I walked to the front of the race chute and chatted with some locals. There was one whose name I didn't know but who I recognized. I noticed he didn't have a bib. He said, "I just found out about the race yesterday and tried to register, but was too late.
"The announcer called us to queue-up. It was then that a race official noticed this runner didn't have a chip and asked why. The runner explained but the official told him, "This event is for paid runners, you'll have to move to the back of the chute.
"Clearly the official was in his right, but the fact he actually did it just pissed me off. It was completely unnecessary; this is just a local race. I foolishly stuck my nose in it and said very loudly referring to the runner, "He's fine; he knows what he's doing." The official went and got the race director, which really ticked me off. I continued to spout my view to leave the runner alone, and then I offered, twice, to make a donation equal to his fee. The officials didn't relent and moved the runner off the start.
The gun fired and we were off. It was hot and humid from the get-go. As I ran up the 120-foot bridge climb the first time, there was a light breeze head on. I straighten up, looked to the sky, and ran on feel. At the half way mark I had no idea of my time or pace, but I felt good in the legs. I saw later that my split was 47:19 (3:10 pace). After turning around, it got bad, zero wind and sun out.
Legs still felt good, but at mile nine I was soaked through, sloshing in my shoes, and hurting. I technically ran the second time up the bridge, but it was probably at a walking pace. I was on the verge of heat stroke and feel apart, losing 3 minutes on the split.
I finished in 1:37:40. Second in my division, 14 out of 390 half marathoners, and 19th out of the total 600 counting the 210 relay teams.
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