2025 Akron Half-Marathon Race Report

The Akron Marathon and Half allows relay team runners to double as individual participants as long as they run the first relay leg. The thing is, you hand off to the second leg runner and just keep going. Just when you've had enough and feel like quitting, you keep on keepin' on. That was me. That was I. That was the author of this post.

L to R: Four-fifths of our team before the start - Michelle Wolff, Me, Shannon Barnes, Debbie Hicks

 

That first leg had been seven miles. My official time up to that point was 59:50, or 8:33 pace. I had been hoping for slightly faster. You see, after a bunch of half-marathons in the low one-fifties, I'd finally me my sub-one-fifty goal at Hofbräuhaus with a 1:47 in August. My goal today was to at least break 1:50 again to prove that that other race wasn't a fluke. To accomplish that, I ought to be around ten seconds per mile faster.

But now, I am beginning to think that it was indeed a fluke. I hand off to Katherine Kinsey. As planned, we more or less stay together from this point on. It's still tough, but my pace improves a little. It is so very good to have this companionship. It makes the miles go by much better. Much much better. We talk a bit, but mostly, it's just huffing and puffing. At least for me. 

We run out and back on the "Y" bridge, and it's finally time for Katherine to hand off to teammate Debbie Hicks. We half-marathoners peel off and head down to the finish. Oh, wait. Did I say, down? Sorry, I meant DOWN! I am sprinting now, but unfortunately, it is too little, too late. 

My finish time is 1:50:51. That's not too awful, but it doesn't quite meet my expectations. My expectations also (nowadays) include finishing at the top of my ancient age group. That doesn't happen either. My arch-nemesis, Michael Juppe, and another seventy-plus person, Randy Barkacs are well ahead of me.

The good news is that our Everybody's doing it team does well. Besides me and Katherine, it included Michelle Wolff, Debbie Hicks, and Captain Shannon Barnes. The other good news is that I get to see and hobnob with gobs of running friends, new and old. It's all tons of fun!

I think I need to be skinnier. I gained weight as a result of some of my recent travels, but that usually comes off fairly quickly. It didn't this time because (I think) of the creatine I've been taking. That's it, now. I'm swearing off the stuff for at least a while. Maybe forever.

After the finish: Solo Marathoner extraordinaire Julie Boggs, Dan, Shannon, and Michelle

P.S. One more thing. Whenever I think about teamwork, I'm reminded of this little scene from The Untouchables.