Since the course is mainly on a trail, your really only course support was at the water station, other runners, and some of mother nature's best cheerleaders (horses, birds, and squirrels). While this might not seem like a great course, sometimes it is nice to just get back to basics and enjoy a simple race course. Oh yea, this is also one of the flattest courses around....by far!
What better way to kick-start Halloween than with a race?!?! With Halloween falling on Saturday this year, the number of Halloween themed races were abundant around Atlanta to say the least. The past 2 years I have ran the Silver Comet 1/2 Marathon (as well as the 10K in the Spring) and have really enjoyed what the race offers, so I decided to go ahead and run this one again. Momma K once swore that she would only run half marathons in Disney (and definitely NOT in Georgia). Well, right after we got back from Disneyland Half Marathon weekend in September, she decided that she was going to upgrade her Rock 'n' Roll Vegas 10K entry to the half marathon! Well, of course I couldn't let her run 2 half marathons in 90 days without going for Half Fanactics! With that said, Momma K joined me for the Silver Comet Half Marathon for her first non-Disney half marathon. We arrived at the race fairly early due to limited (but not too limited) parking. After collecting our bibs we went to the restroom and hung out in the car for a bit before getting ready to head to the start line area. Runners were held in the parking lot until a few minutes before the race since the start line was on a major road. The race hosts both a full marathon and half marathon together which both races start together. Things thinned out quite quickly which is always nice. To be honest though, I was a little distracted by all of the great costumes and Halloween themed outfits. The first 2 miles (approximately) of the course are on roads leading you towards the Silver Comet Trail. Once to the Silver Comet Trail, you spend the remaining 9.1 or 24.2 miles on a beautiful paved trail. Fall is pretty much in full swing in Georgia, so the leaves were pretty colorful and really georgous in some spots. Since the course is mainly on a trail, your really only course support was at the water station, other runners, and some of mother nature's best cheerleaders (horses, birds, and squirrels). While this might not seem like a great course, sometimes it is nice to just get back to basics and enjoy a simple race course. Oh yea, this is also one of the flattest courses around....by far! Going into to today, Momma K's PR was 3:05:24 which she set in September at the Disneyland Half Marathon. If you ever ran a runDisney race, you know how hard these can be to run your fastest (crowds, character stops, etc), so I know she has it in her to get a sub-3:00. However, I didn't want her to push too hard and get hurt before Rock 'n' Roll Vegas, so today was simply a 13.1 mile training run. I let Momma K pretty much set the pace the first 6 miles then I gauged how to take it from there to help her finish strong. She was totally rocking it through the turn around (mile 7.5) - almost rocking it too much. I knew we probably needed to slow it down just a bit so we could have a good finish. Around mile 10 she started to struggle a little bit, so we slowed down a little. I pointed out to her at mile 11 that we could pretty much walk it in and she was going to PR - she smiled and we continued on. I am sure there were times that she wanted to throw her water bottle at me, but made her keep going because I knew she could - I knew she had it in her. She crossed the finish line in 2:55:00 exactly! A PR of over 10 minutes! Yes, tears were shed, but they were needed. Momma K did so awesome and I could not have been more proud of her! Our awesome friend Jarian (Mr. Inspiration) was cheering runners into the finish line and took a quick selfie with us to celebrate! The post race area was held in a small parking lot of one of the trail heads and had a DJ, race shirts, and refreshments (bananas, bagels, peanut butter, water, etc). My only complaints of the race came after the race when we had to ride a shuttle back to the parking lot at the start. In past years, school buses were utilized which are able to carry quite a number of runners. This year was quite different. Instead of a school bus, this year runners were transported via one small charter bus which held about 15-20 runners & spectators. With 500-600 runners plus spectators, this led to wait times of well over 20 minutes to get on a bus to be transported back. Of course, Momma K and I were the first ones to be "denied" on the bus that we thought we would get on. Just as I thought mom was about to cry, a car pulled up. A woman (and fellow runner) rolled down her window and offered to take 4 of us back to the start line. After all the years of mom preaching "never get in a car with a stranger" you can guess what we did - haha! Thank you to the sweet runner Carissa (or Clarissa - I forget) - we are both so grateful for you taking us back to our car! With the single shuttle taking about 10 minutes to go round trip, it would be nice to see either a slightly larger vehicle used or add a 2nd vehicle to the rotation to help expedite returning runners and spectators back to their cars (especially during peak finishing times). Overall, I really do enjoy running the Silver Comet race series and will likely return back in 2016. Hopefully the feedback received on the bus situation will be addressed for next year's race. Now, it is time to get ready for some Halloween fun (and get ready for another half marathon tomorrow)! Happy Halloween!
1 Comment
Karen Gilbert
11/5/2015 08:41:24 am
You were so patient with me in those last 2 miles. I cannot thank you enough for your encouragement and patience. <3
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BrandiI love to run and most importantly I love to have FUN while I run....I am the "Funner Runner" Feedspot's Top 100 Running Blogs
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