Stomp the Grapes

The weather was very good for a change; I had some hope for a really good run today. But NO - Instead I really stunk up the joint.

The race was the Stomp the Grapes Half Marathon in Navarre, Ohio. It’s called that because it starts and finishes at a winery. Parking was a problem for some of us – I had to park 1.67 miles away, according to the ole GPS. There were busses, but of course I wanted to warm up, and I wanted to run extra miles today anyway. My “warmup” totaled about 3 miles altogether. A possible factor in the outcome? Maybe.

The course is very hilly, mostly on country roads, but also through the village of Navarre and also with a few flatter miles on the towpath. I did quite well for the first 6, averaging about a 6:45 pace. I probably hit half-way in close to 44 minutes. If I could only keep this up and run even splits, I’d have a 1:28 or so. And that would be 2 minutes better than my last half, which was in the rain and high humility.

But a funny thing happened to me once I hit that towpath: I suddenly had to work real hard to keep that pace up. Real hard. Was it the dirt and crushed limestone surface? Or was there a grade? I now think it was a bit of both.

I struggled with some 6:5x miles, but was suddenly able to do a 6:28. But after that things went downhill fast.

Check that. It was actually uphill. Now I was doing 7+ minute miles. Mile 11, which I knew was going to be tough because it was all up, was a 7:39. The last couple were also uphill, and also slow. I simply had not realized how much down that first half of this generally out and back course had been. On top of the hills, there was a strong headwind for the second half.

My time? 1:31 flat. Maybe a few seconds below that for split time. My place? That part wasn’t so bad. I was 18th overall (and I have NO idea how many runners there were, but it seemed like 200-300). 1st in my AG was the first master, so they took him out. 2nd place had just turned 55, so he really wasn’t 2nd in my AG anymore. And that left me – 1st by default. Interesting award: a piece of slate from the roof of a 100+ year old chicken coop.