Silo District half marathon
Silo District half marathon
( 8 reviews )-
Waco,
Texas,
United States - May
- 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
- Road Race
- Event Website
Mary Jo Minarich
Illinois, United StatesOverall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
The Silo District Marathon race day was on Sunday, May 6th!!! I still can’t believe that this was Fixer Upper’s, Chip Gaines first race and he’s running an actual marathon! He looked great, especially when he was with his family who were all there to cheer and run with him.
Here are the Details!
Packet Pick Up: Packet pick-up was the day before at the Waco Convention Center. There you got your bib, a tech shirt, a plastic gear-check bag, and tons of goodies from big sponsor names like TARGET! And you got cute tote bags from Magnolia.
Parking: I highly recommend parking in the remote parking they have set up. There was plenty of room and the busing system was perfect with tons of air-conditioned city buses. There were buses coming and going until 4pm and we never had to wait for one.
Port-a-Potties: There were a ton of port-a-potties for the runners at the Silos and on the course. And we got there early enough to use the flushing bathrooms. This is very important to runners…
Waiting Area: The Magnolia grounds were lit up with a ton of cute lights. And it was nice watching the sun come up behind the silos.
Gear Check: Gear check was available. The line was a little long but it moved quickly.
Pre-Race Warm Up: They had warm-up exercises with REFIT Studio founder Cathy Ballas. Who by-the-way had her condo designed on one of the Fixer Upper shows.
To the starting lines: After warming up, we headed to watch the marathoners take off. Marathoners were starting first in corrals A and B. And Half-marathoners started in corrals C, D and E. We wanted to watch Chip start the race so we headed to the front to watch. Here is where I wish I was 3 to 5 inches taller. It was hard for me to see Chip until he stood on the steps.
Brave Like Gabe
There he talked about Gabe Grunewald’s Foundation which was the whole reason we were here. 100% of the profits from the race will be donated to the Brave Like Gabe Foundation. Funds were collected for research on rare cancers. Gabe who continued to race throughout the 2017 season despite battling adenoid cystic carcinoma inspired Chip to run a marathon. And rather than find a race, he decided to stage his own in Waco. And that’s how the Silo District Marathon dream started.
We watched Chip start and I couldn’t believe that he was wearing long pants and A TOOL BELT!
The corrals were packed and we ended up having to start in the way back. It was fine because we met some lovely people. Everyone shared where they were from, all the runs they have done and why they were all here–for Mr. Chip Gaines!
The Silo District Marathon Race
This race has got to be one of the most organized races I have ever run in. The police were out everywhere and volunteers were cheerful and helpful.
The heat reminded me that we were definitely in Texas. I am so glad I trained inside lately because it definitely got really hot during this run.
In the beginning you get to run through the Baylor University campus. It was beautifully paved and clean. The air was still cool and the trees that aligned the streets created nice shade. Then you got to run around McLane Stadium.
Next we were in the heart of Waco and I ran past the library with its mural walls! I always like to see that in a town.
Miles 5 to 9 seemed to fly. Not because I was going fast. It was because the scenery changed all the time. We ran along the Brazos River, and the turn-around was along some beautiful trees and greenery.
There were water tables every 2 miles and I stopped for water at each one of them. I could start to feel the heat around mile 8 and knew that I needed to stay cool to finish this race strong.
Crossing the suspension bridge meant we were heading back into town. That was a nice feeling because it was really starting to get hot around mile 10.5!
The mile signs were a nice distraction. Every mile there was a positive quote to keep you going.
The Silo District Marathon Finish: You can see the finish at the end for a long time. I could tell it was close and far at the same time. So I worked staying focused on my breathing and listening to the crowd. The crowds were huge at this point and the announcer was fantastic. And with this race you get a free downloadable picture!
The finish chute was divided with the marathoners ending on one side and the half marathoners ending on the other side. And the medal was huge and fantastic! They really do things big in Texas.
After the Race
After the race we grabbed some sweet teas and sat down to watch the other runners finish the race. There was a jumbo cam up so you could watch the finish line. There was also the Chip Cam where we could see where he was on the course during the race.
We enjoyed a couple of the food trucks available including the sweat tea truck again while we waited for Chip to finish. Chip finished in 5:21:54 and looked amazing. I’m so glad we stayed to watch him finish.
This was a fantastic running trip and we would definitely do the Silo District Marathon again if it wasn’t so expensive for us to fly to Waco. I do recommend this race especially for the great cause, the Brave Like Gabe Foundation. Which by the way, this race raised $250,000!
The one thing I would tell runners is, this race is a definitely Bucket List race. Especially if you are a Fixer Upper fan!