Napa Valley Half-Marathon (Napa County, California)

Note: Photo courtesy of Napa Valley Marathon

Two years ago, I ran my first, and to date, my only full marathon in Napa Valley. I've been much more focused on half-marathons since then due to the lesser training commitment necessary. The training isn't the problem, but the time to do it can be. Though I ran a half-marathon in Las Vegas last weekend, it wasn't going to deter me from an attempt at a personal goal, which is to run a half in less than two hours.

My friend, Chris, joined me for the weekend as we were at the Capitol City Beer Festival in Sacramento yesterday. Originally, Chris was going to the half, but he aggravated an old injury and was unable to compete. He was still very supportive of my run.

I stayed at a hotel just a tenth of a mile or so from the bus pickup, which made it an easy walk at 5:00 AM. The bus was scheduled to leave for the starting line at 5:10 AM and I made use of the time to chat with some fellow runners. Runners packed the bus and we took off promptly for the starting line. 

Arriving at Conn Creek Winery, the start of the half, we shuffled off the bus and began stretching in the pre-dawn darkness. A slight mist fell from the sky, but with the air temperature at a mild 50 or so degrees, I started to think the weather was just about perfect for a long run. I've been working hard to improve my times over the past few months and today might be my best chance for a while to meet that goal. The Napa Valley Half-Marathon course is slightly downhill and with the temperature as it is, I might have a shot today.

At 7:00 AM sharp, the countdown sounds and we're off. I love wine country, but seeing it in the morning light with a light fog as I push my body to its limits brings a new appreciation to this beautiful valley. I start out of the gate strong. My pace in the mid-8's for the first several miles. Unfortunately, my bladder decides I need a quick pit stop and my shoes decide to untie themselves twice in the first three or so miles. Up until these delays, I was keeping up with the 1:55 pacer, but I loose some ground and fall back to the 2:00 pacers.

I'm able to stay with these pacers for the majority of the race. I occasionally build up a lead on them, but I never again catch up to the 1:55 team. As we hit the 10-mile mark, I can feel myself struggling to keep up. My knee begins to hurt a bit and I loose some ground on the 2:00 pacer team. Mentally, I remind myself that this is going to be my best chance for a sub-two for a while and I force myself on.

As we approach the last mile though, I've fallen behind again. An Asian woman comes up behind me and offers me a couple of words of inspiration and I push through the pain. Just two-tenths of a mile from the finish, I see her struggling and I return the favor and tell her that we're going to finish this together. With the pacer out of site, I don't expect I'm going to meet my goal, but I'm still going to finish strong. She and I sprint for the finish and as I pass through, hurting as I am, I see the official clock is still under the two-hour mark. Did I actually get it?

I high-five my new friend and reach in to check my own timekeeping, which indicates that I'm about a minute under the two-hour mark. I quickly (as quickly as my aching legs can carry me) make my way over to the time-keepers table and discover that I have, in fact, finished the 13.1 mile half-marathon in 1:58:54 at an average pace of 9:05 per mile. I grab a banana and a fig bar, before find a wall to sit against. As I enjoy a few post-race calories, I consider what I've just done. Me, a 45-year old, has just run a half-marathon in less than 2-hours. For many, that may not be a big deal, but for me, on this day, it's glorious!