Race shirt and medal from the ORRRC Half Marathon.

The temps were in the low 50s and it was foggy when we started the ORRRC Half Marathon in Xenia, OH.

There were about 1100 people registered in the race, though it did not feel as if there were that many people at the starting line.

Me with Steve, Deb and Catherine. (I know, I wore the wrong shirt!)

The first two miles were in town on neighborhood streets. As the crowd spread out, we moved onto bike trails. Though basically flat, there was a slight incline on the bike trail on the way out, and oddly, there was also an incline on the way back.

For the most part, there was plenty of room on the trail. Though there were pockets of groups, it was not hard to go at any pace we wanted without much need to weave around people. There were several runner/walkers who kept leap-frogging us, but eventually we were fast enough that they were behind us.

Even when the faster runners were returning, there was plenty of  room on both sides of the trail.

At one point the sun started to peek out. It was suddenly very hot and humid! Luckily, the clouds came back and the rest of the day was overcast and comfortable.

As you leave the bike trail, you walk up two or three blocks to cross the finish line at the YMCA.

At the finish we received a really nice medal! (Nicer than lots of other races I’ve done.) We then went in the YMCA where volunteers served chili, chicken and noodle soup, broccoli cheddar soup, tons of different types of cookies, apples, bananas and several beverage options. The chili was very tasty.

There are a lot of good things about this race: well organized, nice shirt, nice medal, plenty of water stops, Gatorade on the course, police at every intersection, good volunteers, good food at the finish and plenty of it. The bike trail was very pretty. The mile markers were painted on the asphalt and were easy to see. And it is very affordable! When I registered, the race was only $25!

The only negative is that being out on the bike trail can be lonely. If you were to do this race alone, it would be mentally tough. Luckily, I did it with my friend Deb.
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I finished in 3:02:44 — which was both my watch time and my chip time! We averaged about 14:02 per mile.
Mile1 – 13:44
Mile 2 – 13:49
Mile 3 & 4 – 28:14 (I missed the mile 3 marker)
Mile 5 – 13:55
Mile 6 – 14:04
Mile 7 – 13:45
Mile 8 – 14:03
Mile 9 – 14:11
Mile 10 – 13:58
Mile 11 – 13:46
Mile 12 – 14:02
Mile 13 – 13:47

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