This Sunday it was off to the coastal community of Westport, Massachusetts for the Horseneck Half-Marathon. Westport is an absolute gem of a town on the South Coast and is one of my favorite spots around so having heard good things about this race from previous runners definitely pushed me to registering for the race.
The race started and finished at Horseneck Beach and took runners through the streets of the coastal community. In terms of scenery, this race definitely was amongst some of the most beautiful half-marathons that I have done rivaling races such as the Covered Bridges Half-Marathon up in Vermont, for example.
Race morning temperatures proved to be quite warm and were amongst some of the warmer temperatures we have seen so far this spring. Though there was a cool breeze while standing adjacent to the beach at the starting line, out on the course finding spots of shade whenever possible was a must as the heat started to hit pretty nicely.
The course was a beautiful run and was mostly flat with a couple of hills mixed in for good measure. Runners passed by spots like Buzzards Bay Brewing and Westport River Winery and through residential roads going along the coast, along cattle farms, protected open space land and more. Honestly, some of the roads that runners ran along gave you more than enough to revel in and made the running all that much more enjoyable.
There was good support on the course when it came to volunteers along the way and different sections featured small contingents of fans cheering runners along the way. If I lived in the area I would for sure be hosting a little viewing part of sorts to add to the vibe along the way!
The heat definitely gave me something to contend with and the second half of the race it hit me more than in the first half of the race. Additionally, I have been dealing with some plantar fasciitis pain and that definitely was hitting me harder than normal out on the course but I kept on trucking determined to finish the race. (Side note: I’ve tried ice, compression, shock wave therapy and massage so if you have a magic trick, hit me up!)
My only real gripe with the race was that for a half-marathon a few extra aid stations with water and electrolytes would have been useful as a couple of them were spaced out a bit too much. Certainly with the heat it would have been useful as there were a number of runners being tended to by paramedics out on the course due to the heat but even on a normal temperature day, one or two extra hydration stations could have gone a long way.
I finished up the Horseneck Half-Marathon with a time of 2:22:09, good for 10:51/miles. Certainly not my best running out there but chalking up a half-marathon is never a bad thing so happy to mark this one complete!
The Running Griffin 