Knoxville Half Marathon
Knoxville, Tennessee
Sunday, March 28, 2010

I race walked the Knoxville Half Marathon on Sunday, March 28, 2010 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The temperature remained near 55 degree for the whole race and there was an 80 percent chance of rain. I parked near the finish area and had to stroll the ¾ mile to the starting line in a light drizzle which stopped 5 minutes before the race. I had watched the Weather Channel before going to the race and I knew there was a gap between this light rain and a heavy rain which was to follow latter. I have done the full marathon in Knoxville twice in the past, so I knew that the half marathon course was hilly and challenging. Except for a flat 1.5 miles along the Tennessee River near miles 1 and 2, the course required the participants to continuously vary ascending and descending as well as the amount of steepness. This made falling into a comfortable rhythm difficult. Even the bike path from mile 8 to mile 11 featured numerous short, steep ups and downs and continuous turns. The finish was on the 50 yard line in the huge University of Tennessee Football Stadium and my name was broadcast over the PA as I finished. Water/Powerade stations were located every two miles and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Several musicians performed along the race course which was kept free from traffic by numerous friendly police officers. There was a port race party and awards ceremony in the Women’s Basketball Arena where several National Championship Pennants were hanging from the rafters. About 25 minutes after I finished the half marathon, it began to rain heavily. The big screen televisions hanging in the arena showed the live broadcast of the drenched participants crossing the finish line in the stadium. Only a few of the marathoners finished before the deluge began and I realized how lucky I was to not have experienced any rain during my participation even though I had fully expected that I would.