I ran in the Xenia Marathon in April of 2016. This was my second attempt at completing this marathon. I first completed an entire marathon training cycle in 2015 only to hurt myself on the 20 miles training run, which knocked me out of the 2015 race. The second time around in 2016 I was able to complete all my training runs and made it to the actual race.
The race takes place in Xenia, Ohio and is in a rural area. It starts and finishes at their local YMCA, which I though was a pretty nice facility. The race landscape was farm land once you got out into the country and very pretty. For the most part the race is flat and it is a nice out and back course. Our route started there in the town, we ended up on some biking trails, and then went through some country roads and came back in.
Our starting temperatures were pretty chilly that morning, I think upper 20's a best. As soon as we got to the race we went into the gym are and picked up our race packets. It was simple and quick (no complaints). There were plenty of racers because there is also a half that runs with this race and the race has a long standing history. It is Ohio’s oldest marathon, it is put on each year by the Ohio River Runners Club, and one of the cheapest marathons that you can find. The early bird special was $25 in 2015 and 2016 when we registered so neither time (thankfully) did we feel like we wasted too much money. I think this year for 2017 it has increased to $35, but for a marathon that price is fabulous. Not to mention they have great shirts (brooks tech shirts), finisher medals, awesome volunteers, we were able to take showers at the YMCA, and the food was delicious. This race is also a BQ and for the price you can't beat that!

Even though this is great race my actual performance was horrible. I ended up having to run/walk midway through which is something that I never do. However, this is definitely a race that I have my sites set on running again and if your looking for a low key run (but a really nice one) you can't beat this race!

A Good Place to Run
Last Saturday I ran my 3rd half of the year at the Bristol Half & Half. This particular race got my attention because it covers two states Bristol, VA and Bristol, TN. I thought that was pretty unique, so when I found it I put this on my 2017 race list. I am glad I did because this was one of the better half marathons that I have ran and I would definitely run in this race again.

Race Background & Packet Pickup
The Bristol Half N Half is a growing race. This is the 5th year that it has ran and there were probably 500-600 runners in attendance for all three race options. The proceeds from the race benefit the American Cancer Society and this year they raised 60,000.00 dollars (which is pretty impressive). Registration was reasonably priced. I registered a couple of months early and it was $49.00. The early packet pickup took place on the Friday night at the Bristol Train Station. At the pickup they treated runners to a free spaghetti and lasagna dinner. We didn't eat, but it looked really good & if I run in this race again I will eat next time. In our packets we had our race shirt, a Chick-fil-A discount card, and plenty of directions (those were helpful).

Course Layout
The race began at 8:00 AM at Virginia High School in Bristol, VA. You literally run all over the town and end up finishing at Stone Castle High School, Bristol, TN. Looking back on the race course there are a few ways that I would describe the layout. First, you can't escape the hills in East, TN, there is just no way around it (brace yourself it's hilly). However, even though there were plenty of hills, it is a fast race. Also, the course layout keeps you on your toes. There were so many turns that there was nothing boring about it. After looking at the course map and seeing all the turns, I was concerned if it would be marked well. Thankfully, there was someone standing at every turn telling you which way to go.

Volunteers
One thing that I was impressed with was the volunteer support from the community in this race. For what you would consider a smaller race compared to some, the volunteers were amazing. I can honestly say I have never felt more appreciated for running a race. Every time I told a volunteer thank you for something during the race their response was, "No, thank you". Additionally, they give a spirit of the course award to the best aid station and some of the stations really got into it. Literally coming up one of the hills a group of volunteers had cow bells and a microphone cheering you on. There were also a few times when traffic had to be stopped on a major highway and some of the side roads of this course. There were an abundance of police officers out stopping traffic and making sure all the participants stayed safe.

Parking & Pacers.
We were able to find parking at Virginia High School, but there was additional parking at a near by church if needed. Prior to the start, the high school was open to runners to stay warm and to use the restrooms. There were pacers available starting at 8:00 minutes on up through 13:00 which was nice to have available. The race began on the track at the high school and we did one loop around the track before heading out to the road.

Aid Stations & Post Race
Throughout the course there were aid stations available at every mile with water and Gatorade on the even miles starting at mile four. I stopped twice for Gatorade through the course. The race ended up the football field at Stone Castle. After the race, they had plenty of drinks, fruit, cookies, granola, etc set up for the racers. The finisher's medal was one of the nicest that I have ever received and is made locally by a race sponsor. In order to get back to our vehicle at the other school there were shuttle vans available to racers. Once we got in line I think it took us about ten minutes to get a seat in a van and about ten more minutes to get back to the car. I was actually really surprised by how quickly their shuttles were.

Overall Impression
There are some races that you walk away from and know that you probably won't register for again. My mom and I both agreed that this would be a race that we would love to run again. I would recommend it to anyone that doesn't mind to run a hilly course. Even with the hills though I felt like it was a fast race, and I was able to set a new personal record of 1:51:40 for my half marathon time. Downtown Bristol is beautiful and my only regret is that we didn't get there sooner on Friday night to spend more time exploring the city.

I ran my first half marathon of 2017 in Strawberry Plains, TN on 2/4/17. This was my second time running this race (my first time was in 2015) and I enjoyed it so much more the second time around. In 2015, when I ran this course my overall pace was 8:51 and I finished with a chip time of 1:55:44, and Saturday I improved my time to 8:40 pace with 1:53:32 chip time. I was very happy to improve my time, especially considering how challenging this course is (it's challenging to me anyway). I ran with my Run Keeper on Saturday (first time ever in a race), so I had the lady on the app yelling at me every 5 minutes and it helped!
From what I can find this race has been running since 1998, and the Knoxville Track Club and various sponsors help make it happen every year. The race begins at Rush Strong School, and since I have been running has always started at 9:00 am. There is a 10k race that also runs with the half so it draws a decent crowd of runners, and a lot of people use it as part of their training for the Covenant Health Marathon. Both times the temperatures have been below freezing, and I think Saturday morning it was 22 or 24 degrees at the start. Thankfully, I have always warmed up really quick and been able to shed my gloves and head band by mile 4.
The cost of the race is $35 up until like two weeks before it runs, so for the price you can't beat it. You can pick up your packet one evening during the week before the race or before the race that morning. I live over an hour from these race and both time I have picked up my packet the morning before with no problems. With registration runners receive a shirt, medal (for half finishers), and they always have had plenty of food after the race. This year it was fruit, oatmeal, muffins, bagels, and drinks. The people who volunteer to help put the race on have always been awesome. There are multiple drink stations throughout the course and the volunteers are always out cheering the runners on. Honestly, the only complaint that I have ever heard about this race is that it's not headphone friendly because it's open to traffic. That has never been an issue for me though because I never run with headphones in anyways.
As far as the course goes there is a great YouTube video that you can watch that shows you some one drive through the entire course. The 10k part of the course is pretty flat and includes one minor hill on the way back, however the half is a different story. Starting between mile 3 and 4 you will start to run into some minor elevations, but you catch some down hill between mile 5 and 6. Miles 4-6 are my favorite (& the prettiest) parts of the course. You get to see some pretty farm land, run along side some horses & cows, and see some silos (the cows make me feel right at home). The real treat is between mile 7 and 8 when you climb a hill that feels every bit of a mile long (it's 1/4 to 1/3 I'm guessing). The first time I ran this course I hadn't been running hills at all and I felt like I was never going to make it up it. This time I was a little more prepared, but of course I feel like I could have ran some more hills. The down hill back though is so nice and after that you only have about two more minor elevations (but they are nothing compared that one).

This is definitely a race everyone should check out and try at least once. I will more than likely run this one again, especially if next year actually is their 20th anniversary! Lastly even though this is not a course where you will probably run your fastest half marathon, I like the challenge of trying to beat my previous course times.

On 2/18/17 I was in Gulf Shores for an archery tournament and had the opportunity to run in the Sea Turtle Half Marathon. The Sea Turtle Half Marathon and Sweetheart 5k are put on each year by the LA Fleet Feet Running Club and hosted by the The Hangout in Gulf Shores. The half course is a flat out and back, and ran up the beach line (which was beautiful). The cost of the race when I registered in December was just $50, which I think is great for a half (& this was a good one). Along with registration you of course got a finisher's medal (which was so cute) and a long sleeve t-shirt. I was impressed with the quality of the medal and shirt (they didn't go cheap). They also had a packet pickup the night before at The Hangout if you wanted to stop in. I took advantage of the opportunity because normally I'm picking up my packet the morning of the race. Pick up was simple and quick and the volunteers were so nice.
The race started at 7:30 that morning, and I was up at 5:30 making a quick trip to the archery range to drop off shooters and equipment. Once I got back, I got ready, taped up my right hip really good, and walked two blocks to Alvin's Island at the race start. We had great weather! The whole week before, they were giving rain on Saturday morning, but thankfully it all passed through on Friday night and the temperatures were great.
At the start there wasn't a chip timer like I am use to, but there was a pretty cool drone videoing us (you can see the video of the start on their FB page). On the course, there were four water stops and at the turn around the was a station with Gatorade and GU packets. Running into the finish, the atmosphere was great! Post race, all runners had awesome sandwich wraps, fruit, cookies, and plenty of music waiting for them at The Hangout. Big Beach Brewery was there too, but I don't drink so I didn't even check that out or use my tickets.
They gave overall awards and age group awards to finishers. My finish time on my watch was 1:54:51 and I actually placed third in my age group (all the fast people were running somewhere else) and got a cute coffee cup. This was not my fastest time at all and definitely not my goal time for this race (I was hoping for sub 1:52:00), but I had a really fun experience and realized hilly races help my time more than I thought! Overall, this was a fabulous race and the volunteers and atmosphere was awesome. If by some amazing chance that the stars align and this race falls on the same weekend as ASA Foley next year, I will definitely run this race again!