two oceans half marathon

I registered for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Half Marathon before leaving the US... I knew that I needed to go ahead and register and pay for it there so I'd end up actually running it! It worked... The race was this past Saturday morning at 6:00. I have been sick, so I was out of shape, but I managed to finish with a decent time (for me). The second half held monstrous hills, but the kilometer markers made the race seem to go by faster... they came more often than mile markers so I felt like I was accomplishing more! It was a huge event... I think between the half and ultra marathons there were about 20,000 runners. It was dark for the first third or so of the run, and it was kind of neat to run before the sun came up! It reminded me of morning runs in high school cross country.

Shot from behind the runners at the start. The race started on Main Road in Newlands, which was just about a 20 minute walk from where I live. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it was PACKED. There were so many people, I could have reached out and touched someone on all sides of me for most of the race.

"Warming up" before the start of the race... I almost missed the start because I lined up with the ultra marathoners by accident.

Approaching the finish line. I was exhausted... I can't imagine doing the ultra marathon (56 km)! The race route was beautiful, and the second half of it ran through Rhodes Avenue, a road through the rural areas bordering the mountains. It also runs through Kirstenbosch Gardens. It reminded me a bit of running through the wooded areas of the Cades Cove Loop back in East TN. I think the ultra marathon route went down to the coastline, and then finished by the mountains.

Tina, Betsy, Erin, Laurie, and Jonah woke up to come watch me finish at 8:00AM on a Saturday morning! They came bearing a sign cheering me on... and doughnuts. The race finished on the rugby fields of UCT's upper campus. You can see a glimpse of UCT buildings and Table Mountain in the background.

Unfortunately, my foot has been hurting since the race, and I've been limping around. I'm beginning to reconsider the quality of my decision to run a half marathon unprepared.