Lexington Half Marathon Race Report

Image Courtesy of Peter v Cook

I blame the Kentucky men’s basketball team for my not running a 1:39 at the half marathon. So UK played West Virginia in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament the night before the half and LOST! Well, apparently this upset me so much that I didn’t fall asleep until 2am. That’s just not enough sleep when the wake up call is at 5am.

So I got up race morning and it had rained, but it was not raining as we drove to the start. It began raining slightly as we headed to the start, but nothing too bad. I love running local races with all my buddies. At the start, I lined up with Beth, Eric, Neeley, Elissa, Jill K, Jill H, Alan, and Mary. I had planned on starting the race with Beth, Eric, Jill K, Jill H, Neeley, and Elissa. We decided we’d start together and see how we felt. Beth had told me she would run the race with me at my pace. I don’t think I could have better friends. So around mile 3, the group around me was Beth, Eric, and Neeley. Then the skies opened up. We turned out of Fasig-Tipton to head out to the Kentucky Horse Park in a strong downpour and heavy winds. My pace team lined up in V formation with me in the apex. Spoiled little ducky? Yes! The heavy rain did not last long, but it continued to rain the rest of the race. We were holding around 7:33 pace to the horse park. I really wasn’t sure if I could hold that pace for the whole race. We decided to walk 30 seconds through every aid station which worked out well since they were about every other mile. I think we totaled 5 walks through the whole race.

As we got to the horse park I found myself only able to talk on the downhill and not feeling so great on the uphill. Nothing was too steep, but the park had some pretty good rollers. I was surprised how quickly we got there, did the loop and got out. I was thrilled to see Kristin and Kathryn cheering at the park. As we left the park I was still feeling pretty good, and I was definitely enjoying the company. I am considering hiring the Atnips for all of my race pacing. Around 10-11 I started to feel it. I watched Beth and Neeley float up the hills as I felt like I could barely drag up them. Only 2 miles to go, but I was falling off pace. I was just hoping I wouldn’t fall off too much. The straight road back in seemed like a long slight incline and the wind was again in my face. This didn’t make much sense to me because it seemed to be in my face on the way out. I tried to hang on to Beth and Neeley’s heels, but I was fading. I just kept concentrating on my form and keeping it together. One mile to go, and I was hurting, but it didn’t seem to take longer than any of the other miles as we entered Fasig-Tipton. Beth slowed down a bit to finish with me as Neeley kicked it in. She looked strong! I was so grateful for Beth’s encouraging words as I gave it my all towards the finish line. The finish was great! There were a lot of spectators and it honestly sounded like hundreds of people were yelling “Go Nikki!”. Maybe it was just one loud person, but it was great! I crossed the line happy and spent. I caught my breath and looked at my watch. 1:40:06. A new PR by over 3 minutes. I was hoping for 1:39, but I am pretty darn happy with 1:40.

Thank you to everyone who helped me get there!!! Especially thanks to all the volunteers for helping out in such horrible weather, and everyone who toughed it out to cheer for the runners. Congrats to all the runners! Everyone mentioned earlier had great great races. It was a wonderful race, and I highly recommend it to anyone local or not. Come run the Lexington Half Marathon!