Race Report: First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon

Last year, we signed up for the First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon because of a very good promotional price they were running.   Sarasota is about an hour and ten minutes south of our house so it is a local race to us.   We had heard good things about it and several people we know were going to do it.  We discovered soon that this year the race fell around spring break and hotel prices were out of this world.  Being so close, we decided to stay at home and drive down.   

Race Week 

Since this was a training run, I did not taper.   In fact, this was an increased volume week for me.  I had increased my swimming this week but unfortunately had a long bike set up for Saturday afternoon.  Having no choice, I did the bike hoping my legs would be recovered enough to at least finish this race. 

Race Day

Ok so races that fall on the "spring forward" day are evil.  I recommend not doing this.  Ever.  Because we lost an hour, morning felt so soon.   I met a friend and her son at their house and we carpooled down to Sarasota.  The venue was easy to find and the parking was ample.  We arrived about a half hour prior to start and were able to pick up packets on race day.  I fueled for a race rather than just a training run, which meant a little tweak to my usual morning routine.  

Race 

I was pacing our friend's son this race.  He was hoping to go sub 1:50 and I said we would give it a shot.  He participated in an ROTC event yesterday and I had my long bike.  We would find out soon if our legs had it in them.  The goal was just to run and not hurt myself.  I could not afford an injury.  

The course starts at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center and heads out across the inter coastal waterway and then back.  The first part does cross a bridge (out and back) so there is a pretty decent climb during the first part.   The rest of the course follows Tamiami Trail back through downtown and then through residential neighborhoods.  At the art museum, there was a quick loop and then you reversed course back to the Van Wezel.  There was very little elevation in the second half at all.  

It was already pretty warm and humid at the start with temps in the low 70s.  The race was still green flag so the heat may or may not affect running.  Still, I had not missed my old friend the humidity.  Winter was so pleasant.  I understand why running season here is during the winter.  We started out just behind the 1:50 pace group but it took us a mile or two to get out of the crowds.  I felt OK running and it was nice to have company on the run. 

Most of the race went by quickly as we kept a pretty steady pace.  I'd love to tell you the details of the run but we basically just put one foot in front of the other and discussed great worldly topics, such as what the heck was going on with Flash season 2 and the significance of the DC multiverse in the context of Crisis of Infinate Earths.  So just your every day chatter.  We finally caught back up to the pace group around mile 11 and were able to pass them at mile 12.  We came in at 1:49 and change.  I ended up placing 20th in my age group, showing the strength of the group with some pretty fast people.  It was a very good run and exactly what I needed in my training leading up to my A race next month.  

Overall the race was well organized and well staffed.   The Storm Series of races has medals for three, five or all events (Category 3, Category 5, or Perfect Storm).  Many of the series races are in Miami or I would consider this series for next year.  I would definitely consider doing this race again with the hope that hotel prices would normalize for next year.  I would love to explore a little of Sarasota or at least have a place to go back to after the race before driving home.