Lincoln Half Marathon
Lincoln, Nebraska
Sunday, May 2, 2010

The temperature varied between 48 degrees and 60 degrees with a light wind and mostly sunny skies as I race walked the Lincoln Half Marathon in Lincoln, Nebraska on Sunday, May 2, 2010. I wish the other races would use the method that this race uses at the start. As with most races this event lined up the participants by estimated finish time; however, instead of making the start line as wide as possible, they funneled the participants to the width of a single traffic lane at the start line, which immediately became at least the width of two traffic lanes as soon as you crossed the start line and began the course. As a result you were not crowded as you began the race. It took about 20 minutes to get the 8000 participants started, which is a little bit longer than most races; however, the un-crowded conditions on the course made the added delay to the start more than worth it. They also handled water/Gatorade stations a little differently. Instead of having the tables touching each other and thus concentrating the station into a small area which causes crowding, the tables were separated by at least four table lengths which spread the station out along a much greater distance and also alleviated much of the crowding. As with most races the station were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. The course was controlled by plenty of friendly police personnel which kept the participants safe and away from the traffic. There were a surprisingly large number of spectators throughout the entire route. The finish line was the 50 yard line of the Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Stadium, where several thousand people were in the stands cheering for the participants as they came out of the tunnel onto the field and finished in the middle of the football field. It made my finish seem extra special. Marathon Olympian, Brian Sells, ran the half marathon and surprisingly came in second to Sammy Rotich of Iowa by over 3 minutes. Brian was the featured speaker at the pre-race exposition where I had a chance to meet him and take his picture with my wife, Gerda. The event also had a pre-race pasta dinner and a post race awards lunch which were free to not only the participants, but also to anyone else who showed up. The food was delicious. This was the 33rd year for this event and, as in 2007 when I did the marathon; this event is very enjoyable and extremely well organized. The hospitality of the Lincoln Track Club and the people of Lincoln, Nebraska make this event one of the premier marathon events that I have ever done.