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"Rim Country Challenge" Half Marathon

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Location:

Mesa,AZ,united states

Member Since:

Aug 18, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Marathon Finish

Running Accomplishments:

(2009) London't Run 10K - 51:59 :o)

(2009) "Ostrich Festival" - 5K (25:21) Another PR! :o)

(2010) "Ostrich Festival" - 5K (28:54)

(2010) "Fight for Life" - 5K (26:49) 2nd for Age Division!

(2010) "Women's Half Marathon" - (2:16:40)

(2010) "Shun the Sun" - 10K (58:19)

(2010) "Mesa Mi Amigos Turkey Trot" - 10K (57:45)

(2010) "12 K's of Christmas" - 12K (1:14:13)

(2011) "Sedona Marathon" - FULL Marathon  (5:21:58)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run a half marathon  (October 2008)

Run a sub 27:00 5K (November 2008)

Run a Sub 2:00:00 1/2 Marathon

Run a marathon 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Live a long, heathly life but more importantly, teach my family how to live healthy.

Personal:

I am a lucky lady.  I'm married to the best husband ever, and we have 3 beautiful kids (ages 4, 2, and "new here").   

 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: "Rim Country Challenge" Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 02:21:50, Place overall: 77, Place in age division: 10
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
13.500.000.00

Before anyone judges my time... I want to point out two things:  1st, this was my first ever 1/2 marathon, and 2nd, this is what it says as a description of the course (from the website)

"This Half Marathon course is not flat and fast so don’t expect to set any speed records.  It is called the Rim Country Challenge for that reason.  It starts and ends at Green Valley Park.

Due to the hilly terrain this race will challenge you as a runner.  It should be great training for marathons.

There are two significant hills. One is called “The Challenge"; Paysonites call it Airport Hill.  It is .45 mile long with an elevation gain of 165 feet.  The other is Vista Road with an elevation drop of 210 feet in .64 mile.

The majority of the course is undulating and runs its way through residential and scenic views of the Town of Payson."

Okay... now I feel justified in my 2:21:50 half marathon (which I'm sure is slower than some of your marathon times!).  Ready for the report?

I ran the race with my friends Bethany and Burt.  (Burt also has a blog on the fastrunningblog, you can find him in my favorite blog list).  Here we are feeling strong before the race.

Bethany and I stayed together for the entire race, but Burt left us like we were standing still.  We started with a solid 9:45 min/mil pace, which we kept for the first 4 or 5 miles.  The race started by going up hill...  and more up hill... and I'm not kidding by saying that the first 11 miles were predominately uphill.  There were some flat spots and the rare down hill... but mostly up.  By mile 11 I was starting to lose hope.  I couldn't understand how in heavens name we could start and stop in the same place if we don't go DOWN!  Finally we went down hill, and I think we did all the down in at once because we ended by going up hill.  I swear when I found out I had to go up another hill to finish I was going to scream.

Oh, side note, by mile 8 we could see Burt.  We had decided that if we caught up to him we were going to thank him for waiting for us.  In the end, he totally kicked our butts. :o)  It was neat that we came into the finish line in order though (Burt, me, Bethany!) 

Here is an after shot!

Okay... now I have to tell you about my hero who also ran on Saturday, but in the 5K.  My husband is awesome!  He doesn't run.  No training of any kind.  Well, when I asked him if I could sign up for the 1/2 marathon (because I wanted his support), he asked me to also sign him up for the 5k so that he and Melanie would have something to do while we waited.  Well, he totally kicked butt in the 5K (which also was not flat or easy).  Pushing Melanie, he came in 9th overall and 2nd in his age group, finishing in 25:05.  Here is a picture of Melanie and Brandon getting their metal.

And finally, I have to give a special thank you out to my cheer team!  My Dad and his wife just moved to Payson and came to watch, along with Brandon, Melanie, and Bethany's husband Nate.  Thank you for coming!  You are all awesome!  Here's Melanie and my dad's wife (Cam).

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From mikemac on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 22:27:25

Great job Camille!!! See, you was worried for nothing.That course is a monster. When they warn you before the race...well,you had better be ready.And your husband did excellent!!! Congrats!

From Burt on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 22:39:25

Again, I thank you for not beating me. I need to start doing more 5k's. Anything after 8 miles just does me in! By the way, I know I've said it a million times, you and Bethany did awesome. Way to get that first one under your belt. Not to mention 13.1% of your goal in one day!

From Burt on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 22:41:11

Look at my before and after shots. I think I lost 10 lbs. during the race. Don't worry. I gained it all back tonight with corn dogs and raviolli.

From Camille on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 23:03:51

Thank you! Brandon says next time he wants to do it without pushing Melanie, but it will have to be a while because he is currently in a LOT of pain. (yikes!)

Burt - you crack me up! Corn dogs and raviolli sounds like quite the combination. Just not for me. LOL

From montelepsy on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 11:30:42

Nice job! Only 9.5 miles to go!

From Camille on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 11:35:28

Thanks! I know... I'm hoping that I get those 9.5 miles by Wednesday so I can have it done a whole week early. :o) That would be awesome!

From Kelli on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 17:01:56

Great job for your first half---you will get faster from here and that was an awesome start!

I love all of the pictures in the post, that is so much fun and helps to tell the story!

From Lybi on Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 00:31:39

Look at that little pumpkin! Uber-cute!

What a tough race for your very first half, Camille! You are soooo awesome to even consider doing it for your first time. It is at altitude, it is hilly, and it's just plain a mean ol' course. Way to teach it a lesson.

Holy smokes about your husband. I told you he looked like a runner! And pushing a jogging stroller? Man, that makes the hills double! Tell that dude I told him to GET ON THE BLOG. He's a natural!

From Camille on Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 10:16:47

Thank you!!! You guys are great! I don't think I could have done it without everyone's support. :o)

Lybi - I think my husband has sworn off running for a little while. He is in a lot of pain. He wants to do another one without pushing Melanie to see how he fast he could do it. He says maybe November or December. Do you have any racing plans coming up? You got Burt's email about the ragnar, right?

From walter on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 11:16:41

Very nice first half! Sounds very challenging. Good to see you accomplish so much in a sort time! You know the saying if you can run a half, you can run a full marathon?! lol So are you ready?

From Camille on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 19:20:31

Walter - It was a challenging course, but definitly fun. I'm so glad I did that. I'm ready to do another half, but I'm not sure about a full.

From walter on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 19:33:19

The Moab half is always fun and of coarse the R&R Arizona half is popular! Moab is in March.

From Camille on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 19:55:41

I have thought about the R&R, but I'm afraid to admit, I'm agoraphobic, and I'm afraid that the crowd may be too much for me. I have a neighbor that is thinking about doing it, and she may talk me into it. We will see.

Moab is dangerous because that means I'll be required to go 4-wheeling afterwards. There is no way that my husband will agree to go up there if I don't agree to explore afterwards. LOL. :o)

From walter on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 20:07:19

Isnt that when your afraid to go outside? lol I dont know. It is a fun run and though crowded, the atmosphere rocks!

You know every year we go to Moab with our atvs and spend the weekend there. Last year we took our neighbors who dont run at all but had their motorcycles and atvs ready to go the minute we crossed the finish line. When I crossed the finish line they were asking me when my wife was going to come through. When I told them in an hour or so they flipped! But were patient. Try going back to a hotel room after a half, showering and changing quickly to go exploring. It was actually fun. Very packed in two days.

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