Daytona Beach Half Marathon is a unique race. You get to run on the Daytona Speedway, the home of the famous Daytona 500 race each year. In 2015, the race took a year off due to the Speedway getting renovated, so 2016 was the first year for runners to experience the redone venue.

The morning of the race was a COLD one, not to mention windy. Temps were in the low 40s, with a real-feel of about 35 degrees. As a Florida runner, I'm not a particular fan of cold, windy races so I wasn't looking forward to the weather conditions at all. Thankfully, myself and my two running friends stayed warm in the car until a bit before the race start. Then, we hit the restroom and got to the race start.

The race ended up starting about 10 minutes late, which wasn't horrible, well less for the cold anyway. It gave me time to meet up with some of my running group. We chatted and took a couple of pictures. Before we knew it, the National Anthem was being sung, and then the race had begun.

The race itself starts on the Speedway, and you run around most of the track before you exit onto the main road in Daytona Beach which is International Speedway Blvd. Once we got onto the road, the wind was much more intense. Since I was running with friends, we were having a good time though as we ran. We were joking about stopping mid-race for Starbucks, then the smell of freshly baked Krispy Kreme donuts...yup, you run right by a Krispy Kreme and the smell is impossible to miss. I don't even eat them and started thinking how good a hot, fresh donut would be.

About the half-way point, you get to run over a bridge. The International Speedway Boulevard Bridge crosses over the Atlantic Ocean and it does seem to go on for quite some time. Of course, the windy conditions most likely made things seem more intense. It's a beautiful view from the top, but I have to admit that I didn't check it out as much, at least on the way out.

You turn around after running for approximately a mile and a half, then go back over that bridge. While I had a good pace on the first half of the race, I did slow down around mile 8. The windy cold just got me, as I was dealing with a bit of pressure in my chest and decided it was in my best interest to take it easy. It was just myself and one of my runner friends at that point, but the two of us were more than happy to just take it easy heading back to the Speedway.

Once back over the bridge, you continue down the main Boulevard, then onto a couple of side streets before again getting back onto International Speedway and then eventually back into the Speedway. The race itself finishes on the Speedway which is pretty nice. If I wasn't so cold and having trouble feeling my fingers and toes, I know I would have enjoyed that finish a lot more. :)

Of note is that due to the windy conditions, we didn't get to do the beach portion this year. I had run this race once before in 2014, and there is a brief portion on Daytona Beach before you head back on the bridge. It's definitely the other highlight to this race after running the Speedway.

This is a race that I enjoyed doing despite the cold, crazy windy conditions. It would definitely be a much more enjoyable race if the wind wasn't so intense. I think the race does a nice job with the race and I hope the beach can come back in 2017. This is a race to do though for the Speedway IMO, it's pretty neat being able to run on it and see how steep it truly is.