Virtual Golden Gate Half Race Recap

Although I missed out on the in-person in California physical experience, I gleaned reports from friends and social media to get some sense of the actual race experience. There was very high interest in the race. I believe the virtual/actual half also sold out, just like the 5k.

Having just returned from San Francisco this summer from 2 trips, it was special to be able to experience some virtual connection with the bay area. I think I did leave at least a tiny part of my heart there in San Francisco.

As a virtual racer, I was able to select and choose my own course here in Lincoln, Nebraska. That was pretty easy. I have so many trail maps and maps from runs already. Mainly I ran it on the trails.

There was a slight delay in receiving my bib and shirt (have to earn the finisher medal of course) but I registered fairly late in the process and knew the medal would have to wait. I understand that perhaps they waited to send them to the virtual racers all at once in one mailing.

Racing here in Lincoln, it was chilly, cold, and windy. I had to layer up a little more than anticipated to stay warm.

Backtracking a little, there is a Golden Gate Half app sponsored by MotivRunning that allowed me to see event info, schedule, results, bib lookup, expo info, social connections to Facebook and Instagram (GGH is also on Twitter), maps of both courses, weather, and travel info. There was also a countdown clock at the bottom telling me how many days/hours/minutes until the race would begin.

The greatest difficulty I had with this race was simply tired legs from running the Des Moines Marathon two weeks before. So I ran this a little conservatively with pace and adjusting to weather conditions.

Although I didn’t achieve a PR, there is one hill that Strava gave me a silver medal for (2nd fastest time ever for that local hill). I’ll take it. Any positive silver lining is a plus.

My strategy was to run-walk the race as quickly as possible, while taking time to enjoy the experience and stop for photos to preserve the memory. That’s how I train and race.

Beginning the race at home, I started it with my Garmin (we have to prove our finish on GPS watches to receive the finisher medal). Running on the trails, I ventured north and west, running on Rock Island Trail, then Williamsburg/Tierra Park Trail, and a stretch of the Helen Boosalis Trail. I added a woodsy loop called the Old World Trail (they have stations you can do on this short loop). Running south, I ran all the way to Yankee Hill Road before returning home in a large looping course. I did save the course as a public course on Garmin in case others want to try it. I called it the Virtual Golden Gate Half if you need the title to locate it if you want to run it.

As a big fan of bridges, I treasure every footstep on them. As a virtual racer, no I couldn’t run the Golden Gate Bridge that day but I could run as many bridges here in Lincoln, Nebraska as I could link together and enjoy them as if they were the virtual equivalent of the actual Golden Gate Bridge. For a while I was trying to take a picture on each bridge to reinforce this but some bridges were almost identical (the smaller ones).

Also, I tried to add as many hills as possible, remembering my hilly training in San Francisco over the summer. I ended up with 423′ of climb over the run, a good challenging amount.

Pace-wise, I was trying to keep my pace close to my Des Moines marathon pace of 10:21. I fluctuated over and under that and finished with 10:14 pace.

At two strategic points, I sampled squares of Ghirardelli dark chocolate on the run. After all, it’s from San Francisco and it’s delicious and healthy.

Unfortunately, at about 9 miles, I ran out of water (although I carried two bottles with me) and the water fountains were shut off here so I adjusted. Then I ran out of chocolate too.

But there was still plenty of energy to power to the finish line. I finished in 2:14:44 for 13.16 miles (I ran a little further just to make sure it was enough). Catching up on the actual racers was next: watching for the posts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Finally, I snapped a photo of my Garmin time with the scannable bib info from the Golden Gate Half folks. It didn’t seem like it captured it but apparently it worked as a week later I received my finisher medal, shirt, and physical bib.

It was a wonderful experience! I highly recommend that you try the virtual experience. But approach it early as it sells out quickly. It was a challenge two weeks after a full marathon but I love challenges. And it was special to be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge on a medal and shirt even though I wasn’t physically there in California. It still counts and that’s all that matters.

After the race, I did hop on Athlinks.com and report my unofficial results. I strongly encourage you to also create an Athlinks account and claim your results. Please feel free to add me as a friend on Athlinks, let’s connect!

And yesterday, 6 days after running the race, I did receive my medal, shirt, and bib. That’s pretty prompt shipping from California on a race that sold out so I’m impressed. I felt as if I was reunited with friends I met this summer in San Francisco. There was a sense of accomplishment and reaching goals. Every race we are able to finish is making healthy progress.

It was a wonderful experience! Try it you’ll love it!

Maybe next time: the actual Golden Gate Half. I still haven’t run on the Golden Gate Bridge yet although I’ve run by it.