3M -A Guaranteed Good Time (in both senses of the word)

One of the fastest half marathons in Texas has got to be the 3M 1/2 marathon, right here, in beautiful Austin Texas. It might even be the fastest in all of the US! Maybe in all the WORLD! Ok, so you get the picture...it's fast. I think it is one of the best confidence booster you can get with trainers strapped to your feet and a number pinned to your shirt. Almost everyone I know hits the road at this race and finds their half PR. I'm not as good as Kent in describing, mile by mile play back but I will do my best.
Firstly, what everyone looks forward to is the schwag. You get a schwag bag stuffed...no..bulging with 3M products. Everything from bandaids to glue to post its...lots of post its....are stuffed into the bag. After everyone gets their bags there is lots of swapping and tossing. Most of my items ended up in my junk drawer but I did take some of the post-its to work.
Race day normally dawns cold and clear and this year was no exception. There were about 7,000 people but there were no problems with Porto-potty lines or lines to drop off drop bags. My friends and I had a designated meeting spot which was about 100 ft from the start of the race. I found them, quickly, and we took off for a quick 2 mile warm up. Soon, after that, it was time for the Anthem and for Austin's own Evil to send everyone on their way.
Now, here is where I have to stop and point out the only real beef I have with the 3M Half Marathon. 3M hosts a total of near 3,200 thousand runners. With this many runners, I think they should have signs pointing out different time goals, like at a marathon, so that runners can seed themselves. The reason I say this is because, my friends and I were planning on running marathon goal pace avg’ing 7:25 min miles. So, we inched our way fwd till we were about 25 ft from the start. Not wanting to get to close and in the way of faster runners. Well, I wish everyone had been so thoughtful, we spent the first two miles trying to fight our way through runners going no faster than 11 min miles and even some walkers out for a half marathon stroll. We were off our time goal by a min for both those first two miles.
After the initial 2 mile traffic jam the course cleared and we were able to hold pace with no problem. The course, is known for being fast. It starts at 892 feet above sea level and finishes at 557 feet above sea level. You wind your way down through Austin neighborhoods and through some of the local business districts. It goes from quaintly-cute to eclectic and unique as only Austin can. Bonus on top of the interesting scenery, with a strong tail wind and some nice down hills almost anyone racing this year, was guaranteed a PR.

In addition to the interesting backdrop and the great course conditions we also had terrific course support. As ever, Austin crowds were present at every street corner, coffee and dogs in hand, cheering on the runners. It’s always nice to have someone telling you your doing a good job, even if you don’t know em. The water stops were well placed with plenty of volunteers handing out water and Gatorade. “Thanks be for volunteers”!

The end of the race is the best part. You have a 300 meters or so straight and downhill. If you ever wanted to “finish strong” this is the race to do it.

After the race, you are given a finishers medal and a cold bottle of water. There are bands to enjoy and food to be eaten. I didn’t stick around for the after party but I heard there were bananas and bagels of all kinds, not to mention, fun and games for the kids.

You have to plan ahead, though, because the race is a point to point, so you should be ready to either share a ride back to your car or take the bus. I’ve never taken the bus but I hear they run pretty regularly and they are pretty convenient. Also, picking my personal belongings, from the baggage reclaim, provided me with all my items in hand and no extra sweatshirts or, worse, missing items.
At the end of the day and the end of the race, I have to say that the Austin 3M Half marathon is a “must run" for serious and not so serious runners alike.