Delaware HALF Marathon

Despite having been pissed about the marathon cancellation, I ran the half marathon today. Very quickly I understood why they couldn't have merely had the marathoners do the course twice. Far too many points along the course were too narrow to accommodate the extra traffic, especially with marathoners who would want/need to pass the half-marathoners who were taking up the rear of the half while the mid-pack was on the return already. And there was no viable turnaround point at the half-way mark.

Did pretty well -- 1:31:28. 25th overall, 3rd for age group. Early on, I managed (briefly) to get out in front of one lady whose running gait was rather distracting (her feet were splayed to the outside, though her stride itself was fine), but couldn't manage to stay in front of her. Instead, she wound up being about 50-100 feet in front of me for the vast majority of the race. While there were no pacers on the course, her pace was so consistent (and what I was looking to run), I basically used her as the rabbit to chase. Worked quite well; I thanked her after we crossed the finish line and complimented her on her consistent pace getting me through.

So, the decision I need to make now is where to donate the medal for the full marathon. I was handed it when picking up my bib. And it's just not right to keep it, IMO. At first, I had declined the half marathon medal given I had been handed the medal for the full at registration, but then rethought that decision. Take the medal for the race I completed, and donate the one for the race that never happened. After all, they can't exactly re-use them.

So, where would you donate the extra medal? (Even more helpful if it is a Northern Virginia organization.)

(So far, I've found Medals4Mettle.org and WeFinishTogether.org)