Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon

I really should try to be better about blogging my races. I did a few good ones this past summer to get ready for the big cahuna, but honestly they all kind of pale in comparison, so they didn't feel memorable enough to blog about. The Detroit Free Press half marathon was today and it's pretty dang fun—although my left IT band didn't really think so, as I had stop a few times and give it a little love. Stretching seems to do the trick, but the moral of the story is: stretch early and often. That was really the only way I could get the job done. But done it is, and at a meh-just-okay time of 2:27. I had hoped to squeeze in under 2:20, but whatev. At least I was faster than everyone sitting home on the couch, eh?

One of the things I love about big events like this is all the signs people hold as they cheer for the runners. Some of the really good ones I saw:

• "Way to go Melissa and all you adorable random strangers"
• "Toenails are overrated! Keep running!"
• "Run like a damn Yankee" (in reference to the Tigers running the Yankees out of town last week)
• "Run like you stole something"
• "The Zombie Apocalypse just happened, and they're right behind you. Keep running!"
• Two-tenths of a mile into the race: "Just 26 miles to go, people! You got this!"

Also some of the shirts that runners wear are pretty funny. Here are ones that I liked a lot:

• "I am a bomb technician. If you see me running, you better try and keep up."
• "WTF?? (Where's The Finish?)"
• On a half-marathoner: "I thought you said 1.31"
• On a full-marathoner: "Because 26.3 miles would just be crazy"
• "In my mind I'm a Keynyan, but in my legs, I'm a chubby white guy"