Christine Wright’s official finish time was 2:17. She didn’t reach the starting line until a minute after the race officially began.
When she awoke in the early morning hours of December 7, Christine Wright felt “wonderful and energized.” With the weather being perfect — cool but not cold — for the 13.1-mile race she would run in that morning in downtown Orlando, she felt “everything was in my favor to succeed that day.”
And succeed she did, crossing the finish line of her fifth OUC Orlando Half Marathon & Track Shack Lake Eola 5k in two hours and 17 minutes, three minutes faster than the goal she had set for herself. Wright’s 2019 time was nearly 13 minutes better than last year’s time. With a pace of 10 minutes and 27 seconds per mile, Wright finished 94th, up from 127th in 2018, of 204 runners in the women’s 30-34 age group, and placed 1,459th in a field of more than 4,500 contestants.
Wright, a senior chemist/quality assurance officer in OUC’s Gardenia Water Quality Laboratory, was featured on OUConnect as she trained to run in the half marathon. After trimming only a minute off her 2016 and 2017 times, Wright began a rigorous four-day-a-week boot camp routine with Camp Gladiator.
“I have no doubt that was the difference,” Wright said of her new workout regimen.
She plans to run in six upcoming foot races – three 5ks, a 4-miler and three 10ks – before setting a “reasonable” goal for the 2020 OUC Orlando Half Marathon.
“There’s a feeling of euphoria when accomplishing something,” she said.
