Yuengling Shamrock Half-Marathon (Lower Norfolk County, Virginia)

Once again, it's race day. This time, I'm in Virginia Beach hoping for a better time than on my last couple of outings. Originally, I had a room reserved at the Sheraton here on the beach, but due to some safety concerns related to construction the hotel was doing, they had to relocate me to the Norfolk property about twenty miles away. It wasn't that big of deal, but did mean I had to wake up even earlier. The also offered me a parking pass for the beachfront property for race morning, which would have been very useful had they informed me how to get past the closed streets and to the hotel to park my car. I attempted several routes and asked a few police officers that were stationed at various points along the race course, but with start time approaching, I gave up and parked about a mile away in a fish market's parking lot. Perhaps, the walk to the starting line will give me a little bit of a warm up.

As I arrive at the starting line, I start chatting with some fellow runners. This is a big race. Between the marathon and half-marathon (which, I'm running), I believe they were allowing a total of 15,000 participants. And of course, this being so close to St. Patrick's Day and the race being called the Yuengling Shamrock, just about everyone is decked out in green and some are even dressed like leprechauns. 

With race-time approaching, I make a quick stop at the port-o-potty and then find my corral. I'm hoping to run around a 2:45:00 today, but we'll see how things go. My knees haven't been bothering me too much lately, but I have been developing blisters on my left foot. I tried to take some precautions to guard against them. Hopefully, they will help. As the corrals line up, the gun fires and each is released in turn. My corral slowly creeps to the start line and with a delay of only a couple of minutes between launches, I should be starting soon. With a quick countdown and the launch of some fireworks, we're off.

The course starts by running north along Atlantic Avenue, which is mostly residential. I wish I had found some water before I started running, but hopefully there will be a water station after the first couple of miles. Just as I think that, I pass a family handing out beer shots along the course. This is generally a bad idea, but this race is sponsored by the largest privately owned brewery in the states, Yuengling. I give in to temptation and enjoy a nice cold shot of beer, which I think is Yuengling's lager from the color and taste. It helps quench my thirst for a couple of minutes and just as I begin to get thirsty again, a second beer stop comes into view. It seems I've started down a certain path in my behavior for this race. Bottoms up.

The next couple of miles are uneventful. The course is flat and I do my best to maintain a decent pace. I'm not as fast as I was a couple of years ago and still need to drop a few pounds, but I feel pretty good today. Hopefully, that will translate into a more respectable time. Just before mile three we take a left turn onto Shore Drive, which routes us through a beautiful wooded area in First Landing State Park. The green of the newly budded trees blends with the leprechaun attire everyone is wearing to remind me of Ireland. The race organizers have even planted signs on the side of the road spouting Irish proverbs. It's all in good fun. Twice through this section, runners in front of me unknowingly drop their sunglasses. I down to grab them and then sprint up to the runner to return them. They thank me and we continue on.

Around mile six, we turn right and rejoin Atlantic Avenue, which is essentially our turn around and heads us back towards the start, though along a slightly different route. At mile eight, we run between the new and old Cape Henry Lighthouses. These two beacons were constructed about a century apart, the first completed in 1792 and about 350 feet away, the second in 1881. The later was built due to instability concerns with the original structure, though it remains standing still today. The newer lighthouse is still in service and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Now, we enter into an interesting part of the course, as we pass through a military checkpoint and start a section that runs about three miles through Fort Story. Young soldiers from the U.S. Navy guard various points along the route to ensure the runners stay on course and don't stray into areas we aren't supposed to be in. As many runners pass, myself included, we thank those men and women for their service. They smile and wave.

After we depart Fort Story, we return to a mostly residential area with lots of public support for the races. People line the streets for these last few miles. Some have water for us. Some have fruit. And even more have beer . . . and yes, I partook a couple more times.

At around the 12.5 miles point, we the course diverts us towards the beach and we finish the last half-mile or so along the board walk (which is actually concrete) with the cool winds of the Atlantic Ocean blowing in to cool us off. It's a fantastic way to finish with the sand on our left spanning on out to the sea. Along the route, I've walked a few sections when I felt the blister on my toe reforming or when I was just getting winded, but I've kept a reasonably good pace compared to my recent performances. In this last half-mile, I try to push myself pretty hard. Finally reaching the finish line, I cross the time bar and catch my breath. I check my own time and compare it to the text that the organizers's automated systems sends me. They differ by two seconds, but I'll take the official time of 2:45:40. It's still not where I want to be, but it's much better than my recent dismal performances.

Grabbing some water and a banana, I'm handed another packet and a running cap as I make way through the finish line stops on my way to the post race-celebration. In the packet, is a nice blanket, which will come in handy as the celebration is on the beach. I admire the giant sand sculpture rising from the beach and commemorating the event before heading into the tent area for my beer. I'm also handed a nice steaming hot bowl of Irish Stew, which I greedily inhale. I'm hungry and this is delicious. I make my way over to the beer line and enjoy a nice cold Yuengling while heading out to the beach. My bib actually has four beer tickets on it and if I were staying another day, I would probably take advantage of that, but I have a nine hour drive home and that much beer would just put me to sleep at the wheel. We don't want that. I revel in the glory of my surroundings, here on the sandy beach overlooking the Atlantic, and enjoy the last few sips of my beverage before walking back to my car. I feel really good about this one, both because of my not-so-terrible performance and just the overall feel and organization of the race itself. This is a great one!