Last Saturday, I participated in the 2008 Team Ortho Monster races in Minneapolis. Distances this year included the half marathon, a new 10 miler, a 5K and a 5K-K9.

I picked the half marathon as a nice follow-up to TCM. The weather was great and the size of the field (1200) made for an uncrowded morning. Until the end, that is. The race starts were staggered, but it seemed like everyone finished at the same time. The line for water and food afterward was dangerously long – glad no one passed out.

I also encountered lines at Marathon Sports on Friday during packet pick-up and the organizers ran out of hats, which they said will be mailed. A friend of mine said there were issues with shirt availability on Thursday too, which seems weird for a group that has been doing this for quite a while.

This was my first time running this 13.1-mile course, which started and finished near the Lake Harriet band shell. The course wrapped around both Harriet and Calhoun, with an out-and-back stretch along Minnehaha Creek thrown in between. Several sections of the TCM course were covered, although often in the opposite direction. Very nice layout overall that helped me set a new half marathon PR with a chip time of 1:51:20 (8:30 pace).

Next up: the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando – 6 a.m. on January 11, 2009.