I recently ran my slowest ever half marathon. To be honest it took me nearly 4 hours to complete it. And my ‘normal’ half marathon pace is under 2h30min. So, don’t stop reading yet.
As I was running the race (and the 3 days after as I was recovering) I thought about this: What is a perfect race?
Is your perfect race your fastest race ever?
Is your perfect race a race you run with your best friend?
Is your perfect race a race you run in your most favorite location?
Is your perfect race a race that you didn’t want to run, but turned out to be a beautiful day?
I can’t find just one answer. I even looked at my race spreadsheet (yes, I keep a spreadsheet with all my races – get over it. LOL). So, I meticulously went race by race to see if I can pinpoint my favorite race.
Well, I couldn’t find just one race.
I loved many of my races.
I loved:
All three races that I ran with my brother. We ran three races in three different countries.
One of my slowest races ever that was on a course where I kept on bumping into friends.
My first (and so far only) full marathon for the achievement alone.
A half marathon in Alaska for the pure joy of going all the way to Alaska to run.
My most recent slowest ever half marathon for the beauty of the course.
As I was going through the list, I realized that I don’t even remember anything of the race when I ran my half marathon PR. So, speed does not make a race perfect for me. Family, Friends, Beauty and Achievement are my definitions of “perfect”.
What makes a race perfect for you?
And as you think about the answer, enjoy some of the photos from my slowest race ever, the Wildcat Canyon half marathon:
