Securian Frozen Half Marathon

Here is my delayed review of the 2010 Securian Frozen Half Marathon.

For those of you who are not from Minnesota: Frozen Half Marathon is one of the activities of the St.Paul Winter Carnival. This year it was run for the 25th time on January 23rd. I ran it for the first time.

Frozen Half, as the name implies, is famous for being a cold weather race. Last year, for example, the runners started at -9F. To protect the runners and the volunteers, the race committee reduced the distance to a quarter marathon (6.55 miles). This year, it was a toasty 32F at start, but still the forecast of rain and slickness of the road lingered in the minds of the runners. Fortunately, neither happened.

The pre-race organization is split between two Securian buildings in Downtown St.Paul. The buildings are connected through Skyway, so you can walk around without being exposed to cold. The number pick-up was quick and painless. I actually went unnecessarily early, to avoid the line, but apparently there weren't any lines. I took the bus from Minneapolis and didn't have a support team I could leave my coat with, so the free coat check came in handy.

(Here is a fun story: Shortly after checking my coat in I realized that I forgot my gloves in my pocket. The nice lady at the counter gave me my coat back and I got my gloves and rechecked it. Then, I realized that I forgot my two gel packs, which were my only fuel for the race! I felt too embarrassed to go back to the coat check, so I just ended up running the half marathon on a mocha I purchased from Caribou.)

The start of the race is followed by a very steep down slope. Probably all everyone could think at the moment was "No ice, no ice, please no ice!!!". Nobody wants to fall down in front of a few hundred charging runners.

After mile 1 pacing became a big problem, because there aren't any mile markers until mile 8. So, unless you are in a pacing group, you are on your own. If you are running the course for the first time, it makes things pretty hard. "Where am I now? What pace am I running? Where is the water stop?"

The water stop, situated somewhere around mile 4 (and the same stop around mile 9 on the way back), only handed out water. Electrolyte loss might not be as bad as a summer run, but I think a sports drink would have been nice, at least on the way back.

Around mile 9, I was pretty depleted, from hunger and starting faster than I should have, so I switched to walk-run and finished the course in around 2:19.

After the race we were given some snacks, our large commemorative mugs (which I love by the way!) and water, in tiny tiny cups! I do understand not handing out water bottles, but couldn't they get bigger cups? I had to drink about 12 of those to quench my thirst.

All in all Frozen Half Marathon is a fun event. It is a challenge, but not as bad as it sounds (unless it is -9F!). I hope they will fix some of these major problems next year. And if you don't feel like a 13 miler, there is always the 5K.