Inaugural Scranton Half Marathon 2014 Recap

When I found out back in September that Scranton was hosting a half marathon in the spring, I knew I didn't have a choice but to sign up. We don't have an abundance of local races (other than 5ks) and this one looked like it was going to be especially awesome. I got plenty of emails to keep me updated leading up to the race and Joe said packet pickup on Friday night was a breeze.

The morning of the race, we got up at 6am, got ready and out of the house shortly after 7am, and arrived around 7:30. The race was scheduled to start at 9am, so we hung out in the car for a while to relax and stay warm.

At 8:30, we got in line for the bathrooms and then made our way to the start line. The "corral" area was crowded and cramped and it took us a minute or so to get past the start line and into a light jog once the gun sounded promptly at 9am.

Miles 1-5 brought us through a few different communities, including a row of gorgeous houses (and some hills) in Greenridge. The main hills for this course were here, although they weren't too bad. I had a hard time getting into a good pace because of the congestion so my first mile was close to 11 minutes but I picked it up into the 9:40/mile range for the next few. My goal for this race was to run under a 10:00/mile average pace and at first, I didn't think I could pull it off, but as I kept running I realized it just might be possible.

I also realized at this point that I could've done without my jacket. Even though it was only 35º, the sun was out so I warmed up really fast. It was annoying to run with the jacket tied around my waist for most of the race, but we live and we learn and there was no way I was tossing it.

 

It was so cool seeing the huge hoard of people running up the hills in front of me. Normally, I'm driving down these roads and I'm grouchy from the other drivers and the pot holes, so it was a nice change of pace to run through town with so many other people who were clearly enjoying themselves as much as I was. 

Miles 5-7.5 brought us into the downtown area down North Washington Ave and past my very favorite local restaurant, Cooper's Seafood House. Seriously, best crab bisque ever. I kept logging miles around a 9:30 pace and was excited to have a small bank of time for the second half in case I really started to lose it.

The part of the course I was most excited about was running on the Lackawanna Heritage Trail, which I've never done before. It was beautiful even though nothing was blooming yet and I'm really looking forward to getting some runs in here over the coming months.

However, this is the part where I started to struggle. We logged miles 8, 9, and 10 here and I started to have pains in my knee and hips. I took a gel at mile 8 (Salted Caramel Gu is amazing, FYI) and once I hit mile 9, I knew it would be rough but I could tough it out until the end. I switched my watch to show me my current pace and fought hard to keep it under 10:00/mile.

It wouldn't be Scranton if there wasn't at least one train sighting! Well, train car anyway. This was during mile 12, I think. The last mile or so was pretty much downhill, so it was a great chance to make a good push to the finish. I pushed myself really hard in the last two miles and I'm really proud of that. In fact, the last mile was my fastest of the day at 8:45!

The half ended on the track of the Scranton High School with TONS of crowd support and cheering. As I came around the corner, I saw 2:08:something on the clock and knew I had surpassed my expectations for myself. Once I passed the finish line, there were volunteers handing out Scranton Half fleece blankets (I didn't know about this beforehand and was so excited to get one!) and finisher's medals. One of the volunteers put a water bottle in my hand and I hobbled around the food tent to grab a banana. I wish I would have thought to grab a photo of the finish line area, but I was so thrilled by my finish time and exhausted that all I could think about was my water and banana and finding my parents and Joe.

I ended up with an official chip time of 2:07:41, which works out to be a 9:45 average pace. I'm still so thrilled about this and I'm not sure I've even fully processed it yet, but I feel so accomplished. I've never considered myself an athlete, but running has changed that for me. And besides that, look at that medal! It's soooo heavy and absolutely gorgeous! Scranton doesn't mess around; this was the inaugural year and they threw one hell of a race.

And what's better after an awesome run than a burger and sweet potato fries? Not much, I think. My parents joined us for Red Robin after the race and it really hit the spot! Apparently other runners thought so too since we saw quite a few medals around the restaurant! :)

All in all, the one and only complaint I have is that the start was a little congested and it took a while for there to be enough breathing room to run comfortably in the beginning. There were nearly 2400 runners who finished though, so I guess a little congestion is to be expected! But I will DEFINITELY be back next year and I'm already looking forward to it. This was one kick ass race and I'm proud to have been part of something so awesome in the area!