{"id":392,"date":"2013-09-08T21:25:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-08T21:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/?p=392"},"modified":"2025-07-21T12:27:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:27:37","slug":"parks-half-marathon-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/2013\/09\/08\/parks-half-marathon-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Parks Half Marathon 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ROCKVILLE Maryland, September 8 2013<\/p>\n<p>It was still a little warm, but almost getting down to good running temperatures. This was the first time I have run this race when the course was dry &#8211; the previous two times (2010, 2012) were after fairly heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n<p>I am getting to the point where I know this course pretty well, which means I am about ready to stop running this race. It&#8217;s a little strange that I feel this way about road races*, but the opposite about races on trails.<\/p>\n<p>I have been injured most of the year and training has been very light, so I didn&#8217;t expect to perform particularly well. I lived up to this expectation, finishing in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcrrc.org\/parks-half-marathon-men-0\">1:52:23<\/a> &#8211; pretty much right in the middle of my two prior times. I did manage to run the whole distance without walking, which was encouraging after a rough summer&#8217;s results.<\/p>\n<p>*Much of the Parks Half is on trails, but they&#8217;re smooth, paved trails.<\/p>\n<p>A few recollections:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Around mile 6 it strikes me that there seems to be a lot less music on the course than last year. Just a little later we round a bend and there is a guy in a tuxedo playing a grand piano for the runners. A tall dude running next to me yells out &#8220;Freebird!&#8221; and I&#8217;m thinking &#8220;<small>douche<\/small>&#8221; &#8211; but then the guy starts to play it! A few runners let out obligatory whoops and somebody asks for a lighter. I immediately revise my estimate of the tall dude&#8217;s douche status. This really lifted my spirits for the second half of the race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In the last mile I notice a guy just in front of me is looking rough, shuffling along with his feet barely rising off the ground. Just as I am about to pass him he trips over something and faceplants, landing spreadeagled on the ground with a cringe-inducing &#8220;Unghf!&#8221; A lame &#8220;You OK, bro?&#8221; is all I can manage as I nip around to his left. I look back and am relieved to see that he&#8217;s back his feet, looking not much worse for wear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Just a little later I see <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Michael_Wardian\">Michael Wardian<\/a> running back down the course, calling encouragement to us mid-pack runners. I holler out &#8220;Mike!&#8221; and say to the girl beside me &#8220;That was Michael Wardian,&#8221; but she doesn&#8217;t know who he is. I later find out he finished 15th.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Boss&#8217;s friend C completes her first half-marathon in a quite decent time, supported by Boss-friend K. C complains of cramps and soreness, but looks very happy with her achievement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>When we arrive at the metro for the ride back to the start I notice an older gentlemen with a race bib gingerly walking backwards down the stairs. He looks like he&#8217;s really suffering. I offer my standard commiseration &#8211; &#8220;That&#8217;s how I feel too!&#8221; &#8211; even though I didn&#8217;t really feel quite that bad &#8211; and am rewarded with a grin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Boss sets a new PR for the half marathon distance: 2:18:17.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ROCKVILLE Maryland, September 8 2013 It was still a little warm, but almost getting down to good running temperatures. This was the first time I have run this race when the course was dry &#8211; the previous two times (2010, 2012) were after fairly heavy rainfall. I am getting to the point where I know [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400,"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392\/revisions\/400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiatjustitia.net\/wheezinggeezers\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}