I woke up nervous. Beachwood was snow covered and I was questioning what to wear. I threw on what I thought would be a good option and headed down to Hartville with John + my mom. During the 1 hour drive south, my nerves started to ease up as the snow lessened with each mile. We arrived in Hartville where we met my Dad + Stepmom Camille and my sister Ellen. Pictured above: Dad, Camille, John, Me, Mom, + Ellen.
Before the race I posed for pictures…
…didn’t pose for others…
and ate some food.
Before I knew it, we were inching closer and closer to the start.
Starting line…
Fan club! In front our my friends Shannon and Josh! Thanks for coming!
I guess I should tell you what the race and weather conditions were really like since you see everyone bundled up. The temp varied from about 32-36 degrees with winds 8-10 mph. At one point it even flurried during the race. In terms of the course, it was very hilly.
Honestly, I didn’t know the course was this hilly when I signed up for the race. However, I wasn’t going to let the course elevation determine fate. Here’s how the race went down:
Mile 1: I was cold, I was excited. I finished the first mile in 9:35. Perfect.
Mile 2: I was warmed up. Time to maneuver the navy zippy off from underneath the CamelBak + remove my gloves. I was afraid that would happen, but I made it work. I also screwed up my stop watch at this point.
Mile 3: Feeling really happy that the crowd was starting to thin out + finding my running grove without surrounding pressure from the runners. I think this was the mile I ran into my friend Alycia as well! She was running with her aunt, cold, but in good spirits!
Mile 4: Almost time to see my family!
Mile 5: Holy freaking hill. Ohh there’s my family!! Feeling great! I threw my navy zippy to John + received a pack of Shot Bloks.
Mile 6: Working the hill like it’s my job. Excited to see my mile again at mile 7. My time split at 6.2 miles was 1:04:36. I felt great about this + reset my watch.
Mile 7: Family again!!!
Mile 7.5-11: When are these hills every going to end? I noticed a lot of people walking but kept pushing myself to run. I had another pack of Shot Bloks around mile 9.5. I know I had some 12 minute miles during this stretch.
~Mile 11-12: Thank you for this downhill stretch. When I saw the mile marker for mile 12 my eyes welded up. I knew I would be able to finish within my goal time of 2:15 – 2:30.
Mile 13: Omg. Omg. Omg. I’m about to be a half marathoner!!
I did it! I completed my first half marathon and I couldn’t be more proud! Look how proud my mom is in this picture (excuse my silly expression):
I received hugs from all my fans, drank some water, and removed my CamelBak/headphones/watch/etc. The next part of the race was the worse part. Waiting for the buses to take up back to the winery for the post race celebration. It was freezing + 6 buses were not enough for all the runners + spectators it seems. Plus, someone in line decided it would be a great idea to light up a cigarette + people were trying to cut in front of each other. Just crazy stuff. Anyway, my mom lent me her jacket and John + I snapped a picture together.
I found out my official times at the winery:
SO PROUD!!!!! Net time of 2:20:59!! My pace says 10:47 but I’m a little curious about that. The elevation chart showed the course being 13.33 (which would have made my pace 10:34) but now the Stomp the Grapes website is showing an official 13.1 course verification thing… so I’m not sure when that happened! Either way, I’m thrilled!
The post race celebration was short lived for us. I was cold + couldn’t eat much from the free buffet line as a runner due to all the foods with gluten. I also received two free glasses of wine as a runner but promptly allowed mom and John to drink those for me. Plus another nice runner gave us his extra ticket so Camille could enjoy a glass too! We said good-bye to Ellen and made our caravan back to Beachwood.
Beachwood continued in it’s winter wonderland glory…
…and we had a fun filled family evening together.
Ohh almost forget… I found out in the evening that I placed 39 / 59 in my age group + 272 / 431 in overall females. Yes, I’m totally proud.
Congrats again! I honestly don’t know how you ran 13.3 miles in such cold conditions, with hills nonetheless – you are such a trooper
I love that your entire family came out to support you and the look on your mom’s face afterwards. Very touching.
You have every right to be proud of your amazing time!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Thank you Maria! It was so great to have my family there cheering me on! Next time I run in a warmer race I know John and my dad would have had their bikes out cheering me on at many more spots!
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CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a freakin’ awesome run – and I loved that you did it all with such a wonderful smile
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Thank you Lisa!! Don’t forget about my crazy waving lol
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HUZZAH ! so happy for you – such an awesome run in *COLD* wow… and someone with a cigarette? yuk – seems so unlikely, especially there.
CONGRATS ~!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Ugh the cigarette totally seemed unlikely. Me and the girl in front of me were getting sick to our stomach because of it! I’m know if my dad would have seen who was doing it he would have said something!
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Congratulations on your awesome half! Running in the cold is hard–way to rock it!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Thank you Julie!!
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CONGRATUATIONS!!!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Thank you Melissa!
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Yay!!!! Congratulations hun! I’m so proud of you!!!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Thank you Kali! We wil have to get together for a nice run during a sunny day!
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Congratulations! Amazing – really! And might I add, I LOVE your pink camelback? Wooot!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Thank you Kris!! John got me the pink Camelpak for my birthday and I knew I would need it for the half! I like to sip every mile
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CONGRATS!!! How fantastic is this post?!?!? I’m so happy for you for rockin’ it! I think we should get together to celebrate
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Thank you!! And I definitely think we should get together to celebrate!! I can celebrate with hot chocolate right?
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Congrats on your first half! Its such an amazing feeling.
And finishing at a winery? It sounds incredible! That’s my kind of race!!!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Thank you!! Well unfortunately, I just like the science behind wine makigng and not actually the taste! HA! I gave my free drink tickets to John and my mom though!
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Congrats Katie! What an accomplishment! What a trooper you are to run the half marathon in such cold conditions!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Thanks Genna! And gosh, you knew how cold it was!
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Great recap!! So proud of you!!
And holy snow! We barely had anything in Lakewood…..
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Woww nothing in Lakewood?! We had at least 4 inches I bet lol. Luckily, Hartville was dry — just freezing cold with only one instance of flurries during the race!
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OMG we are totally Half Marathon twins! I think I finished mine it 2:21 (but maybe it was 2:26 and I’m remembering it wrong!) Either way – WAHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOO! Way to go – you rocked it and I’m super proud of you!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
You know what that means right!??! We have to run a race together!! Thanks for the congrats!
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what an awesome finish! congrats! you should be so proud
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Thank you Kenzie! I can’t wait to do another.. well er, I can wait until the weather warms up a bit!
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Congratulations!!! So proud of you
I was thinking about you this weekend when I saw the snow out my window!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
November 8th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
It was certainly a surprise that silly snow! Thanks for the congrats! Still looking forward to meeting you!
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Congrats on finishing your first half!
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Loved it!! I was waiting for this post (:
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SO proud of you !!!! I love you!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
December 20th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Awww, How did I never respond to this!? Thanks girlfriend.. love you too!
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I can’t believe this is the race you had picked (hills, cold, and a few flurries). You gave it your all though and great work. Now, on to more races and hopefully the NYC marathon someday. Enter the lottery for 2011 and see what happens
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
December 20th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
And guess what!? I just picked another race that might be a doozie! A half in March in Youngstown.. let’s see how cold (and potentially snowy) that one will be!
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Congrats! You looked strong throughout the pictures and I’m sure you were in the race. I just finished my fist 10k and unfortunately fell victim to a bit of walking because I saw others taking a break. My conditions very crappy–cold, ice, slush but I was happy to finish. My parents and bf were there so I know the importance of family at a race. Especially a half marathon! Awesome, awesome time! I’m super slow, so I would kill for a time like that. Great job!
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Healthy Heddleston Reply:
December 20th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Thank you for your such kind words! I know conditions can be so crazy… this was the coldest I had ever run in until now I’ve run in much colder (ha!) I’m sure you were great during your race! Your first races are really about finishing… and you did just that! It’s always awesome to have loved ones cheering you on too!!
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