The Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon weekend has been on my list of ones to do for awhile. I'm a Jersey girl, born and raised, and I've heard great buzz about this race. While I would have rather run the half marathon, the scheduling worked out better for the 5k so that's the race I opted for.

Registration through Athlinks was super simple. The 5k and kids races were on Saturday; the half and full marathon on Sunday. Because I was doing the 5k, I was able to do day-of bib and shirt pickup. Therefore I didn't see the expo but it helped save travel time all around which was a plus. A childhood friend also signed up for the 5k, so we traveled to the race site together and ran the race together as well.

The race management suggested getting there early for parking purposes and we arrived a couple of hours before the 9am start time. We were actually the first ones in the parking lot. It gave us plenty of time to relax, eat our breakfast, and then pick up the bibs and Diadora shirts. The shirt is cute in the front but has a mesh back that threw me off a bit. I don't know if I'll wear it anywhere but at home.

Like I mentioned, we had plenty of time prior to the start of the race so we wandered back to our car (about a half mile away) to put our shirts away and stay shielded from the wind. It was a beautiful, sunny day but the wind was intense which was a bummer because we knew that running was going to be a challenge.

As the start time drew closer, the parking lot filled and we walked back to the start.

After a young lady sang the Star Spangled Banner, we were off on our 3.1 mile journey. The course was flat and wound along the ocean boardwalk, onto the streets, near a park, through a neighborhood, and back to the boardwalk once again.

There were two water stops along the way. Police presence and volunteers were throughout the course.

The wind was pretty brutal and by the third mile, we were fighting against it. Thankfully, the finish line was in sight and we finished strong and received our BEAUTIFUL record shaped medals. They even spin, which is so much fun!

In the finish line chute there were water bottles and snacks, which were great. There was also a small race village set up with a few vendors. We spent a few minutes visit booths and then watched the kids run their mile and a half race before heading back to the car.

Great race, maybe next time I'll do the half!

More pictures and words here: http://www.scootadoot.org/2019/05/01/race-recap-the-novo-nordisk-new-jersey-marathon-5k/