When I signed up for the CHaD Half Marathon back in the summer, I declared that I would run every day and go on so many long runs, exactly like everyone on the internet says to do for a half marathon. However, things did not pan out that way at all. The race snuck up on me, and the week of the race I realized I had not trained enough. My google searches for “How to train for a half marathon in a week” were not reassuring. I expressed my worries to the team, but they were so supportive and gave me tons of advice, such as to not get a season-ending injury like Brandt did last year and don’t run in a costume. In the end, they made me excited to race no matter what happened during the race.
I woke up Sunday morning feeling great, and I could feel the energy and excitement on campus. Racing on campus made me much less stressed since if forgot anything, I could just walk back to my room. I was also familiar with the course and had run it before. Before the race, the team decided to meet up. I was surprised but happy to see so many people on the team racing either the 5K or the half marathon. I knew I wasn’t going to be alone in my suffering. We took a team picture, warmed up, and then it was time to line up for the race. I lined up next to Kevin the pacer from UVRC (Upper Valley Running Club), who had stellar recommendations from Coaches Jim and Jeff. I had no idea if I would be able to keep up with him at all, but I decided to give it a shot.
The anticipation kept building as we were waiting for the starting gun. Along the sidelines I spotted Moises, who showed up to cheer the team on. He gave me one last pep talk and then it was time to start racing. When we started, I felt amazing and was so excited. The crowd was so loudly cheering us on. I just wanted to run as fast as I could, yet I was warned that the 5K starts at the same time as the half marathon and runs the same course for the first two miles, so I should hold back my energy. Because I am a competitive person, I struggled to let all these runners pass me even though I knew most of them were running 10 less miles than I was. Thankfully, Kevin the pacer was experienced and knew not to start too fast. We were running at a perfect pace and we could actually talk to each other at the beginning.
The energy of the spectators cheering us on was so contagious. All along the course, groups of people with their kids and pets dressed in costumes stood out in front of their houses and shouted motivational words. Every time I passed a group of spectators, I smiled at them, so they would at least think I was doing well and having fun. Well turns out, I was smiling quite a bit as there were people everywhere. When I saw Brandt and Carly, who raced the 5K and immediately hopped on their bikes to cheer the rest of us on, I got so excited and motivated to keep pushing through the pain. I just started thinking about how amazing my team is. I especially needed the motivation at the point as I had just decided to break away from the pacer and increase my pace. I had no idea if I would be able to continue holding this new faster pace or if I would collapse during the impending hilly sections.
The highlight of my race was reaching the top of Tuck Drive, which is the steepest hill of the course, and seeing a large group of students just cheering me on and reassuring me that the worst was behind me. I did not know most of them, but that didn’t stop them from cheering me on. While I had initially thought that I would start slowing down here, I, in fact, sped up, partly to possibly impress anyone who might be watching me, but mainly because of the crowd’s energy. I couldn’t slow down with only 4 more miles to go!
When I finally finished the race, I felt the best I had ever felt before. I was on such a runner’s high and just could not stop smiling. And of course, the team was still there cheering me on at the end. I was so excited that I almost forgot about the post-race food! Once I reached the food tent though, I didn’t want to leave.
This was one of the best races of my life thanks to all of the support of my team and of the spectators just cheering me on. I don’t know how my teammates have so much energy to be constantly cheering, but they do. I am so excited for my next race with the team, whenever and wherever that may be.
SBR,
Hunter
About the Author
Hunter is a ’20 who studies Geography and German. On campus, he is an active leader in the DOC and can’t survive without his daily foco pizza slice.
