Traveling to Korea May 5-18, 2024, for the first time in a year and a half to see family and knowing this meant I would take a couple of weeks off running, I decided to return to New Bern, North Carolina, the day before departure to squeeze in a half marathon at the Neuse River Bridge Run to justify the rest. As usual, I signed up the night before and made my extensive drive from Raleigh to the race site the morning of. I ran this exact course two years back and performed strongly, except the temperature would be up about twenty degrees, into the 70s, this time; thus, I did not have in mind to run fast.

PC: Neuse River Bridge Run

Nevertheless, I may have overpaced the first four and a half miles of up and down and up and down the beautiful bridge portion, not fully visible due to the heavy fog, for the 100% humidity I did not anticipate. As I was running back up the bridge 2.5 miles in, I had already begun sweating profusely and feeling the suffocation. By 6 miles, I knew I was staring at another embarrassing time in the half marathon. Closer to 8 or 9 miles, I decided to include here and there a short walking break of mostly no more than a tenth of a mile then resume running. With the course stretching exactly a quarter of a mile from 13.1 on my COROS, my last push became longer than I predicted, but I still visualized running as hard as I could all the way to the finish line. This plan was thwarted when about a mile to go I began to feel nauseous, vomiting slightly, then extensively a couple of minutes later with a few people looking and my saying, “I apologize for that,” then extensively again ten seconds later as I picked up the pace. The final two tenths of a mile, while holding my stomach and hoping dearly I would not embarrass myself in front of hundreds of spectators, I garnered whatever energy I had left and ran as fast as I could, passing many and crossing the finish line in 2:11:27.42, with my watch reading 13.35 miles. Continuing to feel nauseous for some time, I was not able to truly enjoy the post-race festivities. With the temperature rapidly rising, already hitting the 90s multiple days, I understand I likely will not have a chance to redeem myself or run fast in any distance for several months, but never say never.