Little Miami Half Marathon
by mickiruns
So before I get into the entire race report, I’d like to vent just a tad. I don’t exactly know WHO to be irked at – I wouldn’t even say I’m mad, just annoyed really. This race took place in a very tiny town, but the trails that we were on connected to other parks in other towns; a huge MetroPark, so taking up room for a half marathon doesn’t seem like a big idea right? It was even an out and back – even less room. Signs were posted everywhere for this half, and even though only 168 people ran it, there were police barricades at the proper places. Who didn’t get the memo? Cyclists. Now, I have a sour taste in my mouth about cyclists anyway; but what happened today made it that much worse. The course was marked, yet the cyclists insisted on being there. At one point, a cyclist yelled out “to your left!”. While I complied, a few people in front of me had earbuds in, and couldn’t hear the cyclist. The cyclist nicked a runners’ elbow to make a point, and decided to hurl a few cuss words his way. I honestly do not know if it was stated in the rules not to wear earbuds. If he wasn’t supposed too, ok, I understand that. This does not give the cyclist permission to act like the trail was his, let alone physically come into contact with a runner. Anyway. That’s that.
This race was tiny. I mean TEENY TINY. There were 168 people running the half, and 42 running the 10k. The schwag bag was awesome, a few local running pamphlets and a $500 gift card to Red Star Worldwear. OH yeah. The race started, and it was a cool morning with relative humidity. My splits were as follows.
Miles 4-7ish I was chatting with a lady on the course, as the cyclist incident had just occurred. We started talking about kids, politics, and the weather until I went along my way. My goal was to finish in 2:30 and as I was doing the math in my head I decided to shot for 2:15, then 2:10. I finished in 2:10:10 and was thrilled with my time.
I hope to finish the USAF half in less than 2:10, but I won’t hate it if I broke 2 hours. 
I’ll start training this Tuesday.
Way to go, Micki! I’m so proud of you, honeybear! Hear ya’ loud and clear on the cyclists. While it may have been a tiny race, common sense would tell most of us to stay off the course. Literally, that’d be like someone driving a vehicle on the course; just as dangerous and seriously just as odd.
Either way, you did an AMAZING JOB and I have no doubt that you can sub-2 the USAF half! <3 COUS COUS!
WOOHOOO!!! You did a fantastic job! Next time shove the cyclist. Chances are if they are on a multiuse path they will fall over because they are n00bs that don’t know etiquette.
I am sorry about the rude cyclist that you encountered. The main reason we choose the stretch of bike path that we did was because we thought it would not be as heavily used as other sections of the trail (IE – from Xenia or from Loveland).
I guess next year we need to put up signs a few weeks out in Xenia, Loveland and Lebanon warning cyclists of the event. We can’t stop them from using the path, but we can encourage them to avoid it on the morning of the race.
Thanks for running the race and glad you had an awesome time and a great run!
Hey there!! The cyclists didn’t ruin my day, that’s for sure – if anything they looked like the jerks!! I personally thought the path was marked well, to be honest. I also didn’t want to get too much into it, in case we weren’t supposed to be wearing headphones. I personally don’t, but that was the case that played out on Sunday.
I had a blast at the race! I hope to make it back next year, but we’re military and we don’t even know where we’ll be in 6 months. Thanks again for putting on such a great race!!!
have you used the red star card , i ran the race as well and was wondering if it was real
hey!
I haven’t used it, and I won’t. Upon research, I found that it’s a scam of sorts.
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CONGRATULATIONS! I am soooo amazed!
I’m glad you finish the race and carry-on in spite of the rude cyclist. Go Girl!!!