Here are a couple quick observations from the Go! Fitness Weekend. We want to get the ball rolling on comments from the weekend. What you have to say is way more important than what I have to say.

Evidence of the depth of the half-marathon field: In 2005, just five runners finished in less than 1 hour, 20 minutes. The number rose to 12 in 2006. Last year, 20 competitors beat the mark. This year, 31 runners were under 1:20.

“There are so many fast guys running now,” said John Aerni, one of those fast guys. Aerni finished sixth in the half-marathon, in  1:11:56, and was second in the marathon last year. “The racing is come much more competitive. The more good runners you have, the faster they want to go, and the better the race gets.”

Given the increase in the number of half-marathoners _ more than 9,400 registered for the race _ the increased congestion was noticeable behind the finish line. The marshalls did a good job of keeping the runners moving to the back, but the area started to clog with a big number of finishers between two hours and 2:30. Perhaps the distribution of medals and blankets and the chip collection area could be moved a half-block further east? There’s some room to back up a bit and give more room for runners to collect their goodies.

Or maybe, by keeping it small, more finishers are quicker to move out of the straight and into the food area? Something to mull.