Cedars of Lebanon State Park is east of Nashville. It's about as far east of downtown as we are south. So it took me about 50 minutes to drive out there (not so bad for getting there but not so much fun when driving back immediately after the race).
The race was a loop with one little out and back to add on a little more distance (and the first and last mile were the same). The majority of the race was inside of the park and most of it was on pavement. About 2.5 miles was on a gravel road inside the park.
I didn't look at the race profile until after the race. It felt really hilly and it was! The hills weren't huge but they were constant!
I went out too fast and suffered the second half. I hit the halfway point at 54 minutes. There was the second of three water stations at 7 miles so I decided to walk through it and eat my energy gel. I could never find my rhythm again. I ended up walking several short stints after that and my pace was significantly slower.
My time was 1:55:35. I was 10th in my age category (out of 44).
I've only run 3 other half marathons and this was my best (BARELY).
Knoxville Half Marathon (3/26/06) - 1:55:38
Knoxville Half Marathon (3/29/09) - 2:12:20
Music City Half Marathon (10/7/12) - 2:02:17
There were 727 finishers - one of the largest races the running tour has ever had. I'd race this half marathon again but there are a couple of other State Park races I'm looking at doing next winter since the series is almost over for this season.
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