SouthPark RaceFest Half Marathon

Last Saturday was the Annual SouthPark Race Fest Half Marathon and 10k starting and finishing on Morrison Blvd. in Charlotte. Scott Dvorak (aka: Scooter, ScottyD, etc.) does an awesome job of organizing this and any other race that he gets his hands onto (think SouthPark Turkey Trot 8k). Maybe it's his background of being a steepler at State or a '96 Olympic Trials 5k qualifier and he just knows what it takes. As you know, Saturday's weather was crazy to say the least and yet Danny White and Company were able to get the race started right at 7:30am. 1 minute to start...

Having raced well the previous week, I felt somewhat confident even though I wasn't quite 100% from my sickness. I saw the usual players at the start and the gun went off. To me, this is the toughest half in Charlotte. I chilled at the start and was well back. Since we started with the 10kers, it was hard to tell where you staked up. After a couple of minutes of running, I came up on Doug Campbell, Richard Harris, and finally Alice Rodgers with Meagan Nedlo in my sights. Hitting 3 miles in 18 minutes, I could tell that running 6 minute pace was going to be a challenge this morning. Some days you just have more than other days. I did get to 6 miles in 36 minutes and then we had to climb all the way up Sharon View and then I saw 42:15 and that was tough. Eventually, I got to 10 miles in one oh one(1:01) and the thought of 1:19 was a possibility and before I knew it I was at the 12 mile mark and the sky opened up to where it was raining so hard that I thought they might actually call the race off (at least that was what I was hoping) Did someone see lightning? Anyway, I needed to run a 6:20 going up Barkley Downs and I couldn't even do that. I was a few ticks over 1:20 and I was done. Richard Harris even passed me in the last half mile and I had no response. Oh well...

1ST Master and 9th overall so no complaints here. John Compton put out an awesome performance for the win. Jordan Kinley won the 10k with Aaron Linz behind him and Meagan won for the women with ARod finishing behind her...good stuff from the CRC'ers...