Asheville River Arts District Half-Marathon (Buncombe County, North Carolina)

 I haven't been running much at all. I did complete a 5k last weekend, but that was probably on the second time I had run in the last couple of months. With that said, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning in Asheville than running a half-marathon through the undulating hills of this mountain town. Actually, I had signed up for this race some months ago and I've been looking forward to it, though I really haven't been training as much as I should.

The race begins at the Venue near the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. I had stayed at a nearby hotel and only had to walk a couple of blocks to the start line. It feels like it's going to be a good morning for a race. The temperatures are good and though there are storms on the way, I think I'll be done before they arrive.

At the appointed time, we line up and with a countdown from "10" to "Go", we're off. The first couple of miles zig zag through the cities South Slope, an area filled with breweries and well known to me. Soon though, we hit the French Broad River and being running along it's parallel trails on the RAD (River Arts District) paved trails. It's actually really nice. Though, I'm not really in shape for this, I'm feeling pretty good and maintain a slow running pace only stopping to walk up the steep hills when I get to them. 

To get the needed distance, the course design cuts in and out of nearby roads and circles back on itself a couple of times before crossing the river and heading up the eastern trail. At one point near the river, several runners have stopped to allow a water snake with a full belly to cross in front of them. Further along the path I ask one of the police officers working traffic if he knows my brother-in-law, who is also an Asheville officer. I ask him to relay a message that he needs to be out here running with me next year. 

As the trail nears the finish line, I know I haven't performed as well as I could have, but I'm not feeling totally exhausted, which is a good sign. I cross the finish line with a time of 2:59:45. This is almost exactly an hour slower than my personal best, but knowing that I could have gone a bit faster is encouraging. I saved a little too much in the tank this time, but still came in under the 3-hour mark. That works for me. Overall, this was a nice course and I really enjoyed the race. I will likely run this one again at some point in the future.