A PR to start my 2013 running

I ran my first race of 2013 on Saturday - the Snow Joke Half Marathon around Seeley Lake - and set a PR in the process.

I've realized that the Snow Joke is the only road half marathon I run, but being in February it isn't necessarily the fastest around. The first 5 1/2 miles and last half mile are along a highway, which usually is mostly clear and wet, but the seven miles around the back of the lake are on a road covered with a mix of slush, packed snow and ice.

That said, my finish time was 1 hour, 39 minutes and 31 seconds - more than two minutes faster than my previous half marathon best. It was good enough for 63rd place out of 594 total runners and 36th out of 139 in the men's 16-39 division. Here's the finish line video.

I plan to run at least a couple of more races, sticking with last year's theme of picking some of the more interesting ones. I'll probably do 11 Miles to Paradise - a trail race along the Clark Fork River - again, and would like to try the 50K or 30K in the Trail Rail Run on old railroad beds between Mullan, Idaho, and St. Regis.