Race Report: 2012 Morgan Hill Half Marathon

This past weekend was the third running of the Morgan Hill Marathon + Half. During the inaugural edition of the event I got injured while training for the marathon and had to back off and do the half. I ended up pacing my mom that year to a PR. Last year I was able to run the marathon and wilted in the heat on the later sections of the course. I set my current marathon PR of 3:20 but fell short of my goal of a Boston Marathon qualifier. This year I'm focused on the California International Marathon so I ran the half marathon as a training run and had a great time.

I had a 20-mile training run scheduled for the day so I woke up early to get an easy seven miles in before the race. After getting my miles in I stopped by home to change my shoes and shirt and grab mom who had traveled from Washington to run the race. One of the things I love most about this race is that I can walk to start line from house.

We got to the start line a few minutes before the race started, settled in to places and started with the gun. My goal for the race was to run at marathon pace (around 7:05 min/mi). I quickly found myself running alongside a couple other runners locked into the same pace I was. After a couple miles there was two of us. It turns out that the other guy, Ken was shooting for a 1:33 or better half which was inline with what I was shooting for.

Together we held a consistent pace for the first seven miles which is a pretty difficult feat on this course. The seven miles are a gradual climb until you get to the top of Willow Springs Road and then you get back all that climbing in one massive downhill.

Morgan Hill Half Marathon elevation profile.

After a couple quick miles we settled back into our previous pace for a couple miles. Eventually you hit another uphill on Main Street which slowed us down a bit. Next you turn down Spring Ave which is a nice downhill before entering the park and finish line.

Morgan Hill Marathon + Half medals from 2010 - 2012

I finished in 1:33:39 which is my third fastest half. Not bad considering I had already put in 50 miles that week before the race started. After a short wait my mom cruised in finishing a few minutes faster than last year.

Mom and I after the half.

After the last two weeks of 60+ miles each and a solid half at marathon pace I'm feeling pretty good about the upcoming California International Marathon in a month. This week is a pullback week and then two more big weeks before it is time to taper.

Race Stats
Official Time:	1:33:39
Age Group (35-39):	5/88
Overall:	30/1039