On Sunday morning, Scott and I awoke at 5 AM and began preparations, getting dressed and affixing the chip to running shoes. For Labor Day at Virginia Beach, I used SPF 50 -- I'm a long way now from the Artic Circle near where my ancestors grew up and I have great respect for the meaningless deadliness of sun cancer (which is a more appropriately desciptive reference than skin cancer). We had a quick and light breakfast which as I have found typical of these runs, is always overpriced and barely adequate -- best to buy a bagel the night before. We arrived at the starting point in front of the Pavilion well before 7 AM, found our 5th corral (2 hour pace) and warmed up, stretching our extremities and joints.

The 'race' officially began at 7 AM with the start for the elite runners. The organizers had recruited top Russian and African (particularly Kenyan) runners to compete for the purse. Some of these individuals had bodies with very developed legs and vestigial upper bodies -- perhaps the purpose of the upper body is largely to ride around on the legs. The Kenyans were described by some as having upper body dimensions comparable to an average 10 year old but they are magnificant runners! Virginia Beach at the cusp of August-September can be very hot so an earlier start was certainly wise. The course was protected for participants for at least 4 hours which would allow ANYONE who could maintain an average of 3.275 mph to finish.

I had switched down to the 5th corral for Scott who had never gone this great a distance before. We got past the starting gate within 5 minutes and I heard the high frequency squeal of the sensors reading the chips as we crossed the mat. At first, it seemed effortless as we flowed through the 13.1 mile sluice in a river of people. Generally, I found my fellow participants friendly and conversant and people displayed good natured humor as we ran. Though it did not quite match the congeniality of the '3 to 5 hour crowd' in a full marathon, this was a fun social experience.

This being a Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon, the organizers had arranged for 14 or so stages along the way on which up to 20 different rock 'n roll, reggae, and blues ensembles were playing. This made for a new sound rounghly every mile. Contrary to my expectations, nobody stopped at the bandstands to rest and listen during the run. Nonetheless, the beat of the music gave me a surge of epinephrine about once every mile. The "14 squads of energetic, teenaged cheerleaders' competing for prizes and money was a conceptual stroke of genius. Like the bandstands, these girls were distributed along the course and frankly, had the same effect as having enthusiastic crowd support.

The race followed a beautiful course. Starting in front of the Pavillion, it led through the city and then by surburan housing and a golf course on wooded streets, along the marina, then back into the city again, and finally along the board walk. Those last few miles were between a long row of tall, new hotel builings and the sandy beaches of the Atlantic shore. Though I drove through rain coming up from North Carolina, the run took place under a clear, blue sky. I would estimate the temperature was in the sixties at 7 AM and fortunately, much of the course was shaded by trees. The temperature rose by the minute however, reaching toward the ninties by 11 AM. For the slower runners who generally had limited physical conditioning and heat tolerance, this made each mile harder than the last. Scott had never run such a distance before. As a jockey drawing in the reins on a racehorse, he and I had agreed to not run ourselves out too early. We ran continuously except for intermittently walking thirty seconds while downing water or Poweraide at water stations every two to four miles. for the last three miles, we sped up progressively. Finally in the homestretch, Scott pushed to the brink. Apparently, a few went beyond the brink somewhat. We came across a volunteer who was 'splitting the herd' to protect a down runner. As we drew closer, we saw a well-fed gentleman lying on the ground in a collapsed posture. Paramedics were in attendance, preparing to carry him out of the path of other runners. The mild obesity of the man who had overestimated himself and pushed too hard was contrasted to the lean face and physical habitus of a dedicated runner. I learned from another Rocky Mount participant that several others were observed down on the course. Nonetheless, I heard of no mortalities and it appeared to me that the event had excellent support in terms of medical services for the relatively few among 15,000 contestants who needed them. Furthermore, the police and volunteers provided excellent protection of the course and the runners. I made a point to thank them whenever I had a chance. Most of the roads on the course were closed to traffic and completely devoted to the race that Sunday morning. Nonetheless, I never felt annoyance or impatience from drivers as I have in other long distance events.

Finally, we connected with the rest of our tribe who had actually missed our finishing of the race, misjudging the distance to walk from the hotel. As we were making our way up the boardwalk, I spotted two Elvis Presleys and had my picture taken with them. We ate brunch at one of the beach front hotels -- I would have enjoyed just about any food by that point. After lunch, we did an hour long, $35 surrey ride for in which the short distance from the seat to the pedals caused my fatigued right leg to cramp up -- I ended up running behind the surrey pushing it along like a reverse rickshaw.

Then Scott and sister Erika and I each did the 'Power Trampoline", 'jumping' as high as 30 feet on bungie lines suspended from a boom.

I did about 3 forward double turns interspersed with 3 backwards double turns. Despite the symmetry in the stimulus, I experienced significant dizziness and stopped at that so I would not lose my brunch.

Finally, we went back to the hotel so Scott and I could take turns in the shower, put on dry clothes and rest.

That night, we walked down the main street parallel to the 3 mile long boardwalk. It seemed to me that there were more than a few low life types in this part of Virginia Beach, -- twenty somethings whose lives seem defined by tatoos, alcohol, tobacco, and loud-mouthed obscenity. I was annoyed at the vulgarity of some of these individuals with no style, no substance, no apparent ambition and no class, distinguishing themselves only by booming with trash talk before the women and children of families who happened to be passing by. So what does one do? Clearly, such people are best ignored as they probably have little to lose and I have nothing to gain by engagement or confrontation.

By and by, we arrived at the Counting Crows concert down where the race had ended earlier that morning. We were back about 1/2 mile from the stage and our direct view of the stage was blocked by the speaker/control tower. Fortunately, the enormous video monitor next to the stage was easily visible and it showed much more close-up detail than one could have by naked eye. The music was easily audible given the 'power of the tower' with all those immense speakers. It was a young but tame crowd, mostly of runners and theri families it appeared. Some were drinking beer in plastic bottles which struck me as an idea whose time had come. We stayed until the concert was finished. I was not into Counting Crows before but I enjoyed their show very much. After the concert, we went looking for late dinner. Several restaurants turned us away at the door apologizing that they had nearly run out of food (and they seemed to be upset with themselves). One restauranteur with whom we spoke stated that they thought there were going to be 1500 runners in the race and learned that it was actually 15,000 after it was too late to get supplies. Finally, we found a seafood restaurant with a buffet that could accomodate us -- good thing, eh? By midnight, we went back and crashed at the hotel for the night.

In conclusion, I found the 2001 (first ever!) Virginia Beach Half Marathon was a really fun experience. It was well organized and user friendly, it was a warm but flat run over a beautiful course -- a feast for the eyes. The cheerleaders were a fun touch and I really enjoyed the live music at all those bandstands. Usually I just play music (or make up songs of my own) in my head when I run, getting so sweaty that earphones would be a hassel. Having that bass-drum kick at times on this long run was a real rush. It was a good idea to have this half marathon during the American Music Festival so the whole beach front was rocking with bands for the three days around the race. I think the treats for runners at the end of the race could have been a bit more fancy and more of the restauranteurs should have planned for the crowds expected -- don't they read the papers at least? Nonetheless, I am glad I ran it and I would do it again without hesitation. Even for those who cannot do such a distance quickly, it would be fun to jog from bandstand to bandstand and rest while listening to some music. I recommend it to anyone who wants to do more in this existence and to do more with style.