Danbury, CT Half Marathon race report- April 2016

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Danbury, CT Half Marathon Race Report

By Barefoot Gentile


I figured I would get a jump start on the spring season and celebrate with a spring half marathon, what a weather surprise this was! Before I get into the weather I signed up 3 weeks before the race and really didn’t put the training in like I normally would. I run consistently 3 or 4 times a week and really don’t go past a 8 miler. I will run a 6 or 7 miler on the weekends and that’s the extent of my so-called “long” run. So three weeks out I ran a 9 miler which was a horrible run, little did I know I had a stomach virus and this basically stayed with me for 5 days. After I snapping out of that I got a 8 miler in a week before the race and felt ready to go. I came in at time of 1:53:00 which I was happy with, especially given this course was very hilly and the weather factor as well.

So the weather, basically it was snowing pretty hard when I woke up at 7am and the temps dropped to 32 degrees F, so much for spring-like weather. The race started at 9:15am, the snow stopped but temperatures stayed the same and the winds were picking up. Winds got up to 30 mph at some points. So there I am sitting in my car contemplating on whether to wear footwear for this, in the 6.5 years running barefoot I have yet to run a half in footwear. I brought my pair of Vibrams El-X which are too tight to begin with and the main purpose was just to wear around during the start, then I would discard them, I never wear these and can’t stand running in Vibrams. But came to my senses and scratched that idea, it was barefoot or bust. I waited until 5 minutes before start time and made my way to the start line. I always get looks but you should have seen the looks today! Some of which were horror, you’re an idiot, and what’s wrong with this dude! That was my impression at least. The course was a tough one, actually the most challenging half I have run so far. Very hilly and lots of choppy roads, chip-n-seal, not the most barefoot friendly course and mix that with the low temps,snow/rain, it humbly tested my barefoot skills.
 
My name is Adam Gentile I live in Fairfield, CT. I have always lived an active lifestyle, I took my first barefoot run on Sept. 15th 2009, and never looked back. I started running barefoot out of pure curiosity and I loved everything about it...
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Awesome! It CAN be done!
 
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