Museum of Aviation Half Marathon 2012: Race Rep
Museum of Aviation Half Marathon 2012
Yesterday, I finished my second Museum of Aviation Half Marathon, on Robins AFB, in Warner Robins, GA. It was a cold day, but not quite as cold as last year. I was hopeful, as last weekend was almost balmy, but then the weather took a turn mid-week, and I knew the weekend would be blustery.
My goals for this race were:
- benchmark the 5k to 50k (modified of course) running program I’ve been following.
- test out my pre-race & race nutrition changes
- test out some equipment.
From those perspectives, it was a successful run. I was about 30-40 seconds off pace from last year, but given my training volumes, some recent ankle twinges, I am happy with the result. (more in a future post)
Location: Warner Robins, Georgia
Gun time: 8 pm
Distances: 5k, Half-Marathon, Marathon
Course: 13.1 mile loop around airfield
Registration: $20-5k; $40-13.1; $50-26.2.
Host: Robins Pacers
Weather: Sunny, Clear & Cold (26 deg) Running shorts, Mid-length sleeve compression shirt, Short sleeve technical Tee, Arm warmers, Double layer Gloves (took outer shell off at mile 6), Fleece headband (took off at mile 6), Bandana, Nike Frees.
Terrain: Fairly flat, a couple of rollers, and a couple of creepers (inclines that don’t actually look like inclines). All asphalt with some nice looks at the airfield, for those with that connection.
Competition: It is a Half-Marathon, so most folks are going to be in decent shape. But it is a good mix with good company the whole way. Top men’s time was 1:16, top women’s was 1:27. Last year times were 1:12 and 1:23 respectively.
General Impression: This is a nice race. Definitely show up early because there is no early packet pick up due to security considerations, thus 1200-1500 people picking their stuff up at once can create some bottle necks.
Packet pickup and post-race recovery food is in the covered and heated Museum–very nice. Good recovery food. Nice folks.
Room for improvement: Water stations were a little behind the power curve. Would be nice to have bottled water at the finish line, just from a volume perspective.
