Ok, to clarify, I took this race off and didn't run.  However, I rode most of the course on my bike supporting Amanda Miller.  This is one of my favorite half-marathons, but I forced myself to not enter this one, since it's only been 4 weeks since the P.F. Chang's Marathon.

The plan was that I was going to ride my beach cruiser bike along the course to watch Amanda throughout the race.  Of course, there was a bit of a wrench thrown in that.  I got everything ready last night, pumped up the bike tires, put the bike rack on the car, etc.  This morning, the front bike tire was flat.  So, we picked up Amanda's friend Karen in the Wal Mart parking lot to take her to the race and I ran in and bought a new inner tube. 

We were hauling down the 101 and the 60 to Apache Junction for the race start.  I realized I was going to have to walk them to the start line, then come back to the car to deal with changing the tire.  We got there in the nick of time and the girls got out of the bathroom about 30 seconds before the gun went off, but it was all good!

I got back to the car and got the tire changed after a few curse words and headed out to spectate!  I first found Amanda around the 3.5 mile mark.  She looked good and threw me her jacket.  I hopped on the bike and saw her another mile down the rode.  I camped out there and waited for everyone to make the turn-around to come back. 


Amanda - Mile 8.8

It was kind of nice to spectate for once.  I got to see the leaders of the marathon and half-marathon.  Karleen Dirmantas (a Tribe Multisport teammate) was kicking serious butt and was the 5th woman overall when I saw here around 8.8 miles.  Mitch Hill was also kicking some behind at the same mile marker.  Amanda came through the same point and was hurting a bit.  The police didn't seem to care, so I followed her on the bike for about a mile and then biked up to the 11 mile mark.  I met up with her again and led her to the finish line.  Great job Amanda!!

So, Amanda did a great job finishing, but her PR eluded her.  Karleen Dirmantas was the 5th woman overall and 2nd in her age group.  Mitch Hill won first in his age group!  Rich Dirmantas ran the 10k in a great time. Congratulations to everyone.

 
Karen and Amanda                                                          Mitch Hill - 1st Place Age Group


Karleen Dirmantas - 5th overall, 2nd place Age Group

So, here is my summary of the race:
  • I used to love this race, because they had some really cool hills on packed dirt that made the course unique and challenging, including a monster hill called, "The Dutchman's Revenge".  Although this course still has some rolling hills in it, they took out the segment of this race that made it special.  My opinion:  Change it back!
  • The weather was awesome.  This was the most mild I've ever seen it for this race.  Perfect start time temperature.  Although the sun came out, it never got sweltering hot.
  • As usual, fantastic aid stations, nearly every mile.
  • The finish line area is one of the best.  Tons of volunteers with great post race foods, including chips, salsa, cheetos and breakfast burritos! 
  • The views of this race are great.  The first few miles of the half-marathon are staring right into the mountain with the sun rising over the top.  Fantastic!
  • Very well managed race!
  • Great long sleeved race t-shirts
  • The finisher medals are among the best.  Very heavy and super cool design.

Overall, I would still change this back to the old course to give it the original flavor that it had with the hills, packed dirt and "The Dutchman's Revenge".  With that being said, I think this is still one of my favorite races in the valley and I can't say that I'm not a little bit sad to have not raced it this year.  Had I run the same pace as my last half-marathon in December, I would have placed 3rd in my age group!  Hind-sight is 20/20!  I would definitely recommend this race.  I'm rating it a 9/10 for half-marathons.

I don't think I will skip this one in 2011! 

Take care,

Jess


Amanda and I