June 1, 2014, Casper Half Marathon, Casper Wyoming

The theme for the Casper Half Marathon was "Run With the Herd" so I guess that's what I did!  13.1 miles and state number 8 (Wyoming) is in the books!

This race was a small scale race (174 half marathoners) but very organized. There wasn't any communication from the race directors before the race, but they did have a list of registered runners on their web site, so I had some confidence that I was truly registered.  Also in the last days before the race, some communication appeared on Facebook.

This was the first destination race where I traveled by myself.  My wife had to work, so I decided to take the short flight to Casper and go for it.  I stayed at the host hotel called the Ramada Plaza Casper. I decided to stay here because the race finished on the side of the hotel, packet pickup was here, and they had a free shuttle to the start.  Once I arrived at the hotel I checked into room 209 and went to packet pickup.  Packet pickup was well organized and there were about 8 vendors there. None of the vendors really captured my interest so it took about 5 minutes to get through.  The packet included a cloth bag, water bottle, bib, race shirt, cup holder, and carabiner.  After getting my packet,  I found Olive Garden and ordered my usual pre-race fare (spaghetti, chicken, salad, bread sticks).  As always, it was delicious and hit the spot!  I had hoped to get to sleep early but my room was noisy up until 10pm.  My room overlooked the pool area and there were kids playing and screaming as well as other loud noises.  Luckily the area closed at 10pm and everything was quiet after that.

On race day, I got up at 430am and caught the 530am shuttle to the Casper Events Center. It was a quick 5 minute ride. They had lots of free food and the Events Center was a warm place to hang out while waiting for the start. There was also plenty of room to stretch and indoor bathrooms without huge lines.  I didn't miss the usual porta potties one bit!

Casper Events Center

 This event was unlike any other I've done so far as it seems almost everyone I talked to was either a Marathon junkie or working on running in all 50 states.  Marathon Maniacs, Half Fanatics, and 50 State Club Members, were everywhere.  I talked to several people and heard many interesting stories. One fellow running the half marathon was 76 years old and had run in over 70 marathons.  He told me about one of his buddies that has run in over 1500 Marathons!   I sure hope I can still run when I'm his age!  One thing I heard consistently was Portland Oregon's Half Marathon is rainy every year.  Sounds like a good one to avoid!  The dude below ran the marathon with a 15 pound backpack and old style military uniform to raise money for charity.  I can't imagine running even a couple miles in all that.

Casper Marathon start line

 

The canon went off at 645am to signal the start and the weather was low 50s.  I thought about wearing a long sleeve shirt, but decided on my Arvada Triathlon Club short sleeve shirt, and was glad since it warmed up quickly. The start was a free-for-all but with only 174 runners and chip timing, there was no congestion.  The first 3 miles were rolling hills with a nice downhill at mile 3. My pace was way too fast for the first 4 miles (8:05 - 8:33 - 8:16 - 8:40) then once we hit the trail along the Platte River I slowed down. Partially because I was already somewhat tired and also because I knew I wouldn't finish if I kept up the quick pace.

Early in the race, I ran with a fellow from Iowa (Edward Solomon) who ended up finishing 2nd in my age group. I had hoped to maintain a 9:09 pace after mile 4 but that goal went away around mile 7.  Around mile 10, I hit a wall and was progressively slower each mile after. I also lost sight of Edward about this time.  The course was tough in my opinion. There were several tough hills especially towards the last few miles.  We ran in the rain for a couple miles. It wasn't a problem except the humidity went up once the rain stopped and the sun came out. I ended up finishing in 2:02:46. Not horrible but my slowest race in a while.  One cool thing is I finished 4th in my age group (50-59) out of 12 guys.  The guy that was 2nd only beat me by 3 minutes. I kinda dogged it the last 4 miles. If I hadn't, I would have been in the money (free Casper blanket) for the first time. Oh well, lesson learned. 

Casper Half Marathon finisher!

The scenery was nice on the run but there was minimal fan support. The course was marked very well and there were plenty of water and Gatorade stops. The post race area had plenty of food and drink options. I left and showered and checked out of my room, then came back around 1130am and they had more food options (pizza and subs). 

The race shirt is a bright orange long sleeve technical shirt and the medal is a spinner medal. I love the shirt and this is my first spinner medal!   The results were posted right after the race.

Casper Marathon race shirt

Casper Half Marathon finisher's medal

After the race, I drove around the area and saw beautiful wide open spaces with Mountains in the background.  Wyoming is beautiful country. At the airport, there were several (12+) of us proudly wearing our Orange Casper Marathon shirts. I talked to one couple that started the 50 states Marathon Club. The guy told me he has a torn meniscus but can't get it fixed because he has races every weekend for months. I think he said he's done over 500 Marathons.  Sounds a bit obsessed to me. Then again maybe people say that about me.    

My trophies!

Photographers:  They were there but I didn't see any pictures of me.

Numbers:
My race pace was 9:22 per mile.
Overall runners - 70th out of 174.
Male runners - 40th out of 70.
Age group - 4th out of 12 (Men 50-59).

Would I recommend this race?  It's a tough course.  If you need Wyoming and aren't looking to PR, it's a fun race.

What's next for me?  To be determined.  I am considering the following events but have not registered for any yet:

• TriBoulder Sprint triathlon on June 29th.  
• Cancer Sucks 1.2 mile swim on July 5th
• TriRock Olympic triathlon on July 20th