Since we were in Colorado for my conference, we stayed one extra day and headed to Longmont to run the American Heroes Half/Full Marathon.
This is a race series, including a 24-hour, 100-mile ultra, 9 hr-11 min ultra, marathon, half marathon and a 5k. The course is a repeating 1-and-change loop. The loop includes concrete and trail segments.
The races have staggered starts, with the 24-hour and ultra starting on Friday morning, and everyone else starting on Saturday at varying times.
Our race started at 8:46, when the first World Trade Center tower was hit on 9/11/2001.
Unfortunately for us, it was a hot day. The sky was clear, the sun bright and strong and we were already in the upper 70s at the start line.
But with tough races come great race organizers. There was a lot of race support, two aid stations and lots of people out supporting friends and family. It was slow going for all of us and it was absolutely worth finishing.
This was my second-slowest half marathon ever – and it was my 25th half! Some days are just like that, and it doesn’t make the finish medal any less worth earning.
