Congratulations John!

The two of us before the race

My fantastic husband John finished his first half marathon at the Clarksburg Country Run on Sunday. He has been running longer than I have, but just started running regularly late last year. He has been sweet enough to accompany me on a few of my medium long runs this fall (including a 15 miler a month or so back), even though he wasn't training for a race himself.

John and I decided to do the Rome Marathon next March, so he had planned to do the Davis Stampede in February. After a weekend trail race he wanted to do filled up before he signed up, John decided to run Clarksburg on Thursday. Three days before the race!

All smiles before the race.

Of course, John runs a few times a week, placed in his last 5k, and is generally a fantastic athlete. But signing up for a half marathon on a whim is always a gamble. Knowing this, John set his sites low: finish under 2 hours.

I was thinking about John and his race during my 20 mile race, which started 25 minutes before his. I knew he would do well. After I crossed the finish line, I found out that he did better than well.

John, the overachiever, finished his first half marathon, without specifically training, in 1:43:08! That is a full 8 seconds faster than my PR! I'm so happy for him, and happy that now if I want to set a new PR, I just have to ask John to pace me.

Of course, I have to include a photo of what John looked like after the race: