This year, I had the opportunity to pace the Historic Drawbridge Running Festival Half Marathon for the first time. I’ve been interested in this race before, but I hadn’t yet run it, because I always have a busy fall racing season. This year, I did run four November races, including this one. However, it worked out perfectly as a chance to pace a half marathon two weeks before the marathon I was training for, the NCR Marathon.
I would get to run 13.1 miles at a somewhat-comfortable pace, helping others while also getting in a nice training run. Race day was Saturday, Nov. 16.
This was my 17th time pacing a half marathon, and I only pace flat ones. This race was definitely flat and almost entirely on the same road, Route 33 from Tilghman Island to St. Michaels. For the first year, the Historic Drawbridge Running Festival also included a marathon, and there was also a 5K course.
The race began at 8 a.m., but I had to be there an hour early for pacing and also needed to board a bus to the start, so I had an early wake-up and drive from my house a little over an hour away, in Salisbury. I got my race swag — a hoodie, which has all the participants’ names on the back — and bib before boarding the bus with the other participants to head to Tilghman Island from the finish in St. Michaels. I met up with some Eastern Shore Running Club friends before the start, as well as other Beast pacers. I spent some time before and after talking to Sara, who was pacing the 2:45 group and who I’ve been on pace teams with before.
I was the 3:00 half marathon pacer at this race. Recently, 2:45 has been my go-to pacing time, but I didn’t mind the 3:00 time, especially since I had been dealing with some plantar fasciitis issues. Thankfully, my feet didn’t bother me too much during this race, though they did afterward.
Pacing always requires some mental math, as I need to align the cumulative time on my watch with the mile markers, which may or may not match the watch. For example, it doesn’t matter if I’m at 3:00 when my watch hits 13.1 miles — I need to be crossing the finish line between 2:59:00 and 3:00:00.
This race was pretty right-on, though. My goal time was 13:44/mile, and my first mile split, according to the results, was 13:43. I kept an eye on my watch and was able to keep the splits consistent throughout the race.
The marathon and half marathon shared the same course for the first 10.8-ish miles. I ended up running those first 10.8 miles with two marathoners, Robin and Dave. Robin was mostly walking but definitely had a speedy walk, as she was still keeping up with my running pace. Dave, 80, was going for the age-group marathon record for Delaware residents 80 and older. I checked afterward, and he did get that record, with a time of 6:30:17. (Here are those records.) Congrats to both of them on their marathon finishes!
While the course was almost entirely on one rural road, that road did curve. For several miles, there was a pretty strong headwind. I don’t normally mind holding the pacing sign too much, but it was definitely a challenge to hold it up at times during this race. I also noticed quad soreness from working against the wind.
Like I always do while pacing, I ran at a consistent pace but walked the water stops along the way. One early one was out of cups, but otherwise, things went smoothly.
Normally, when I pace half marathons, I get about 13.2 miles on my watch, so I usually run slightly under the goal pace in order to ensure I cross under the goal time. I realized as I was close to the finish that I would likely be a little ahead of the goal, so I slowed down a little bit at the end (which is a challenge to do at a race, as your brain is saying, “the finish is near — give it what you’ve got!”). I ended up crossing with 13.14 miles on my watch and just a few seconds early, with a time of 2:58:53.
Right after I crossed the finish line, I saw a friend I hadn’t seen since college, which was fun. I talked to Sara and had some post-race pizza. There was also a photo op banner that had all the participants’ names on it.
I took a photo of my wooden medal along the water, and then headed over to Foxy’s Harbor Grille, where I had planned to go. My cat is named Foxy, so I had to check it out! I went there once years ago while at a Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance conference, but that was back in 2017 — before Foxy joined our family in 2018. I ate along the water; I was warm after finishing the run, but by the time I was sitting there, I did get a bit cold.
It was a nice morning and I was glad to have company for the first 10.8 or so miles!
Splits
Mile 1: 13:35
Mile 2: 13:34
Mile 3: 13:32
Mile 4: 13:39
Mile 5: 13:30
Mile 6: 13:44
Mile 7: 13:56
Mile 8: 13:49
Mile 9: 13:32
Mile 10: 13:36
Mile 11: 13:23
Mile 12: 13:42
Mile 13: 13:20
Last part (watch had .14): 1:58 (13:45 pace)
Final: 2:58:53 / 13:39 pace on results; 2:58:56 / 13:37 pace on watch
She Runs by the Seashore 