I woke up super early Saturday morning. One of the things that made me want to do this race was that it had race day packet pick up. I'm trying to do 14 half marathons in 2014 so if I can save on a hotel room for a race then I'm in! I knew I could get up early Saturday morning and make the 2 hour drive to Tulsa. I got there in plenty of time and I finally decided once I got there to go with my shorts and tank top with arm warmers. It was cold at the start but by the finish it was supposed to warm up into the mid 50s. I hate being hot when I run so I much rather be cold in the beginning! The course was along the Arkansas River and it was pretty and all, but for some reason I just wasn't a fan! I was just kind of bored. You can only look at the river for so long and try to distract yourself. It was cool that we ran the same route that I did for my marathon for a while! I looked up and saw the Route 66 sign at one point and remember thinking to myself that it was incredibly annoying that 15 miles was proving to be more of a challenge than 26 miles.

I was not a big fan of when we got to run by the waste water treatment facility. That was interesting! For the first half of the race I was pretty alone. There were several groups in front of me and several groups behind but I was pretty much just running along by myself. It was probably a good thing because I wasn't in the greatest of moods. My foot would not quit hurting and I was just hoping that I would be able to finish. I think another thing about the course is that I'm just not a fan of being able to see how far I am from the finish. When we finally reached the bridge to cross back over the river I remember looking up and seeing downtown Tulsa way off in the distance. I couldn't believe that I still had to run that far! I do much better when I can't see how far is left. I love running in neighborhoods and having people sitting outside and cheering you on and this course didn't have that. It was nice that we ran along the trails for the entire time so we didn't have to worry about car traffic. I guess I just need more entertainment!

Overall the race was ok! Fleet Feet did a great job of making sure us back of the packers got just as much encouragement at the finish line as the winners!