Swamphouse Half-Marathon in Debary

I hadn't really planned on doing this race today.  After my PR (Personal Record) at the Celebration Marathon in January and another PR at the Real Florida 10K trail race last weekend, I felt my running races for 2014 were done.  However, my co-worker Rhonda Curran's daughter Ashlee had a medical condition cause her to DNF at the Orlando Extreme Half-Marathon 3 weeks earlier and she had already signed up for this race.  I asked Rhonda and Ashlee if I could run the race for Ashlee and they agreed.  My friend Jennifer Florida at FinalMile graciously transferred the entry at no charge so I was entered.

As my last PR (1:54:52) for a half marathon occured at the OUC in downtown Orlando in 2005, I wasn't sure if I was up to the task of another PR.  I have done 7 half-marathons since 2004, not counting half Ironman triathlons.  While my mile splits for last weekend's trail 10K were 8:36, that would have to be my mile time for 13.1 miles today to achieve my goal .  My Celebration Marathons splits were 10:17, fine over 26.2 miles.  Needless to say, I was wondering if this was doable, especially since I was now 60 years old.  I also felt I'd let Ashlee down if I didn't try as hard as I could.

Pacer Eve Barrett and me

Race morning was cool and clear and FinalMile's organization was great.  We started a few minutes after 7:15 while waiting for the last shuttle bus then off we went into the sunrise.  I saw a run pacer with pink hair carring a 1:55 sign and figured if I stuck to her I'd be fine.  The miles ticked away as we traveled through Debary and I managed to hang onto the 1:55 group.  As runners fell away, I caught the pacer, Eve Barrett, a 3-time Ironman finisher from Dunedin, at mile 10.  We chatted a bit as we zipped along and a few more people dropped back.  At mile 11.5, there were only 5 in the group and I pulled away, confident that I could press hard to the finish.  I started running down people ahead of me and at mile 12 I still felt strong.  Running with Ashlee on my mind, I ran as hard as I could and hit the finish line at 1:53:31, a new PR by 1:21!  I waited to thank Eve for her efforts and after a quick picture, I went to check out the results.  I was very pleased to see I finished Third out of 18 in my age group, good for an plaque.  At the awards ceremony, I ran into an old friend, Ken Allen, who had won his age group along with Charlie St.Cyr-Paul, who won his.  A great day all the way around.  I look forward to running with Ashlee again soon after her recovery



Along the St. Johns's River



Jack with Ken Allen