Salt Lake City Half Marathon Race Review

                        Salt Lake City Half Marathon is Half Marathon #7 in the books!

I signed up for this race for a few reasons.
A. convenience- the expo, the start and finish were all very close to my apartment, I would not have to drive anhywhere.
B. It fell at a great time in my marathon training
C. It was a mostly downhill course
D. The medal was a belt buckle and the shirt was also awesome. 

I started the weekend by heading to the Quality of Life Expo at the convention center. The expo was decent, with a lot of great vendors, clothes for sale, freebies, and information. They even had someone from the UTA TRAX station there to answer questions on how to get to the start of the race on the public transportation system, a really great resource for out of towners. I picked up my number, my goodies, some freebies, and headed back to the apartment. 

Saturday morning I was up early, 5:40 to be exact. I woke up, had half a bagel with cream cheese, a few sips of coffee, and water before heading to the Trax station. There were trains every 10 minutes from my station to the Fort Douglas station up on the University of Utah campus. There were plenty of port o potties at the start line, the race started on time, and everything went pretty smoothly. I didn't cross the finish line until about 10 minutes into the race and I wasn't even in the back.

Course Info:

"Starting off at the Olympic Legacy Bridge at the University of Utah, the site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Athlete Village, the gentle course works its way toward the base of the towering Wasatch Mountains. Next, runners travel through the Federal Heights neighborhood and the scenic 11th Avenue before dropping into downtown near Temple Square through Memory Grove. The route then snakes through Salt Lake’s legendary wide streets, passing by cozy neighborhoods and elegant estates on the way.

Finish off with a run through the gorgeous Sugar House and Liberty Park until culminating on 200 E between Library and Washington Squares. Here, the music is rocking and energy surging as crowds of enthusiastic spectators cheer on participants. You won’t want to miss the celebration of the thousands of lifetime achievements being created in the heart of Salt Lake City. Fun and excitement await all who attend!




The course was okay. I only say okay because it was all so familiar to me. The course started on campus, climbed up a small hill, down through Federal Heights, down into Memory Grove park, and into Sugar House, Liberty Park, and then back up to Washington Square. It was pretty, but all sights I see nearly every day so not as exciting for a "local". The course had a lot of downhill which was nice, but more uphill than I see on that map. I felt strong and powered up the hills while many people walked. I just remember there being more hills... I swear.... 

I pushed along with some great splits . I was on target for a PR and came in at 1:55, 4 minutes faster than my Colchester Half at 1:59. That 1:54 was even including a stop to pee at mile 4. I was really happy with this time and was glad to see my training pay off.

STATS:
927/3,119 finishers
408/1,916 Female
82/334 Female 25-29

This was a fun race for its location and convenience for me.  I am not sure if I would run it again, but I am sure it is a much more scenic and awesome route for out of towners.  Thanks for the PR SLC!