BAA Half Marathon

It had been seven years since I had run the BAA Half.  In earlier years, the course started in the Fens and worked its way up to Franklin Park along the Arborway, through the Zoo and back with a finishing loop around the Back Bay Fens, finishing at Roberto Clemente track.  I lived in Brookline for a time and had run a lot along the Fens, making this a fun race. As the event grew, the staging area did not accommodate the crowds and the start and finish was moved to Franklin Park.  This resulted in a fast downhill 5K start which then had to be navigated on the return.  In a half marathon, hills later in the race have generally not been easy for me, especially as the years have passed.

This year, there was an added twist. It had rained hard the prior two days and the staging field was a mud bath.  Just crossing to the start area left runners with wet and muddy shoes, as if they had been doing cross country.  Fortunately, the rain had ceased and other than some pretty strong winds, the sailing was clear for the race, even if it was to be done in muddied shoes.

I had some trepidation.  The BAA Half is a race that sells out quickly and I had registered in July. But my training had been interrupted several times during the summer and fall and long runs were sparse and hill work minimal. As I made my way into the staging area, the lines at the port-o-lets loomed long. My last-minute business was not finished until 10 minutes before the start, only leaving enough time to work my way through the waves to the 8-minute pace sign. So, no real warm-up.  Maybe for a half marathon that was OK.  I stretched in place and felt well enough at the race started down the first hill.

The throngs of runners pulled me along and my 10K time was only a minute slower than I had run six weeks before at the Lone Gull Grand Prix 10K.  Then it was payback time, especially the last four miles. I began to wish (pray!) for the finish line to magically appear. It didn’t and I ended walking briefly on several steep hills. After three more uphill sections, the 12-mile marker, then 13, came into view.  I crossed the finish with little left in the tank.

I had some takeaways from this race.

1. It’s unreasonable to expect to be able to run long races without having done a fair bit of long training.  In younger years, it seemed I had more reserve to draw on.
2. Hill racing requires hill training. And mine had been rather unremarkable the previous six months.  In shorter races, the hills hadn’t seem this bad.
3. Expect the unexpected.  It would have been easy enough to wear my trainers to the start and change into racing flats there.
4. Plan ahead with big races. Expect long port-o-let lines and do some warmup before getting to the race to move things along, so it’s not last minute.
5. Racing does not always go the way you had hoped. But stepping back, there is often a bigger, brighter picture to see. There were only 11 runners in my age class out of 7,300 finishers. But we were each giving it a go, having reason to be thankful we could show up and finish.

It’s now time for a break. I have cataract and skin surgeries to deal with and it’s important to give those time to heal before putting in intense training miles.  2027 is around the corner and I want to be ready for that.  Will it include another BAA Half Marathon. Maybe, maybe not. But this one is done and in the books!