Latest reviews by Crystal

(2018)
"Silo District half marathon "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Three months ago, my husband and I decided to run a half marathon in Texas after a good friend suggested it. As a big Fixer Upper fan from the network HGTV, she wanted to be part of the race where Chip Gaines had decided to run a marathon. (I, however, had never seen this show, but it sounded like a fun challenge.) This was Chip’s first. And without prior running experience. The history of this is surrounded by a strong story of a woman who professionally ran races (trials for the Rio Olympics even) despite several rare cancer diagnosises over the last 10 years. ( Her story is here)  Little did this woman know that that chance meeting in New York in October 2017 would inspire this race to happen. Chip asked Gabriel Grunewald how long it would take to train for a marathon. She said 5 months, so he scheduled this race 5 months from that moment.  Here is a synopsis of his story.   100% of all proceeds from this race were to be donated to Rare Cancer Research. 6000 runners signed up! The race capped out. 3,000 5k runners, 2,000 half marathon runners, and 1000 marathon runners. Due to many normal reasons, the finishing #s looked more like 2722 5k finishers, 1951 half marathon finishers, and 494 marathon finishers.

This was an inaugural race. So of course there will be kinks to be worked out. From the get go, the informational emails slowly started and they were consistent with the facebook posts to their event page. The information for the race was slowly released as details were figured out or determined to be ok for releasing.
Packet Pickup at the Waco Convention Center was easy and small. It was moved last minute to that location due to potential rain...although it was gorgeous outside on Saturday. #bravelikeGabe Gabriel was standing around talking with incoming runners at the expo and taking photos. She had some stickers as well to hand out with her hashtag.

The waiver sign up forms were at the door before walking into the room.

 

 
The big room was set up with 5k bibs and shirts to the left, marathon in the center, and half marathon furthest to the right. The process was quick. They told us to bring our registration email (which I didn’t realize I had deleted) and our ID, luckily my ID was all I needed. Picked up my shirt, grabbed my goody bag, and finally Target had little baggies with snacks of fruit strips and nuts to give us separately.
The Sports Medicine Group Airrosti was there in case anyone needed pre-event K-Taping, etc.
Swag was pretty sweet. Essentially 2 bags- a nice Magnolia bag and a Silos District bag. 0.2 sticker for the race as well.

 

 
Then off to Magnolia to scope it out the day before the race.

 

 
On Race Morning, the temps were in the 50s, starting cool. I toyed with which shirt to wear. I had packed my Asheville Marathon Ambassador tank to wear... but I was afraid my arms would freeze so I changed into a sleeved shirt and my light jacket, packing my tank...just in case.

The hotel we stayed in was about 10 minutes from downtown. We were concerned about breakfast in the morning. I had packed our oatmeal... but the hotel does do breakfast at 6am. I knew that would be too close and we would want to eat before leaving at 6. Our hotel put breakfast bags together for runners to grab that morning that included a Kashi bar, orange, bottle of water, and a little pack of Oreos. That was awesome.

Since our race was at 7:30 we did not see a need to leave the hotel before 6am. We drove to the Dutton Avenue parking area (3.6miles from our hotel) for the shuttle service. As we pulled up on to this parking area, the lines were super long to get in. And for the 1 entrance they were using, there were probably 4-5 lines of traffic from different directions trying to get in. We were definitely nervous about sitting there too long. Conrad looked at me nervously, thinking we should have left earlier. However, we ended up figuring out a back way in to get in quicker. Once we parked, there were at least 5 shuttles waiting to load runners to take to downtown Waco. This process moved quickly and smoothly. The ladies running this part did a great job.

 

 
Once on site, there were some great photo ops as the sun was just coming up behind the Silos.

And with the sun coming up, the temps quickly rose, and I changed back into my tank top for the race.
In the back fencing area behind Magnolia market, the bag drop off and port a potties were set up. There were probably 50 of them. No waits to use them.

The marathon was scheduled to take off at 7am. It started late due to the ‘course not cleared’ yet. So they took off around 7:13am. Then we were told Chip took off at 7:15 for media purposes. The half marathon and 5k were scheduled to take off at 7:30am. But it was moved back to 7:40. The start for those 2 races were at 2 different locations.

The announcer for the race got up and talked to the crowds as we waited. The Corral situation was confusing. Our bibs had our corrals listed, however the corrals were not organized by speed from what we could tell. There were Corral signs from A-E... Marathon bibs were A&B we think an all of the half marathon bibs said C, D, or E. They requested that C bibs move to the A as we moved up. This was confusing as the pacers found their places amongst everyone. If you were a bibbed E and were running under 2hrs, you would want to start with your pacers, not your corral. However, nobody was checking our bibs, so it was on the honor system. After the Elites got their start, the rest of us were released at once.

The course was pretty. Starting with running through Baylor, then to outer roads, through downtown, including an out an back between miles 6.5 to 8.5, by Cameron Park Zoo and Cameron Park, over 2 bridges, back through downtown along Austin Avenue and finishing the hilliest part in the last mile of the race. My favorite part was running by the Zoo, down the hill, and past the park. So beautiful. My least favorite... that danged hill in mile 12 after you turn the corner.

 

 
The course was listed as fast and flat. It was not fast and flat. It was flatter than running in Asheville... but there were definitely some hills.

There wasn’t much entertainment on the course. Thankfully locals or family members of the runners were out cheering family on. There were a few locations with small bands or DJs. One appeared to be a school ensemble. The signs were awesome. I loved the quotes on the mile Marker signs. I missed some, but got quite a few on camera.  Which is your favorite?

 

 
The water stations were hit and miss. With the warm temps, many runners were stopping at all of the water stops (including me). The first water station was set up great and prepared. Then it was hit and miss. Some water stations were well set, however the water stations on the out and back were a mess. I think they were supposed to have Gatorade... there was a big gallon of concentrated Gatorade on the ground. But the guy working the water station couldn’t keep up with the water, much less Gatorade. So some of the stations the runners were grabbing an pouring themselves to grab an keep going. Conrad was under the impression the same guy(s) were working both stations and with little help. There were 2 stations where I saw GU available along the course.

My personal race, I felt good for most of this race. I had set a goal to hit 2:20 or below. And for 3/4 of the race I was right on pace if not doing better than I wanted. The first few miles I could tell I was pushing myself. My pace was quick, maybe quicker than it should have been. It was where it was once, several years ago. I Found a good pace at around mile 2-3, a better long distance pace. I took advantage of every water stop. I came up on mile marker 4 and realized it was way off on location. I found this to be the truth at several locations. I actually felt pretty good at mile 6. As I crossed the 10k checkpoint, my app told me I was really at 6.4m, not 6.2... so I worried about its accuracy. But if it was off, my time was actually better than recorded. The water stops for mile 7 and 8 were very close together. Probably less than a mile apart from each other, but this was on the out and back and they were directly across from each other. Around mile 9.5 we started passing the Zoo and hit a nice downhill. I LOVE downhill running. At this point, it was a great break on my legs and I just let them go through the motions to go down without much work to control. At mile 10, I thought- ‘YES!!! Only a 5k left... and my pace is doing great- if I have to take a little bit of some breaks these last 3 miles, I’ll still be ok’. But maybe I was too nice to myself. I started walking a little more during mile 10. Then around mile 11, the calves started cramping. A little here and there at first. If I was running, I would just change how my foot strike hit the ground to work out the cramp. But by mile 12, I’d have to walk a little more to walk out the cramps...or stop and stretch. Around mile 12.6 there was a hill. It was bigger than any of the others. Not fair. After coming down the hill, the finish line was in sight in front of us. A long straight finish. Conrad (who PR'd once again and had plenty of time to wait for me), my friend Julie and her dad were there in front of the chute cheering me on! Thanks Julie! Thanks Honey! Thanks Julie's Dad!

 

 
The finish was a long chute in. Waters were handed out first, then those gorgeous spinner medals. Followed by ice cold wet rags (paper made 1 time use). Slowly walking through the finish chute were volunteers handing out small packs of saltine crackers (1st time I’d seen that- smart idea), Grab The Gold bars, a Magnolia bakery cookie, and a banana (Someone joked... all this running and what did I get? A banana). I slowly staggered through the chute just mindlessly grabbing as I went. Thank goodness for awesome volunteers that deal with us runners as we finish these races. I slowly made it through and went straight to get by bag from bag check. The timing company did not have results up at that point. Not sure if they ever did while we were there.

The after party was somewhat lacking. While it was awesome to get to hang on the grounds of Magnolia after the race, the food trucks, bakery, and store were open for the runners and spectators to utilize (usually Magnolia shuts down on Sundays). And none of it was free. However it was just open area for everyone to hang. If you wanted an extra water after finishing the race, you needed to either purchase it around the Market area, or do what i did and go back by the chute and request one from a volunteer in there. Chip’s truck was out on display for post it notes to be stuck to from the crowd. His talk of ‘Start Small and go Big’ with the 0.2 stickers/logo was to inspire the post-its.

 

 

 

 
A nice treat I took advantage of was a short line for the Magnolia bakery.  I randomly found another Black Mountain, NC resident working in this little shop while she was at school at Baylor!  Small world!  And oh my goodness that lemon cupcake was amazing!

 

 
I was able to score a photo with Clint Harp and his wife as well!  

Many racers stuck around to watch Chip finish the race. He ran in a tool belt 26.2 miles. Looking at his splits, he actually did pretty darn well for his first and with additional accessories! Pictures of him coming through the finish line showed the discoloration of the tool belt onto his white shirt. His family joined somewhere along the way... his kids running in before and his little girl with him. Joanna was following on a golf cart and cheering on runners along the way of the full marathon. While waiting at the finish, we got notifications every so often on where he happened to be so we would be ready. I’d say by the time he hit mile 23, everyone started congregating at the finish line. That helped those running the full get some awesome cheerleading as so many were standing at the chute. He was surrounded by media crews immediately after the race at the finish line and hugged his family and gave a speech. He was then whisked away into a vehicle off the premises. I totally understand there might be security issues, but it would have been great if he could have experienced a normal post-race party like the rest of us :). With us.

 

 
Overall this was a great race. Hopefully the kinks are worked out by next year. There weren’t many. And I’m sure the lacking after party was to increase the amount of $ being donated to the #bravelikegabe foundation/charity, as well as planning a race in 5 months versus a year’s time.

And a final mention of my friend Julie.  She talked me into signing up for this half as she signed up for the full, only to have to sit it out due to injury.  However, her positive attitude and sweet cheering demeanor through the entire weekend while crutching around was absolutely magical.  It’s a reminder that we can’t always control our circumstances, but how we react to our circumstances.  And that is what is most important!

This is a quaint town that is worth running through. If you have an opportunity to run this race next year, it is for a great cause!

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(2018)
"Silo District half marathon "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Three months ago, my husband and I decided to run a half marathon in Texas after a good friend suggested it. As a big Fixer Upper fan from the network HGTV, she wanted to be part of the race where Chip Gaines had decided to run a marathon. (I, however, had never seen this show, but it sounded like a fun challenge.) This was Chip’s first. And without prior running experience. The history of this is surrounded by a strong story of a woman who professionally ran races (trials for the Rio Olympics even) despite several rare cancer diagnosises over the last 10 years. ( Her story is here)  Little did this woman know that that chance meeting in New York in October 2017 would inspire this race to happen. Chip asked Gabriel Grunewald how long it would take to train for a marathon. She said 5 months, so he scheduled this race 5 months from that moment.  Here is a synopsis of his story.   100% of all proceeds from this race were to be donated to Rare Cancer Research. 6000 runners signed up! The race capped out. 3,000 5k runners, 2,000 half marathon runners, and 1000 marathon runners. Due to many normal reasons, the finishing #s looked more like 2722 5k finishers, 1951 half marathon finishers, and 494 marathon finishers.

This was an inaugural race. So of course there will be kinks to be worked out. From the get go, the informational emails slowly started and they were consistent with the facebook posts to their event page. The information for the race was slowly released as details were figured out or determined to be ok for releasing.
Packet Pickup at the Waco Convention Center was easy and small. It was moved last minute to that location due to potential rain...although it was gorgeous outside on Saturday. #bravelikeGabe Gabriel was standing around talking with incoming runners at the expo and taking photos. She had some stickers as well to hand out with her hashtag.

The waiver sign up forms were at the door before walking into the room.

 

 
The big room was set up with 5k bibs and shirts to the left, marathon in the center, and half marathon furthest to the right. The process was quick. They told us to bring our registration email (which I didn’t realize I had deleted) and our ID, luckily my ID was all I needed. Picked up my shirt, grabbed my goody bag, and finally Target had little baggies with snacks of fruit strips and nuts to give us separately.
The Sports Medicine Group Airrosti was there in case anyone needed pre-event K-Taping, etc.
Swag was pretty sweet. Essentially 2 bags- a nice Magnolia bag and a Silos District bag. 0.2 sticker for the race as well.

 

 
Then off to Magnolia to scope it out the day before the race.

 

 
On Race Morning, the temps were in the 50s, starting cool. I toyed with which shirt to wear. I had packed my Asheville Marathon Ambassador tank to wear... but I was afraid my arms would freeze so I changed into a sleeved shirt and my light jacket, packing my tank...just in case.

The hotel we stayed in was about 10 minutes from downtown. We were concerned about breakfast in the morning. I had packed our oatmeal... but the hotel does do breakfast at 6am. I knew that would be too close and we would want to eat before leaving at 6. Our hotel put breakfast bags together for runners to grab that morning that included a Kashi bar, orange, bottle of water, and a little pack of Oreos. That was awesome.

Since our race was at 7:30 we did not see a need to leave the hotel before 6am. We drove to the Dutton Avenue parking area (3.6miles from our hotel) for the shuttle service. As we pulled up on to this parking area, the lines were super long to get in. And for the 1 entrance they were using, there were probably 4-5 lines of traffic from different directions trying to get in. We were definitely nervous about sitting there too long. Conrad looked at me nervously, thinking we should have left earlier. However, we ended up figuring out a back way in to get in quicker. Once we parked, there were at least 5 shuttles waiting to load runners to take to downtown Waco. This process moved quickly and smoothly. The ladies running this part did a great job.

 

 
Once on site, there were some great photo ops as the sun was just coming up behind the Silos.

And with the sun coming up, the temps quickly rose, and I changed back into my tank top for the race.
In the back fencing area behind Magnolia market, the bag drop off and port a potties were set up. There were probably 50 of them. No waits to use them.

The marathon was scheduled to take off at 7am. It started late due to the ‘course not cleared’ yet. So they took off around 7:13am. Then we were told Chip took off at 7:15 for media purposes. The half marathon and 5k were scheduled to take off at 7:30am. But it was moved back to 7:40. The start for those 2 races were at 2 different locations.

The announcer for the race got up and talked to the crowds as we waited. The Corral situation was confusing. Our bibs had our corrals listed, however the corrals were not organized by speed from what we could tell. There were Corral signs from A-E... Marathon bibs were A&B we think an all of the half marathon bibs said C, D, or E. They requested that C bibs move to the A as we moved up. This was confusing as the pacers found their places amongst everyone. If you were a bibbed E and were running under 2hrs, you would want to start with your pacers, not your corral. However, nobody was checking our bibs, so it was on the honor system. After the Elites got their start, the rest of us were released at once.

The course was pretty. Starting with running through Baylor, then to outer roads, through downtown, including an out an back between miles 6.5 to 8.5, by Cameron Park Zoo and Cameron Park, over 2 bridges, back through downtown along Austin Avenue and finishing the hilliest part in the last mile of the race. My favorite part was running by the Zoo, down the hill, and past the park. So beautiful. My least favorite... that danged hill in mile 12 after you turn the corner.

 

 
The course was listed as fast and flat. It was not fast and flat. It was flatter than running in Asheville... but there were definitely some hills.

There wasn’t much entertainment on the course. Thankfully locals or family members of the runners were out cheering family on. There were a few locations with small bands or DJs. One appeared to be a school ensemble. The signs were awesome. I loved the quotes on the mile Marker signs. I missed some, but got quite a few on camera.  Which is your favorite?

 

 
The water stations were hit and miss. With the warm temps, many runners were stopping at all of the water stops (including me). The first water station was set up great and prepared. Then it was hit and miss. Some water stations were well set, however the water stations on the out and back were a mess. I think they were supposed to have Gatorade... there was a big gallon of concentrated Gatorade on the ground. But the guy working the water station couldn’t keep up with the water, much less Gatorade. So some of the stations the runners were grabbing an pouring themselves to grab an keep going. Conrad was under the impression the same guy(s) were working both stations and with little help. There were 2 stations where I saw GU available along the course.

My personal race, I felt good for most of this race. I had set a goal to hit 2:20 or below. And for 3/4 of the race I was right on pace if not doing better than I wanted. The first few miles I could tell I was pushing myself. My pace was quick, maybe quicker than it should have been. It was where it was once, several years ago. I Found a good pace at around mile 2-3, a better long distance pace. I took advantage of every water stop. I came up on mile marker 4 and realized it was way off on location. I found this to be the truth at several locations. I actually felt pretty good at mile 6. As I crossed the 10k checkpoint, my app told me I was really at 6.4m, not 6.2... so I worried about its accuracy. But if it was off, my time was actually better than recorded. The water stops for mile 7 and 8 were very close together. Probably less than a mile apart from each other, but this was on the out and back and they were directly across from each other. Around mile 9.5 we started passing the Zoo and hit a nice downhill. I LOVE downhill running. At this point, it was a great break on my legs and I just let them go through the motions to go down without much work to control. At mile 10, I thought- ‘YES!!! Only a 5k left... and my pace is doing great- if I have to take a little bit of some breaks these last 3 miles, I’ll still be ok’. But maybe I was too nice to myself. I started walking a little more during mile 10. Then around mile 11, the calves started cramping. A little here and there at first. If I was running, I would just change how my foot strike hit the ground to work out the cramp. But by mile 12, I’d have to walk a little more to walk out the cramps...or stop and stretch. Around mile 12.6 there was a hill. It was bigger than any of the others. Not fair. After coming down the hill, the finish line was in sight in front of us. A long straight finish. Conrad (who PR'd once again and had plenty of time to wait for me), my friend Julie and her dad were there in front of the chute cheering me on! Thanks Julie! Thanks Honey! Thanks Julie's Dad!

 

 
The finish was a long chute in. Waters were handed out first, then those gorgeous spinner medals. Followed by ice cold wet rags (paper made 1 time use). Slowly walking through the finish chute were volunteers handing out small packs of saltine crackers (1st time I’d seen that- smart idea), Grab The Gold bars, a Magnolia bakery cookie, and a banana (Someone joked... all this running and what did I get? A banana). I slowly staggered through the chute just mindlessly grabbing as I went. Thank goodness for awesome volunteers that deal with us runners as we finish these races. I slowly made it through and went straight to get by bag from bag check. The timing company did not have results up at that point. Not sure if they ever did while we were there.

The after party was somewhat lacking. While it was awesome to get to hang on the grounds of Magnolia after the race, the food trucks, bakery, and store were open for the runners and spectators to utilize (usually Magnolia shuts down on Sundays). And none of it was free. However it was just open area for everyone to hang. If you wanted an extra water after finishing the race, you needed to either purchase it around the Market area, or do what i did and go back by the chute and request one from a volunteer in there. Chip’s truck was out on display for post it notes to be stuck to from the crowd. His talk of ‘Start Small and go Big’ with the 0.2 stickers/logo was to inspire the post-its.

 

 

 

 
A nice treat I took advantage of was a short line for the Magnolia bakery.  I randomly found another Black Mountain, NC resident working in this little shop while she was at school at Baylor!  Small world!  And oh my goodness that lemon cupcake was amazing!

 

 
I was able to score a photo with Clint Harp and his wife as well!  

Many racers stuck around to watch Chip finish the race. He ran in a tool belt 26.2 miles. Looking at his splits, he actually did pretty darn well for his first and with additional accessories! Pictures of him coming through the finish line showed the discoloration of the tool belt onto his white shirt. His family joined somewhere along the way... his kids running in before and his little girl with him. Joanna was following on a golf cart and cheering on runners along the way of the full marathon. While waiting at the finish, we got notifications every so often on where he happened to be so we would be ready. I’d say by the time he hit mile 23, everyone started congregating at the finish line. That helped those running the full get some awesome cheerleading as so many were standing at the chute. He was surrounded by media crews immediately after the race at the finish line and hugged his family and gave a speech. He was then whisked away into a vehicle off the premises. I totally understand there might be security issues, but it would have been great if he could have experienced a normal post-race party like the rest of us :). With us.

 

 
Overall this was a great race. Hopefully the kinks are worked out by next year. There weren’t many. And I’m sure the lacking after party was to increase the amount of $ being donated to the #bravelikegabe foundation/charity, as well as planning a race in 5 months versus a year’s time.

And a final mention of my friend Julie.  She talked me into signing up for this half as she signed up for the full, only to have to sit it out due to injury.  However, her positive attitude and sweet cheering demeanor through the entire weekend while crutching around was absolutely magical.  It’s a reminder that we can’t always control our circumstances, but how we react to our circumstances.  And that is what is most important!

This is a quaint town that is worth running through. If you have an opportunity to run this race next year, it is for a great cause!

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(2017)
"Running South to Avoid the snow...or not."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

We planned this trip to Mississippi to run in warmer climates in December. My husband and I were going to run the Double Down (5k + half). My sister was going to run the 5k. The weather didn’t quite work like we planned. This weekend we had a snow storm at home in NC that canceled our flights to NOLA. We ended up making a last minute decision to drive down to Gulfport. We drove through snow the entire way. We stopped in Atlanta and picked up my brother in law for an impromptu trip to Mississippi; signed him up for the 5k as well!

It was snowing in Biloxi when we arrived. Apparently this was a first in many years. The residents were in shock.
And the sand was frozen on the beach.

Leading up to the race, we had signed up in the promotional period when the signups opened. We booked a room with VRBO in a house that was a few blocks from the start line in Gulfport.
Information was plentiful via emails and facebook posts from the race planners.
Our initial plans were to arrive Friday afternoon by plane in NOLA and drive over, but due to the drive, we didn’t arrive until 9pm.
We took advantage of the race morning bib pick up for the 5k. The 5k was set up in Biloxi just before going over the bridge. There was a Community Coffee set up with free coffee, music, photo spots. The race was small and went through a few blocks around the area. There was plenty of food to get samples of BBQ and stew.
After the 5k was the Kids marathon where the kids finished their final mile to complete a marathon.

After the 5k, we drove back towards Gulfport stopping by the expo. The convention center was split into 2 parts. 1 side was for bib pick up. The other side was for the expo. There was free beer, and samples of race fuel.
I picked up my Mississippi running magnet.
Lunch was at MugShots, the famous burger place in Gulfport.
We drove around Biloxi and further east, visiting the National Forest. Back to Gulfport and scoped out the start line location.
We picked up groceries at Walmart and cooked dinner at the house.

The following morning, we woke up and walked the 5 minute walk to the start line in the dark. It was around 30 degrees. As we congegated with the other half marathon runners, we noticed that the sun was rising over the ocean. I ran to take a photo with my husband. It was beautiful. I was joined by several other runners that saw the same beauty.
I quickly rejoined the ranks of half-marathoners at the start line. The full marathoners have a different start line 13 miles further west so that they end at the same finish line as us.
So the horn blows at 7am for the start. We start on the road/sidewalk running beside the sand and the ocean. The sun is slowly rising. The heat is getting stronger from the sun. It’s a flat course.
There is little entertainment on the course. The water stops came up every 1.5-2 miles as noted on the course map. The course entertainement appears to be the beautiful sunrise. This disappears after 6 miles when buildings start coming between the ocean and the road.
But the view is still pretty. I finally get to the final mile and there’s an uphill! We have to follow the uphill ramp onto the road. After the turn around, its downhill to the finish line. What a wonderful sight! You run in around the stadium and in through a chute that follows the line of the outfield to the finish line.
The medal is waiting for you and a bottle of water!

After relaxing on the grass enough to get our legs working, we walked up to the top of the stands where the post race party was.
We went and picked up our Double Down Award, which was a low country boil plate. There was plenty of food, hot chocolate, chocolate milk, coffee, and free beer! We enjoyed relaxing in the stands while we filled our bellies before leaving.

My sister and brother in law had found parking a few blocks away from the stadium on the side of the street. So we made our way to the car and headed out to go get ready to check out of our house.

Mid-afternoon lunch at Shaggys made it worth it on our way out of town!

This was definitely a race worth doing. The gorgeous view made it worth it. Great swag and lots of freebies. The post race party was well set up.

Maybe when you run it, it will be warmer!

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(2016)
"Kiawah Island half"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

The Kiawah Island Marathon and Half Marathon weekend has been on my schedule since July before my diagnosis. A flat course to attempt to PR at sounded like a great idea! Plus a getaway for Conrad and I in the midst of the Holiday season sounded amazing as well. Last year people were running in 70 degree temps even- that sounded amazing.

Although the temperatures weren't that nice and warm, and I was 9 days out from my 3rd chemo treatment, it was a great weekend!

Arriving Friday afternoon, I signed up to work at the expo with our Asheville marathon booth.

 

 
Conrad and I arrived to the Expo around 4pm which was held at the Kiawah Island East Beach Conference Center. You walked in the back door to be welcomed by information for the Race including a map. Taking a left led you down a hallway filled with booths and areas to purchase items. After bib pick-up we went to find our booth to work from 4-8pm. There were a few other booths in the same room we were set up, including the pacers and Fleet feet.

We rented a house on the island with friends that was within walking distance of the start/finish line. This was a great idea!

 

 
The following morning was a 6am wake time. My morning start included half a bagel with cream cheese, Imodium, and ibuprofen. Yes, magic pills for me now, especially as I'm trying to stay hydrated while on my poisons.

Temperatures were 37 degrees and sunny. Out the door to walk to the start line by 7:05am. Its approximately a .7m walk from our door to the start line.

 

 

And we got to see Santa!

We lined up in corrals where we thought we might finish. Conrad was up in the front. his goal was to PR and run under 2 hours. I lined up between 2:15 and 2:30. I was just being hopeful. My goal was just to finish. I really couldn't tell you if I'd walk more or run more as I started. I knew I felt good enough to run at the start, but how I'd feel after a mile or 2... my training run Thursday was only 2 miles and my legs were heavy and fatigued the entire time.

Getting started I felt good. The vibe of the crowd was positive. I stayed with Steele for a little bit , knowing we had run a training run together 2 weeks ago, I knew our pace might be similar. But I didn't want to hold anyone back if I felt bad. After 2 miles I let him get ahead. The views were beautiful. The race runs by and through neighborhoods so people were coming out to the streets to cheer you on. Some of the neatest signs as well. I loved how the spectators would call you by the name on your bib to cheer you on.

At mile 4 I decided to start working on a plan. 45 second walk at the beginning of each mile marker. I grabbed water at each water station (my doctor strictly told me to stay hydrated on the course). The views, the bridges, the trees were gorgeous. At mile 8 I decided that walking 45 second intervals was needed at the half mile marks as well. So that began.

 

 
We did get to run over a view of the beach at the end of mile 9, which was nice! There were at least 2 small hills in this run. I somehow reached mile 12... but it motivated me. I picked up a little more energy at the start as we were now running down small greenway like trails. I did more walk/run alternating in this mile. Around 12.5 I saw Daphne walking back from the finish line and she jumped in and motivated me to push the last little bit. I knew I was close. It was so hard. My legs were like lead bricks. But finally I see the 13m marker and turn the corner for the finish line!
The after race included a mylar blanket, medal, an amazing meal, entertainment, hot chocolate, free Natalie's Lemonade, and of course the new normal post race beer. We hung around for a few hours enjoying the festivities.

 

 

And Conrad even got his PR well under 2 hours!!

After going back home, and an amazing bath, we went back down to walk on the beach. It was chilly and sunny. Beautiful.

Thank you to my best friend Shannon who reminded me of this verse today... again why I have learned to love 1 Peter

1 Peter 5:10

 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

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(2016)
"Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon Review"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Finally got through my 3rd half marathon in 5 weeks! I was nervous going into it, afraid being my 3rd in such a short time, I’d bonk and just be done.

Luckily and unluckily for me, the weather was cool (40ish) and raining in pre-race and for at least 30-45 minutes of the race. These cool temps really helped me, as last weekend the heat of low 60s and sunshine hurt me.

I booked this race back in November. Originally I was only going to run the 8k on Saturday, and Conrad the half on Sunday, however after I realized I wouldn’t get out of work in time to make it in time, I transferred into the half.

The emails really start coming to prep you for the race 2 weeks in advance. They prep you for what to expect, your bib #, and your corral. If you ‘like’ their Facebook page, there are videos prepping you as well. They ask for an expected finish time at registration. I’m not sure what was put in (Conrad did my transfer) so I was placed in corral 7. There are 12 total. And yes, they start 1-2 minutes apart from each other.

Big talk is there around 20k people in town for the race weekend. There were around 7,000 runners in the half on Sunday and 1800 marathon runners. 8,000 TownBanke 8k runners and 3,000 kids in Operation Smile Final Mile.

Since I couldn’t leave Friday, we left early Saturday a.m. and arrived at the Expo in the Virginia Beach Convention Center around 2. Got our bibs, arm bracelets for being over 21, got our shirts (pretty shirts, just sized a little big… I tried to switch sizes at the exchange table but they were out of extras in that size), and walked through the merchandise for sale. There were heavily discounted shirts from last year and other memorabilia. I picked up a car magnet.

The Health and Wellness expo was full of vendors and sponsors. There were speakers, photo opportunities, and even Yuengling samples.

We walked around and got our photos and headed out to our hotel.

The Hampton Inn south was Oceanfront and a great hotel, but too far from the finish line in my opinion (hotel at 11th street, start line in 40s, finish at 30th street).

We drove down to dinner at Chichos (singer there and a great ‘chozone’… i.e. calzone). We also took pictures by King Neptune on the beach.

We listened to a band at Murphys Irish pub before we headed back to the hotel… not to forget a late night run to Ben and Jerry’s for ice cream while relaxing in the hotel room. It was cloudy and 40 degrees and cool all afternoon and evening with a blistering wind on Atlantic Avenue. Drops of rain on and off as well made it uncomfortable to enjoy the beach.

Race day: up by 5am to wake up and eat my chocolate Luna bar for breakfast. Left the hotel around 6. Parking for the race was going to be an issue. We were worried where we wold be parking. The rain started as we left the hotel and it was around 43 degrees. We found the parking garage, paid to park, and walked the 15 blocks to the start line in the rain.

Dry bag drop offs were done on UPS trucks on Atlantic Ave. Each one was labeled with the first letter of last names so you walked to the right truck.

We hopped in our corrals right at 6:55a.m.. The corral was thinned out because everyone was under the awning of nearby restaurants until corral 1 started.

Around 7:10 my corral started. I had a slow start as I couldn’t get my phone to set up mapmyrun because of the rain. I thought it had started, but around mile 6 I looked and it never did. So I used the race tracker text and the time on my fitbit to help me gauge how I was doing after that.

After my slow first few minutes I got into a groove. Legs felt good, numb from the cold rain, started running a pace I was happy with. Water stops at each mile marker it seemed. There was even a fruit stop around mile 2. The first Yuengling stop was around mile 3.5-4. I actually didn’t even see it, but Conrad did and I saw it on my way back. They were again around mile 5, 9, 11… Conrad even saw one guy he didnt think was part of the race giving out beer from a cooler on his own. This was crazy. Nonetheless I was aiming for a PR so this was just funny to watch.

Only GU stop was around mile 5. I grabbed mine to start later.

Crossed the timing mat at 6.2 miles after we made the turnaround and as we were running into Fort Story. This is where I looked at my time on my runner tracker text and realized if I picked it up, I might actually PR. I was at 1:01:20. From here on I was able to keep my min/mile at/under 10.

Check out how much I dropped my pace in the last 7 miles!
Fort Story was very windy. Started blowing my hat. Thankfully my ponytail helped. Fort Story was around 3 miles long. Once we ran out I was so excited there was only 4 more miles and it was straight to the finish. Running on Pacific Ave for 3 more miles, with occasional tailwind pushing us along …then it turns onto Atlantic and what felt like the longest stretch (probably. 5m) on the boardwalk. At least there were tons of supporters by now.

I pushed through and crossed the finish! Sadly I did not PR. My time at the Asheville Half Marathon on the Biltmore Estate last year was 2:09:33 (less than a minute off). Bummed because I know if I wasn’t messing with mapmyrun in the rain at the beginning I probably could have.

It took about 10 minutes to walk through the finish chute. Medals, waters, gatorade, bananas, shamrock cookies, chips, granola bar, finishers hat, beach towel, and a finishers bag. Loaded down!

Conrad beat me by 10 minutes so he was able to get a picture as I was finishing, then meet me for pictures.

Marathonfoto got this Excuse my pockets packed with heavy wet gloves and my phone
2 weekends in a row he has PR’ed, so he rang the bell and we got our beach picture.


Into the food/party tent where a band was playing, Murphys was giving out stew, and runners could get a free cup of Yuengling. We stayed for about 30 minutes or more but as we cooled down, the sweat made the cool temps hard to bear, so we left.


The UPS trucks were on the boardwalk now for dry bag pickup. We grabbed ours and headed to the car and the hotel.

Overall the weekend was great. This race has a good # of finishers freebies.

Finisher goodies
The course is very flat and the marathon is a Boston qualifier. I wish the weather had been better, but this is the luck of the draw.. just make the best out of it.

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