Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon Race Report by Fifty States HALF Marathon Club member George Pugh(George is scheduled to finish his 50 States Challenge (plus DC) with Fifty States HALF Marathon Club www.halfmarathonclub.com in Alaska this June!!!)
5/5/2012 Hot, hot, hot at the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cinco de Mayo brought about a 70 degree start at 7:30, a twenty minute walk to the start line from Corral "P", and a wind-less downtown run that left me being smoked physically by Mile 2. I was determined to complete this half marathon, but knew in my early drenched condition, walking a lot was going to be the only way I'd make it. All that being said, everything I came to Indianapolis for came to fruition when around the 10K mark, we approached and then entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, wound our way to the actual track surface, and continued for one lap around the track including a brief stop at the brick finish line (I didn't kiss it like many people did, but I did reach down and touch it). After that thrill, it was another 5-mile walk-run struggle to get to the finish at 2:41:59. I highly recommend running this well managed race, if for no other reason than to run on the Indy 500 racetrack!
