The Holiday Hustle Half Marathon is a race that I looked into last year but it sold out before I committed to it. When I talked to my friend Amy at the end of October this year, she told me that she had signed up for it and reminded me that it could sell out. I’m often wary about signing up for races too far in advance when winter weather can be a factor, and I knew it could be on December 2, but I decided to go for it and signed up a month before the race. There were several options for race swag and I chose to get a cute beanie rather than collect another shirt. I was excited to see that there was also an option to add on a post-race meal from Sunset Ridge BBQ. The hat, lunch, and knowing I’d get to hang out with Amy got me even more excited about the race.

The race took place in Dexter, MI which is a little northwest of Ann Arbor. Although I’ve thought about it, I have never run the Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon and had never visited Dexter prior to this race. I always enjoy taking the opportunity to check out a new area. The 11am start was especially nice because even with a drive of an hour and 15 minutes, I didn’t leave the house until 8:30.

The race started and finished outside of Erratic Ale Co. Rather than park in the dirt/mud lots by the brewery, I found plenty of paved parking a couple blocks away. I walked over to collect my hat and bib number, which happened to be number one. I’m not quite sure how I ended up with that. No pressure or anything! I knew it wasn’t likely that I’d live up to those expectations.

Because I got there so early, I had plenty of time to run a couple of miles to warm up. I ran through part of downtown Dexter to the path along the Huron River that would be a part of our race route. I came across some boardwalks that concerned me a little bit. It wasn’t raining anymore, but it had rained earlier and the boardwalks were a little wet. I’m thankful that temperature was in the high 30s. Had it been any colder those surfaces could have been dicey! I found that I was able to run on the boardwalks without slipping so it reassured me that I would be okay during the race.

After warming up for a couple miles I headed back to the brewery to line up for the the start of the race. I saw someone with a 1:45 pace sign and stood near them. I figured I should be able to run faster than an 8:00 pace but would start there and speed up. Because there is limited space on the path, it was nice to hear that the race would have a staggered start so it wouldn’t get too congested. The first wave started at 11:00 and the crowd was cut off at the 1:45 pacer, so we went off in the second wave.

Apparently plenty of other people who lined up near me planned to run faster than 1:45 as well because it was a fast start and I found myself caught up in the flow of the people around me. My first mile was a 7:37. I didn’t intend to start that fast and it probably wasn’t the smartest move. We ran through a little bit of mud as we ran away from the brewery, and the boardwalk suddenly felt a little more slick when I was running faster. I still didn’t have any issues with actually slipping but I was wary. Fortunately the path was mostly paved after the first mile. We ran somewhere around 4.5 miles along the Border to Border Trail which took us to Hudson Mills Metropark.

After my fast start, I slowed down a little bit but could feel that I was still pushing pretty hard. I kept myself distracted for nearly the whole race by making an effort to run the tangents. It seemed like the path was constantly winding so I tried to visualize a straight line from one curve to the next to help myself from adding extra distance to my race. I can often end up with a tenth of a mile extra distance by the end of a half marathon. I did my best to try to run the shortest path I could while also hoping I didn’t annoy people around me as I’d cut from one side of the path to the other!

We had a 3-mile loop to run once we got to Hudson Mills Metropark. I ran a turkey trot there years ago but it had been long enough that I didn’t remember much and the scenery felt new to me. There were a few spots there that had a bunch of spectators while there were very few along the rest of the course. It was also busier at the park because people who ran the relay made their exchange there.

After running that loop it was time to head back the same way we came. It was nice to be distracted by runners headed the opposite direction for a little bit, but then it was back to attempting to run tangents when I could and just trying to survive. The course had some rolling hills and although there weren’t any major climbs, the constant rolling made things pretty challenging.

It probably felt extra challenging to me because I started faster than I should have. I haven’t really been training to maintain that kind of pace for that long and eventually it caught up with me. I managed to stay under an 8:00 pace for the first half of the race, but a few miles in the 8:00s crept in during the second half. No more 7:40s like the first half – I was in the 7:50s or slower. That was still a pretty good pace but it was tough to maintain it and I could really feel myself working. When I got back to the boardwalk stretch, somehow it felt even more slick than it had on the way out. That didn’t help my pace any since I was so cautious about the lack of traction. It’s a good thing I didn’t wear my best racing shoes because those really don’t have any traction and it would have been trouble!

I didn’t have a fast finish at this race because I was pretty spent, and even after getting past the boardwalks, the race ended in the dirt/mud outside of the brewery. That didn’t exactly allow for a solid sprint even if I had it in me.

I finished in 1:42:19 and realized later that it was actually my fastest half marathon out of the five that I ran this year. Maybe my number one bib was representative of something after all!

Looking back at my splits, it seems like I took the WRONG approach to this race. It usually isn’t a good thing when my first mile is the fastest mile of the race. I ran a positive split too – the second half was definitely slower than the first half. Maybe some of that could be attributed to the rolling course and slick boardwalks, but for the most part, it’s likely that I started too fast and couldn’t maintain it. Racing feels a whole lot better when I start slower and speed up as I go. In the end it all worked out since I ran my best time of the year. It just didn’t feel great the way I did it!

Since it was around 40 degrees I knew I better get back to my car quickly for more clothes. I couldn’t resist posing for a festive photo when I saw a wreath along the way.

Even with the extra layers I could only stand the cold for so long before I had to head into the brewery. I enjoyed the soft pretzel treat that I received at the finish line. That was something different from the usual post-race options and I loved it!

Amy and I finally caught up with each other in the brewery and eventually we went out to the food truck to collect the meals we had signed up for. By then the brewery was too full so we had to sit outside. Luckily the heat lamps worked well enough! The BBQ sampler plate was so good that half of it was gone before I even thought to take a picture. It was a great environment for a post-race celebration and we enjoyed hanging out for a bit before heading home.

This wasn’t one of my smoother races but I’m glad I did it. It was nice to check out another section of the Border to Border Trail and to do a lap around Hudson Mills Metropark. I might have to keep this route in mind for a future run or bike ride. I may be a little iffy about signing up early for this race knowing that any snow or cold temps could make the boardwalks more risky than I like. It’s a chance you take with this race since it has sold out in advance two years in a row. I can understand why – it was a nice, challenging course with a fun party included. Even though I may have been a little ambitious with my pacing and went through some suffering, it was nice that my fifth (and last) half marathon of the year ended up being my fastest.  

– Janet

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