Race #213 - Kings Mountain Half Marathon - Clover, SC - 04/27/13

Oops! It's Wednesday and I've forgotten to write a blog entry about this race until now. I'll keep it short on words and a little heavier on photos since I was wearing my video glasses for the race.

In 2010 this was the smallest sanctioned race in South Carolina, with 15 runners in the full marathon and 5 in the half marathon. Thanks to the hard work of the race director, it has grown steadily since then and this year there were almost 300 finishers -- 191 in the half and 94 in the full.

If you like hills, you'll love this race. I don't really like hills at all, but I seem to do generally okay on them. I don't mind walking some, especially when I'm trying to run up a hill and I feel like I can probably walk it about as fast as I can run it. In this race I walked five different times. They're short walks -- maybe 30 seconds to a minute -- and probably didn't hurt my time a lot. I finished 9th overall and won 3rd Masters. That bumped me up out of the 60-64 age group, where I would have one by a long shot, and somebody asked me if it made me mad that I was 3rd Masters instead of 1st in the age group. I'll take Masters any day, so I was happy with it. For me there are very few chances to get a Masters award.so it's exciting to be able to get one occasionally.

As I've been doing lately, I'll post a video I did of the race below then some of the race photos.

Here's the video...


Quite a few of the Gaston County Runners were at the race.
This isn't all of them but it's the most I could find in any one picture.

The biggest laugh of the day was when Gene Summey was doing something
with his iPhone and asked me what kind of phone I had. He did a great
spontaneous spit take when I said I had a Jitterbug. Completely lost his
chewing gum. I guess I'm just kind of old school.

No doubt the highlight of the race was when the race director,
Jefferson Nicholson, surprised his girlfriend by proposing to her
in front of the crowd as the race was about to begin. What a great moment,
and I couldn't believe I was standing right up front where I was able to catch it
on my video glasses.

The course was out-and-back, which I always enjoy since you meet up
with everybody else in the race along the way either coming or going.
This is my running buddy and GCR member Chris Baucom.

One of the great things about out-and-back is that many times people
let you know how you're doing. Here I think she's saying I'm in 6th place.
I think I was actually in 7th place and I ultimately ended up 9th overall.

There were almost 200 finishers in the half marathon, but when you spread
them out over 13 miles it can get kind of lonely out there. Here at the 12-mile
point you can see how far I am behind the runner in front of me, and Chris
Baucom was about this far in back of me, so I spent quite a bit of time
running alone.

Some nincompoop decided to park his car about 50 feet from the start/finish
line before the race and didn't move it during the entire race so runners
had the pleasure of dodging it at the start of the race and also as they finished.
Some people.

The course was loaded with hills, and also about 4 miles of gravel road,
so I surprised myself by finishing in 1:39:39, which was 9th overall.

Matt Jaskot of Charlotte was the overall winner of the half marathon.

Click Here for Race Results

Click Here for Race Website (Photo link should be there when available)

My Stats:
Time:  1:39:39
Pace:  7:40
Age Group:  1 of  8
Overall:  9 of  191 (4.7%)
Average Heart Rate:  161
Maximum Heart Race:  178
Age Graded Equivalent Time:  1:19:52 (74.15%)
***************
* RACE RATING *
***************
RACE COURSE  
3 - Chip Timing: (3 points if yes)
2 - Starting Mat: (2 points if yes)
5 - Water Stops: (0)none  (2)normal  (5)extras [Gu, sports drink, etc.]
1 - Course Marking:  (0)bad  (1)good
2 - Course Scenery:  (0)bad  (2)pleasant  (5)extraordinary
1 - Mile Markers: (0)poor or none  (1)normal  (2)with clocks or time called out
2 - Volunteers:  (0)too few  (2)good
5 - Finish line: (0)mediocre  (2)not bad  (5)very good  (7)spectacular!
2 - Certified Course: (0)no  (2) yes
2 - Correct Distance: (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Partly or fully on unpaved roads:  (0)yes  (1)no
REGISTRATION  
1 - Cost:  (0)expensive  (1)reasonable  (3)cheap!
3 - Race Day Registration:  (0)no  (3)yes
RESULTS 
2 - Posted promptly online:  (0)no  (2)yes
1 - Clear link on website:  (0)no  (1)yes
AGE GROUPS 
2 - 3 deep awards: (2)yes (0 for anything less)
0 - 5-year age groups (5 points) (0 for anything less)
1 - 14 and under group (1)
1 - 65+ group (1)
0 - 70+ group (1)
2 - Top Overall M/F:  (0)none or first only  (2)top 3 or better
2 - Masters Category(40+): (0)no  (2)yes
0 - Grand Masters Category (50+):  (0)no  (3)yes
0 - Senior Grand Masters Category: (0)no  (5)yes
AWARDS 
5 - Overall Winner Awards: (0)none  (2)yes  (5)excellent
2 - Age Group Awards: (0)none  (2)yes  (5)excellent
0 - Door Prizes or Drawing: (0)no  (2)yes   (3)fabulous door prizes!
5 - Finisher Medals for All Finishers: (0)no  (3)yes  (5)really cool medals (different at least!)
POST RACE  
2 - Food for Race Participants: (0-10 with 5 being average) (no food to speak of other than some Power Bars)
0 - Entertainment:  (0)no  (1)yes
1 - Finisher times posted after race:  (0)no  (1)yes
REST ROOMS  
0 - Porta Potties:  (0)no  (1)limited, long lines  (2)plentiful
1 - Indoor Restrooms: (0)no  (1)limited, long lines  (2)plentiful
   (Restroom situation was bad -- need some porta potties in the future!)
T-SHIRTS 
2 - T-Shirts: (0)no  (2)yes
2 - Design: (0)not good  (1)not bad  (2)nice  (5)beautiful!
0 - Material: (0)cotton  (2)technical fabric
0 - Discount for no-shirt option:  (0)no (2)yes
PHOTOGRAPHY  
5 - Professional Photography: (0)no  (5)yes
2 - Prices: (0)expensive  (2)reasonable  (5)cheap! (that's a guess)
0 - Free Photographs (newspaper, etc.):  (0)no  (2)yes  (5)lots of free pics!
PARKING  
2 - Close to Start:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Close to Finish:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Plenty of spaces:  (2)yes  (0)no
2 - Free Parking:  (2)yes  (0)no
WEBSITE 
2 - Dedicated race website (0)no  (2)yes
2 - Results or link to results posted on website:  (0)no  (2)yes
OTHER 
0 - Shelter from Inclement Weather (needed or not): (0)no  (2)yes
2 - Swag (free socks, water bottles, etc.): (0)no  (2)yes, some  (5)excellent
0 - Part of race series or Grand Prix:  (0)no  (2)yes
TOTAL:  81

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 3, 2013 at 9:54 AM

    Really like the info you post on your races .. the points at the end ... very cool ... great job Richard !

    ReplyDelete
  2. Run, Karla, Run!May 6, 2013 at 7:37 PM

    Looks like a beautiful race! I hate hills too, but great job on your finish!

    ReplyDelete

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