Nike Women's Half Marathon

Nike Women's Half Marathon

Nike Women's Half Marathon

( 11 reviews )
90% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Washington,
    District of Columbia,
    United States
  • April
  • 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, Other
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Runaway

Washington, District of Columbia, United States
6 8
2014
"Nike Women's Half Marathon DC - Worth a run!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Runaway 's thoughts:

Follow my running adventures at http://runawaywonk.blogspot.com/.

This past weekend was the Nike Women's Half Marathon DC. It was my third Nike Women's event (San Francisco Marathon 2012 and DC Half Marathon 2013). Each time I run a Nike race, it is a more impressive experience than the previous race. Continue reading...

The expo.

I picked up my bib at the Citywide pickup in Fairfax the previous weekend, so no lines and really easy. Nike uses the point-of-pickup bib assignment, so that there is no rifling through boxes of pre-assigned bibs.

Based on my experience last year and this year, I would highly recommend picking up packets early. I did a separate review on the Expotique that you can read here. The whole expo experience showcased what Nike does best, which is advertise their brand. Nike leveraged social media to really capitalize on making the runners participants in the experience. There was a hashtag circulated months ago, #werundc, which was on all the materials - from race shirts to Facebook.

The premiums.

Gender-specific technical race tee, Luna samples, Whole Foods samples, a water bottle, and a Tiffany & Co. necklace were what was included in this year's premiums.

The shirt was a plummy purple and so incredibly cute! I love it! It is sized a little on the small size, but I cannot wait to wear it everywhere. It was true to Nike women's snug fit sizing.

The Tiffany & Co. necklace was a huge improvement from the previous two I have gotten from this race series. It was a circular pendant. One side featured a background pattern and swoosh. The other side was the race name and date.

The weather.

It was a cool start with the sun out and a light wind. The temperature was around 45 at the start and in the 60s at the finish.

The start.

The start area was near Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue. The race reconfigured the layout of the start area this year making it very easy to access bag check and the corrals. You did not have to double back to get drop off your bag.

There were plenty of port-a-potties, so many that I didn't even have to wait in line. Winner, winner.

There is something to be said for standing on Penn Ave facing the Capitol and hearing the National Anthem sang. It was a chilling experience. I was in the third corral and there were thousands of runners behind me.

The course.

The course heads down Penn Ave toward the Capitol and then heads through the 9th Street tunnel. After coming out of the tunnel, the race moves onto the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler race course. It is a great course as you run by the Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Memorial Bridge, Arlington Cemetery, and the Kennedy Center. The course is relatively flat with the only incline when you go through the 9th Street tunnel twice.

The support.

Lots of things to keep your mind on during the race. There were five pep bands, three DJs, and multiple drum corps (three in the 9th Street tunnel alone). Lots of friends and families on the course cheering, including sororities from the local colleges. Nike also moved a lot of the large displays from the Expotique to the course, such as the We Run lighted sign and the wall signed by participants. Finally, Nike had split mats that would pick up your name and display it on huge screens along with announcers that would call out your name.

Water and Nuun were available about every two miles on the course along with some port-a-potties. There were Clif Shot blocks, oranges, and Luna bars on the course as well.

The finish.

The finish line was like hitting a wall of women. My friend and I crossed the mat, then waited in lines for all the post-race giveaways. Whole Foods handed out the post-race food - chocolate milk, almonds, water, electrolyte drink mix, Luna bar, and granola. But, there was no fruit! I could have used a banana. This canceled out the bonus points for no bathroom lines at the start.

After picking up the food bag, we moved to a line for the Tiffany necklace. This was probably the longest line I stood in during the whole weekend. It took us about 10 minutes to get the necklace.

My friend and I skipped the finisher tent because the line was INSANE. We went in hours later and they had a DJ, stretching area, phone charging station, and some "primping" areas. I have read some other blogs saying they thought this was sexist, but I don't mind it. This is a race about the experience, not just the run. The whole point is to love Nike, motivate women to run, and document it all with a ton of photos. I always bring "Yes to Blueberry" facial cleansing cloths for my post-workout clean up, so it didn't seem out of the ordinary to have a place where I could wipe down. I didn't "primp," and I don't think twice if another runner did before taking more photos.

Once you went through the finisher tent there was the finisher boutique. Where what else, Nike was selling more race gear. It was open on the sides, so you could see the merchandise before getting in the really long line.

There were a lot of areas for photo opportunities, including a finisher wall to pose in front of and men holding trays of blue boxes. See.

My take.

I had no expectations for my run when I lined up for this race, but came very close to a PR (more on that later this week). If you have never done a Nike Women's Series race, you should. It is a different experience and they do go the extra mile to make it memorable. I am not going to lie, I always balk at the race entry fee ($175 this year), but then love the race experience and look forward to my next one.

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