Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Hollywood Half Marathon Race Report

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.