I was not decided on how I would run this race today until I parked my car at Hershey Stadium and pinned my number on my shirt. That’s when I said I’d give it what I could and see what happens. The temperature was pretty much perfect at 48°. It was freezing standing in the shade so I set off for a 2 mile warm up which did the trick. Pretty soon (I timed this trip perfectly this morning) it was time to line up and the start was a real clustered mess. I had lined myself up between the 7:00-8:00 minute mile section but for the first ¼ mile we were running an 8:30 pace. I got around the people who were obviously not lined up right (how does that happen?) and fell into a comfortable pace, trying to take it easy for the first mile or two. For the first 2.5 miles we circled through the Hershey complex (past Chocolate World, through the amusement park) and then we left the park and hit the streets.

Running through downtown Hershey was fun, I’d never driven through the downtown area before and there were some cute restaurants and aptly named chocolate themed businesses. Up until now the “hills” were tiny rollers which weren’t a big deal but at mile 5 we had a short elevation climb which slowed me down very slightly. Another one hit at mile 6 but I kept a fairly consistent pace through here even though I had slowed down slightly compared to my earlier miles. The winds started to hit us in mile 8 pretty hard out on the open country roads and kept up in mile 9 where we climbed the biggest hill of the race. This is where I wanted to start laying down the pace a little but the hill and wind were working against me and I just wasn’t able to. That would have to wait.

Having learned from my experience at the Pocono Marathon I tried to take as much advantage of the downhills as I could and while the elevation was evening out with tiny rollers, my legs were starting to get tired. Tired, shmired! I can push them for a few miles more so I hung on to some people around me and stuck with them for the rest of the race. Any little help I can get … Miles 11 and 12 kicked butt with 7:34 pace for both miles but I’m not sure what happened in mile 13. I fell back to a 7:56 pace which pissed me off. Must be because I didn’t see that darn chocolate aid station or something.

Finally, in the Stadium I kicked it in with a 7:17 pace to finish up the race just eeking out a PR by about 19 seconds which was so disappointing because my splits in this race were so much better than my splits last April. After the race I thought about it and came to the conclusion that my April PR was just 3 weeks out from my marathon when I was beginning to peak. This PR (and basically the same time, really) is 7 weeks out from my marathon and I am nowhere near peaking. So, that’s the upside. I still have more speed to build up and more endurance to maintain.

I just saw that they posted results. My results are way off. There is no possible way that my watch, which I started when I stepped over the starting line timing mat, was that different from the finish line clock which was suppose to have started when the gun went off. I started about 10-20 seconds after the gun went off. Whatever.

Afterthoughts:

• I was surprised at how many spectators were out on the course today: a lot! That was really fun.
• We had our names printed on our bibs. I always love this and it was great hearing complete strangers calling out my name as I passed by.
• Best sign today said, “This sign is to encourage you.” I saw it twice. Loved it.
• The Hershey characters popped up at different locations throughout the race which is always fun to see.
• Disappointed that there wasn’t more chocolate in our swag bags. I got a Hershey’s Chocolate Bar and a Payday. I got more Hershey’s chocolate in my bag at the Harrisburg Half Marathon last year.
• Getting a free pass to the amusement park the night before the race was a great treat (pretty much trumps the lack of chocolate for me). My husband and I made it a date night and rode some great roller coasters! First time in years.

Splits:
1 – 7:49
2 - 7:36
3 - 7:39
4 – 7:41
5 – 7:45
6 - 7:43
7 – 7:45
8 - 7:47
9 - 8:01
10 - 7:53
11 - 7:34
12 - 7:34
13 – 7:56
.25 – 1:49 (7:17)

Unofficial Time: 1:42:39 (7:45 pace)
Official Time: 1:42:55 (7:51 pace) – There is no possible way that is correct.
Overall: 208/1960 (25%)
Gender: ?
Age group: ?