As March approached, she felt she was in better shape than before her 1:22:08 Half Marathon the previous fall. When she felt herself getting strong again, she decided to make Syracuse her goal Half for the spring. A hip/glute flare-up later in the fall encouraged her to back off on her training. By summer her racing legs were coming back and she jumped into her hometown of Pittsburgh's Liberty Mile, clocking 5:13 and winning the Masters Division. She took time off from racing during the pregnancy but did not stop running. But Baage, Bayly, Bigham, and Hruska had especially good days! What I did not know pre-race was that Bigham was on the comeback trail after giving birth to her 4th kiddo in February 2021. It is often hard to know who is going to be up and who is going to be down at a given race. Jennifer Bigham Pittsburgh PA, Jessica Hruska Dubuque, IA and Carly Shea Lewisburg PA cannot be overlooked." Enman did not make it to the race after all, but the others had excellent races. WOMEN In my preview I wrote: " The primary contenders appear to be Silvia Bagge Rockville MD, Fiona Bayly New York NY, Abby Dean Wilmington DE, Kasie Enman Huntington VT, McCoubrie, and Lisa Veneziano Fenton MI. OVERALL MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS (Awards based on gun time) This race enjoyed an entry list of 210 athletes! Talk about smashing a record! The largest gathering of athletes for a USATF Masters Half Marathon Championship had been 120, set in 2018 at the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run, organized by Masters LDR Hall of Famer Doug Goodhue, almost as good at organizing races as winning National Championships. But a record was set before the race began. It was not a course conducive to record setting. It is a great challenge that Masters athletes looked forward to. Strava reported it as 487 feet of elevation gain. The course is even hillier than the 5 km in Atlanta. This would be the first truly long distance race of the season. The first road championships of the season were held in Atlanta GA over 5 km. Club Cross Championship at Tallahassee FL and the USATF Cross Country Championships in San Diego were both on the turf at distances ranging from 6 km to 10 km. This was the 4th Championship on the USATF Masters National Grand Prix circuit. Most importantly you walked up the stairs, out the door in front of you and the starting line (which was also the finish line) was 100 yards to your left-very nice, especially if the conditions had been a bit harsher. They could leave gear then when warming up, and there were water bottles for pre-race hydration. Inside and downstairs was a large room devoted to the Masters Championship athletes. The staging area is the On Convention Center. The host of the race, the Leone Timing Company, does a great job of organizing the race to be super runner-friendly. Runners noticed it when in open areas, especially if it would gust.
It would have been almost perfect except for the wind which was 16-17 mph. The race itself had temperatures in the low 40's under cloudy skies. Runners did their pre-race warm-ups under cloudy skies or, at worst, occasional light rain. MaSunday, March 20th set up as a good day for a Half Marathon Championship race in Syracuse NY.
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