NYRR Virtual Halfway There 13.1 Race Recap

Back on September 15, I ran the NYRR Virtual Halfway There 13.1 half-marathon race in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was well-timed and an excellent training run opportunity to prepare for the Good Life Halfsy half-marathon this weekend in Lincoln. Fortunately, earlier this summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit New York City, NY with family and run in New York (on the Brooklyn Bridge). I was very excited about this chance to return to New York in some sense (though not not physically) and run a half-marathon virtually where I live.

We have excellent trails in Lincoln and so it was pretty easy to find a good trail course for this race. I decided to start the race at Tierra Park in Lincoln, running north on Tierra/Williamsburg Trail to Highway 2, then heading north on Rock Island Trail before turning east on Billy Wolff Trail near the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. At South Street, I turned around and headed further south on Rock Island Trail until about the 11 mile mark, then returning back to Tierra Park to finish. Mostly the course was on Rock Island Trail, one of the most beautiful and popular trails here.

Over this past summer, a good friend and I have been running a half-marathon every month starting in June as part of our training for the Halfsy (we skipped October due to tapering). Fortunately, my friend also decided to run the Virtual Halfway There 13. 1 race on the same day/time with somewhat similar trail course. So it was wonderful to be able to experience at least some of the race together.

Also, I tried to add as many bridges as possible to the course to simulate the famous New York bridges, many of which are on the New York Marathon course. Our bridges are a little smaller here but we can use our imagination to pretend one of them is the Verrazano Narrows bridge if we wish.

Tracking the course was pretty easy using the Strava platform, recorded using my Apple Watch 4 Strava application. After the race, I just clicked save the run on my Apple watch and voila! it was uploaded to Strava. And Strava immediately rewarded me with the finisher badge with the NYRR logo and virtual confetti. How fun! Love it!

As a virtual race, we did carry our own water (both of us carrying 2 liter with us). In addition, I brought a little bit of coconut water for the start. The water fountains were still on so I think we had the opportunity to replenish our water if needed. But I had plenty. I also carried a few ClifBar shot bloks with me to prevent cramping and help me later in the race.

My target for the finish was to run ~10:00/pace or so. And I was able to come pretty close to that, even by using the run-walk Galloway training method that I use for training and racing. I tried to push the pace a little bit as a test. Strava says the final finish time was 2:18 for 13.2 miles/10:26 pace.

The sun was a little bit of a factor for some of this race but my visor and buff kept me cool. We kept it close to the shade as possible for much of it to avoid dehydration and overheating.

I am grateful for this excellent flexible experience, it allowed me to maintain my fitness, challenge myself, and still be able to recover well before the Halfsy race. It was wonderful to be able to choose the day/time of the race, as well as the entire course. I could save the whole course as a Strava segment if I wanted to–although 13. 1 considered a longish segment.

It was special to be able to run this with a good friend and to be able to high-five each other running by during the race. Also, it was fun to see others running the race in their respective locations. There is a special sense of solidarity in completing a race, even a virtual one, with others.

Have you run a virtual race lately? Maybe you should try it. You’d love it!