On June 22nd a cold and foggy Duluth, MN once again hosted the US Championship for the Half-Marathon - a big breakthrough race for me last year, and my first major event since a somewhat disappointing Boston Marathon finish. I had spent the first month since Boston recovering with some easy mileage and the next month adding in more miles with an occasional hard workout. The half was going to be the first big workout on the way to a likely fall marathon. Turns out that Boston Marathon fitness never left and the race exceeded all of my expectations.
One of the many faces of Tim Ritchie.
The hospitality for elites is unmatched in Duluth and is a huge huge factor for our success in the race. We all get our own rooms, great little gift packages with snacks and drawings from local elementary children, access to course tours and a priority starting position. These races are always both a reunion with old friends and a glimpse at some of the greats in this sport. My race would have two multiple-time Olympic Team members, a few other US Championship winners from past years and well over 100 runners with PRs under 1:10 for 13.1 miles. Feeling a bit unprepared for this one, I set the goal of a top 10 finish, and an ideal pace of around 5:00min/mile. That was before I called my coach, who promptly told me that this field was ‘a bunch of old jokers’ and that I should put myself in the mix right away because ‘you never know.’ Ok, a new plan it was!
A 6:15am start time means a 3:45am alarm, a lot of disorientation and an extra cup of coffee to go with my pre race meal. The bus ride to the start is quiet with the runners still slowly waking up and the nerves over what is to come. We unload in relative darkness and shuffle a quarter mile up the road to the start line (the halfway point of the full marathonto start later in the day). The field fills a tent set up for us and we sit and twiddle our thumbs a few minutes before each taking off for our warm ups. I do my 15 min shake out, throw on my racing flats, wait in line for the potty and before I know it, we are called to the start.
The race is a point to point course along Lake Superior, which today was hidden behind dense fog, ending in ‘downtown’ Duluth. When the gun went off a lead pack jumped to the front and immediately began to press. For a moment I thought I was running the 100m dash and not a thirteen mile race. I tried not to panic and settled in around 25th place, as 7 or 8 runners broke off up front. They hit the mile in a ludacris 4:20 and my pack of 20 runners or so came through at 4:35, much faster than anticipated.
Things settled down soon after that. I could see the front pack starting to stretch out and my own group was divided into further chase packs. I found myself with about 8 other runners through the 5 mile mark working well together and keeping a close eye on those in front. After two slow miles I was still feeling pretty good and decided to risk closing some gaps towards the runners who had fallen off the lead. I would reel in one runner and then see the next and chip away at him until he was passed and I was on to the next one. By 9 miles I had caught up to 4x Olympian Abdi Abdirahman and let out an inner ‘OMG!’ I gave him some encouragement, hoping that he would help me continue to move up as I now saw the 3rd and 4th place runners up ahead. I sensed his breathing increase up the small hill at mile 10 and took this as my chance to make another move and he did not come with.
I finally caught 4th place with a mile to go and at that point was totally exhausted. I could see 3rd place only 5 seconds ahead but had only the energy to keep the chasing 5th place runner I had just passed at bay. It took all I had to keep it together over the last half mile and I crossed as a very happy 4th place finisher with a newly set PR of 1:02:28 for thehalf-marathon. The next thing to happen was a sign I was finally making my way in this sport – a drug test! After an hour of sitting, waiting, drinking water and finally producing, I was able to jog a cool down along the lake, shower and crash into my hotel bed.
This race was a big step in the right direction for me. I competed well with many great runners, took chances I might not have done in my past and the time sets me up in a better position heading into fall marathon training. All in all, a very blessed experience with good friends in a great town. I gave myself the weekend to be proud of my result and then it was back to the grind, focused and looking forward to the next test!
Tim Ritchie
