Space Coast Half Marathon
Cocoa, Florida
Sunday, November 28, 2010

The conditions were nearly ideal with the temperature varying from 58 to 68 degrees and the skies being overcast and a breeze blowing gently as I race walked the Space Coast Half Marathon in Cocoa, Florida on Sunday, November 28, 2010. The course was mostly flat on a paved road along the Indian River that was for the most part closed to traffic. Water/Gatorade stations were located approximately every mile and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers that met the needs of the 2700 participants in the marathon and half marathon. As usual the organization of the event was outstanding. The packet pick-up was at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the prerace pasta dinner which featured speakers Dick Beardsley and Mike McCulley was held in the Apollo/Saturn V Center and included a tour of this Center. Dick Beardsley is a famous runner who is most noted for his 2:08:53 Boston Marathon in 1982 where he was just barely beaten by Alberto Salazar. Mike McCulley is a former Astronaut who flew on a space shuttle mission and has spent over 119 hours in space. The $50 per person price for this prerace dinner was way beyond what I consider reasonable and thus, I did not attend the dinner. I did get to speak with Dick Beardsley on Saturday morning at the Running Zone store in Melbourne, Florida. My wife, Gerda, has an autographed picture from Dick obtained when he was at the Key West Half Marathon in 1987. He remembered us from 2007 when we took the picture to Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota and had him sign it again. Dick has now signed this picture a third time. I enjoyed myself as usual.