Flying Pirate Half Marathon Mud Run

On this past Sunday (4/22), I ran my second half marathon, the Flying Pirate Half in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was a race I will remember. I did an earlier post on this race and, after having run the Shamrock Half last month, I was confident in my ability to finish the race. But, as they say, you can't control the weather.

We went down to the Outer Banks the day before for my daughter's lacrosse game and stayed the night at the First Colony Inn, which I would recommend. Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day, sunny with temperatures in the 70's. However, the forecast for Sunday was much more dire. I had been watching closely for the past week and it consistently called for thundershowers. Indeed, as it turned out, Sunday was the first day of a Nor'easter. I had not run in the rain before, but figured that I could do it unless there was lightning. At race time, we had a light rain, but no wind. Off we went.

The first part of the race was downhill and then levelled out. The light rain made the run cool and pleasant. My pace was averaging around 10:00m/m, which pleased me. The rain began to pickup as we got to Mile 6. As we ran along the Sound, you could not help but note the "buzzing" of the high voltage power lines running along the street. My friend from Duck later told me that it is caused by the heavy salt content in the air. That would freak me out if I lived there. Despite the rain, many of the Kitty Hawk residents came out to cheer us on. That's one of the great things about running a race.

As the turned away from the Sound, we caught sight of the Wright Brothers Memorial atop a significant hill. My first thought was "I hope we don't have to run up that hill." Fortunately, our run was around the base of the hill. At about Mile 8.5, we departed the paved road and began our ascent of the trail. Normally, I like trail running, because it is more forgiving than pavement. Unfortunately, the rain had turned the trail into mud and puddles. About the same time, the rain got harder and harder still. After a certain point, I stopped worrying about avoiding puddles, since my shoes were already soaked.

The last couple of miles of the course is a series of up and down hills. I had been warned about these hills, but I figured, "it's the beach, how bad can they be?" Let me tell you, some of the hills were a 45 degree grade and they kept coming. Finally, I saw the banner for Mile 13. Only 0.1 miles left to the finish. Perhaps the longest 0.1 mile I have ever run. As I crossed the finish line, I was gratified to see my friend, Nancy, who was working as a volunteer. What a race. My official time: 2:16:57, a PR for me.

Flying Pirate was a more challenging half than Shamrock, both because of the weather and the terrain. It showed me that not all half marathons are the same. In retrospect, I enjoyed the race despite the rain, the mud and the hills. I hope to run it again......hopefully when it's dry.