Race Reports

Philadelphia Distance Run Half Marathon 2009
September 20, 2009

PDR Half Marathon was my fifth event in the Elite Racing R&R series for 2009. This was the last year that the race is not a Rock & Roll event and in 2010 it will count as a half for the R&R medals. They give 2 bonus medals that are only with this race and outside the R&R series. The race was on Sunday September 20th. I talked Teri S. into going with me and we split the driving and hotel. We drove up the day before and checked into the hotel first. We could walk to expo, start, finish, and food. The expo was at the convention center and it was close to some good places to eat and drink. We ended up watching football before grabbing some dinner on the way back to the hotel.

We got up early and found that the hotel did not have anything out for their breakfast. We found another hotel was open for breakfast on the way and found something there. We had friends staying there so we did not feel anything was wrong with it. The start was typical of a Rock & Roll event. The weather was perfect for running. I decided to start out slow and enjoy the views along the way. This worked out well and near the end I found my pace had picked up. I finished a minute off of the Virginia Beach time.

The course starts and finishes at the steps Rocky runs up in the movie. It goes into the city and then out along a river. It comes back along the other side of the river and really does not have a lot of hills. They had bands and such along the way. The finish area was crowded and you had to go into a roped off area to get the free Miller MGD 64. They did not regulate the beer consumption and I saw more than one person go back for more. I really think you need to run at least a half to enjoy a MGD 64.

This was my fifth leg in trying to get as much bling as possible from the Elite Racing series. I should have the Beach to Bell and Dynamic Duet medals coming to go along with the Silver Note, Gold Note, Triple Crown, 39.3 medal, Grand Slam and marathon finisher medals for AZM, CMM, SD, Va. Beach, and PDR.