Ralston Creek Half Marathon

I signed up for this race solely because I wanted to run a race in Colorado during my travel rotation. The only two races that fit into my schedule were this one, which was in Arvada, and one on Super Bowl Sunday in Colorado Springs. (It had to be on a Sunday sometime in February). I decided on Ralston Creek because it was closer and it was a week later, which gave me more time to recover after running Key West.

A few weeks before the race, I convinced my friends Becky and Jeff to sign up for the 5K. I stayed at their house in Loveland and we drove an hour to the race. It worked out great since then the race didn't start until 9:45. The race actually had two waves, one at 9am for runners finishing in more than 2:30, and 9:45am for runners faster than 2:30.

We got to the starting area with plenty of time, despite leaving later than planned. We had no trouble finding parking and picking up our race packets. This was a smaller race (around 750 people) but pretty well organized. We really lucked out on the weather too! It was unseasonably warm for Colorado: sunny and in the 60's! The race director said that last year it was snowing/ sleeting and the year before that, it was so cold the water froze! It was a bit windy this year, but nothing compared to what the weather could've been like in February!

The race started off on the roads, but soon turned onto a bike path. It was a quiet trail through a park and a golf course- it would be a nice place to run if I lived closer! The path was kind of narrow, but it wasn't a problem since there weren't huge crowds of runners. It did twist and turn a bit, which slowed me down when I had to turn a sharp corner. The first 3 miles went by fast. It was windy so I started off with a long sleeve shirt, but I quickly got too hot and had to take it off around mile 3.

For some reason, I hit a low point around mile 5. I started hating the run and having negative thoughts like "this is miserable!" "why do I torture myself this way?". Thankfully I kept pushing through and I felt better after awhile. I don't know if I got a little overheated or tired or what, but I just wasn't feeling it at mile 5. This may sound weird, but a word came to my mind to help me get through it: Relentless. I had read a Runner's World article where runners picked a word that described them, but it was like God gave me this word. "Relentless" came into my mind several times during the race, and it made me think of how I want to be a person who never gives up, who keeps going no matter the obstacles, who meets a challenge step-by-step and overcomes it by dogged determination. That word gave me energy, and it kind of defined my race. I didn't run extremely fast, but I never stopped; I was determined to run the whole thing.

Mile 6 was uphill against the wind. It was like running against a current. It's a good thing I had decided to be relentless, because it took some perseverance to make it up that hill. It flattened out a bit after that, and I thought the worst hill was over. Then I looked up and saw runners snaking up a HUGE hill, back and forth, back and forth. It would've been discouraging, except for my newfound determination. I tackled it one step at a time. Going one direction, I'd be fighting the wind, but going the other direction, the wind would actually push me forward. It always seemed to blow harder when it was against me though!

It was such a relief to finally make it to the top of the hill around mile 8. I turned the corner, and we were on top of a ridge, with the reservoir far below us and the skyscrapers of Denver visible in the distance. Not to mention the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains beside us and behind us. It was absolutely gorgeous! We ran along the ridge, then slightly downhill for a mile, with a tailwind behind us and gorgeous views below us. This was definitely my favorite part of the race!

The last few miles were back along the same bike trail. It wasn't quite as windy, but it was getting hot. I probably didn't drink enough fluid because I felt dehydrated after the race, but I kept going and finished at a good pace. At the finish area, they had chocolate chip banana bread and breakfast burritos- both were surprisingly delicious! They also had hot chocolate, which I would have appreciated more had it not been about 70 degrees by then.

Overall, it was a fun low-key race, and I enjoyed it despite the two miles uphill. It was a good size: there were enough people to make it interesting, but it was never crowded and frustrating like some races can be. I liked the half-zip tech shirt, the pre-race goodies, and all the post-race food. My very favorite part was the scenic views running down along the ridge- that alone made this race totally worth it! Another nice perk that I should mention is they offer free digital downloads of race pix for a week after the event- which is why I was able to add these photos to the blog!

Official Time: 2:05:32     Pace: 9:35 min/mile

1	8:18
2	9:09
3	9:20
4	9:38
5	9:31
6	10:22 (uphill)
7	9:50 (mostly uphill)
8	9:55 (uphill)
9	8:51 (downhill!)
10	9:09 (downhill)
11	9:06 (downhill)
12	9:24
13	9:43