This past year, after finishing my first half (New Years Double - Eve Half) a number of my running friends and I signed up for the
Four Seasons Half Marathon Challenge provided by Mellew Productions. That's four half marathons total - one per season! Yeah!Not only do runners get a discount on race fees if you register for the challenge, you also receive a Four Season medal when you complete the halves in succession, and you will forever be able to pay $50 for a Mellew Half in the future! Awesome!
To say the least, this was my 2014 challenge - the completion of four half marathons. This would equal me out to a total of five half marathons in 365 days!
Race #1: Texas Half
This race unfortunately had to happen in February when Texas was hit with lots of winter weather. It was cold an blustery enough to freeze your snot. Plus, there were possible snow blowing in during race time. Wonderful! Bundled up complete with a rain coat, we ran the Irving course. The course nice "eye candy" from apartments to housing to a greenbelt it was an out and back course. Granted there was a disconcerting moment when you realize that part of the wooded greenbelt area was just on the other side of the creek from a shooting range! The course, though, was relatively flat with some inclines, but nothing that made you yell to yourself that you needed to do more hill work. The race started and ended at the Irving Convention Center, which is uber nice since parking was close thanks to the parking garage (free).
Honestly, however, I would not want to run this race again. Granted the weather was horrid this year and it cause problems such as:
- No gear check as far as we could tell (say hello to walking out of a warm building after the race to get your change of clothes from the freezing car!),
- Timing scaffolding could not withstand the winds and was taken down by the time I finished (finishing time is still little messed up!)
- Short Course - Yep, the course was total a 12.55mi distance. I felt cheated on the last thing, but at the same time I didn't have to be in the frigidness for one minute longer until I had to get my change of clothes and to return home
Next year could always be different, but I wasn't all together happy.
Race #2: Big D Half
Compared to Texas Half, this race was really good. Back in the familiar stomping grounds of Fair Park Mellew appeared to more on top of it. Granted, the only thing they (along with my buddies and I) had to worry about were the potential rain and lightning storms that were rolling in. What is up with the weather, Texas?! The first half of the race lead us through residential areas to run momentarily on White Rock Lake for almost three miles before heading towards and down Swiss Ave. I loved "house shopping" during this race during the entire distance; though the downpours after the halfway mark was a bit distracting. I had finished strong with my best time yet, and was quite happy.
Runner's Tip: bring a towel with you so you can dry off and, if it is raining or could possibly rain, bring a rain jacket to wear when heading home! I decided not to change out of my wet clothes since I had to trek almost half mile back to the car to get home!
I would do this race again. I even read that they are redesigning the course to be flatter!
Race #3: Hottest Half
This was an insane race, and named appropriately. I have yet to run a hotter race - nor do I care to do so. The course, which went along the Trinity Trails, was OK and interesting since this was a completely new area for me. I running my intervals not too badly and was making good time. I wasn't too familiar with the race course because of how twisty turny it was on the map, and I fell for the usual trap of "oh, the distance between the turn-around point and me is not that bad." The realization of how wrong I was hit hard when we all discovered that what was called a "small gravely trail" turned out to be more of a construction road with lots of dirt and big gravel. I called it the Gauntlet of Hell.You had to walk this out and back and then you could consider running again - if you didn't have to stop and the little rocks out of your shoes and got your legs to stop feeling like jelly after walking for so long. Just when you thought you survived the worse you realize that the course was designed to be longer when you hit their Mile 11 marker and your Garmin is telling you 12 miles instead. It evened out a bit, but it was still over by at least 0.4 - 0.6 miles!
Just because of how hot it was I would not do it again! Oh, and there were not enough bathrooms for this race, which isn't good for someone who gets nervous before each race! What got me through this race was a lot of happy thoughts of what I was going to be doing later that day!
Runner's Tip: Invest in a cooling towel (I really like my Enduracool) that you can get wet. Wear it on your head or around your shoulders.
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| The Gauntlet of Hell before the turnaround. Look at those poor dejected runners! |
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| The Gauntlet of Hell after the turnaround. Dirt. Road. |
Race #4: Tyler Rose Half
This was the best race out of the entire challenge! No question about it! After a good night sleep in a soft hotel bed (score!) I woke to perfect weather. After going through packet pick up, gear check, visits to the loo I was in place at the start complete with butterflies and the question of "Why am I doing this again?". But with 5 minutes left to go, I got an unexpected text message from a friend that made me smile - and it stayed with me the entire 13.1 distance. Honestly, I was worried about the hills since I practically did not train at all for hills let alone any long distance race for entire month of September (oh, illnesses), but they were not bad at all - (while I think back) including the big one at the end (read below).
The hills were not that bad. The scenery was lovely. I vaguely remember the course map, which helped in some respects. There was a lot of volunteers and spectators to cheer you on. I started out doing my typical interval style (4:1) for almost the first half, but the last half of the race I ran it straight. I told myself that I would walk for a minute when a specific mile popped up, but I actually lost track of what mile I was on (I ignore my Garmin after a while). Realizing that I was at mile 9 instead of 8 I decided to keep on running straight with no breaks until my body told me otherwise. Plus, Garmin was showing a really good time. I only walked a little bit those last few miles, especially when there was one huge hill ahead of you that could scare the Powerade out of you! This half finishes in the Rose Garden is was really beautiful, and a perfect place for finishing photos. My buddies and I got our challenge medals and even had our picture taken with Clif, Mellew's MC for the races. I had a sub-3hr PR on this half, which I totally did not expect! Maybe I can achieve more than my mind is letting me to believe!
Runner's Tip: If you are staying in a hotel the night before the race, try to get the hotel to extend your check out to 2pm. We tried, but it didn't work out, and we ended up swabbing down with loads of baby wipes in a bathroom stall before changing our clothes, getting lunch, and driving back to DFW.
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| A beautiful view in Tyler. |
Race logos found
here.
