The Capital City Half Marathon is one of my favorite races. Race director David Babner has done a good job supporting walkers over the years, and he has worked hard to make this race a world class event. (Walker awards would make it a “great job” of supporting us.)

The corrals are very well marked and easy to get to if you head there early. There are tons of port-a-johns near every corral, so no need to worry about that. There are ropes separating the corrals, and volunteers watching to be sure people stay in the correct corral.

The sound system was horrible for those of us in corrals I and J. We heard NOTHING! Suddenly everyone in front of us started to get quiet and then we heard the last few bars of the national anthem. I hate that!

As each corral started the race, and we moved forward, we realized there was a lot of excitement at the front. (Shame we didn’t know until we moved up.) There were a couple of minutes wait time between corrals. Though it means we did not start until 8:28 or so, the streets were pretty well cleared out, and we did not have to maneuver around many people to get to race pace. Very well done.

I really like this course. It heads north along the Olentangy through Grandview and campus, then turns south on High Street for several miles. It goes into German Village (not Bexley as the runner near us said), takes a jog to the west (which I hate) and a few last minute turns to the finish line. There is a small hill near the finish which feels like a mountain after so many miles, but there really is no choice.

The weather this year was a little weird. It started in the mid-40s, and I thought it would warm up like it did last week. I opted to wear a throwaway sweatshirt instead of my regular purple jacket. Unfortunately, it did not warm up, and I ended up wearing the Oregon sweatshirt for the entire race. (Ugh!) All of Columbus now thinks I am a Ducks fan.

I felt much better at the start of the race than I had expected since I just did the Glass City Half last week. I decided early on to change my race plan and try to break the 3-hour mark. (My original plan was to take it easy.) I caught up with my friend Steve, and kept pace with him.

Around mile 5, I felt some tightness in my left hamstring. Within a mile of that I told Steve to go ahead, and I stopped to stretch. As I stretched I heard a familiar voice, and there was Deb! She was at a little slower pace than I had been maintaining, so I walked with her the rest of the race. Eventually the tightness was worse and I experienced tightness in my right hamstring, too. Sometimes I walked backward for a few feet (that helped), I changed my stride a little, but it continued. It wasn’t debilitating, just annoying and I didn’t want to make it worse.

Around mile 12 I saw my daughter Amanda cheering me on! I was slow enough she could walk near me and we could chat about my issues. (I had forgotten how fun it is to have family along the course!) I felt excited again and tried to pick up the pace. Tried.

This last mile is the worst part of the course in my mind. It feels like an after thought, but the rest is so good, I don’t really mind. There’s a small incline that feels like a mountain, then you turn toward the finish. I love how there is a little bit of distance from this corner to the finish line! The street is lined with people cheering you on and the announcer calls your name! I try very hard to look like I’ve been using perfect race walking form the entire race.

I heard the announcer say something about my being a Buckeye Strider and that I walked the entire race, and that was cool.

Deb was close behind me, so after receiving my medal I waited for her and we grabbed water, bananas, bagels and went into the Commons for the party. (There was a lot of food!) The medal is huge! I nearly had to walk hunched over from the weight.

Normally this after-race party is fun and exciting. It had started to sprinkle, so there were not many people hanging around. We found chocolate milk and champagne and looked for other Buckeye Striders. We ate some pizza with Pat, but the rest of the Striders left early. Soon after finishing, we went home.

The race shirt is really nice (it fits!) and the medal is huge!

The course is good and the crowd support is surprising. The registration fee increases pretty quickly in my opinion, so if you are doing the race, register as early as possible.

My biggest complaint about this event is the lack of speakers for those in the very back. We heard nothing. The race was broadcast on local TV (pretty cool) and I recorded it. It wasn’t until I watched the recording that I realized how much was going on at the start line. In addition, there was almost no coverage of the women runners, which was irritating. If there were technical difficulties, I wish they would say something.

Cap City will have the national championship next year, too. They did a good job hosting this year, and I hope they fix the minor glitches to make the event perfect then.

Read more about the Cap City Half Marathon here: 6 Lessons from Walking Two Half Marathons in 6 Days.

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