Happy belated Veteran’s Day. We spent Veteran’s Day weekend on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was ready to run my second Outer Banks half marathon. Race season kicked off last weekend with the City of Oaks marathon. I ran the half in 1 hour and 43 minutes. This weekend, I was looking for a better time, but was concerned because of a leg and foot injury that’s been nagging me.

We arrived on the OBX Friday evening, November 9, 2012 to a freak blackout. As we drove through Mann’s Harbor, we noticed it was really dark. The radio was talking about widespread power outages from the Virginia border all the way to Hatteras Island. We noticed Roanoke Island was pitch black except for the airport, as we traveled over the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge.

Along the beach, all of the traffic signals were out. Only a few of the major stores like Food Lion were running on back-up generators. In fact, we were able to get some food shopping done after we arrived.

There was a bright side to the blackout. The stars were magnificent. Extremely bright and beautiful. The Milky Way was glowing. The power eventually came back on and life returned to normal. We cooked dinner and enjoyed the rest of our Friday evening.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

We grabbed NY Bagel for breakfast, then lazily got ready for the day. We went to the marathon expo to get my packet for the race tomorrow, then had a late lunch at the Outer Banks Brew Station.

My main goal was to relax for most of the day. Rest the legs and mentally prepare for the race. Merri Beth wanted to go shopping at the Tanger Outlet Mall for the kids. We hit up a few stores then retired back to the beach house for the evening, watching the NC State game, catching an amazing sunset, and resting.

Sunday, November 11, 2012 – Outer Banks Marathon

It was race day. My Mom dropped me off at the start line on her way to work. It was a beautiful day on the Outer Banks and perfect running weather. The half marathon started at 7:00 am and we were on our way to Manteo. Merri Beth, Zander, and Caitlyn were supposed to meet me at mile 6, but I was ahead of my time. So the back-up was mile 7, but I was still ahead. Plan B.

MB was running a little late with the kids and caught up with me on the Causeway between mile 8 and 9. She handed off a fresh water bottle that got me through the rest of the race while she and the kids heading to the finish line.

I was running a great race. I finished strong and was really happy with my time. Let the celebration and post-race party begin!

Race results

I finished the race in 1 hour and 42 minutes. I beat my time from last year and shaved-off almost two minutes from last weekends race in Raleigh.

Gun time: 1:42:04.0; Chip time: 1:41:59.0; Pace: 7:47

I was stoked to finish in the top 20 of my age group and in the top 100 of all men finishers. Something I’ve never accomplished before! Here are the details:

• 16/133 in the 30-34 men’s age group
• 89th in the overall men’s finish order
• 118th overall for the half marathon (top 5%)

After the race we hung out for a while and enjoyed the beautiful day. The sun was out and Zander was having a blast playing on the playground. As we were about to leave, Jo, Rich Sharples wife spotted us and told us Rich was running the full and had just gotten over the bridge. I decided to head back along the course and run him in.

I met Rich around mile 25 and paced him to the finish line. He was stoked. He crossed the finish line and completed his first full marathon. Congrats Rich!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Merri Beth and I took the day off from work. Zander was out of school and we couldn’t ask for a better day on the Outer Banks. I started the day off with a slow recovery run. Then Zander and I hopped on the bike and went over to the beach for a little bit.

The family headed up to Kitty Hawk to check out some of the storm damage. It was really sad to see the beach in a bad state and HWY 12 covered in sand. Then we headed to Nags Head where we saw a shipwreck that was washed ashore during Hurricane Sandy. It was really cool to see.

We headed to Mama Kwan’s for lunch, then spent some time at the beach for over an hour. The sun was out, it was in the low 70’s, and it was a beautiful day. Our time expired and it was time to pack up and go home after a great weekend on the OBX.

Pictures from the weekend