A Hot and Humid Half Marathon
This past Saturday I ran a hot, humid and hilly half marathon in Pennypack Park in Philadelphia. This was not my original plan. I injured a hip flexor muscle back in early April. I did a decent job resting and recovering from it, so I wanted to treat myself to a nice shady marathon to test out my fitness before signing up for my next long race.
Three days before the 1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut Marathon, race director Stephan made the executive decision to cancel the 26.2 race due to expected excessive heat and humidity. He said we can all do the half marathon instead. While I was initially bummed and was hoping to complete my 29th marathon (I will retire from the distance when I hit 30) at a somewhat leisurely pace, I trusted his judgement. I’ve done a bunch of Stephan’s races over the years, and he and his staff know how to manage these things. It was a good call. In Stephan We Trust.
Disclaimer: I have nothing against half marathons, I’ve done many over the years but now that I am an older gent, I don’t like trying to run fast. I’m in the “run longer but slower in the middle of nowhere” phase of my running life. I do two 5-mile runs every year where I run fast (for me) and that’s more than enough.
Anyway, I was fully on board for this unexpected 13-miler and, on the plus side, the extreme heat meant I did not feel the need to go out guns a blazing. Thank goodness.
The weather was rough on race day morning. It was the kind of muggy, sticky heat that did not make you feel stoked to run. And despite seeing a beautiful deer gently eating some leaves while I was walking to the start line, I was not in the most chipper mood.
Right before the race started, the fine folks at the Philadelphia Fire Department drove up and parked one of their big trailers on the lawn and deployed two fully equipped four-wheeler rescue vehicles with four EMTs ready to tend to any emergencies. It was not the most comforting site.
Luckily for the runners, Pennypack Park has prime shade for the majority of the course. That helped a ton. Plus, there were four aid stations spaced out perfectly offering water, Gatorade, and a little spray hose to cool us off.
I opted for no vest or handheld bottles because I jump at any opportunity to not carry or wear any extra weight. You just feel lighter.
I did carry three gels and six salt tabs in my waist belt. This turned out to be the perfect amount of nutrition required to get me over the finish line without feeling totally depleted. It’s difficult to get the nutrition right in any race and your stomach can turn on you quickly.
It was tough trying to get into a rhythm for the first 4 to 5 miles. Based on the toasty temps, I decided on a safe 9-minute per mile pace. Oddly, my body wanted to go a little faster (maybe to get it over with quicker?), but I wasn’t sure how the heat was going to affect me, so I tried to stick to this pace and maybe speed up if things go well. I was chugging along but not fully enjoying it.
“Hey jeff, what’s the course like?”
Great question, straight from the Uber Endurance website:
You get to run miles within the city limits of Philadelphia without seeing a house or a car. The midsection features short but steep rolling hills and a trail section (Mount Cuckoo). Some refer to this course as an “Achterbahn” (rollercoaster). It’s not easy, but it’s a great challenge for experienced runners.
Is this a Boston Qualifier? Hell no!!!!! This is a summer race; high temps will make this harder than you anticipate. No whining on race day.
We hit the series of rolling hills section starting at mile 4 and they were actually a nice diversion. When we got to Mile 5.5, we exited the very-runnable main path and entered the trails for the next 2.5 miles at the turnaround point of the race. I did this marathon a few years back and the trail portion was much shorter and much easier. This Mount Cuckoo trail section was a little crazy.
When you quickly exit a nice wide smooth path and are funneled into a very narrow single track, the whole race changes. You are sandwiched within a pack. You can’t control your pace. You just try to keep up with the momentum of conga line.
I’ve run a lot of trail races in PA and this little segment was reminiscent of the Wissahickon and French Creek with regards to the terrain: techy with not-great visibility. It was rocky, rooty, and rutty, definitely a “head-down, do not look up, and stay on the wheel of the person in front of you” stretch of running.
There were also lots of low-hanging branches, downed trees you needed to hop over, and there was very little room to pass. I was about a foot behind the guy in front of me because I had a guy about a foot behind me the entire time. The vibe was intimate and the pack was motoring fast.
It was intense but it was just the right injection of energy and focus I needed to switch gears for the back half of the race. I felt invigorated.
I love trail running and despite the occasional fall, I love the challenge of moving and grooving while trying hard to avoid all the little dangers on the ground trying to trip me up.
When I exited the trail section around Mile 8ish, I thought about slowing it down a bit, but I popped a Maurten 100 Gel and my third salt capsule (salt is crucial in the heat when you are trying to avoid cramps), and thought to myself, what the hell, let’s keep the increased pace up for as long as we can despite the rapidly rising temps.
When I do long races like 50Ks, 50-milers, and one grueling 100K, I mentally focus on the short term, not the big picture. I’m only thinking about the next 4-5 miles in these races (usually based on aid stations) and what I need to do to keep moving to the next chunk of miles. This tactic helped me in this situation. Five miles to go? No problem.
Okay there was a small problem, my watch GPS glitched and the pace it was displaying was all over the place and I somehow lost a mile on the trails (miles 8 and 9 were combined?). When I got to the Mile 11 sign my watch said, “Mile 10” and I was thrown for a loop. My body and brain were fully drenched in sweat at this point and I thought I was losing my mind a bit.
Technology be damned, for the last few miles I ignored my watch and just ran hard and felt pretty good while doing it. I put in a little surge with a three miles to go, and enjoyed myself despite the heat.
Thrilling Finish Alert: I had two guys breathing down my neck at the finish line but luckily, I was not caught (see video). Almost, though 🙂
I came in 52nd out of 394 runners. 8:52 pace. I put in a lot of effort recouping from my dumb injury and was happy with the result. As you get older, you really appreciate a solid day of running.
I asked another runner at the finish if the course was short because of my watch problems, and he said it was actually a bit long. I checked with a few other people’s posts on Facebook and Strava and distances ranged from 13.35 to 13.68 miles.
Was the course long? Or did GPS have a hard time in this neck of the woods? It really doesn’t matter. It was a fun, challenging event with casual and friendly vibes. The course was marked very well, especially the sinuous trail section, and the location was perfect for a day with some extreme weather.
Also, in a time where everything is expensive, all the Uber Endurance races are affordable and staffed with amazing volunteers.
See you all out there.
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