and conserve space.  My used workout clothes were all placed in one zip-locked baggie for the trip home.  When my wife opened the bag to sort and wash my clothes from the trip (she is a super special lady - I am blessed), she nearly passed out as they had begun to ferment.  Even after she washed them, they STILL stunk and had to be washed again with vinegar or bleach or hydrochloric acid or something.  Sorry honey!

8.  The Uber Competitive One -- Yeah, I have to admit I am somewhat competitive, and by somewhat I mean, OMGoodness, everything is a competition and losing sucks! :)  I was gonna tell you a funny anecdotal story to make my point, but I think you get the idea, and the stroy ends with me losing, so that would simply be another blow to my fragile ego.

9.  The One Who Makes Excuses - As many of you have read throughout this blog, I have an excuse for everything.  I like to call it a theory of how the negative outcome may have happened, with the expressed purpose of correcting that aspect so as to not ever let it happen again.

10.  The "All Running, All the Time" One - I would not exactly put myself in this category either, as it is important to note that I have other interests and hobbies that I like to talk about - when I am forced to talk.  I think the key here is that it is not so important that we talk about running, however it is important to talk about me and my interests.  Just kidding, but enough about me, let's talk about you for a while.  What do you think of me?

11.  The Not-So-Humble Bragger - So, I suppose it depends on your perspective.  That is, I do not go out of my way to tell people about what I am doing or what I have done, or how well I did it, but people DO ask me a lot.  So, when they ask me, I tell them.  Also, I write this blog and post on social media, so it is all out there.  I don't see it as bragging, but everyone will likely have their own opinion.

12.  The Gear Snob - This one also made me laugh.  As those of you that have read this much know from previous posts that I have tried many things and considered many others.  I have $75 shorts - multiple pairs for heaven's sake.  On the other hand, I don't use my heart monitor and I don't have camel backs or fanny packs or fancy equipment.  Just my Garmin, my fancy shorts and socks and shoes, and then there is the whole ear-bud thing, but I am using them less and less.

13.  The "Your Pace is Fine" One - This one is in reference to running with others who are running slower than you are interested in running, yet you tell them you will run slower with them, but you don't.  I know it has been annoying to my lovely wife on more than one occasion where we would run "together", which means I would run on and circle back around multiple times.  I am sure she hates that.

14.  The Complainer - Have you read my blog?

15.  The Perpetually Injured One - I have been very fortunate that I have only had a couple of minor injuries.  I am betting that they would have healed much faster and without incident or drama if I had only rested properly instead of continuing to race.. but I have an agenda here, ain't nobody got time for injuries.

In recap, I suppose it would be appropriate to apologize to everyone right now for being annoying in many areas.  I get pretty annoyed with myself many times.

We are driving to Nags Head North Carolina.  Leaving this evening.  The race is not 'till Sunday, but the whole family is going, so we are making a trip out of it.  Noble and Valerie are still planning on running, so it should be fun.  Race recap when I return from State #14.