It was great returning to this event! Last year this was one of the only live races offered due to the pandemic and I was joined by my fellow TBR members Terri Wright and Cindy Morgan. This year, I convinced 5 other friends to participate. Most of the previous covid protocols were dropped and it was truly almost back to normal. Temps were nice to start, and the race got going promptly at 7am. First mile took us immediately up a steep hill, which would be a common theme in this race. We ran the initial mile in beautiful downtown Haines city. I started out behind the 2hr pacer. Normally I try to begin ahead of the pacer, but since it was a small gathering, I didn’t do it, with the intent of passing later. During the first mile we ran with what appeared to be a couple of individuals who were being coached for their first half marathon. The “coach” was telling them to lean more into their run and hit the tangents at each curve and to focus on their steps. This made me think about Mitch and Max as they are both actively working on their cadence and foot placement when running. My running partner and I soon turned up the speed and ran ahead of the 2-mile group. It was pretty smooth sailing for the next 3 miles as we ran on the asphalt roads parallel to the beautiful open fields. You could see the land stretching out unencumbered for miles ahead. With the exception of a few rolling roads, this was not too bad, and we actually picked up our speed to about an 8:33 pace for miles 2 – 4. At miles 4 we made a sharp left turn onto the well-advertised clay road of Haines City. This took a bit of getting used to as parts of it were similar to running in sand. The best way I found to run it was to locate the most compacted areas of the surface and run on it as I would have better traction. The clay road lasted for about a mile until we turned off at mile 5 to regular roads again. The next 3 miles took us in what appeared to be a big circle around a stretch of farmland. We actually saw a few horses that seem to run with us in the pasture at mile 7. Water/Gatorade stops were well placed at every 2 miles. By the time we reached mile 8 the temperatures had begun to creep up a bit and the number of inclines (or hills) on the course became more frequent. Around mile 9 we made a return to the clay for a grueling mile run. It was a bit tougher running on the clay with the heat at your back then before when the weather was a little cooler. I saw several people take this time to walk for a while to get their composure. Even with all of this you couldn’t help but admire the beautiful orange fields as we passed them by. I wasn’t sure what was affecting my run more, the hills or the heat but by mile 9 my pace dropped down to a 10:15 pace. At this time, I made sure to pour water over my head and drink more Powerade to recover. One funny thing happened when I stopped at mile 10, I suddenly heard the 2-hour pacer coming up behind me. This was a shock to me because I was sure I was ahead of a 2-hour finish. I started running again but eventually let the guy go ahead of me and conceded that I was in no condition to catch up to him. I did pick up my pace on mile 10 and 11 even though I was struggling at this time. Mile 12 took us through a nice park which had trees to give some comfort from the heat and also served as one of our turn arounds back to the main road. The final mile 13 was familiar to me so I used this point to give it all I had left to finish strong. Even though my lungs were burning, and my legs were screaming for me to stop, I pushed on strong to the end with a pretty swift 9:06 pace. I told myself that this is what all the previous training runs were for, and I needed to end it all on the best note I could. To my surprise I found out that I actually finished UNDER 2 hours as the pacer had been running too fast. He completed the race 1 minute ahead of my 1:58. I was so glad that I hadn’t gotten deflated when he passed me up back at mile 10 (and run slower) but kept the desire to run my best race. On top of all this, I found out that I had placed 2nd for my age group! This was the first age group award I had gotten for a half marathon distance. I felt like a victorious warrior after a gallant fight as this took everything, I had to complete it as I did. So, a well-organized race, good course and very nice awards made for a wonderful race experience at the Orange Blossom Half Marathon!
Ron Tiller