Crystal Coast Half Marathon

I have been trying to get down to this race for a few years now. Morehead City is a nice place to spend some time, and it is close enough to my hometown of Wilmington that my parents would be able to come watch the race. This year I finally decided to put the race on the schedule and I am glad I did.

We arrived Friday afternoon in time to enjoy some warm temperatures and bright sunshine before dinner.

The view of Atlantic Beach from the hotel

Saturday morning the weather was perfect for a race. After the warm up, I was feeling good and I had high hopes that I may be able to pull off an overall win. Shortly after the start it became clear that this was going to be a one man race - unfortunately the one man was not me. I was really pleased with a 5:50 first mile that felt easy, but I still found myself about 15 seconds behind. Over the next few miles, the leader continued to pull away so I just tried to concentrate on holding pace and hanging on to second place. I ran a pretty good race for the most part, although I did lose focus during miles 9 and 10 and I gave some time back there. Before that I was on pace for 1:17, but it was a lonely stretch, I was all by myself and I just got a little complacent and gave away some precious seconds. Pulled it together and ran great through miles 11, 12 and 13 but I just couldn't get the time back. I ended up crossing the line in 1:18:12; second place overall. A good result to start the year, and my parents were there to see it which made it even better.

Steph cruising through the finish

Me with my parents

Crystal Coast is a charming little event; the race is small and low key which is a nice change, the weather was great and the town is very scenic and friendly. We enjoyed our time there and I think we will be back again.

Thanks for stopping by..