7 May 2017 - Wallis Sands Half Marathon
This trip was another first for us (Julie and me) since we've never been to New Hampshire before. My only real expectations for the trip were to experience a new part of the country and hopefully complete the half marathon in about 2 hours. Not only were both accomplished but now I can also pinpoint New Hampshire on a map of the USA! The trip was really fun and I can now officially claim to having completed at least a half marathon in 17 states.
We flew into Boston on Friday and drove about 90 minutes to Rye New Hampshire. Once we were outta the city (Boston) and the tunnels, the views were fantastic in spite of the rain. Rye is right on the Atlantic coast and there were great views of the ocean and New England style houses. In Rye we stayed at the Rosewood inn. It was an adequate hotel with terrific customer service.
Saturday morning we went to packet pickup at a running store in Portsmouth NH. The race packet was really basic and only included the race bib (personalized and colorful) and the race shirt. The race shirt was blue and long sleeve. The shirt was unique in that it has no sponsor logos on it. I have worn the shirt twice and it definitely gets the looks. On the front in big bold letters it says the name of the race and the date. I'm not sure why but it's easy to notice people checking out the shirt when I wear it.
Portsmouth is a fun town to walk around in. We spent most of Saturday doing this and had our pre-race meal at an Italian restaurant called The Rosa Restaurant. I had my usual pre-race meal that included salad, pasta, chicken and bread. The food and prices were good. We also drove the course and drove over the bridge into Kittery Maine on Saturday. They claim the course is flat but I beg to differ after driving and running the course.
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| He told me the kids have been training too so they are ready!! |
The first 4 or so miles were running along the coast against a 10-15 mph wind. The views in this section were beautiful and refreshing.
After this we turned away from the ocean and experienced neighborhoods, marshes, and countryside for the next 4 or so miles.
I felt great running the first 8 miles and was on my way to finishing in under 2 hours. That was until I hit the hills in mile 9. In the first 6.5 miles of this race there is about a 100 foot elevation gain. Nothing too tough. In mile 9 there is a 50 foot elevation gain. Doesn't sound horrible but my legs began to ache after this. The good news is the race was mostly flat other than this. I pushed through and was still on my sub 2 hour pace until my watch showed 11.15 at the 11 mile marker. Prior to this my watch and the mile markers were really close. I let this bother me and I bought into the messages that said "your not gonna finish under 2 hours so just walk a little". I walked for a minute or 2 while looking at the ocean, fighting a little hill and a head wind. The result is I finished in 2:01:27.4. 1 minute and 27 seconds over my goal. Am I disappointed? Not really because I enjoyed this race and experience!
The finish line experience was great. I was presented with the finishers medal and plenty of food to eat!!
After resting a bit and eating too much Julie joined me for a couple pictures since we were so close to the ocean!
Just a couple more highlights from our trip. It was fun driving along the coast and seeing the ocean and all the fancy houses. We stopped and enjoyed some ice cream along the way!
Dinner on race evening was at a local place called Petey's. They had wonderful seafood at a good price.
By the numbers:
Finish Time: 2:01:27
Overall: 283/867 finishers
Men: 140/245
Age Group: 15/30 55-59 Men
Strava link showing my run:
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