Palm Coast Half-Jan 6, 2013

 

This past weekend was the 3^rd Annual Palm Coast Half Marathon ‘at’ the Hammock Beach Resort. The course this year started and finished at the Conservatory Golf Course and spent the majority of time in Princess Park.

The race weekend went completely opposite of everything I had planned. Out of 23+ races in the past 2 years (most out of town), I had yet to experience anything of the sort…..a little bit humorous, a little bit frustrating, but all in all I survived and managed to find a silver lining of each situations.

First off, this was a very small, very local race with only 152 half marathoners and fifty 5kers, so you have a very good chance of placing in your age division if you are looking for that sort of accomplishment. (I placed 8 out of 12 and I am a very slow runner). This is also a very ‘beginner’ friendly race with lots of ‘Galloway’ woggers so if you are new to running, you will feel right at home.

Now to get to the juicy stuff.

The Background:

I went into this race because it was close to home (Jacksonville), yet still far enough out of town to create a mini vacation, especially being located 'at' Hammock Beach Resort. The course online showed it ran along the intracoastal, which would fit nicely into my theme of a ‘coastal’race year for 2013.

When a Groupon came out for an awesome discount, I jumped on it. However, it took over a month of several emails sent to the race organizers (USRA) without reply until I finally received any confirmation that I was actually registered (the week before the race).

The Plan

Stay at Hammock Beach Resort, the ‘sponsor’ hotel of the race, to have a nice scenic restful day/night before the race, and be close to the starting line.

What actually happened

The sponsor hotel ended up being 18miles away with a $2 toll. Apparently the days leading up to the race, the course had been moved, which also included moving the Start/Finish….NOT at Hammock Beach Resort.

The Silver Lining

I still got some well needed rest! =) Plus, packet pick up was still located on property of the hotel, which actually ended up being just downstairs from my room!

The Plan

watch the Vikings win against the Packers in the Playoffs

What actually happened

they lost

The Silver Lining

I fell asleep at half time, so I didn’t have to sit through all the torture! =)

The Plan

use Google Maps to map out the drive to the race start ahead of time. Leave 45minutes before start.

What actually happened

Google Maps sent me in completely the wrong direction.

The Back up Plan

use GPS on my phone

What actually happened

apparently Palm Coast is in the middle of nowhere, so my phone barely had a signal, and the GPS told me there was no routing to my destination! After several turn arounds, stopping and asking for directions, and still getting nowhere, I finally stumbled upon the start location and pulled into the parking lot at 3 minutes before start time!

The Silver Lining

I have excellent eavesdropping ears when I travel alone, so when I heard someone at pick up tell a runner the start would be across from Mantanzas High, I knew I had to be somewhere in the vicinity of the start when I saw it. I also now know that I can walk straight up to a race and start running immediately, without all that waiting around. The added stress of running late only helps me in the first few miles (although I did have to make a porta potty stop!)

The Plan

The weather forecast predicted a good chance of heavy rains all week, so I didnt bring the pink ribbon tutu. I have yet to race in rain, so I brought all my gear and was ready to take the beating.

What actually happened

It was a GORGEOUS race day! The morning forecast was still predicting cool and cloudy, however unpredictable Florida ‘winter’weather proved all the weathermen wrong and the sun made its appearance raising the temps to the upper 60s. I totally should have brought my Pink Ribbon Tutu!

The Silver Lining

The temps rose just enough to make it a beautiful day to lounge in the sun after the race! I will forever now always travell with the Tutu! =)

The Plan

PR. I once read somewhere that ‘every race doesn’t have to be a PR. And I almost started to believe it….but why?! If you are not a runner that will ‘win’ in any division, then why not ‘try’ to PR every race. You are in a race against yourself.... your best self... to try to make yourself better.

What actually happened

The race course was changed to include 6 miles that were on a soft dirt road. And because I arrived late, I had a porta potty stop at M2ish.

The Silver Lining

It was a nice change of scenery for a ‘race’. We spent the majority of time in the quiet ‘nature’. I would have made a PR if it werent for the Porty Potty stop. Ill take it. :)

 

Cons

-The race promotes being located at Hammock Beach Resort. This is a very nice property on the oceanfront, so why not take advantage of it and be able to walk to start, one would think?! Even the resort property’s name is on the race ribbon! There should have been some sort of communication for the out of towners that Hammock Beach Resort is huge, and their golf course (where start/finish was) is about 20 minutes and a $2 toll away, and any changes to the course should have been posted weeks, not days ahead of time!

-Speaking of communication, USRA has very little communication on their Facebook page, and does not stay up to date on their emails. Yet, they are Very quick to send you out several email/junk mails.

-To get to the Finish line, you had to run past it first, make another mile loop around the golf course and then cross the finish line. This was very confusing for first timers and slow runners. There were no volunteers directing the runners to keep going and pass this area. I even witnessed a runner cross the Finish without even doing the last mile. I also was pacing with a girl on her first half marathon that started crying when she realized there was another mile. She had changed her music, picked up her pace, and was mentally prepared to cross that Finish line when she saw it in the distance. Once she knew she had another mile, she was mentally breaking down. I had to help build her confidence back up and give her some encouragement.

-The cups were huge, with way too much fluid in them. Such a waste on the environment.

Pros

-This race has a lot of potential. It’s a great destination and would be wonderful if they would partner properly with the resort, have rooms on discount there (the resort is empty this time of year anyways) and provide a shuttle, if not going to start/finish there.

-Weather is awesome in Florida for running in January

-Very flat course, very quiet/peaceful, easy to win age division since so small

-Very beginner friendly

-Late start (8am) allows you to sleep in and enjoy the sunrise before the race!

Fernandina Reindeer Run Half Marathon-Dec 2, 2012

 

 

The 2nd Annual Fernandina Reindeer Run Half Marathon is a small beach town race sponsored by Amelia Island Runners and 1st Place Sports. It is a family friendly event with lots of festivities such as several kids races, face painting, crafts, contests, bouncy house, as well as the 5k and half marathon.

 

The event started and finished right on the beach. Coupled with perfect sunny Florida "Fall" weather in the 70s, made for a Gorgeous day! With same day Packet Pick up, I was able to do the hour drive, get dressed and eat my 'to go' breakfast of banana, bar, gatorade all at the beach just in time to catch the sunrise!

After doing the Savannah River Bridge Run in costume the day before, I carried on the fun, as the Reindeer Run had a costume contest as well (no specific prize mentioned though, so I wasnt as outrageous as the $$ prize for Savannah!)

 

 

Unfortunately I did not win (in fact the organizer forgot to even mention a winner, so we had to ask her about it, and she 'awarded' the Oranment girls, below, instead with a Visor.

 

 The 5k and half marathon start together and run through the beach neighborhood. With there only being a few hundred runners lined up, I was really worried on how many of us where actually doing the half?! Was I going to be the slowest one? Everyone seemed to 'take off' really fast. I was a little hesitant and tried to just go with the flow.

 

Right before M3, a man on his upstairs balcony yelled out to a couple of us walkers "That looks like walking, not running!" A woman next to me replied "I have 11 more miles!!" and I added "its better than sitting up there on the couch!" I wanted to say "on your ASS", but he was with a little boy. What a great influence man! Why not bring him out here and get involved?! Get active?! Set an example?! He did get under my skin a bit, and got me running a little faster for a bit, even though I had planned to take it easy because of the Savannah bridge run the day before!

 

At 3 miles the 5k veered off and the half marathon went into Fort Clinch State Park. The park is gorgeous and peaceful and quiet, which makes it good as a "collect your thoughts and mediate" type of run, not a "ton of spectactors on the sidelines cheering you on" type of run. The shade was welcomed as the bright sun was increasing the temps quickly!

 

At about M4 is where I ran into the Ornament girls. Signs were warning us a photographer was ahead, and of course every runner wants that picture perfect running photo. I always giggle, because I try to 'pick it up' and make me 'look' like a good runner. However, I have this bad habit of taking really Awful photos where it looks like I am barely moving, yet alone even walking, when in fact I actually was running fast! So I yelled out to the girls "Lets Fake Run Fast for the photographer!!" as I made exaggeratd strides, leaping high. Was pretty funny and the picture turned out great! (see above)

 

The course went all the way to the back of the park, then out one of the side entrances, over a small bridge to a neighborhood for a mile, and then back into the park to the entrance where we started.

 

At about M6 I started feeling a raw sensation under my right arm. Shortly later, I realized I was bleeding!! Both arms were being rubbed raw from the velour Santa outfit. (I do NOT suggest running in this!). I tried to run with my arms out a bit so they wouldnt rub. Was a bit awkward but dealable. But then when I took my walk breaks, it was just almost impossible to walk with my arms out. I did a lot of hands on the hips walking. Yea, it was better to just run! I now hav 2 scars on my arms for this race!!

 

Because the course did several turn arounds, there were lots of points where you ran passed the fast runners going the opposite direction. This is always my favorite part of the races as they inspire me to run faster or longer! You were reminded how of a 'small town' race this was, as most of the fast runners in the lead would call out to you "Good job" or "Keep it up". Its really a good feeling when you think someone so much better than you is cheering 'you' on!

 

I got a lot of costume compliments and a lot of 'best costume yet' and 'youre the winner'. I didnt think my costume was much, and thought there would be more costumes, but constantly being put in a good mood with the compliments definitely helped the run go by faster!

 

At about M9 is where the small bridge was, and do I mean small, but this flat road Florida girl still grumbled! Getting over the bridge I hear "Melissa what are you doing walking? This is a marathon not a walk a thon! Get moving!"...it was my friend Christy! I didnt realize she was volunteering, so was good to see a familiar face!

 

M10-12 seemed ridiculously long and it seemed there wasnt a water station in forever! The temps had really risen and my brain was contemplating tackling the girl in front of me that had her own water bottle! LOL

 

As soon as we exited the park, the same area we came in, it was just under a mile to go! We turned left onto a sidewalk. I had yelled out to the volunteer that "NOW we are almost done!" as when we were just entering (at mile 3.5) she was calling out to us "Almost there!" LOL. I guess she didnt realize just how far we had!

 

As I turned back around, my foot caught the lip of a manhole in the middle of the sidewalk and I started stumbling forward. I probably took about 3-4 steps catching myself, when finally I was just so tired my body gave in to the fall. Luckily enough, I was able to fall to the side and into the sand/grass and didnt hurt anything! All my mind could think as I was falling, is "NO! I have a marathon to run in a couple months!!" lol. It was a big surprise to me that I was on the ground, as I have ran over 25 races and have never fallen! ....especially not at 13 miles!

 

I got up and ran to the beach finish line laughing at myself! I was able to finish only 4 minutes slower than my PR. Not too shabby for doing a Bridge Race the day before!

 

 

Pros
-Location! Location! Location!
-Can make a weekend vacation out of the location
-Did random drawings of bib numbers and gave away gift certificates. I won a free large pizza, unfortunately the place was closed on Sundays =/
-Dressed up Water Stations-and properly stocked!
-Same day packet pick up
-Great announcer on PA...got crowd going and runners motivated
-Beer AND cofffe!
-FREE buffet brunch at Elizabeth Pointe Lodge on the ocean, right next to the event park
-Festive/Reindeer mile markers

Cons
-Although it was great to finish 'at the ocean'....running into the sand was a little akward
-There as supposed to be something with memorizing the Reindeer/Mile Marker themes, but didnt see/hear anything about it
-Not much food at finish line...bananas and cookies....if you wanted to wait for awards, then you had to wait on 'free breakfast' (see above)
-No IPOD/open road in park
-Shirts were unisex, making a M an XL on me

Savannah River Bridge Run-Dec 1, 2012

The Enmark Savannah River Bridge Run is known as the Toughest Bridge Run of the South. The bridge is about a mile and half long with a 5.5% grade. There is a 5k, 10k, and 15k (aka the Double Pump)….that is once, twice, or three times over the bridge! This was my sixth year participating in the Bridge Run and is one of my absolute favorite races!

I arrived Friday afternoon to enjoy the gorgeous weather and relax at the Westin Resort on the river….Holiday lights, Christmas trees, Gingerbread houses galore, hammock, bonfire, and much more!

 

I had a sunset nightcap at the Bohemian Rooftop where you have the best birds eye view of the town, bridge in distance, and overheard a couple from out of town ask a waitress if there was ever a race over the bridge. After the waitress said ‘No’, I couldn’t help myself but interject and tell them about the Bridge Run. I excitedly gave them all the details and even told them about my costume. Little did I know that they were actually going to register that night and I would run into them later at the race! I just amazes me that so many locals do not know about their own local events, especially ones that bring in thousands of people! It’s the same almost everywhere I go.

 

Staying at the Westin was the best decision I have ever made! Usually I do the 2 1/2 hour drive the morning of the race, or stay further in town for a cheaper rate. This time I splurged and it paid off! Even though I still had an early wake up of 530a, I had a birds eye view of the people in traffic and the Starting line. It definitely put the mind at ease not having to deal with the parking or shuttles or same day packet pick up!

Taking the short stroll over to the start, all my worries of the costume disappeared as people immediately started bursting out laughing! I was worried people would not ‘get it’…but really I only ran into a couple older people that never hear of the song, but they were usually with someone that explained it. Lots of pictures were taken as we waited to start.

 

The weather was PERFECT! Sunny and cool with a nice warm up after the race! (usually we are freezing!) Winds were calm too, so the top of the bridge was Gorgeous!

I was registered for the Double Pump, as I planned on not running in costume this year! I still was going to try to push it, as I have YET to do complete Double Pump, but it was going to be all up to how the costume handled the bridge.

The race is of good size…about 5000 runners/walkers. It is very family friendly, getting kids involved in a healthy lifestyle! This is more of a Fun experience race, instead of a time beating goal.  I was excited this year as they had a new game plan to separate the runners and walkers on different sides of the road, separated by the median, and the runners were to start about a minute ahead of the walkers. The anthem was played, the gun was fired, and we were off! All of us! What?! Why are the walkers going? The walkers ended up going at the same time, therefore getting ahead of most of us runners and making it even MORE difficult to weave around them compared to prior years! =/

For the Double Pump, you have to complete the 5k and get yourself to the 10k start line (a couple blocks over from the 5K finish) all in about 40 minutes. This is very difficult when you start on time. Then add in the extra minutes it took to even get to the ‘START’ line. Then add on the minutes it took to get around the walkers in the first mile and half. I just couldn’t stay running. There was no weaving around people with the costume.  Someone really screwed up. I know it was all miscommunication, and I do look forward to them getting that under control next year, but it really screwed me up this year.

My calves were really tight, front and back, from the very first steps….probably from the insane sprinting I did the other night after that ridiculous break up most of you know about. The front of the phone was bouncing a lot, so I had to end up holding both sides the entire way. Of course, I am used to that with previous costumes, so just went with it.

I got to the finish line at 41minutes. I think that was the longest I have EVER taken! But then again, the big cluster F@$! at start didn’t help! I said Oh Well and headed to the Brunswick Stew and Beer Tent! =) I later found out they delayed the 10k start about 15min, so I technically did have enough time to get over there if SOME one would have told me that at the finish line of the 5k!….Oh well! I watched the runners coming in, and mingled with the rest of the finishers. This was probably the most popular costume I have done yet! Seriously at one point I just stood there and kept turning in circles as every time I tried to walk away, there was another camera for me to smile at! =) The best part is people would just look and Laugh Out Loud! Its good to make people laugh!

There was a pretty good band this year as we waited til all the runners finished. Then as we were waiting for the costume results, a girl was called up on the stage. She was going to shave her head for reaching her donation goal for JC Lewis Cancer Center! This year the Bridge Run partnered with the Cancer Center and encouraged people to raise donations. The race will also donate money to the center. I love how community involved Savannah is!

There were a lot of group costumes this year. For the contest, they give $400 for 1^st, $200 for 2^nd and $100 for 3^rd for both individual and group costumes. This year however, they ended up giving away 5 places for groups with KISS getting 1^st place. As soon as they won, they announced they were donating all of their winnings to the Wounded Warriors org!

 

They called up 3 of us on stage for individual costumes…it was between me, a shower curtain, and the boy from the old school Rudolph movie. They used a ‘crowd o meter’ to register the crowds applause to figure out 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd  place. It was a very close call for all of us, but I ended up with 3^rd, the boy from Rudolph in 2^nd, and the shower curtain 1^st.  Guess I shouldn’t have come to the race alone? lol

All in all, I am extremely happy. It was one of the best Savannah trips I have had yet. The Westin is definitely the way to go if you want a relaxing get away. The weather was perfect for running. And I raised $100 all for a day and half worth of work and less than $20 in materials! My employer will match it, and now we have a $200 donation towards the 26.2 with Donna breast cancer org! =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St Augustine Half Marathon

The 2^nd Annual St Augustine Half Marathon was a weekend long event with a distance for everyone in the family, including a 5k and 10k on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday. Last year they had a full marathon, but for some unannounced reason the full was dropped. I had heard there were over a thousand runners, but results posted 713 half marathoners with the women out numbering the men once again! =)

The day started with an early 330am wake up. Start time was set for 6am, but living about 40 minutes outside of town, I opted for the race day packet pick up at 430a. Being up this early, I settled on a Mojo bar and banana for breakfast on the go.

Arriving so early, parking was a breeze. No pun intended…it was a wickedly windy day! 20+mph winds with even harder gusts! Most everyone hung out in the parking garage until line up time because of it. The temperature was perfect for running…40s-50s. Overcast skies kept us wondering if we would have rain, but we were lucky and it stayed dry.

Packet Pick Up, the Starting line, and the After Party was all right at St Francis Field next to the garage. The Visitors Center on the other side of the garage had ‘Real’ bathrooms, and there were porta potties on the field, so there was really no waiting in line. (Score!)

I placed myself with the 11minute pacer. My goal was to complete my 2^nd race without stopping (besides the water stations to gulp some energy).

The course was really well planned out. I didn’t really pay much attention to the map ahead of time (lets be honest, I never really do. I guess that’s the part of me that likes surprises!) Start and Finish lines were not too far from each other and there was only 1 small section of the course that was repeated.

We started before sunrise which caused for some beautiful scenery of the Christmas lights in Historic St Augustine! After we crossed over the Bridge of Lions (a small flat bridge), you could also see the light from the Lighthouse. It was a real beauty and we got up close and personal with it twice during the race.

The first several miles felt real comfortable. There wasn’t much crowding, despite all the roads still being open to traffic (hence no Ipods allowed). Our group was small with one other girl and a guy. This was the first time I chose to go with a pace group, not knowing if it was going to be a run/walk pace, or pure run. I soon found out it was pure run, and she was actually pacing about 10:30 because her theory was we would slow down at the bridge. What? Bridge? What kind of bridge? Oh I soon learned!

The Bridge was located at the halfway point. It was up and over and then turn around and up and over again! The size wasn’t too intimidating (it was no Savannah Bridge, lets put it that way! -the toughest bridge run in the South-Which I will tackle 3x next week!) But boy were those winds howling!! We thought the wind was bad on the road, but it sure did it make it difficult to run on the bridge! Our pacer was holding a pretty big Pace Sign and was having a hard time controlling it during the gusts on the road. Once we hit that bridge, she practically turned into a kite! It was cold, Im not going to lie and most of your energy was spent trying to run ‘straight’ instead of ‘sideways’!!

On the way back we had a bit of a scenic area as we went on some sort of trail through the thick trees and then were able to run along the coast. Was beautiful, but found ourselves battling the wind head on again!

There weren’t a lot of spectators on the sidelines for most of the race. So my motivation was definitely coming from the pace group. With no music to sidetract me, it was hard to tune out the negative self talk!

The water stations were properly stocked and even a few of the volunteers dressed up in costume to cheer us on. My favorite was the Peanut team!

About Mile 11 I could feel myself really pulling back from the Pacer. For some reason the water stations were now spaced unevenly and I was finding myself needing fluid or energy. I had taken 1 Gu and a couple Gatorade shots, but I could tell my body needed more food. Was probably from the guy at the beginning of the race yelling he wanted bacon! (YES!)

I felt like we were doing a slightly faster pace and so my brain took over and my legs stopped. I began to ‘wog’. So disappointed, I made sure my breaks were only about 10-20seconds. But they were often for about all of Mile 12.

We were finally hitting the Bridge of Lions again for our final stretch and I was quickly catching back up to the Pacer. The other girl had pulled ahead. I had lost track of the guy that was with us most of the race. I passed the pacer, and then passed the other girl and turned the corner to sprint in the final stretch trying to make up time, when BAM! Hit in the face with the hard winds again!! The wind had taken everything out of me, but I pushed through the last few yards as I remembered I had a special someone waiting for me at the finish line!... I could get used to this! =)

All in all I finished at the same time as my PR (the only race I have truely completed all 13 without wogging!) Although I am disappointed I gave in to negative talk at only a mile or so out, I am happy with the end result. Finishing the same time despite walking, means I have increased my overall speed over the year and I will take that! =)

Pros

-Good scenic course

-Pretty flat and a slight bridge challenge (would be a lot easier w/o the winds!)
-Easy access from parking to start
-Nice medal
-They had ‘Expo’ at the finish line too for those that did same day packet pick up
-Small, hometown feel
-Free beer at the After Party area
-Can easily make into a weekend family vacaiton

Cons

-Super early start time

-Not much crowd support-probably because this is still a new race
-Only water at the finish line, had to walk back to the start area to get any kind of refuel, food, beer
-We were warned that the garage would be charging $10, but no one ever collected money from me, so not sure.
-No local photographers, hence arm and a leg for any professional photo

Chattanooga 4 Bridges Half Marathon

The 7 Bridges Marathon is also known as the 4 Bridges Half Marathon or 2 Bridges, 5K depending on which distance you decided to tackle.

 This was the 2^nd annual of the Bridges race. It is a small race in a small town. Chattanooga is very beautiful located in the foothills of the mountains and right along a river. The time of year is perfect with the leaves just starting to change colors and the temps not too warm and not too cold! The race takes place right across the river from Downtown which makes is a great area to turn this into a mini vacation!

There were 966 half marathoners, 402 marathoners, and 490 5kers. They also had their first wheelchair competitor. The half and full start together, with the half splitting off about mile 10.

The course goes along and over the river a few times (hence the Bridge name), but the bridges are flat, so the only incline is really the ramps and a couple downtown. The first part of the course is an out and back, but those are always my favorite as I get to see all the elite runners that I aspire to be!

 I drove into Chattanooga a couple days before the race and stayed north of town at a friends house. It seems the hotels located Downtown had really ridiculous rates for what kind of hotels they were. I was going to stay at the Crash Pad (a boutique hostel) for about $30 a night, but my friend convinced me to stay with her instead! Plus I got to bring the pup! It was an 8 hour drive from Jacksonville, not too bad except a bit of Atlanta traffic.

Saturday afternoon was the ‘Expo’ and packet pick up. It took me 2 minutes to get my bag and see ‘all’ the vendors. Yea, unfortunately there wasn’t much there. The race organizers were posting what they were selling on Facebook the weeks prior, so I already knew what I wanted or did not want to buy.

I got a super early night in, but unfortunately had some weird dreams to keep me from getting a solid 8 hours. I woke to temps in the 40s, so opted for the pants and sleeves with compression leg sleeves and a tee on top. I also had on a wig, so that kept me warm. I just wish I had thought of toss away gloves, as it took a couple miles for my hands to warm.

We started at Renaissance Park and finished at Coolidge Park (both walking distance from each other), making it easy to return to the car no matter where you parked.

Starting line area parking was charging $4 for 4hour or more. There was not special race parking, all the city rates were in effect, and the race org was telling people to ride bikes. (Seriously?) I arrived in plenty of time without issues. The Renaissance parking also had real bathrooms with heaters! Score!  I stayed in my car for quite a while as it was still dark out, so socializing was a bit weird, plus it was super cold. I did get to chat with a couple Superwomen Tutu girls while in the warm bathroom.

The start time was set for 7a. Sunrise was planned for about 730. It was a very awkward starting area, as the porta potty lines were merged with people lined up to start. I was so confused. There was only 1 spot light and a muffled guy on a speaker you couldn’t hear. At 7am, the organizers picked up the Start sign and moved it on another street. So the entire crowd had to get regrouped. Ridiculous. The Anthem was played, yet most of us didn’t even hear it until almost the end (again speakers not loud enough). We finally started at about 720a.

We headed straight over the pedestrian bridge into downtown. . It was really pretty as the sun was just starting to come up over the mountains. The downtown lights had pink bulbs and there was a Komen Pink Ribbon lit up on the next bridge over! Was a good way to start the race, reminding me why I do what I do. Right away my nose was running with me! It never stopped the entire race! Good thing I had stuffed my bra with tissues!

We hit the first ‘water station’ quickly, yet there were only 2 people with no cups filled. One at a time they were pouring. I had flashbacks of the Rock n Sole race that was black flagged because of lack of water. It was a good thing it was cold and I didn’t need anything yet! Unfortunately it was a sign of what was to come. Most stations were barely set up, a couple completely out of everything. Only 1 or 2 stations had Powerade. It was disappointing every time I saw a Powerade cup, yet was told they had none. All I could think about were the people behind me and those doing the full. (after a few posts and conversations with some other runners though, seems there were more supplies for the marathoners than there were for the half…..that and the faster runners of course!)

Half way through the race, we ran through the same parking lot where we started, and then along the river which took us to the Finish area (what?! We are done already? No way!). Nope. But of course we got to see everyone else that was done (5kers, and really fast runners!) who were partying it up, music blaring, food eating, beer drinking? (yea, I found out later, there was no beer). It really just made you want to stop and not finish the rest of the race!

After that the course took a ‘dead zone’ on a highway for a bit (I guess this goes longer for the full) which was real boring with nothing to look at and no spectators. At this point my Ipod decided to die, (good thing I had a feeling on this and brought a second one with me but then had issues with that one too) so my focus was on that during this boring part. However, I did add on a few minutes to my time because of this!

Once we got back on the Riverwalk to head back the last few miles, I was really pumped and started to pick up some speed. That was, until we hit a huge spiraling ramp and then stairs!..What Stairs? Who has stairs in a race? Isnt that dangerous? And they were downhill! There is no way if I was running 26 miles that I would be safe in walking down stairs in the last mile!

The last bridge was the pedestrian bridge where a lot of spectators had gathered. I got a lot of shout outs of 'Pinkie' throughout the race and photos taken. I was pacing what I think was a marathoner and as we turned the corner right before the last bridge, her boyfriend was waiting for her and he ran with her the rest of the way!

Coming into the straightaway (which wasn’t so straight here, and ends on grass), I had probably the most quiet finishes in my life! There were still a lot of people standing around watching the runners come in, but not one person was cheering or even clapping! Was the pink wig too much?? I ran through the crowd and starting cheering for myself! Man, they must have thought I was something! But seriously? No cheering at a finish line?? Ill show them!

Overall, I did OK. I had no issues physically. A little achey knee for a bit (probably from the cold) and I could feel my right big toe starting to act up, but still nothing serious.  My time was actually the same (for the fourth time!), however I felt a little better physically (probably because it was cooler than usual races) and mentally (probably because I forced myself not to look at my Garmin . I only did a handful of times the entire race which made me really enjoy the race more).

All in all I would rate this race a 5. Right down the middle. And that is probably more to do with it being new. There were some things that were really good but then there were some really bad things. Heres my breakdown:

Cons

-Lack of volunteers, water, Powerade (some tables completely ran out, or not set up)

-Did not see porta potty options except maybe once

-Awkward finish area which included having to fill up own water bottle, no alcohol, ran out of pizza

-Expo extremely small

-No sports drink/chocolate milke/etc of any kind given at finish

-All types of terrain….road, bridge, wood, grates, grass…definitely slows you in some areas

-Poorly placed photographers…on the stairs …really?

-Poor signage towards the end….had to look both ways trying to figure out which way to go

-Quiet spectators

-Stairs

-No parking deal

 

Pros

-Real bathrooms at start (if you knew they were there)

-Gorgeous Scenery

-Medal and shirt (although sizing runs large)

-Expo located at finish area, so got to ‘see’ the area to prepare for race day. No lines, easy come and go.

-Souvenir water bottle

-Great police support..probably most energetic

-Run on the Riverwalk

-Downtown locale makes a great mini vacation

-Run for charity options

 Finish Time-2:34