This race was on my bucket list for awhile after hearing about friends experiences from 2013 onward. A few friends and I decided to make 2018 our year at Bird-in-Hand.

The race is a fundraiser for the community and while the cost is a bit pricey, it includes a lot of bang for your buck. We visited the expo Friday afternoon and the weather was decent. We got our bibs, shirts, and bags with goodies which included whoopie pies, animal crackers, and pretzels. Parking for the expo and race is in a field, so be prepared for that.

The entire weekend is touted as a community event in Bird-in-Hand with a hot air balloon festival, picnic, and the race happening. Friday night there’s a 5k and kids race with the half marathon happening on Saturday morning at 7:30 in the am.

Communication from the race organizers was primarily via witty email. The race does have social media accounts but there’s not much interaction on those.

Perusing the weather app the night before we were pleased to see that it it looked like it was going to be cooler and maybe the tiniest bit misty. Like, barely even noticeable.

Therefore we were somewhat surprised when we opened the door of our hotel room on Saturday morning to find a pretty steady stream of rain come down.

No more hot air balloons for us. Whomp whomp.

My friend had a meniscus tear earlier this summer so we knew going into this race that we were going to just have as much fun as possible. Pictures, selfies, mullet crew style - party in the back! With a 4 hour course limit, we knew that we'd be able to finish within the time frame and have fun while doing it so that was our plan from the get-go.

The course was absolutely beautiful. Hilly, as we expected, but gorgeous. The water stops were manned by Amish children and they were plentiful. Originally we were planning on wearing hydration vests but with the cooler temps we decided to forgo them. It worked out really well.

In between miles 9 and 10 we were treated to a scoop of mango Rita's Water Ice, which was incredible, even on a not hot day. Soon after that we turned off the main road for a little off-roading experience.

In the last mile there was an area which was matted down grass and mud. It was really uncomfortable because you couldn't firmly plant your feet. If you did, you might get stuck in the mud; it was better to just tread lightly on the grassy area.

It was flat but to be honest, I would take the paved hills over that area any day.

Sadly, even though we finished within the allotted time, the race photographer was not there to catch our spectacular finish. While I most likely wouldn't have purchased pictures, I still found it to be a bummer.

There was a recovery area and my friend with the hurt knee headed there for a massage while the rest of us went to the tent for the community picnic. The food 100% hit the spot!