My Half Marathon

           Yesterday, I ran a half marathon in Irvine, California. I went with my girlfriend and my mom, and I had to wake up at 4:50 to leave the house on time. We drove to the check-in at the race, and I received my bib number. We got to the area early, so we waited around for an hour. 20 minutes before the race, I went for a five minute jog. Normally I warm up more, but I did not feel like running before the race. I lined up according to my desired pace, which was around 7:10. There was a little ceremony before the race, and then we walked up to where the starting line was. There was a countdown, and then an air horn was blown. I started off strong, and I got faster the whole race. The race was a little crowded in the beginning, but since I finished in the top 100, the pack thinned out during the whole race. My first mile was around 7:20, and my second was 14:00. I calculated out how fast I needed to run at each mile, and I beat my goal on each mile.

My First Half Marathon

           One of the fun things about running the race is all the people cheering you on. I have four times where I was having a great time running the race. The first is when I approached the second water station, there were 20 or so high schoolers holding water cups and begging me to take one of theirs. I shook my head at a few of them, then pointed at one and took his cup. When I did, he cheered and everyone else groaned. I thought that was funny and it helped me run a little faster. The second time was when I passed a mile marker with 5 girls politely clapping. I raised my arms and they started cheering and one of them said, "Dude, you are awesome." The third time was when I reached a corner of the course, and there was a man with a microphone and he asked the runners, "Are any of you having fun?" to which I replied by raising my arms and smiling. He mentioned my bib number and said, "Looks as if this young man is having fun." The last time was when I neared the last 100 yards and there were tons of people cheering on the sidelines. I knew I was almost done with the race, so I sprinted and beat two people right in front of me.
           I ended up with a time of 1:29 and 17 seconds. This is far better than the 7:10 pace I wanted; I got a 6:49 pace for the 13.1 miles. My legs were aching as I walked around the finish area, but I made up for it by grabbing a whole bunch of cookies and dessert items. I recieved a medal, which looks like this:

My Southern California Half Marathon Medal

           I met up with my mom and girlfriend, who had been cheering me on the whole race. I was glad to see them, and we walked to our car and drove home. The race was great, and I had a fun time running my first half marathon. I hope to do another one again this year, and I hope to break my time.