The goal for Delray Beach’s Melissa Perlman entering the recent Publix Fort Lauderdale A1A Marathon and Half Marathon was to get a best time and successfully defend her women’s half-marathon title.
She came up just short on both, but still turned in an impressive effort. The 41-year-old who won four gold medals in the Pan American Maccabi Games from Dec. 27 through Jan. 5 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, clocked a time of 1:22:26 to finish.
“My goal going into the race was to win the race (as defending half-marathon champion) and run a sub 1:20 for the half-marathon (which would have been about 6:05 mile pace),” Perlman said. “My coach and I felt confident that 1:20 was doable based on my last two marathons and my recent training.”
The race course was mismeasured adding about .3 miles or so for the half-marathon, according to the race organizer, who sent out an apology email after the competition.
“My actual time for the half-marathon, according to my (racing application) Strava, was about 1:20:25 or a 6:08 mile pace for what it’s worth,” Perlman said, smiling.
“I ran the first nine or so miles with my friend, Justin Haber, and felt comfortable with the pace,” she said. “We were consistently between 6:04 and 6:09 through mile 6, mile 7, 8 and 9, we let the pace slide a tad to 6:13s and 6:14s. It may have been the wind; but that’s also where the course gets a little lonely, and where the orange cone turnaround was.”
Perlman said it wasn’t until the cone turnaround point (about 8.5 miles) that she realized she was the second overall female.
“First place (Erin Edminister) had gone out so fast that I had no idea she was ahead,” Perlman said. “At that time, she was probably 90 seconds ahead of me.
“On miles miles 10 through 13, I dropped my pace back down to 6:04 to 6:07 and range and felt pretty strong,” she said. “The crowd of runners heading north on the race course while we are running south is definitely the best part of the race. With this being my ‘local’ race, the number of runners out on the course cheering for me, or yelling my name, makes this race super supportive and fun.”
It was probably by mile 12 that she realized how close she was to becoming the first place overall female.
Edminister, from Bentonville, Arkansas, is a professional triathlete and 5x ITU Elite National Team Member, so Perlman knew she had to do some catchup to have a chance to successfully catch Edminister.
“At this point,” Perlman added, “I started focusing on closing the gap, but it was a little too little, too late.
“My overall pace for the race was 6:08 per mile so a solid effort for the day,” she said. ”It was also my fastest pace ever for the Fort Lauderdale course, which I’m proud of, and tells me that I’m still improving.”
Next up is the London Marathon on April 21, which will be Perlman’s first time racing that event, “which I’m excited for, especially knowing it is considered to be a flat and fast course,” she said.
“Last year, I ran a two-hour and 49-minute marathon in Boston, followed by two, two-hour and 46- minute marathons (Chicago and California International Marathon),” Perlman said. “I’m looking forward to 2024 as I’ve been training hard to run a personal best, and hopefully achieving another big breakthrough with my marathon time. I think I’m due for one.”