November 1, 2009 Reverse course proves tougher at Country Roads Half Marathon This past weekend the Country Roads Half Marathon was held out at the Tanger Outlet Center. The course was the familiar ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon run in reverse direction. The main difference is that the ARA-Moe’s has major hills at the start of the course, where the Country Roads has them at the end of the course. There is a big hill that has always been a very imposing sight for runners as they came over the first hill and saw that long hill before them. With the Country Roads race this long hill was all downhill. Evidently this was not enough of a downhill for most of the runners. After talking with some of the runners that have run both races, their opinion is that running in reverse is much harder. There were not many that thought the nice downhills at the start of the race made up for the uphills that met them in the last few miles of the race. We had a good turnout of volunteers to help out, and many of the runners commented on the availability of water every two miles on the course. I talked with some of the volunteers at one of the water stations; and when the first-place runner came by and they were ready to hand him a cup of water, they said he went by so fast that there was not much time to hand him the water. They mentioned that he looked like he didn’t need any water going that fast. There was a relatively small turnout of runners with 78 entrants in the race. I have not been able to find all of the results; but local runners that did well included Britt Van Dine in first place in the male 45-49 age group with a 1:50:30 time. Gina Moore Eben took the Senior Masters Female title with a 2:08:15 time, and Elma Minor managed a first-place finish in the female 50-54 age group with a 2:31:01 time. Laura Mason had a second-place finish in the female 45-49 age group with a 2:29:31, and Teresa Medina had a second place in the female 55-59 age group with a 2:33:04. Greg Pannell had a first-place finish in the male 50-54 age group with a 2:15 time. I am sure there were other local runners in the race, but results have not been posted by RunFar Timing yet. One unique thing about the race was the number of runners that wanted extra shirts after the race. The design on the shirt was originated by David Alexander and had a yellow road sign in the shape of the state of Texas, with a runner and a deer on the road sign and a few well-placed bullet holes situated on the sign. Along the side of the sign was a mile marker with 13.1 on it to signify the distance the race covered. This is the same design as the Country Roads 10K shirt except for the length of the distance on the side. It is a real country-road-looking sign. I have had several requests from runners after the race wondering if we had any shirts left that they could purchase. It really helps runners forget those hills if they receive a nice looking race shirt. Hopefully the nice shirt design will be seen by other runners at other races so that next year the race will have a larger turnout. The day before the race, Austin had a Frankenthon Monster Marathon race. Elizabeth Wills ran the race and placed first in the female 40-44 age group with a 4:17:34 time. One other runner in that race was an instructor at Texas State in the Exercise and Sport Science department by the name of Reenie Smith. She not only ran the 26.2 miles on Saturday, but came down and ran the Country Roads Half Marathon on Sunday. She mentioned that her legs were a little tired at the end of the day. Even with that, she still managed a first-place finish in the female 55-59-year age group in the half marathon: a real “practice what you preach” in the fitness industry example. Next up for local runners is the Thankful Turkey 5K on November 21, where the awards are a nice turkey, a ham or a pie for finishing as one of the top three. If you are looking for a way to get a meal for Thanksgiving, this is the race to enter. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. His column on running and fitness appears each Sunday in the Sports section of the San Marcos Daily Record. • Recent “Running With Moe” Columns • Home • About the Club • Current News • Club Runs • Places To Run • TX Running Clubs • Running Links • Useful Stuff Upcoming Races • Race Results • Country Roads 10K & Kids Run • ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon • “Running With Moe” Contact Us!