Haunted Half Marathon 5k (19:40)

Haunted Half Marathon 5k (19:40) Provo, Utah

Last week, I ran the Haunted Half Marathon 5k in Provo, Utah.  Janae, Hungry Runners Girl, recommended we drive out to Utah and run the Haunted Half or Haunted Half 5k.  Since we had zero plans, but had a rental car and had never been to Utah, we thought it sounded fun.  So we progressed over and were there for the Saturday race.

The Haunted Half itself was massive. There is the Haunted Half Marathon, Haunted Half Relay Teams (each person runs 4-4.5 miles), and the Haunted Half 5k. Each race for the Haunted Half receives a long sleeve race shirt, haunted themed finishers medals, ad unique haunted themed finisher gift (this year they were Haunted Half gloves). While yes, I could have gutted out a half marathon a few things prevented me from wanting to do that.

• I don’t run at altitude and we were at 4500 feet.
• I had run a half the week before, and while I’ve done back to back half marathon weekends, I’m not in that fitness right now. I would probably injure myself.
• I didn’t want to be sore the entire vacation.
• I like the 5k.

We picked up the packets at the mall for the Haunted Half 5k and on Saturday quickly made it to the start.  There was a big parking lot which made it easy.  The race went off right at 9 am.

During the first mile of the Haunted Half 5k, my legs felt heavy.  I didn’t feel good.  Between traveling, not eating the best (well, the best for my soul…not for training), and still recovering from the half, it wasn’t surprising.

The first mile of the Haunted Half 5k was the easiest, and I ran a 6:20.  I had positioned myself as the second woman, and third was shortly behind me.

During the second mile of the Haunted Half 5k, we ran down a small hill and made a hairpin turn at the bottom.  The turn was sharp, and I wasn’t expecting it and nearly barreled into a volunteer holding water at the bottom.  Luckily I didn’t.  As we turned around, we ran straight through a tunnel which Janae more accurately recapped.  I hit several of the streamers.  After popping out in front of a barricade, I thought I had gone the wrong way, but another racer said we were going the right way.  We hit the second mile of the Haunted Half 5k in 6:12.

During the third mile of the Haunted Half 5k, I felt the altitude hit me.  I felt as though I was breathing through a straw and winded.  We also ran up a giant hill, and I wheezed the entire way of the Haunted Half 5k.  I made it my goal to break 20 minutes for the Haunted Half 5k.  I felt like I couldn’t breath (not in a dangerous way) just in working tough way.

Around 2.7, we hit a long straight away, and I could hear the third place woman catching me.  I am making it a point to work hard on my finishing kick of the Haunted Half 5k.  I had too many races last training cycle that I was passed in the final strides.

I crossed the third mile in 6:30 and finish line in 19:40 as second woman for the Haunted Half 5k.  In all, I’m pleased with my time.  The Haunted Half 5k was a fun race, and it was a whole different experience running at altitude.

Afterward, I got to hang with Janae for a while, which was a lot of fun.

It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.   I had no idea Provo, Utah was as big as it is!

Questions for you:

Have you met another blogger before?

Do you run at altitude or sea level? Have you run the Haunted Half 5k?