I was going to do this recap in 2 sections, recapping the race and venting about the Houston metro. I have decided against that for this recap. I have plenty of other social media outlets to do that on.
We left San Antonio Saturday morning after dropping the dog off. Packet pick-up was done during the 4 days prior to the event at 4 different location. The Saturday pick-up had the shortest hours, 10-4. I could tell right then that this wasn't a race with a lot of out of towners. Our pick up spot was in the lobby of the title sponsor's hospital. The race bag was a tiny reusable drawstring sack that had a bunch of flyers for local events, safety pins, bib, and one of those horrible timings chips that has to be attached with twist ties. The tech t-shirt was to be picked up after completing the race. Shortly after that, we headed over to our Hotel in Houston to get settled. We had the typical pre-race night but didn't fall asleep until after midnight.
The alarms went off at 0400 and it was time to drive over to the University of Houston at Sugar Land. They wanted everyone in the parking lot by 0530 so we made sure that happened. The race didn't start until 0630 so we just sat in the car relaxing until 6. The temperature was almost perfect, 45 with barely any wind. The humidity was high but hardly noticeable. The start area was a little cramped, but it had all of the necessities. It was around 0615 when a lady started shouting and yelling at people to get to the start line, repeatedly. Look lady, the people who are serious are going to be at the line on time. The race is chip timed, no need to run around yelling at people and stressing them out. Once the national anthem and their "prayer", the horn sounded and we were off.
The first half a mile was spent doing the usual bobbing and weaving to get around walkers that started near the front and lack etiquette. The course was nothing spectacular, it ran through a few neighborhoods, cul-de-sacs, and a long stretch of the University Drive. There were a few spectators out and most were encouraging, but quite a few had signs that weren't funny and bordering on crude. No, I didn't just fart and no I don't think I will crap my shorts, but thanks for taking interest in my bodily functions. As far as pace goes, I was partially using this as a training run for the next half on March 2. The plan called for a 1:45 (3/1) run today and since I knew my time would likely be higher, I just took the first 10 miles at around the same pace and then picked it up for the final 3.1. As you can see by the splits below, I was pretty consistent for the first 10 and the only reason mile 1 was over 9:00 was because of the logjam start and waiting for the crowd to separate. The course was almost completely flat, the only elevation changes being a couple of small bridges. The final 1.5 miles were on a jogging path parallel to the road which made sense when it was time to turn towards the finish. Racers doing the full did a turnaround prior to the finish timing mat and ran the course a second time. I crossed the line in 1:55:25, finally under the 2 hour mark! After receiving what is a really nice medal, I had to stop dead in my tracks so this poor volunteer could try to cut the twist ties off of my shoe to get the timing chip. This is the my only major gripe about this event. It's 2014, a race of this distance should not be using these chips when there are so many disposable chip options available.
The finish area was really nice and that is where finisher shirt pickup was. They also had bottled water, coffee, kolaches, BurgerFi, Muscle Milk, and a My Fit Foods stand,. They didn't have beer, but I wasn't surprised considering the town we were in. After grabbing a coffee I walked back towards the turn at mile 13 to give Amy a final push to the finish. Once she got her medal and shirt we went to check out the food vendors, but most had run out. We ended up with a smoked sausage in a tortilla, it is Texas after all. The results were finalized today and I was 134 of 750 overall and 34 of 76 in my age group . It was a decent race and a good training run for the next race in a month where I hope to finish in 1:45. If it was in any other city we would consider doing it again, but our personal experience with the attitude and arrogance of the locals will keep us from returning.
