DIVAS Half Marathon in North Myrtle Beach

It's already Wednesday, but Sunday's race is still VERY fresh in my mind.  It's another Sole Sister invasion of Myrtle Beach.  We stayed in Myrtle Beach but raced close by in North Myrtle.  This is a picture of us getting ready to depart from my house.  I travelled with half of my Sole Sisters on Saturday morning.  The race was on Sunday morning.  If I didn't have Christie telling me what day we were leaving, what day/time the race was, and what day we were coming home, I'd be lost.  The devil is in the details and she's the detail girl and I'm on the fun committee.

 

Sole Sisters (from left to right) Christie, Sarah, Christine, Kristen & Cindy                               

My first seeded race in years....I'm Bib #5!
 

We were DIVAS!


 

Christine got us to the expo safely and we picked up our packets and our shirts.  We took quite a few photos, but here is a sampling: 

There was a slight issue with the shirts.  Well....I'm thinking it was a major issue.  The shirts looked like they were Child Sizes and not Women's sizes.  The volunteers at the Expo looked a little dumbfounded and really thought they were Women's Sizes.  I beg to differ.  I felt like a rolled sausage. 

When you travel with the Sole Sisters, you are most certainly are guaranteed fun and a good time.  We can find humor in just about everything.  They ground me and help soothe my nerves before a race.   Aside from someone setting off fireworks at 11pm Saturday night, we actually got a good night's sleep.  It was a 7am start.  I made my way to the starting line in the Elite section.  Usually I am situated right BEHIND the elite section.  I was actually feeling pretty good at the starting line and then this happened........ZOLA BUDD!  I am standing next to an Olympic Athlete!  She is only a few months younger than me.  She was in the 1984 Olympics!  She is famous for racing barefoot and more famous for allegedly tripping Mary Decker Slaney in the 3000 meter finals. Notice I wrote, "allegedly".  She is in the White Newton Shirt (#31) wearing SHOES!

All opinions aside, I started shaking with nerves.  Many of the young athletes around us probably had NO idea who she was.  I tried to be as cool as possible and shook her hand and wished her and everyone around me, "Good Luck".  I love talking to other runners around me.  After running over 35 years, I still find runners fascinating.  Then again, my running friends in Greensboro hear me talk all the time on the greenway. 

The race itself went.....well, it went pretty well.  I had only brief arguments with my piriformis and after looking at my splits, I stayed relatively consistent.  It was a warm, humid day.  It was supposed to rain, but luckily it didn't.  Here were my splits for the race:

Mile 1   6:57
Mile 2   6:56
Mile 3   6:56
Mile 4   7:01
Mile 5   6:55
Mile 6   7:03
Mile 7   6:56
Mile 8   7:13
Mile 9   7:00
Mile 10 7:01
Mile 11 7:04
Mile 12 6:52
Mile 13 6:51
Finish Time:  1:31:33

They give you a tiara and a boa near the 13 mile marker.  My tiara dropped and I was certainly not going to stop to retrieve it.  I was so relieved to be done!  There either wasn't a 13 mile marker, or I missed it.  I didn't realize I was so close to finishing when I made that turn.  We were told at the start of the race that the awards was placed on gun time and not chip time, so I didn't kick it in like I would have because I didn't see anyone behind me.  This is probably why I am SMILING.  My Lululemon outfit didn't even look that sweaty.  I can assure you I was sweating a ton. Which brings me back to the finish....there is a young woman who's chip time was 1 second slower than mine.  Yikes!  I guess I was very lucky to get third! Glad I decided against stopping to retrieve my tiara!

Back to my splits....my hiccup was during mile 8.  I started to feel the heat.  I was very, very alone from mile 3 on, so I didn't have people to focus on around me.  My piriformis acted up a little, but I could control it by changing my gait.  I felt a little nauseous, but didn't think about it and whammo!  Right after I crossed the finish line I took 2 steps and (how do I put this delicately) heaved a little.  I don't recall ever getting sick after a race and I was completely fine afterwards.  I did, however, profusely apologize to all the spectators lined up to cheer for their loved ones.  Then the partying began. 

One of my Sole Sisters, Sarah, PR'd by over 4 minutes!  We had fun dancing in the streets to DJ Loquacious.  Here are a few more photos from DIVAS....and then I will put away my tiara and boa and start working on gaining speed!

Couldn't quite get the leg thing right!

Sole Sister Rock Stars!

                                       DJ Loquacious just told the crowd I was 47.  Gulp.