Recently I participated in the Sarasota Music Half Marathon in Sarasota, Florida. It was my first time participating in this event and it was my first long run since I was under the weather in January. I did the Goofy Challenge and the week after that I was not well enough to run for awhile. I just got back to running last week but only did a few short three mile runs. So I wasn't really sure what to expect from myself today. I woke up at 5 AM and thought the usual pre-race thought.. why the heck am I doing this?!?! I drove an hour to get to Sarasota (getting dozey on the ride) and made it to Sarasota in plenty of time, except that the parking was terrible and I couldn't find anywhere to park. Eventually I made my own spot and ran to the starting line with just enough time to use the port-o-potty and get to the start line. The place was packed!! I had to bob and weave my way through the starting line to try to get up to the 2 hour pacer. That was my goal for today - 2 hours. At least the packed starting line was warm! It was a very cold day for southwest Florida, only in the 50's and very windy!

I have to say, I loved this race! There were bands all the course. Some were doing covers, some were doing original songs and some were marching bands. They were all great! The course was a fun out and back and then out and back. So you ran out about three miles and then back three miles and then you did a different out and back to make up the rest of the miles. I really enjoyed running through Selby Botanical Gardens. There were pretty flowers and nice trees. It was very pretty to run through. It was fun to see people running the other direction and encourage them, or let them encourage you. The bridges were windy and freezing but watching the waves in the water because of the wind was a nice sight.

There were plenty of spectators offering high-fives and entertainment with fun signs. Some of my favorites were "Worst parade ever" and "You are running better than the US government!" There were water stops that were appropriately spaced, with both water and gatorade. In addition to gels at two spots they were also passing out girl scout cookies at mile 8! And to top it all off, at mile 12 there was beer!! (I was close to my goal time so I didn't stop to enjoy it, but still, it was there.) Even though it was a cold and very windy day I still had a great time! I crossed the finish line in 1 hour and fifty six minutes, which was under my 2 hour goal!

The finisher's medal was really cool too! It was two guitars and one of them had a moving part ( I don't know enough about guitars to say what part it was, but it was really cool!) The post race food was really good too. There was more free beer and a buffet with eggs, french toast, bacon, sausage and pastries. I was so happy that the buffet was inside because I was very cold from the run and appreciated the chance to warm up before making the walk back to my car. I also loved the shirt! It is a nice, thin material which will be perfect for summers here in Florida. It also has a keyboard graphic on both sides, which was a very nice touch.

I have only two complaints. One was that there was no race day packet pick up which meant I had to go out to Sarasota two days in a row. The other is the parking - there didn't seem to be enough and there was a lot of traffic from everyone trying to find a spot. But I don't think there is really anything that can be done about that. The race was sold out so there was 3,000 participants all packed into downtown Sarasota. Next year I will just have to get there earlier so that I can get a better spot and not have to run to the start line.

To end on a positive note - the race volunteers were awesome. There were a lot of them all over the course and they were all smiling, clapping and encouraging!