Dick Lytie Spring Classic Half Marathon
My 2008 racing season kicked off on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. A local endurance company InCompetition organized the event which is in tribute to a running legend from the Green Bay area. I had done the race twice in the past. In 1995 I ran a 1:34:08 on a different course and in 1999 I ran a 1:32:21 on a similar route to the current course. Regardless, the west side of Green Bay is rather hilly which always makes for a challenging course.
The race didn’t start until 10AM so I arrived around 9AM to register. I headed out into the wind for a mile then back to the starting area which totaled 2 miles for a warm up. The race day registration was very busy and likely delayed the start a few minutes to accommodate everyone who wanted to run. I didn’t mind as I was stuck waiting in line for the lone mens room in the building.
Everyone filed out at the appointed hour and we made our way to the starting line. Temps were in the low 30’s with sunny skies. After some pre-race announcements a simple "GO" started us on our way. I purposefully started a few rows back from the front and eased into the effort as we wound our way through the university campus. As we neared the northern part of the campus, the accompanying three mile race headed off in their direction while we headed up the first of three significant hills.
I made it to the top of the first hill and passed through the 2 mile mark somewhere around 14 minutes flat. Ahead of me was ultra legend Roy pIrRUNg who was chatting with another runner along side him. The course turned to the left which took us down a good sized hill then turned right and right again to go uphill. I kept my effort reigned in so i wouldn’t go anaerobic on the hill and just settled in behind a group of runners ahead of me.
After climbing this hill we were at roughly 4 miles. I started to feel "good" and I passed Roy and the guy he was running with and charged off solo. This area of the course was slightly downhill and I was benefiting from a tailwind. In the back of my mind, I knew I’d pay for it on the way back to the finish.
We made another turn to the left which took us down a really long downhill. Off in the distance was Green Bay – the body of watter – which still was iced over in late march. I leaned forward and let momentum carry me down the hill. We then turned right onto a road that ran along Green Bay which had vehicle traffic on it. I’m not a big fan of racing on "open" courses just because some motorists get awful angry if they are delayed even slightly.
The course turned to the right again and I could see the long uphill that I remember from the last time I had raced on the course in 1999. As I approached it, I purposely slowed slightly to catch my breath to make the climb a little more manageable. I motored up through the hill and as I crested it the course turned right onto Bay Settlement Road…and into a headwind.
I leaned into the wind and focused on moving forward. A younger runner was a bit ahead of me and I worked to maintain some sort of contact. Admittedly, my focus waned a bit as the wind chilled me and slowed my progress. Two runners came up from behind me and we started trading time breaking the wind for the other two. Cyclists commonly work in that fashion but many runners look at you cross eyed if you suggest it. Honestly, it was great working with these two guys and we made our way back to the university campus.
As we got closer, one of the guys i was working with pulled out front while the other backed down on the pace. We turned right and went down a big hill which lead into the campus. I opened up a gap on one the guys who i had been working with while the other surged ahead. As we wound through campus, I ran the tangents through the turns and began to close the gap on a lady runner. The guy who had dropped behind me surged up and passed me as I began to slow from the preceding miles. We made one last turn and headed to the finish line.
Immediately upon finishing we noticed our time didn’t match up with the advertised 13.1 distance. I took a look at my GPS watch which read only 12.83 miles. Other folks with Garmins reported 12.9 miles. Honestly, it was a bit disappointing that the course wasn’t "on" after working that hard for nearly an hour and a half. Regardless, the clock showed 1:28:48 for me. I ended up 17th overall out of 191 finishers. Only 13 seconds separated me from 14th place overall.
After getting something to drink, I got changed into some dry clothes. I happened to run into Roy and invited him along on a cool down. We ran a 3.5 mile loop around campus and made it back in time for the awards to be handed out. He (of course) won his age group and I was announced as 3rd in mine. We each got silver colored thermal mugs with the logo of InCompetition on it. After the results were posted, I noticed I was really 6th in the 30-39 age group so I guess I’ll consider the mug as a door prize.
I figure if the course had been 13.1 miles, I would have been about 1:30:30 which is decent for this time of the year considering the hilly course. Regardless, it was fun to get out and race again as it had been over 5 months since I had toed the line.