Catherine and I drove up Friday afternoon to Benbow which is about thirty minutes from the starting line of the Humbolt Redwoods Half Marathon.  It is about five hours north of Los Altos.  This gave us the time to relax and focus.  This course is beautiful and we drove it again on Saturday.

The entire course runs through Redwoods like these.  An interesting aspect of the course is that it seems we are running slightly downhill most of the route on an out and back course.  Of course, that is not the case but it feels that way.  There is one short hill at about 12 miles.  The weather was perfect...about 42 degrees at the start.  It warmed up to about 55 degrees at the finish.  The field was strong and I was ready to run race number 40.  My goal was to run 1:32.

I started off a little slower than normal.  I hit the first mile in 6:49 and it felt pretty comfortable.  Right before the three mile mark (20:29) I latched onto a woman runner.  We had never met before but ran together for a few miles.  She got a few yards on me at the turn around and I let her go.  I should have dug a little deeper but she was just a better runner.  I looked her up in the results and Pamela Kennedy (age 34) ran 1:30:14.  I was not ready to run that fast.  Thanks Pamela for letting me run with you for awhile.   At the turn I saw 72-year-old Hans Schmidt.  I was about a quarter mile ahead of him and he was looking strong.

In the end Hans was just nine seconds back.  He set a new 70 plus course record.  He ran 1:32:48.  My official chip time was 1:32:39 and I was second 60 plus.  This is 7:04 per mile.  This cost me 58 seconds but I can make it up on the 10k's and 5k's I have coming up.  BTW, I finally got the sore on the top of my right foot squared away the night before.  That had me worried...and it did cost me some good workouts!

Michael and Waitman were sick this weekend and could not make the trip.  However, Catherine got it all covered.

It was great to see Rich Benyo.  We talked after the race as his wife Rhonda ran the full marathon.  Photos by Catherine Cross

Awesome job, Bob--great report.
Bruce Gilbert 10/22/12 6:14 am

Great race, Bob and thanks for the shout-out! I was struggling a little in the first few miles to hit my groove so thanks for pushing me. :) Hope to see you at the next one!
Pam Kennedy 10/24/12 2:06 pm

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I love running through the Redwoods.  The half marathon course we are running is the Ave of the Giants course I ran in May.  I ran 1:32:47 then and am hoping to run as well or better on Sunday.  Catherine and I are leaving Friday about noon. This way we can get up there and relax.  I want to go into this race with fresh legs. 

One situation that I need to get a handle on is a sore I have on the top of my right foot.  It just appeared after an easy walk/run last Monday.  I took off my shoe without feeling anything and there it was.  It doesn't look like much but it really hurts if I tie my shoe over the top of it.  I have changed the way I am lacing up my shoe and I also flip up the tongue so it does not touch it. 

This doesn't look like it would be that big of a deal but it is.  This was taken before the start of the 5k last Saturday.  It is still sore to the touch.  Weird.  Just another situation to deal with.  I hope that during the next three days it will just heal.

I have 11 races to go.  It has been tough but I am  going to reach my 7 minute/mile goal average pace.   I could loose some ground on Sunday but as long as I average 1:33 for this half and Clarksburg Nov 11, I should be okay.   But because it is going to be so close, I did have to take the Cabo Double off my official race calendar.  I will run that Double Oct 27 but not officially for my challenge.  It is just too hot there and I am going to be on my feet for three days taking photos leading up to the races.  I replaced these two races with the Campbell race I did last Saturday and a 4 mile race I am doing in San Francisco Dec 2.  One issue is that I am racing 5k on Dec 1.  I will  just have to deal with it.  I am running out of time...

Good luck on your race Bob.
Richard Stiller 10/20/12 3:39 pm

Bob, stay strong. You've got the experience/strategy and a great team to hit your goal tomorrow. Best of luck - Gary
Gary Funck 10/20/12 9:28 pm

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