Tag Archives: Half marathon

My last spring running season before 40

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I ran four half marathons over the last six weeks. That wasn’t the plan, but that’s how it panned out. After a pretty rough winter in North Carolina, where Raleigh set a new record with 158 consecutive hours below freezing, I’m surprised I got the training time and miles in to accomplish this.

I distinctly remember having to do one of my longer runs (7 miles) in early January where the high was 27° F, and there was snow on the ground. The weather this winter and spring has been about as up and down as the hills I train on, which would play out during the spring race season. Continue reading →

Lacing up the 2017 running season

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After three half marathons in the spring (Wilmington, Raleigh, OBX) and my first two Sprint Triathlons in the summer, I was excited for the fall race season this November and December. After miles of training in September and October (~150 miles) with warmer days leading to cooler mornings, November was a great month to run in North Carolina and enjoy all my races. Continue reading →

Half way through the 2015 fall race season

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The fall race season started on November 1 with a warm weekend in Raleigh after ending Daylight Savings. Which meant most people got an extra hour of sleep, but that meant I had an extra hour of anxiety before race time.

City of Oaks and a new course

jhibbets_city_oaks_2015The first race of the season was the City of Oaks half marathon. This is a hilly course with multiple races happening at once. This year, there was a 10k, half marathon, half marathon relay, full marathon, and full marathon relay. The weather was a little on the mild-to-warm side, but humid. Rain was on the way and it was hard to breathe. Continue reading →

Race Season Begins in the City of Oaks

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city_of_oaks_half_04A cold blast of winter arrived yesterday, making the morning temperatures for the City of Oaks marathon a bit brisk. The forecast was for the low to be in the mid 30’s. Luckily, race time starting temperatures were in the low 40’s. And the wind was just a little ca-burrrr in a few spots!

I dedicated this race to my friend Thomas Crowder, who we lost a few weeks ago to cancer. Thanks for the inspiration Thomas.

This was my eighth time running the City of Oaks half marathon and my 23rd half marathon overall. Last year, I finished in 1:43:08, and my time goal was to beat that. I wasn’t feeling that elusive 1:40 half marathon time today. Continue reading →

Another great Outer Banks Half Marathon

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OBX November sunset

OBX November sunset

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. Continue reading →

And the Fall 2012 race season has begun

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The Fall race season kicked off this weekend with the City of Oaks Marathon. I ran my 15th half marathon, The Rex Healthcare half marathon.

This race is always interesting because of daylight savings—usually plenty of rest! But daylight savings seems pretty pointless in the 21st century, but regardless, we still have to deal with the false sense of time change. (That’s for you Damon!)

Caitlyn's first half marathon

Caitlyn’s first half marathon

At about 5:00am in the morning, the sound of thunder woke us up. Who ordered the race day thunderstorm in the early morning? The rain kept the temperatures up. The predicted 38º ended up being 42º – which was fine by me.

Mom, MB, and Caitlyn were on-hand to watch the race. They saw me start under the NC State Belltower, then were at the 10k finish line (6.2 miles) to send me off for the remainder of the half marathon. Continue reading →

Get Your Pirate On – My First OBX Half Marathon

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It was five years ago this weekend that I caught the running bug—thanks to my buddy Iain Gray, who ran the Outer Banks Marathon back in 2006. Merri Beth, Zander (6 months old at the time), and I, spent the weekend on the Outer Banks to cheer on the runners. It was a great experience and inspired me to get into running.

Last weekend, I had my best half marathon to date. I finished the City of Oaks race in 1 hour, 42 minutes and I was in the top 20 of my age group. I’m ecstatic with the results. I’ve come a long way in four years. I’m blessed to be able to run these races and love the feeling when I cross the finish line.

This will be my first year running the Continue reading →

Running the City of Oaks

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This year will be my fifth time running in the City of Oaks half-marathon. My finish times have ranged from my first ever half-marathon at 1 hour and 54 minutes to last years personal best of 1 hour and 46 minutes.

I’m excited about the new course this year that takes us through Southwest Raleigh and starts and finishes at the NC State Memorial Bell Tower. The course will take us through Continue reading →