Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon

Canton, Ohio

Sunday, April 24, 2016

I wanted to perform especially well when I did the Pro Football Hall Of Fame Half Marathon in Canton, Ohio on Sunday, April 24, 2016 because I have now completed 100 race walking Half Marathons since I had my left knee replaced on February 20, 2012.  The 2:38:52 time that I recorded is the fastest of all of these 100 Half Marathons and in fact I have to go back 120 Half Marathons which is more than a full year before I had my knee replaced to find a faster time.  My total amount of completed Half Marathons walking is now 178 to go along with my 135 completed walking full marathons.  I also managed to finish third in my 70-74 male runner age group even though I walked the entire race.  I am very proud of my performance.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon starts on the road between the Canton McKinley Senior High and its football/track stadium both of which are near the Hall of Fame.  The course utilizes many streets of Canton, Ohio which have quite a bit of up and down and were completely closed to traffic and had several friendly police officers at each intersection to enforce the closure.  Part of the route was on the old Lincoln Highway which was the first paved US Route from coast to coast and part of the route went past the base of President William McKinley’s tomb.  Water/Gatorade stations were located approximately every 2.5 miles which is a little too far apart in my opinion.  The stations had plenty of friendly efficient volunteers to take care of the needs of the 328 Marathon, 1173 Half Marathon, and 208 Marathon Relay finishers.  A woman by the name of Molly Triner from Canton, Ohio with a time of 1:20:37 beat all the males in the Half Marathon and thus was the Overall Winner.  The weather was sunny with almost no wind and the temperature was 39 degrees at the start and after an hour had reached into the 50s, causing me to realize that I now had too much clothes so I took off my hat and gloves and open the front of my long sleeve shirt which was under my usual tee shirt.  My entry fee included an admission into the Hall of Fame and when I finished I received a nice finisher’s medal and also a nice commemorative blanket.  The plaque that was my age group third place award was engraved at the race site with my name and finish time before it was given to me.  The event was well organized, a good value for the entry fee, and of course I enjoyed the experience.