Blue Angel Rock And Fly Half Marathon
Pensacola, Florida
Saturday, March 19, 2016

On Saturday, March 19, 2016 I race walked Blue Angel Rock And Fly Half Marathon in Pensacola, Florida. I really lucked out on the weather as there was an 80 % chance of showers and thunder showers overnight and a 70% chance during the race. In fact the weather has been so rainy for three days that the race director had sent several emails warning that the event might be delayed, shorten, or cancelled if the weather threatened the safety of the participants or volunteers. A final decision would be made at a meeting of military officials at 6:30 AM on race Saturday. When I got up at 6:00 AM I looked at the radar and became elated as the rain and thunder showers had completely cleared through Pensacola overnight and there was no other rain coming throughout the morning. When I arrived at the event at 6:45, the skies were completely clear with almost no wind and a temperature of 70 degrees. During the race the skies remained mostly clear, the wind remained gentle, and the temperature rose to 74 degrees. The course was completely on paved roads in the Pensacola Naval Air Station and as a result military police and other uniformed volunteers kept the participants safe and the course completely clear of traffic. There were 10 water stations along the course that had plenty of efficient friendly volunteers taking care of the needs of the participants. Gatorade was only available at one station near mile 10 and I am not sure of why the race committee planned it that way. I would have preferred to have Gatorade offered at more of the stations. Except for the start and finish area there were very few spectators. Even though there were several participants that fail to show because of the threat of bad weather, there were 805 finishers in the Half Marathon, 445 finishers in the 5K Run, and 137 finishers in the 5K Walk. I enjoyed the event as it was very well organized and fun to do. I had one other unexpected surprise as I was third in my M70-74 Runner Age Group even though I walked the entire half marathon.