Pre-race: Most pre-race communication was urging registration, which is strange, since I'd already registered. Segmented emails would be nice, but that's the professional marketer in me being annoyed by that. Packet pick-up was at a running store in a mall in Naples and only from 1-3 p.m. the day before the race. I was coming from the next county over so it was not so convenient to pop over and get my bib and shirt. February is super high snowbird season in Southwest Florida, so a normally 30-minute ride was almost double that. There was a line out the door once I got there (a few minutes after 1). But I was on vacation, so, really, not a huge headache since I wasn't busy. There was packet pick-up available before the race, but seeing as the start time was 7 a.m., I didn't really want to go that route.

Race day: The start/finish venue is pretty cool. Florida Sports Park is a swamp buggy racing track, so there is plenty of parking and it feels very much like "real" Florida (I grew up in the state, but not in Naples). There seemed to be some confusion as to where to line up for the half marathon and 5K, but since this wasn't a big race, the 5Kers just ended up stepping aside while the half marathoners started up. I was about midway in the crowd and could not hear the announcer, so I just moved with the pack.
The course heads out of the park, across busy Collier Blvd. (many thanks to the sheriff's deputies out directing traffic and making the race a safe one) and through the Lely neighborhood. I really liked running through Lely, with golf courses and rows of palm trees as scenery. Also very Florida, but in a different way than the park.
About halfway through the course, you hit a lake where the course loops around and then doubles back. Being a middle of the packer, I hit this part right when I was starting to lose steam, which is also when the sun came out in full force (just after 8 a.m.... again, very Florida.). When you finish the lake loop, the two directions of runners have to overlap each other. That logistically could've been executed better. There wasn't anyone there directing runner traffic, but again, because it's not a big race, wasn't too much of an issue. There's also only one bathroom off the course, and it's off the lake loop. I decided to skip it in order to just finish and be done with the sun. Not my best decision, since the sun killed my possible PR anyway, but now I can check "peeing my pants a little during a race" off my bucket list.
Coming off the lake loop was when my troubles began. It was getting very hot at this point. Actual temps in the 80s, but no clouds, no breeze and the course has almost no shade. And 1,000% humidity. I was on that struggle bus by mile 9. I was sucking down the powerade and water at the aid stations, but it was amazingly tough to get back to race pace. Mile 12 I was just willing myself to walk faster and just finish. The last mile crosses back over Collier Blvd., where deputies were again holding traffic. One yelled out to us (the majority of whom were walking or slowly shuffling because we all felt like death) "come on guys, we're holding traffic!" I mean, I appreciate that you're out there helping, but we've just run almost 13 miles in ungodly hot weather. I had been chatting with someone else who was clearly in as much pain as I was and he said he's local and runs in this weather, but the sun that morning was something else.
The finish is on the swamp buggy track, which was cool. I finally found some shade under the bleachers after finishing. Food and drinks post race were OK. One of the tables, with the chocolate granola bars, was in the sun, so I skipped that because they were all melted. A lot of very cold water, good. No protein or fresh options (maybe because I finished over two hours, I missed it?), which wasn't good. There was soda in 2-liter bottles for some reason. I appreciated having something besides water, but that was odd.
My biggest gripe: The finisher medals, which are GORGEOUS, were the same for both the 5K and the Half Marathon. I'm personally not a fan of giving out medals for a 5K, but if you're going to do that, up the ante for the half marathoners. We're committing to a lot more miles, so give us a bling upgrade.
The overall: You can tell that the running community in the area was excited and pumped up for this race. There was a mix of longtime runners and people just getting into the sport. I loved that. The organizers are definitely filling a void and providing a much wanted event. There are just a lot of logistics that hopefully will be better ironed out in the future. I can see potential there.

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