#13165

4:45am
Wake Up Call

The alarm went off...way too early obviously. We all slowly got out of bed and began to prepare for the race. I pulled my hair back and put on my running gear, including brand new socks...more on that later. I was wearing bib #13165, Dad had #13166, and Brother Nate was sporting #11965. For this run the lowest number that you can wear is #169...the first #168 numbers are reserved for the victims.

We made our way toward the race area and managed to get parking spot less than a mile from the starting line. I think the warm up walk actually did us some good.

The starting area was PACKED and it was then that I realized we probably should have left the hotel earlier than we did. We missed the 171 seconds of silence (168 for OKC and 3 for Boston), but we did hear the National Anthem, very well done. We pushed our way through as many people as we could, but we still ended up in the 7:30 mile pace group. We do NOT run that fast!  

6:30am
Race Begins!

We crossed the starting line about 2 minutes after the gun went off. We were getting passed left and right, but we managed to go out with a decent and acceptable pace.  Did you know that when you run a race you’ll often run more than the actual race distance? Well, you do ... so, I will do a breakdown the race mile by mile, get ready!

1^st Mile – 10:11

Awesome pace, we felt really good. Right at the start you have to go uphill a little, but then you hit a sweet downhill section. We passed the Colcord and turned left to run by the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Making our way into the heart of Bricktown, all three of us were feelin good!

2^nd Mile – 10:03

WOW! I couldn’t believe we were able to do the 2^nd mile faster than the first! We didn’t go to fast right out of the gate, our legs were getting warmed up and our first big hill was in sight. We were on Reno (aka Johnny Bench Drive) and made a left on Mickey Mantle Drive, running past the ballpark where the Oklahoma City Redhawks play. Past Flaming Lips Alley, up and over the steep bridge and we were well on our way to the next mile stone!

3^rd Mile – 10:09

Just slightly slower than the last mile, but it did include a bit of a long hill. We had just passed our first water station, no stopping yet, and we could almost see the Capitol! Lincoln Boulevard was mostly flat and the three of us were still all together. We didn’t want to hold brother back too much so we sent him on his way to hopefully finish in less than 2 hours. We had made it to the Capitol and the streets were still crowded!

4^th mile – 9:44

This may have been the most boring mile of the race...not exactly the scenic route! Mostly small industrial buildings and nothing much else to look at, but did you see our time! Maybe we need to run a more boring route so we finish faster!

5^th mile – 9:44

Exactly the same as the last mile, not much to look at, but we were making our way to the nice laid back neighborhoods of OKC.

6^th mile – 9:55

A little slower than our previous mile, but I will take ANYTHING under 10:00! I’m still so impressed that we kept up this pace. I think Dad was sweating quite a bit and sincerely felt that he was sweating more than anyone else at the race! We were into the 1^st residential portion of the race and loving the downhill course.

7^th mile – 10:09

Back over 10:00 for this mile since it included some uphills, not too horrible, but they will slow you down. Most of this mile was in the Crown Heights section and included the infamous Gorilla Hill! Thanks for the Banana, perfect timing!

8^th mile – 9:58

Another mile that was mostly downhill, but this is also the mile that my feet really started to hurt. When getting dressed in the morning I was planning on wearing a pair of socks that I had worn a few times before. Instead I grabbed a brand new pair! OUCH! The bottoms of my feet started to burn and I just knew that I was going to have a blister!

9^th mile – 10:36

My feet really started to ache and we were in the long straight stretch...for some reason I find this part of the race to be brutal. It’s all on just a slight incline or completely flat, it’s long and it’s boring. The only cool part is that we start seeing more banners to remember those that were lost. Also, one of the water stops passes out sponges soaked in ice cold water, that was awesome. Thanks Devon!

10^th mile – 10:23

Slightly faster than our previous mile and I believe we walked a water station! Not too shabby! We were finally done with the long stretch and I think we were both starting to feel it in our knees and feet. But the finish line was so close!

11^th mile – 10:49

This mile wasn’t too bad, just a little slow. We made our way through the first section of Mesta Park and these people are AMAZING! So many supporters in this area ready to cheer everyone closer to the finish. This is mile 11 and 12 for the half marathoners and mile 24 and 25 for the full marathoners. The homes are so pretty and the streets are lined with shade trees, I’m a fan Mesta Park! I am not a fan of the new socks, probably the worse decision ever.

12^th mile – 10:17

This is where things start to go bad for me. My right calf really started to lock up and give me fits. My breathing was great, so was Dad’s. My quads, back and feet felt great! I think the only think hurting on Dad was his heel. My darn calf had to go and get in the way!

13^th mile – 10:54

I made it through the previous mile of the fairly well, but toward the beginning of this mile I had to stop and stretch for just a few seconds. I had to walk a hill as well, very disappointing. But once we started running we made sure our pace was good to make up for lost time. As we made our way back toward the Memorial and the finish line we tried to kick it up a little bit, and we did...only a little bit.

0.62 – 4:32

According to my GPS we actually ran 0.52 longer than the 13.1 miles...it’s not perfectly accurate so we are probably somewhere in the middle on this, either way, we logged our FASTEST Half Marathon time EVER! When we ran Wichita in October we crossed the finish line at 2:32:12 - our official time for OKC *drumroll* 2:18:54!!! That is an improvement of 1 minute and about 1 second per mile!

Finishers!!

Brother finished about 16 minutes before we did, but he didn't have his phone so he decided to nap by the car and this is how my parents found him.

I was able to stop by the medical tent at the end of the event and say a quick hello to a KD sister, Melissa! She was there with so many others to help anyone that needed medical attention. It was great to see a friendly face at the end of so many miles! Luckily, I wasn't too sweaty for a hug!

I was very impressed with my home state and this fantastic event! I really felt safe and welcomed. Well done OKC. Well done! #R2R - Run to Remember!

I have much more for Sunday, so to be continued...