PC: Mayberry Half Marathon

For the past month or two, my speed noticeably increased, and I would have to go back many years to find this level of consistency; consequently, to put this to the test, I was eager to participate in the Mayberry Half Marathon in Mount Airy, North Carolina, for the third time, on November 8, 2025. However, the weather irritatingly decided to turn on this one day, with the feels-like temperature forecast to reach nearly 70 degrees, and I almost did not sign up until reasoning with myself I would regret more if I let this opportunity go. I woke up just before 4:00 AM and drove to the race venue over two hours away, and, seeing the unanticipated dense fog that made driving inconvenient and lasted through the first several miles of the event, I knew I was dealing with nearly 100% humidity in addition to the temperature spike.

I trusted my fitness and enthusiastically started out fast and clocked 8:10 for the first mile. For the majority of the race, my pace did not fluctuate too wildly. Suddenly, with four miles to go, my body felt much heavier and slowed drastically, and I attribute this partly to the weather. The short inclines here and there near the end became more challenging than I had anticipated. My focus shifted solely to running the entire way, no longer caring about my pace, and I had to continue to search for positive thoughts to keep going. I expected to run significantly faster than 1:58:07.7 (gun time), but I was relieved to at least score another comfortable sub-two-hour finish.

Memorably, a high-school girl with an inhaler ran in front of me for the first four miles. After she waved at her family, she suddenly had an asthma attack, and I was caught off guard and reacted, “Oh, no.” I was concerned for her, until I saw her not too far behind me at the 7-mile turnaround. After she finished (her first half marathon!), I checked up on her, and we congratulated each other. On my way back to the shuttle, she came over to say good job again, and I gave her a hug and chatted with her family and friends. I also at the starting line ran into the race director of the Danville Half Marathon, a race I’ve completed four times including just three weeks ago, and we cheered one another on throughout. This is what I love about the running community and continues to have me register for races nonstop.