Hollywood Half Marathon Race Report by Fifty States HALF Marathon Club member Mark Trollinger
Finished the Inaugural Hollywood half marathon today. The expo was only open yesterday and it was a mad house. Definitely worth the $15 to have the shirt and number mailed to you so you can skip the expo. The course ran out of cups and from mile 4 on I had no water (they said cup your hands and they would give some). I also ended up with big leg cramps because I ran on the side of the road rather than in the center, and it was a steep incline. That said, the course was good. Universal Studios out 7 miles through Hollywood and back. Nice fans along the side. The start was great – quickly downhill for 1.5 miles and I picked up good time. First mile was 10:20, but mile 2 was 9:40 and mile 3 was 9:20. The middle miles were fine, despite the cramps. The end was a challenge – that 1.5 miles that was nice coming down sucked coming up. It was a long, steady hill that killed me. The final ½ mile was flat and made for a nice finish. Despite the hills and challenges, I finished just 10 minutes off my PR. I felt like I was doing much worse than that so I had run in the middle I think I would have easily bested my time. I would definitely do this again. This marked my 10th half overall and state number 4 for me.
