Davis Moonlight Half-Marathon (Yolo County, California)

I've been on a streak with half-marathons this year, having run at least one each month this year. Wanting to keep it going, I searched for a nearby run to participate in during the month of July. The Davis Moonlight Half-Marathon seemed as though it would fit the bill. After leaving a wine tasting with some friends in Reno, I headed over the pass towards Davis and arrived around 6:00 PM. With the race scheduled to start at 7:30 PM, I should have plenty of time, but my concern is much more focused on the heat. As I drove through Sacramento, the thermostat was registering 104 degrees . . . ugh.

As race time approached, I checked again and it was still hovering around 90, but I was set on giving it my best go. To be honest, I haven't been running much in the past couple of weeks just because of life being pretty busy, but I'm here now. With the countdown from 10, the half-marathoners were off. There appeared to be about 300 hundred of us doing this distance, which is a pretty small group for an event, but it should be fun nonetheless.

Making our way through the city trails of Davis in this heat, I quickly recognize that I shouldn't have come out of the gate at my normal half-marathon pace. I'm quickly warming up and I'm forced to walk and cool down after just a couple of miles. Reaching the first aid station, I soak my bandanna in ice cold water and put it back on my head. This helps a great deal and I'm able to get back to pace for another couple of miles.

As the sun begins to drop below the horizon, the temperatures begin to cool off to the mid-80's, which is still much hotter than what I normally run in. However, I'm more focused on another problem. I wore my sunglasses for the run, thinking between the moonlight and my headlamp, I would be able to see okay once it started getting dark. The alternative was to wear my normal glass and be blinded by the sun during the first hour and a half or so, and deal with them shaking on my face the entire race. I chose the sunglasses thinking it was the better option, but I didn't consider that much of the course is under the shade of trees, which block out the moonlight. I can choose to run with my sunglasses on and my distance vision in tact, or to remove them and be able to see the world, but in blurriness. I opt for the later. I'm forced to walk a great deal of the course to prevent my self from tripping. 

While it does circle back on itself a number of times, the course is actually pretty nice and is highlighted by running across a bicycle bridge over interstate 80 to park on the southern side of the highway. We run a couple of miles in the park and then return across the bridge to the finish line. I'm extremely disappointed in my performance, running a 2:47:50, but I didn't die of heat stroke and so there's that.