I ran the Surftown Half Marathon in Westerly, Rhode Island. The race offered a 5K, half marathon and half marathon relay. Westerly is about 2-2.5 hours from where I live so I decided to stay in town overnight versus driving there on race morning (I just didn’t want a super early wake up time on race morning). Luckily there were also a few hotels within walking distance from the race start/finish. I selected the Pleasant View Inn which was less than a mile from the race start/finish. If you’re thinking of doing this race and want to stay overnight, I would highly recommend this hotel. It was clean and the customer service was great. They offer free parking, provide you with bottles of water for your room and each guest gets a free “signature drink” from their bar (it was a delicious rum punch).

Since I’m training for the Chicago Marathon, I thought this race would be a great training run. As luck would have it, I had 13 miles on the schedule. Once my friend arrived, we chatted for a little while before getting our bibs and race shirts. The pick-up was super easy – no lines – and then we went back to the room. There really wasn't an Expo - just a spot on the beach to get the bibs and are shirts and also to purchase merchandise. For dinner, we ended up splitting a margarita pizza from Providence Coal Fired Pizza and it was absolutely delicious! Just what we needed to power through the half marathon the next day! Before we knew it, it was race morning!

Miles 1-3
The race starts right outside of Misquamicut State Beach on Atlantic Avenue. This part of the course was on paved roads and near the coastline. The first 3 miles were in direct sunlight so it was a little rough, but luckily we got cloud cover very soon after mile 3.

Miles 3-6
Around mile 4 is where we started to get the “rolling inclines” as I like to call them. Definitely not big enough to be considered a hill, but not flat! During miles 5-6 we headed back toward the start on Atlantic Avenue which was nice because more people were out cheering on the runners.

Miles 6-9
The runners that were doing the half marathon relay had their switch point a little after mile 6. As I was running by I thought “Should I have done the relay?”, lol. During this part of the run we were treated to views of absolutely beautiful homes..like stunningly beautiful. It took my mind off the fact that my right IT band was starting to go crazy.

Miles 10-13.1
Mile 10 saw us running through the village of Watch Hill. We were also greeted with a pretty steep hill as well. We also ran by a gold club and then turned down Atlantic Avenue for the last part of the race. While I could see the finish line, it felt oh so far away! There were also more “rolling inclines” during the last 3 miles.

I crossed the finish line feeling pretty good!

I also used this race as my NYRR Virtual Halfway There 13.1 race. I really like this concept because it’s nice to connect with other runners on Strava that are training for Fall races, and it’s free! Bonus – if you show your Strava badge of completion at the TCS New York City Marathon Expo, you’ll get a free gift. I’m hoping to claim mine when I volunteer at the Expo.

As with any race, there are always pros and cons:

Pros

Fluid Stations – There were water/Nuun stations every 2 miles. In addition they offered GU at mile 7. I don’t use Nuun or GU (I use water and my SiS gels) but it was nice that both were offered on the course.

Pace Groups – The race offered pacers ranging from 1:30 – 3:00. I never use pace groups during a race because my paces are usually all over the place, but I think it’s always a bonus when races offer them.

Pre-Race Communications – The race sent out a few emails the week before and the week of the race. They were very well detailed with information about when/where we could get our bibs and race shirts, parking for the morning of the race, etc. I felt very well informed before going there.

Race Medals – The race medals were very unique. I don’t have anything like it in my medal collection which is always a good thing! The 5K medals were cute surfboards!

Race Size – This wasn’t a big race (950 finishers). The course never felt crowded and I also never felt alone out on the course. I could always see a group of people in front of me.

Visible Mile Markers – I saw all of the mile markers and timing clocks on the race course. I appreciate that it was very well marked.

Volunteers – Every single one of the volunteers on the course greeted me with a smile and words of encouragement. Literally the nicest race volunteers I’ve ever encountered!

Cons

Post-Race Food – They offered New England clam chowder after the race…I’m not really sure who would want to eat that after running 13.1 miles? They also had bananas, some weird dark chocolate granola and oyster crackers (for the chowder). They also had chocolate milk but I didn’t see it. I basically just grabbed a bottle of water and the banana. It was just a weird mix of items.

Race Course – It’s described as “fast and flat” but in my opinion that’s not 100& accurate. There were definitely some “rolling inclines” and a hill at mile 10.

Race Shirts – I was not a fan of the race shirt. The color wasn’t appealing and I didn’t like the graphic. On the plus side, it’s very soft so it will make a nice sleeping shirt 🙂

If you’re looking for a half marathon in Rhode Island I would recommend this race. The course was just challenging enough to where it keeps you on your toes (you definitely won’t get bored, that’s for sure!) and it’s very pretty as well.