Naples Half Marathon
Naples, Florida
Sunday, January 16, 2011

When I race walked the Naples Half Marathon in Naples, Florida on Sunday, January 16, 2011, the skies were overcast, the winds were gentle, and the temperature ranged from the middle 50’s to the middle 60’s. The course was completely flat and fast. There were many elite, world class athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Russia and the times were very fast. There were also six USA athletes from the Hansons Brooks Running Project and their founder-coach, Kevin Hanson, who I had met at other events. The race had a 2:45 gun time limit which is fast for walkers. I had to concentrate and finished in 2:39:15. Water/Gatorade stations were located every 1.5 miles and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Police and volunteers controlled the course which utilized roads which were open to local traffic; however, the traffic was sparse because most of the roads were dead-end roads in an upscale section of Naples where every house seemed to be a mansion or small palace on a canal with impeccably landscaped lots. It was quite a beautiful, tree-lined suburban course where everyone was especially friendly. The race was very well organized, the medals and age group awards were nice, and I enjoyed myself very much. However, I was surprised that there was no gear check available. After the race I talked to Kevin Hanson. He was extremely proud of the performances of the five male runners, to whom he introduced me, and one female runner which he had brought to the race from their training facilities in Michigan. Zach Hine was fourth overall in the Men’s Division and his 1:03:53 beat the US Olympic Trials Qualifying time. Desiree Davila was the second overall finisher in the Women’s Division with a time of 1:10:33. This race of 1614 finishers attracted very talented age group performers in addition to the elite athletes. There was $15500 in prize money spread not only for the Open overall winners but also for Master, Grand Master, and Senior Grand Master winners. Special monetary awards were given for age group records as well as top performances for US citizens. The Naples Half Marathon was truly a first class race.