Today I ran the Carmel Marathon Keybank 8k. It was the second year for the race weekend that consists of a full marathon, half marathon, 8k, and one mile family walk. Last year I ran the half marathon, but since I’m not yet back in shape to run 13.1 miles I opted for the 8k race instead.
It was pretty chilly this morning with air temps in the low 40’s and a wind chill in the upper 30’s. Some would say perfect running weather but I was a little chilly the whole time in shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt. I arrive right as they were singing the national anthem before the start of the full and half, about 35 minutes before my race started.
The race starts at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, and winds through town, a brief run on the Monon trail, down a city street, south on Keystone Parkway, and then an out and back on 126th Street before finishing back at the Palladium.
I started out running at about the same speed I do my twice weekly runs with the Indy Runners, around 9:15 pace. Finished the first mile in 9:12. In the middle of the second mile, right at the turn off the Monon to 136th St. was the first water stop, or so I thought. The volunteers were standing in front of the tables but not handing out drinks. So I didn’t get anything, but it was chilly so I wasn’t too thirsty anyways. We ran down 136th, which had a slight down and up hill section, to Keystone Parkway. That’s a four lane limited access highway, but southbound was shutdown due to construction further north so we were alone on the road. Second mile was 8:52.
There were some ups and downs around the interchanges which slowed me down. Third mile was 9:08. We got off the parkway at 126th street and headed away from the finish. It was a little confusing as to which side of the course to be on but we figured it out. The second ware stop was at the turn around, and I took a gulp of water there. Fourth mile was 8:50. The last mile was straight back to the Palladium and I was able to kick it up to a 8:39 for that mile. I had a little kick at the end, which the Garmin said was .04 at 7:00 pace.
I got my medal (for an 8k??), water, and peanut butter crackers. I wanted chocolate milk too but it seemed the volunteers weren’t letting us have it for some reason. Maybe it was just for the longer distance runners? Final time was 44:57 or 9:03 average pace. I was pretty happy seeing how I’ve only been running twice a week for about six weeks now!
Hopefully next year I can do one of the longer distances. But, for now, I’ve participated in both Carmel Marathon Championship weekends!
