• Providence,
    Rhode Island,
    United States
  • May
  • 13.1 miles/Half Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Michelle Haarhues

Colorado, United States
2 18
2018
"I love running at sea level"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Michelle Haarhues 's thoughts:

This is a great destination run for anyone whether you are traveling a few hours or across the country. I had never been to Rhode Island before so selected this race for that reason. This run was on Runner's World list of top 10 small town runs. I agree! Getting to Providence from a major city is pretty easy. It is a couple of hours from Boston and four hours from New York City. Coming from Colorado, I chose to fly in and out of Boston. That was more convenient than I expected. I got there Friday afternoon so I could have some time to explore the area. There is so much history in Rhode Island and some beautiful places to visit. Newport is close and another great place to visit.

We stayed in the hotel situated right at the start line which was wonderful. On Saturday we went to breakfast in downtown Providence. There are so many great restaurants within walking distance and every meal we ate out was delicious. The expo was at the hotel/convention center next door. I would not recommend staying there. It was crazy! There was a gymnastics event at the convention center along with all of the people for the run.

The expo was as expected. Packet pickup was easy and there were a few vendors. They sold a lot of even clothing at the expo. The prices were not bad (some are very over-priced). I bought a few souvenirs for myself. ;-)

This was my first time staying at a hotel in front of the start/finish line. I plan to do that more often! It was so convenient to get up, get ready, and walk out the door to the start. There were no corrals for this run, just pacers spaced throughout the start group. The whole route was nice and there were a lot of spectators along the route. That made it fun having all of those people cheering us on. It was even possible for my friends to see me in a couple of spots in the race and be back at the finish line before I got there. The water stations were well spaced and there were always enough volunteers to hand out water.

Within the last mile or two, you run through a park and along the river for a short period. This was the only place I did not like in the run. While the scenery was beautiful, you run about 25-50 yards on cobblestones. After 12 miles, the last thing my feet want is to run on cobblestones. But I made it through and to the finish line where there was a large crowd cheering on the runners.

After the run, we hit the post-run party for 30 minutes then headed to the hotel. They have late check-out for runners which was nice. I was able to shower then we headed back to Boston. We flew out of Boston that night. Not something I would recommend, but I had to get back to work on Monday.

This was a great weekend overall...the tourism, the food, the run. It is advertised as a fast marathon and great to get your BQ, but it is more. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a half.

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