A couple of weeks ago, I ran the Shamrock‘n Half Marathon here in Sacramento. It’s been a while since I did a half marathon (the last one was the Urban Cow Half Marathon in 2023), and I am so glad I decided – on a whim – earlier this year to sign up.
The race start and finish line were at Sutter Health Park, home of our minor league baseball team (Sacramento River Cats) and the temporary home of the (former) Oakland Athletics (who will be moving to Las Vegas).
Having a race start and end at a ballpark has the perks of real restrooms and plenty of parking. I got a good night’s sleep the night before and was up at 5:30 am to get ready. Race start was at 7:45 am, but I wanted to be there early so as not to feel rushed.
I hadn’t run a race in a while, and I was a little nervous beforehand (I always am, even though I know that there is nothing to be nervous about. You show up and give your best. That’s it! That’s all we can do.) Still, it’s hard not to have expectations.
Runners tend to set A, B, and C goals for their races (The A goal is the “shoot-for-the-moon” goal that is possible on a perfect day, the B goal is the realistic accomplishment based on your relevant fitness and what you believe you should be able to accomplish, and the C goal would leave you satisfied, knowing you gave your best effort.)
My goals were:
- A – hang on to the pacer and finish in 1:50
- B – beat my PR of 1:53:09
- C – run a sub-2
and as always
- D – just finish and have fun
The race was organized in three waves based on estimated finish time:
- Wave 1 (7:45 am start): Under 2:00 finish time
- Wave 2 (7:55 am start): 2:00 – 2:29 finish time
- Wave 3 (8:05 am start): 2:30+ finish time
I signed up for Wave 1 and had plans to stick with the 1:50 pacer. I wasn’t sure if that was reasonable based on my half marathon training pace, but I thought I’d try.
After warming up and using the restrooms (not once, but twice), I went to the start line and found the pace group. We got off to a relatively good start and there was a decent group of people gathering around. I felt pretty good but could tell that the pacer started out a little hot, about 10-20 seconds faster than pace target in the first few miles. I am not sure if the person was inexperienced or if they had some sort of strategy (positive splits?) that they didn’t share with the group but after a few miles I decided to hang back and run my own pace. I didn’t want to be pulled into a race that I couldn’t sustain.
I was running this race by myself, but I used the Adidas Running (formerly Runtastic) app again during the race, so that my family and Tanja could track me. The cool thing about the Adidas Running App is that people who follow you can send “cheers” (like “applause”, “Go, go, go”, or acoustic “La Ola waves”) and even short personal “voice messages” during live events. My dad, mom, sister and Tanja also have the app and were able to follow my race from afar, sending cheers at regular intervals throughout my run. It was so motivating to have them “in my pocket” and I think I had a huge smile on my face every time a cheer came through!
I finished slightly behind the pace group and missed the 1:50 finish, but I did beat my previous PR! I finished in 1:51:04, and I was absolutely stoked. I felt good, the weather was perfect (mid-60s), and my training once again delivered me to the finish line with time to spare!
I prepared for the race with a training plan from Team Wilpers, and my predicted half marathon pace was 8:34 min/mi, and I exceeded that. I also barely missed an award in my brand-new age group by 9 (!) seconds. I placed 4th out of 115 female runners in my age group. Not too shabby.
And isn’t this a beautiful medal?
My Garmin splits:
Here are some overall thoughts on the race organization:
Registration and Packet Pick Up
I was able to register online and they offered multiple-days for race packet pickup at Fleet Feet, or early morning race day pick-up.
Race-course
The course is nice and mostly flat and very similar to the Urban Cow race course, the difference being that the Shamrock’n Half starts and ends at the Baseball Stadium in West Sacramento (not in Land Park)). However, the actual course is pretty much the same. We ran over the Tower Bridge with a small loop through Old Town, then headed south towards the Land Park neighborhood, a loop through landpark and then back towards Downtown on the Sacramento River Bike trail. There were enough aid/water stations (every two miles) and they were adequately staffed with volunteers who offered both Tailwind electrolytes and water.
Finish line and Post Race Amenities
The finish line was INSIDE the baseball stadium, which was really a cool way to end the race. Right behind the finish line, you were able to pick up your medal and water. They also offered a free post-race beer, a sandwich and a snack bag (with chips, a protein bar, and nuts).
Results
The results were up instantly and there was a little tent with iPads set up, where you could check your official finish time.
Photography
The race photographers did a great job getting pictures at multiple locations. The photos were available to look at online within 48 hours and they were available for FREE! Big bonus points!
Here are a couple from the race.
The race is small-ish (4000+ runners this year) but it’s well-organized and I’d run again in a heartbeat. I really don’t know why I haven’t participated before. It was really fun and since it’s local, it’s nice to just roll out of bed and get to the start line in 15 minutes
The registration fee was appropriate ($116 — I registered late) for all the perks (microfiber race shirt, post-race beer + sandwich, awesome finisher medal, age group awards, time tracking and free race photos and a free ticket to a Rivercats Baseball Game, and a couple of other discount offers!). The course was really fun to run – flat and (somewhat) scenic, and there were plenty of spectators along the way.
This was my 10th official half marathon. I started my running “career“ kind of late, in my late thirties, and I wish I had found my love for running sooner, but I am still thrilled with what I have been able to accomplish in the last 10+ years. They always say that you’ll lose speed as you age, but I must not have hit my peak yet because I’ve been able to consistently improve my race times and have run both my half marathon and marathon PRs in the last 1.5 years.
Not ready to give up yet!
