Over the past couple years, I had heard about the Holy Half. Any reason is a good reason to go to Notre Dame. The fact that the race was the same day as the Blue-Gold game made it an even easier decision. 🙂
Going into the race, I knew that the last couple miles were going to be tight. This was because the race had a three hour time limit. But I thought I could make it happen.
While running into the sun was a challenge (especially along the lake) during the first loop, we made it happen. When we didn’t see an aide station after coming out into the buildings (about 1.5 – 1.75), I should have realized there could be an issue. Instead I focused on keeping pace, and we eventually made it to the first aide station at about 3.5 miles. The next clue that some could go wrong should have been that we hit two more aide stations within about a mile.
The aide station that we hit at about 4.5 miles was the last one of the loop. But we didn’t know that until going through the 10K mark without seeing anything else.
Between hills (at about mile 5.25) and not having any water for more than an hour, dehydration finally caught up with me between mile 8.5 and 9.
This is the first race in a while that I’ve had to tap out of (DNF). But it just wasn’t safe to try and push it further. Scott was able to get medical and security to us, and after water and rest for a few minutes, it was better. While it was a limping struggle to get back to the finish, the post-race massage helped a lot.
While this year wasn’t what I planned, I will give it another try in 2026. I will run with water then to try and avoid a repeat.
Thanks to Scott and Nanci for all of their help and support, including Scott’s guiding. Thanks to Father Nate for being out there as a cheering section! And thanks to the Holy Half staff for all of their help and support.
