Today started early when the alarm went off at 4:00am! Lots to do to get ready for “race day” – the Country Music Half Marathon.
Two of my co-workers, Cathi Goff and Teresa Elliott, ran the full Marathon and we met at the Team Rio gathering point before the start of the race.
Ready to Run!
Don’t we look great! All smiles at this point.
A little cool at 6:00am, but it did warm up quite a lot by the time we all finished. Of course, I had it easier since I was only doing the half marathon while Cathi and Teresa did the full marathon. Their first one! As Cathi said, “My goal is to finish and get the medal” and they both did just that. Awesome!
I trained with Team Rio, supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle TN, in preparation for the race. I want to thank the coaches, team members, and BBBS sponsors for their support and encouragement. 
I started in corral #27. By the time I got to the start line, the first group had left 42 minutes earlier! The road was wide – 6 or 7 lanes at the start – so runners and walkers spread out pretty quickly. No problem with anyone running over me. The race is very well organized, well run, and the runners/walkers back in corral #27 were certainly not running to win the race so they were pretty easy going.
Two great things about the County Music marathon is that there are live bands playing about every mile and there are thousands of cheering crowds on both sides of the road along the route. Both keep you pumped up!
It started getting really warm about mile 7. Fortunately there were plenty of water stations, and I did not miss any of them.
My goal was to finish in under 3 hours. I finished in 2hrs 53 minutes 
Officially, that’s a pace of 13:13 per mile. Since I did not walk the shortest “official” path my Garmin said I actually walked 13.23 miles, which translates to a 13:03 average pace. Either way, I’m happy!
Thanks to everyone who donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters and American Cancer Society to support my fund raising for this race! Your are awesome – thank you very much!
[...] County Music half marathon this morning. It was a great experience. All the training days paid off. Click here for pictures and more info. Share| Categories : Updates Comments [...]
WOW!! Dick, I can’t believe what you have done in just one year. I think you should write a book about your journey. I really do! So many people would be encouraged by your incredible story. It is unbelievable to read your updates from the beginning up until this one. I know your Dad is beaming from ear to ear
YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION!!!!
Hi Tiffany,
Thanks for your encouragement! I do appreciate it.
[...] It was great to talk with other Team Rio runners and walkers and hear about their experiences at the Country Music Marathon. A few ran the full marathon (most for the first time), but most people ran/walked the half marathon. You can read about my experience in this blog post. [...]