Race #570 - Asheville Half Marathon - Asheville, NC - 08/24/24
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_pZDNDcssaaB_9swslOoU7sYxbyP589BdB5fY0hK8tCMtbMrcPCpH78ZCLD_HuW2QN8rlj9bG1BOfB5e3jXPeSV3f0Z0d83GPDaNtKFCvj7l1zuIxgY9L2M2sU6hrqRVpyAieEARNvn_dC08YuuqQjwMneQSiqzoRZ_QUQOxJfSesYORcflq-jAX_z8Q/w200-h134/2024-08-24-asheville-half-shirt-medal.jpg)
This was my 14th half marathon this year, in a year that I'm hoping to run 20+. Unfortunately, as I write this a week after the race, I'm not feeling as gung-ho as I did when the year began. I'm already thinking of how miserable the cold weather races will feel, thus making it easy for me to back out in less-than-ideal weather conditions. This was the first half marathon I ran on the comeback trail a year ago, but it was before I restarted the blog, so I only have my Garmin Connect and Strava data to help me remember it. I finished last year's race in 2:06:49, and this year, I was a little slower at 2:09:29, but I did finish 1st in the 70-74 age group this year as opposed to 2nd last year. The stat that stood out most to me is that this race had 913 finishers last year and only 503 this year! It's one of three half marathons that begin at Pack Square, and it's the only one of the three that also ends there. The other two end down along the river, so you don'