Funny little story - Friday, March 20 was the official first day of Spring. Obviously the Tri-state area didn't get the memo and we had a lovely snow storm. I think it only dumped around 4 inches of snow in the area, but the irony of this happening made me laugh.

Moving along...I ran the Michelob Ultra 13.1 race in Queens, NY. The entire race takes place in Flushing Meadows Park. You may think that would be boring, but it's not. I was born and raised in Queens and I was at that park almost every weekend. The park is HUGE and there are so many things to see. It makes the run very enjoyable. This was my second time running this race, the first being last year when I selected the race as my very first half marathon. Luckily the race staff and the parks department did an excellent job of clearing all the snow from the route for the race. Some areas were a little slushy/icy, but overall the route was great.

The positives:
Free race photos! I think this is such an awesome gesture. I've already received most of the photos and they came out great.
Mile markers - HUGE mile markers at every mile and a time clock every other mile. Sometimes its hard to see the mile markers but not at this race!
Race course - The course was relatively flat with some hills thrown in but nothing too awful. I love Flushing Meadows Park so I'm always happy to run races there.
Medical and Water Stations - Tons of water/gatorade stations on the course and I also saw many medical tents as well. GU was also available on the course.
Volunteers/Spectators - The volunteers were great on the course. Very friendly and encouraging. One volunteer told me "I was almost there" at mile 8. Bless his heart, but no, I still had 5 miles to go lol. There weren't a ton of spectators on the course but the ones that were there were so great - many offered high fives and encouraging words along the way!

Things that could be done better..
Signage - More signs directing people where to go. Finding the parking lot wasn't the easiest thing in the world..
Beer Garden - Since it's a Michelob race, each participant gets a free beer at the end of the race. Well they closed the beer garden at 11:15am. The race started at 9:15am. Basically this didn't give all the runners (including me) a chance to get our free beer. It's not a huge deal, it's only beer, but I believe in offering what is advertised. Luckily they were also giving out beer to spectators of the race so my mom gave me her beer she received earlier that morning :)
Post-race food - Okay, this is more of a personal thing, but I love bagels...like really LOVE bagels. This is the second race in a row where they didn't have bagels. I just don't get it - where's the bagel love?! LoL

I really loved the medal and long sleeve shirt for this race. Love the blue and the fabric of the shirt. Also the medal also serves as a bottle opener, so of course I'm all about that (haha).