"They Say, I Say" 3-2

Ashley Hamilton

Period 6

3-2-16

“They Say, I Say” One-Pager

    Doesn't it suck to be the middle child, feeling forgotten sometimes? Well if you are one, then you would know how a half-marathon feels like. It's like a train stop, with your , but not quite there yet. They say a half-marathon is like the forgotten stepchild. It doesn't have the uproaring or the popularity like a marathon because you don't hear about all the times and prizes/big races in big cities doing half marathons. Many people believe that running is very bad for you and you shouldn’t do it. Yes, it can be bad for you, but not if it's done the right way. Also, it is said to have at least a year's worth of solid running before attempting to run a half-marathon or full marathon. It is said that you should have a solid base for training before you start for a long race such as a half-marathon or a full marathon. However, I beg to differ.

    In my article, “13.1: Not Just Half a Race” by Richard A Lovett, it talks about just that. The half-marathon is no longer a lost race. According to “13.1: Not Just Half a Race” in 2007 it “was the year of the half marathon.” This is thanks to Ryan Hall, who on January 14, 2007, “smashed the American record with a 59:45 in Houston.” Just two months after that, man from Kenya dropped the best half-marathon time to 58:35. Also that year, it wasn't just the men who were making the comeback for the half-marathon, the women also broke records too. “On September 30, Kara Goucher ran unofficially best with a 1:06:57 in England.” Just a couple weeks later that record was broken again my a women from the Netherlands with a time of 1:06:25. I don't think it was just these several people that helped the comeback of the “forgotten stepchild”, but also many others because a lot of other runners were training harder and harder to again, beat those times. The article “13.1: Not Just Half a Race” also talks about how it is a good idea to be on a good training schedule and stick to it and do your best at “base building, tempo runs, speed work, and tune ups.”

    In my opinion, I would agree with what the article says about the training needed and the half-marathon being the “forgotten stepchild.” Especially for me right now with my injured knee, it will take even more training for me to be able to run at a good pace and to achieve my goal of running a half-marathon with NO walking (except for maybe at water spots lol). I also really believe that the half-marathon is kind of like the forgotten stepchild or a little like the middle child of the family. According to my article “13.1: Not Just Half a Race”, it says, “a 1200m should be done in 4:30”, which is a 6 minute mile pace. For me, that is not where i am at so i will have to do research on how to pace yourself for about a 7:30-8 minute mile pace.