Papa J dropped Momma K and I off at the race start area and headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before heading back to meet us at the finish. A perk of being a member of Steel City Road Runners is that you get to enjoy pre-race and post-race hospitality on Sunday. The pre-race lounge was at the Westin, so we were able to escape the faint drizzle and wait inside for race time. The hospitality lounge offered a light breakfast in addition to indoor restrooms and gear check. Since we knew what the weather was like out there, we decided to hang out inside as long as possible.
Momma K and I were starting in corral D so we walked most of the way with Jeff, Lauren, and Chelsea until we got to corral C for them. Lauren is rockin' her first marathon and Chelsea is completing a back-to-back marathon series within 7 days. They were in excellent company along the way with their "run butler" Jeff running with them as well.
Just past mile 4 the number of spectators really started to pick up. I am pretty sure this was a result of the weather clearing up and we were heading to areas that it was easy for spectators to get to. While today's race goal was to have fun and just enjoy the race, I must say that my pace picked up quite a bit here. I am definitely one that feeds off of the energy of spectators and volunteers, so I cannot thank the spectators enough for braving rainy morning to come out today.
I made a quick stop at the medical station for some Vaseline due to a bit of irritation from the rain earlier in the race. I want to give a shout out to the medic that kindly reminded you to NOT eat the Vaseline. That would be way bad, so thank you kind sir.
My 2nd Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon and Steel Challenge (5K on Saturday and 1/2 Marathon on Sunday) are in the books and it was definitely everything that I wanted it to be and more. Is it too soon to start planning for 2017?