The Battleship North Carolina Half Marathon in Wilmington, North Carolina marked my eleventh half marahton and second of 2016. This was my first time doing the Battleship Half but I heard good things about it from friends who have done it in the past. The race crosses three bridges and we all know I like running bridges. The course is one big loop that goes through downtown Wilmington, around Greenfield Lake, and eight state records have been set on the course in the seventeen year history of the event.
I like doing half marahtons, especially during marathon training cycles. I've ran my best Halfs during marahton training without tapering for the races. They are good tuneups and good to see where I am in my current training. This half marahton came on week twelve of my eighteen week marathon training plan for the 3 Bridges Marathon on December 17th in Little Rock, Arkansas. My coach, Philip Latter, of The Running Syndicate, designed my custom plan and I have been enjoying it and progressing nicely on his plan. I was coming off consecutive 70 mile weeks and two back to back long runs on Saturday and Sunday the week before this race. On Saturday, eight days before, I ran my longest long run of the training cycle; 23 miles at 7:26 min/pace. I followed that up the day after with another 10 miles on hills in William B. Umstead State Park at 7:14 min/mile pace. I was a little worried about what I would have in my legs after those runs and the previous two weeks but I trust Philip because his coaching has gotten results.
My Dad and I arrived in Wilmington on Saturday afternoon, the day before the race, and checked into a great place I found on Airbnb. I highly recommend Airbnb because you can usually get better deals on a whole house/townhome/apartment than you can for a hotel room. My Dad and I went to the pre-race dinner onboard the Battleship that was catered by Middle of the Island. It was fun to dine on the Battleship just as World War II Soldiers had. The food provided was salad, spaghetti, pasta with chicken, garlic bread, and brownies for desert. I opted for the pasta with chicken and it was good. After dinner, Dad and I walked around the Battleship doing our own tour so to speak. We eventually found the Memorial Room which had the names of all the Soldiers from North Carolina, broken down my county, that were killed during World War II. We found my Grandma's brother, Robert Hill, on the list. He was on a submarine that was sunk off the North Carolina coast by a German U-boat during the war.
Race day parking at the battleship is tough so my Dad and I parked in Downtown Wilmington for free and opted to take the free River trolley across to the startling line. I recommend getting to downtown Wilmington no later than 6:30am on race morning, an hour and a half before the start, because free parking does fill up fast and the parking decks are not free on the weekends.
Race morning arrived with temperatures in the low 40s for the start. The sun was out, no clouds, and no wind. I ate a Pop-Tart about an hour and a half before the start and then did a scoop and a half of Generation UCAN thirty minutes before the start. I've been using UCAN a lot during this training cycle and I really like it! 2 scoops have fueled my 20+ mile runs without needeing anything else during them. I did an easy fourteen minutes warm-up on the roads around the Battleship after my dynamic warm-up routine.
I like doing half marahtons, especially during marathon training cycles. I've ran my best Halfs during marahton training without tapering for the races. They are good tuneups and good to see where I am in my current training. This half marahton came on week twelve of my eighteen week marathon training plan for the 3 Bridges Marathon on December 17th in Little Rock, Arkansas. My coach, Philip Latter, of The Running Syndicate, designed my custom plan and I have been enjoying it and progressing nicely on his plan. I was coming off consecutive 70 mile weeks and two back to back long runs on Saturday and Sunday the week before this race. On Saturday, eight days before, I ran my longest long run of the training cycle; 23 miles at 7:26 min/pace. I followed that up the day after with another 10 miles on hills in William B. Umstead State Park at 7:14 min/mile pace. I was a little worried about what I would have in my legs after those runs and the previous two weeks but I trust Philip because his coaching has gotten results.
My Dad and I arrived in Wilmington on Saturday afternoon, the day before the race, and checked into a great place I found on Airbnb. I highly recommend Airbnb because you can usually get better deals on a whole house/townhome/apartment than you can for a hotel room. My Dad and I went to the pre-race dinner onboard the Battleship that was catered by Middle of the Island. It was fun to dine on the Battleship just as World War II Soldiers had. The food provided was salad, spaghetti, pasta with chicken, garlic bread, and brownies for desert. I opted for the pasta with chicken and it was good. After dinner, Dad and I walked around the Battleship doing our own tour so to speak. We eventually found the Memorial Room which had the names of all the Soldiers from North Carolina, broken down my county, that were killed during World War II. We found my Grandma's brother, Robert Hill, on the list. He was on a submarine that was sunk off the North Carolina coast by a German U-boat during the war.
Race day parking at the battleship is tough so my Dad and I parked in Downtown Wilmington for free and opted to take the free River trolley across to the startling line. I recommend getting to downtown Wilmington no later than 6:30am on race morning, an hour and a half before the start, because free parking does fill up fast and the parking decks are not free on the weekends.
Race morning arrived with temperatures in the low 40s for the start. The sun was out, no clouds, and no wind. I ate a Pop-Tart about an hour and a half before the start and then did a scoop and a half of Generation UCAN thirty minutes before the start. I've been using UCAN a lot during this training cycle and I really like it! 2 scoops have fueled my 20+ mile runs without needeing anything else during them. I did an easy fourteen minutes warm-up on the roads around the Battleship after my dynamic warm-up routine.
Start of the Battleship Half Marathon Runners gathered for the National Anthem before the start which was very well sung. The race started and I went out quick, a little too fast, but then settled in after a half mile. We came out of Battleship Road and turned right and headed for the first bridge. We hit the bottom of the first bridge at about 0.75 miles and started the gradual climb up. The hill wasn't that bad but it is a hill. I'm used to running high rise bridges from growing up in Beaufort, NC and still running the high rise bridges a lot when I'm home. The first mile marker is about a tenth of a mile once you come off the first bridge. I ran mile one in 6:05, so a little fast, and ahead of my current 1:19:33 PR pace. I felt good though but knew I had to settle in. There were a couple runners around me and a pack ahead of me.
The second bridge, the Isabel Holmes Bridge, was up next starting at 1.6 miles and it climbed about 33 feet before you start the downhill and come off the bridge at 2 miles. Once off the bridge the course turns right onto 3rd Street then another right onto North Front Street. There was a guy and girl on either side of me and I asked them what pace they were trying to run and only the guy responded and told me he went out too fast and I should go ahead with the pace I had planned. The girl didn't say a word but continued beside me through downtown Wilmington.
We continuted down North Front Street staying on 6:10 min/mile pace. We made a right turn onto Dock Street and then a left on Water Street and we were running on an old brick road instead of asphalt pavement. It was fine though and it didn't bother me. We made another left on Ann Street and had a 200m steep uphill back to South Front Street. I ran miles two and three at 6:07 min/mile pace and mile four in 6:11.
The second bridge, the Isabel Holmes Bridge, was up next starting at 1.6 miles and it climbed about 33 feet before you start the downhill and come off the bridge at 2 miles. Once off the bridge the course turns right onto 3rd Street then another right onto North Front Street. There was a guy and girl on either side of me and I asked them what pace they were trying to run and only the guy responded and told me he went out too fast and I should go ahead with the pace I had planned. The girl didn't say a word but continued beside me through downtown Wilmington.
We continuted down North Front Street staying on 6:10 min/mile pace. We made a right turn onto Dock Street and then a left on Water Street and we were running on an old brick road instead of asphalt pavement. It was fine though and it didn't bother me. We made another left on Ann Street and had a 200m steep uphill back to South Front Street. I ran miles two and three at 6:07 min/mile pace and mile four in 6:11.
In Downtown Wilmington We did two more right turns off of Front Street and were running on Church and Surry Streets before taking Queen Street back to Front and Front to Greenfield Street. Greenfield Street took us out to a nice loop around Greenfield Lake via Lake Shore Drive. It was a nice, shady neighborhood with a lot of turns. They could have used more signs and volunteers on this part of the course. I was starting to pull away from the girl who had been with me for the first four miles. I was far enough behind the runner ahead of me I couldn't see what turns he was taking. I asked a couple sepctators in the neighborhood which way to go and luckily they directed me the correct way. I ran mile five in 6:08 and was still feeling strong and focused on catching the runners ahead of me.
The weather was warming up and I was glad I was just in shorts and my Duke singlet. I ran miles six, seven, and eight in 6:09, 6:11, and 6:13. I passed several runners in the Lake neighborhood, one of which was a HS kid in his Topsail Jersey that went out way too fast and he was fading fast and still had half the race to go. Miles nine and ten were ran in 6:09 and 6:11. The whole loop around Lake Greenfield is about 5.3 miles and it has a few gradual hills in the neighborhood but it is a pretty section of the race course. I was staying consistent and planned to pick up the pace the final 5K and take a shot at a sub 1:20.
The weather was warming up and I was glad I was just in shorts and my Duke singlet. I ran miles six, seven, and eight in 6:09, 6:11, and 6:13. I passed several runners in the Lake neighborhood, one of which was a HS kid in his Topsail Jersey that went out way too fast and he was fading fast and still had half the race to go. Miles nine and ten were ran in 6:09 and 6:11. The whole loop around Lake Greenfield is about 5.3 miles and it has a few gradual hills in the neighborhood but it is a pretty section of the race course. I was staying consistent and planned to pick up the pace the final 5K and take a shot at a sub 1:20.
Coming off the final bridge Once out of the Lake Greenfield loop, you go back down Front Steet for mile eleven and runners then take the on-ramp onto the final bridge across the Cape Fear River. I ran mile eleven in 6:09 and was still picking up the pace going up the Memorial Bridge. The tricky part was the metal grate deck of the draw bridge. I was trying to pick up the pace as we neared mile 12 on the bridge but the metal grate deck was making that difficult as I didn't want to fall because that would have been messy and painful. I ran mile tweleve in 6:05. I hope in the future they can put some mats down over the metal grates as that would greatly improve safety running across the draw bridge. Once off the metal grate section I picked the pace back up as I tried to chase a sub 1:20.
I looked down at my watch and was on sub 6 min/mile pace for the final mile. Once off the bridge you turn right onto Battleship Road as you head for the finish. I felt strong as I ran mile thirteen in 5:59. I ended up finishing 6th overall out of 1031 with a time of 1:20:36. I was also first in my age group. After finishing a United States Marine placed my medal around my neck and I thanked him for his military service.
I looked down at my watch and was on sub 6 min/mile pace for the final mile. Once off the bridge you turn right onto Battleship Road as you head for the finish. I felt strong as I ran mile thirteen in 5:59. I ended up finishing 6th overall out of 1031 with a time of 1:20:36. I was also first in my age group. After finishing a United States Marine placed my medal around my neck and I thanked him for his military service.
Receiving my Finisher's medal I really enjoyed this race. The event staff did a great job communicating with runners leading up the the event and race day orginization was wonderful. My Dad and I enjoyed the pre-race dinner on the Battleship the night before and thought that was a nice touch. The course is great. It is not flat but the hills aren't that bad. Most hills are gradual except a few steep 200m or less hills. My Garmin had the elevation gain at 344 feet which is just enough to mix up the muscles so you are not pounding flats for so long. The race medal was very nice, it is one of my favorite race medals that I've ever gotten. The only suggestions I have to improve the race is to have more course signs and volunteers out on the course. Ideally, there should be a sign or volunteer at every single turn and there wasn't as I had to ask spectators a couples times to make sure I was going the right way. The other suggestion to improve the race would be to place mats over the metal grate decks on the two bridges that had those. I still highly recommend this race and it is one I would do again. Thank you to the race directors and staff for putting on a great event!
RSS Feed