2018 South Jordan Half Marathon Race Recap - South Jordan, UT

Official Time: 1:55:05
Placement: 13th in the 45 - 49, 101st overall, 73rd male
Results:  Here
Race Website: Here
Weather: Upper 40's with slight wind from the east
Garmin Dump: Here
Previous Years: [2014] [2012]

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:41	Conservative but right on target start
2	8:44
3	8:14	Nice downhill section
4	8:45	A quick uphill followed by a fast downhill
5	8:23	Back to the flats
6	8:37
7	9:30	Slow and steady grind here
8	8:34
9	8:39	Good stretch of downhill here. Wishing the rest of the course was this way
10	8:49
11	8:47	Last downhill part
12	9:13	On to the Jordan River bike trail.  Flat but I am totally out of gas
13	9:27	So hard to keep going.
13.07	0:36	Crawl the finish
Total Miles: 13:07 1:55:06

Introduction

It has been a while since I've run the South Jordan Half marathon.  I thought I had run it more recently than I had, but Athlinks never lies.  When I first moved to Utah I ran the half marathon.  A few years later I jumped into the Full Marathon.

It's primarily a locals race.  Not too many people travel for it and it is popular with area runners looking for a good experience without a lot of fuss, which is what the SoJo race does.

I signed up for it on a whim.  They had a Labor Day special to save like 20% off the entry fee so I figured, why not... $50 or so for a half marathon isn't a bad deal.  There are other races in the area (namely the Haunted Races) but they involve a lot of logistics and the folks at SoJo make it easy to race.

So on Friday night, I drove about 5 miles to the Community Center and picked up my bib, a nice shirt and a swag bag filled with local goodies.

I'll state that I didn't get any on-course pictures.  I ran without my water bottle so I didn't have my phone.  So this will be a fairly "picture less" race.

The Race

I rolled in around 6:15 to get on a 6:30 bus.  They had nice coach buses waiting for us and parking was simple.  The race was held at the business park where there is a large park next to it.  

The race started at 7:30 and I had a short 15 minute-ish ride up the road.  

The race start is in the downtown South Jordan area.  South Jordan is a sort of a yuppie town filled with planned and very clean subdivisions.  It is a great place to raise a family and is very contemporary.  

We were dropped off in front of the South Jordan Medical center. In years past they had heating lamps out but we were left to our own devices.  They had plenty of bathrooms, however.  We had to kill about 20 minutes before the medical center opened and in there we had clean bathrooms and heat.

The race started on time at 7:30.

Right off the bat, I realized that I had a problem.  My running shorts kept dropping down.  A lot of times I wear a canteen around my waist so it keeps my shorts in place.  But this time they were sliding down.  So every .1 of a mile, I'd shimmy them back up.  This went on for a while.  I tried to tie them but I was wearing gloves.  I probably spent the first 2 miles of the race messing around with them before I finally I had them tight. 

The first few miles I just took in stride.  I hung with the 1:55 pacer and I was okay with that.  Given my current fitness level and past times, I figured that is what I'd shoot for.

I was pretty happy with myself to hit all of my targets.  In fact, the 1:55 pacer said he was ahead of schedule. 

The course does get a little around mile 4 when you pass by the South Jordan LDS Temple.  I knew the hill was coming but it doesn't make it any easier.  Luckily after cresting that hill you are rewarded with a fairly nice down hill section.

I was still feeling pretty good at mile 6 although I could feel some fatigue settling in. While it wasn't super warm, I noticed I was working up a pretty good sweat.  Also the course was wearing down on me.  While the course is fine, it isn't super exciting.

It is primarily residential roads as well as running along the bike lanes on some of the busy thorough-faires.

There were some people out cheering.  Primarily families for other runners but none the less, it was nice to get some support and encouragement.

Aid stations, stocked with oranges, bananas, water, Gatorade and even some gel stations were placed about every mile.  I had carried a gel in my back pocket, but it turned out I didn't need it.

By mile 7 the race started to get challenging.  This was a fairly dull stretch that was just an uphill grind.  The hill wasn't serious but it was mentally taxing.  I wasn't too surprised to see my pace fall off here. 

I kept telling myself to hold on.  The 1:55 pacer and I were trading places and he informed me we were still ahead of schedule, so I was okay.  Also I knew from previous experience that miles 8 through 11 were primarily downhill.  They just couldn't come fast enough.

Finally, we turned a corner and I could tell we were now heading down hill.  I was hoping I'd have a little more energy on this part but I was gassed.  My endurance training hasn't been the best and I just sort of coasted down the gentle hill.

It was humbling to see the marathon winner (I believe who ran a 2:32) fly by me. 

It was really nice running down hill with the yellowing trees above me.  I was wishing that the final 5 miles were all like this.

Just after mile 11 we jumped onto the Jordan River Parkway and headed south.  I used to run this stretch all the time before purchasing my house.  I've also run it for many a race so I knew exactly where I was.  It was also kind of boring.  I just wanted to be done in all honesty.

And I was really hurting at this point.  While my pace was an 9:15 and 9:30, I felt like I was running 10+.  I felt like I was on mile 24 of a full marathon.

There were a couple of times I just wanted to walk, but I held on and dragged myself to the finish.

I crossed the finish in 1:55 -- just as I hoped I would!  The 1:55 pacer was about a minute or two ahead of me, so clearly he was right in his estimates.

Conclusion

I was pretty happy with my race.  I had a goal in mind and I made it.  While my time wasn't anything to get super excited about, it was what I felt capable of.

After the race I found a few people I recognized and grabbed a soda and a Fat Boy ice cream sandwich.  They had a festival like atmosphere with tons of medical support as well.  It was a beautiful day and I was more than happy to just sort of kick back and enjoy my accomplishment.

I think I paid around $50 for the race.  They had a Labor Day special for 20% off and I jumped on it.  I got a really nice experience.  The shirt was nicely designed and the medal was good too.  The South Jordan recreation center know how to put on races and this was nicely done.

For those looking for a low-key, local affair, the South Jordan 5K / Half Marathon / Marathon won't disappoint.

SoJo (South Jordan) Marathon Race Recap / Review

All smiles post race

Official Time: 4:22:50
Placement: 7th out of 10 (in age group) 112th out of 191 finishers
Results: Here
Race Website:Here
Weather: Low 40's at the start, low 70's at finish, sunny, no wind.

Mile	Time	Comments
1	9:01	Start at 5500, going nothing but down!
2	8:27	Still feeling good, rapid decline. Still too fast!
3	8:55	Downhill has stopped, keep it in check Eddie
4	9:04	Yuck, up hills begin
5	10:25	Bathroom break! 500 foot climb
6	10:28	More of a 500 foot climb
7	9:14	Done with the hills for now, back on pace
8	9:47	Another mini hill
9	8:43	Yeah flats and downhills. Latch onto the 4 hour group
10	9:00	More downhill. Easy running at this point
11	8;51	Still hanging with a group
12	9:15	Moving along. Some uphill here
13	9:18	Halfway point, starting to feel it.
14	9:21	Still with the 4 hour group
15	9:34	They are pulling ahead now
16	9:24	Not too bad of a pace
17	10:38	Near the South Jordan Temple, nasty hill.
18	9:45	Trying to recover from the hill. Nothing to look at
19	10:44	Beginning of the end
20	12:05	Only 10K left.
21	11:07	Who attached the anchor to my legs? Luckily downhill
22	11:14	Downhill
23	11:08
24	11:07	Last of the downhill. Felt like I was running in quicksand
25	12:18	No more downhill. On bike trail. Just shuffling along
26	12-something	Watched powered off. no more batteries
Total Miles: 26.20+

Introduction

In 2012, I did the South Jordan half marathon (actually their summer and fall race).  Being that I was new to Utah at the time, I really fell in love with South Jordan.  Clean area, plenty of shopping, a tech area that looked like it had plenty of jobs, etc.  However, it is one of the pricier areas and it also looks fairly homogenized and too well planned.  Also, with it growing as rapidly as it has, it looks like if you live on the west side that it is a battle to the freeway each morning.

Either way, I was looking to do a warm-up marathon of sorts before next month's Vegas.  Knowing that the folks in South Jordan put on a well-organized, small race, I opted to give this one a go.  I had a coupon that got me 10% off, so I wound up paying about $88 for the race, including service charges 2 weeks from the race start. Not a bad deal.

Packet Pickup

Packet pickup was a snap.  I drove about 4 miles from my house, went to the rec center and a few minutes later I had my shirt and bib.  It was actually a pretty nice swag bag for such a small race.  Plenty of little extras in it, including a free gym pass, which I'll definitely use.  There were no exhibitors there, just a room with some volunteers registering people and giving you your stuff.

Race Start

Since this was a local race (attended by mostly locals), I didn't need to travel very far or get a hotel.  I actually slept well and had very little pre-race anxiety.  I am not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing.  

I did get up at 4:30, ate some Life Cereal, banana and an iced tea before heading out the door.  I had to catch a bus at 6AM.  The bus took off about 10 - 15 minutes later and we arrived in Brigham City about 6:40 or so.  Brigham City looks like an old city that is in the middle of nowhere.  No gas stations, no grocery stores, just a cluster of small houses that appear to have been built in the 1950's (or earlier).  I had never been out in this direction before and it is all mining country.  

They do have a beautiful park though called Copperton City Park and that was the starting area.  The race directors had a few porta potties out there as well as some heating lamps.  I was pretty comfortable and the time before the race started went by pretty quick.  I drank a bit of water and ate a Powerbar to top off my energy stores.  The race started promptly at 7:30 just as the sun was coming up.

Milling about before the race start

View to the East from the race start

Copperton City Park

Looking west from the race start

The Race

I really didn't have any objectives for this race.  I figured if I was lucky, I could finish in sub 4:15.  "A" race was 4 hours, "B" race was sub 4:15 and "C" was sub 4:30.  

A good portion of the race is downhill.  The race boasts a net downhill of about 1000 feet.  Sounds good right?  Well, there is also one climb of 500 feet early in the race and in the middle miles there are some hills too.  So this course is NOT flat.  You can see the race profile here. Just click on a mile marker to get the elevation chart to come up.

It was very hard to maintain a consistent pace in the early miles.  I went with the downhills and just rolled along as best as I could.  Around mile 5 I had the urgent need to pee and I jumped in a porta potta (the weeds along the side of the road were looking pretty good up to that point).  Took forever to empty my bladder.

The early miles of the race

Mining area

Early miles of the race

The first 10 miles or so are actually the best part of the race.  Just a whole lot of nothingness and it is all downhill.  I found it very pretty and enjoyable.  Despite having lived here for over 2 years I haven't explored this part of town.  It was a beautiful stretch of area from Brigham City to the outskirts of Herriman.

Once we got past 10 miles though, it changed to more city street running.  The race officials had done a terrific job of protecting us and having plenty of traffic control.  I never worried about the Saturday traffic.

Surprisingly, I caught up to the 4 hour pace group and managed to latch onto them.  I know that was aggressive but there were over half a dozen of them (this was a small race, only about 200 full marathoners) and I wound up hanging with them until mile 14 or 15.  If I had been with them, I probably would've run the majority of the race solo.

Things started to go sour though when I hit the Jordan River Temple.  There is a ghastly hill that you have to ascend to get by it and it just sucked the energy out of me. It is only about 100 feet of a climb, but it seems to be a lot more.

The remaining 10 miles of the race aren't terribly exciting.  Mostly residential areas and some scattered horse pastures.  

Crowd support is pretty minimal as well, mostly consisting of locals cheering on a family member.  If you are looking for rock bands or huge cheering sections, you won't find it except at the finish line.

The race also had done a fantastic job at organizing the water stops.  There were 3 in the final 3 miles -- much needed.  Most stops had gels so I only had to use one of my own.  

The weather was in the low 40's and near the end I was baking in the sun.  I had run with a Fuel Belt and had gone through 28 ounces of Powerade and was double drinking at each of the water stops after the half way point.  That may have been part of my downfall is that I wasn't getting enough fluids.

The race became a slog to the finish after mile 20.  Blame it on going out too fast or being under trained.  Despite having some fantastic training runs, today wasn't "my" day.  I think I would've done worse had not the last few miles been downhill.

Conclusion

I can't bend my right leg. Everything hurts

I crossed the finish line in 4:22:50.  I wasn't terribly thrilled with my time, but it was my 13th marathon and I good indicator of where my fitness lies and what I need to work on.  Plus a finish is a finish.  

My achilles was sore in the early miles and my right knee was bothersome (I think the downhills but some pressure on it) and my calf would occasionally give me problems too, but overall I was able to finish without significant damage.

The medal was pretty sweet too.  It is pretty heavy and high quality:

I walked around a little and grabbed a water and Doctor Pepper. Since my last two miles had almost been at a walk anyways, I found a place to sit in the shade and just waited for my stomach to settle.  

The post race food was pretty basic and a little disappointing:  Chik-Filet sandwiches, bananas, ice cream sandwiches, oranges and Dr Pepper.  They did have a lot of exhibitors though and activities for kids, including rock climbing.  

When I had finished, there were plenty of post race goodies but most of the people looked like they had already left, so it was a bit anti-climatic.  

The finish line

Afterwards I hit up Cafe Rio and normally I can pound one of their burritos and be hankering for another.  However, my stomach was pretty upset and I only managed to get about a 3/4ths of it down.  I did suck down 3 Vanilla Cokes though, which was heavenly.

I came home and did what the pros do after a marathon: ice bath time!  It seemed to help but to be honest I couldn't get it cold enough.  

I was also treated to some solid calf and foot cramps.  Luckily I had pickle juice on hand and managed to get about a cup of that down and sure enough the cramping subsiding.

Later that night, Shari and I found some Groupon.com coupons for Golden Corral so we hit up that.  My appetite still wasn't 100% but it was good to eat a lot.

Final Thoughts

I would definitely do this race again.  It is local and reasonably priced.  It is only about 15 minutes from my house and it is a high-quality event.  That being said, if you are researching this race and wondering if you should travel to it, I'd probably say no.  There are other races in Utah that offer fantastic views or something to get excited about in terms of scenery and ambiance.  However, if you need to get Utah off your states list and this fits your plans, by all means you won't be disappointed.