(copied from my my blog review here: http://fiveleveninety.blogspot.com/2013/10/i-did-it-ing-hartford-marathon-2013.html)

I can officially say that I've ran & finished a full marathon! I've been training for months for this race (really since I finished playing lacrosse in college), and I'm so happy to say that I've finally conquered this goal!

The weekend itself was a bit hectic. I took Friday off from work because we had originally planned on leaving in the afternoon to head down, but Nick's classes ended up taking longer than anticipated and there was traffic EVERYWHERE (stupid holiday weekends...), so we didn't end up getting down to Hartford until about 8:40, just in time to pick up our bibs from the expo, which closed at 9! Apparently, they ran out of shirts before we got there, so we had to write down our mailing addresses to be sent to us later. *sigh*

Our hotel was a bit sketchy, but luckily we only spent a grand total of about 8 hours there, 5 of which were spent sleeping. After checking in, we ventured to Bertucci's for a carbo-load dinner of pasta and bread. When we returned we all pinned our bibs to our race-day shirts and set out our outfits & shoes like a bunch of kids excited for the first day of school!

We got up before the sun at 5:30AM, did some stretching and fueling, and headed over to Bushnell Park where they had a bunch of race-day festivities. I had my heart set on buying a 26.2 sticker for my car, so I tracked down the merchandise tent and got my hands on one before the race began.

The start time snuck up on all three of us! We headed over to the starting line about 10 minutes before the race began. The energy of the crowd was awesome and got us so psyched to start running! Nothing feels better than the anticipation before a big event! It's also great interacting with other runners who are just there for fun and to accomplish personal goals. It's pretty true what they say about running - it's hard to understand unless you're a part of the community. There are so many awesome and amazing individuals in the running world that you can't help but become addicted! It's great to be involved in such an awesome sport & community.

We *officially* got going around 8:15 AM. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for this race - sunny and about 75 degrees. I was a little worried as I tend to attract rain on race days, but everything worked out in the weather department!

The course itself was gorgeous. It took us through the city as well as into nearby East Hartford, a cute residential section of town. The residents of East Hartford were so incredibly supportive and awesome. So many people were out on their lawns cheering, handing out waters and food, holding awesomely hilarious signs, and just genuinely caring about the runners that closed down their streets for the day. We made it a point to thank every person who was cheering us on as we ran by, as well as all of the amazing volunteers along the course. All of the people at the water stops, all of the aid bikers, all of the police detail, and all of the spectators - without them it would have been much tougher to get through all of those miles!

Louie, Nick, and I all stuck together throughout the first half of the marathon. We chatted, danced, and kept each other sane for about 14 miles before we got separated. My legs and feet were sore after about 12 miles, but I didn't REALLY start feeling it until about mile 22. That's when my left hamstring & calf seized right up and basically screamed at me to stop. But I didn't. In fact, I didn't stop running the entire race. I wanted to run a marathon, not walk one, so that's what I did. The only time I stopped to walk was when I got water/Gatorade at the water stops, and as soon as my cup was empty I continued running.

The last 4.2 miles were rough. I was in so much pain that on the verge of tears almost the whole time. I wanted to stop. I wanted to quit. But I kept telling myself Riley, you can do this. You've worked so hard. You're so close. You're almost there. Do it for the ones that can't. Do it for the ones you saw get injured along the way. Finish the race for them, no matter how badly it hurts. I tried to focus on every part of my body that wasn't in pain. Like my hands, or my ears - anything to not think of the waist down. I tried to think of how good it will feel to accomplish the goal I worked so hard for, and how good the weight of that finisher's medal will feel around my neck. Although all of those things sound silly, they actually helped push me through to the end.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:34:20! It felt awesome to hear the announcer say my name as I was coming in under the arch.

I got one of those awesome space blankets you see marathoners get, a water bottle, a little swag bag, but they ran out of finisher's medals before we finished the race. *double sigh* SO frustrating. One of the best parts of running races is to get that medal. It kind of "seals the deal" of completing the race. It was pretty disheartening to find out they had run out, but they said they would place a rush order and mail out finisher's medals to whoever did not receive one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes soon! Louie, Nick, and I are already planning on getting together for drinks when our shirts and medals come in, so we can take post-race pictures! (Of course.)

This whole experience was extremely positive. There were absolutely times where I wanted to give up, times where I didn't feel like running, and times where I doubted myself, but that feeling of accomplishment at the end of the race was unlike anything I've ever felt before. I'm looking forward to running many more in the future!

(copied from my blog review here: http://versustheroad.blogspot.com/2013/09/race-review-color-and-glow-5k.html)

Louie and I ran in the Color and Glow 5K last weekend! It was so great to participate in a fun run type of race instead of something super duper challenging like I have been this entire race season. I wasn't nervous about the distance, I wasn't worried about my time, and I wasn't concerned about coming in first place (but let's be real - I'm never too concerned about coming in first place, because I know it'll never happen :P). I was just there to have a good time!

One complaint we both had about the race was packet pick up. Participants only had 2 options - the day before the race (which was a work day) from 11 AM to 7 PM at an off-site location, or on-site the day of the race from 10 AM to 12 PM (the race started at 7:30 PM) only if you were travelling more than 80 miles to the race. A. That's super inconvenient for participants who live close but work weird hours (like me) and can't get to an off-site location, and B. What are the participants that are travelling from far away supposed to do for 7 hours after they pick up their packet? A race like this always needs pre-race packet pick up as an option. Seriously, that's a no brainer. The only time races should be allowed to get away without race day pre-race packet pick up is if there's tens of thousands of participants and it's physically impossible to hand out all of the packets right before the race. Judging by the amount of people that were at the race, I think they could have handled at least one registration tent.*

The race was held at Brockton Fair Grounds in Brockton, MA. We showed up about an hour early (which is TOTALLY unlike us) and we were able to just hang out and take in the atmosphere before lining up. The race MC was tossing out glow-sticks at the starting line, so we weaved our way to the front of the pack to catch a few and get decked out for the race.

The race was scheduled to send the first wave out at 7:30, but it didn't start until about 7:50. We got a little antsy for the start of the race, but it also gave us the opportunity to take in the atmosphere, rack up out glow stick collection (I think I wound up with about 12 or so, haha), and get excited for the race to come!

Personally, I was expecting more lights along the course - kind of like the Electric Run - but the route was, for the most part, pitch black and since the majority of the race was through a field, I was super worried I was going to step into a hole (which I did a few times) and injure myself. For this reason, I was extremely careful about my footing the entire race, which definitely took away from the fun. I would love to see this course more well lit (bonus points if it's colorful lights!) in years to come.

I would like to have been covered in more paint, also. I sign up for races like these to be doused in color. We were in the first wave, so I understand that they had to conserve for the other runners, but adding in some more paint stations along the course would be awesome. (Side note - they didn't tell the voluteers not to shoot paint into the runner's faces. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other runner got their eyes painted, because I certainly swallowed some. >_>)

Either Louie and I totally beasted the course, or it wasn't a full 5K. I think we finished in about 22 minutes (neither of us timed it because we were just there for the fun!) which is extremely fast for both of us. I wasn't too surprised about the short distance (we experienced the same thing for Color Me Rad) because these types of events are more about the fun experience than completing a true 5K, which I think is awesome. I love that there are events like these to encourage people to get active and introduce them into the running world with something fun!

This was a really fun race with a LOT of potential. They need to add a few things to make this a truly great event, but I think with each year this race will improve and become bigger and better. I can't wait to see where it goes! If you're looking for a fun, unique approach to fitness and night life, definitely check Color and Glow out!

(copied from my blog review here: http://versustheroad.blogspot.com/2013/06/race-review-superhero-scramble.html)

This past weekend Louie and I ran the Superhero Scramble! The New England race was what they call a "Charger", which means it was their shortest race at approximately 4 miles and 20 obstacles. It was hosted at Amesbury Sport Park, a popular location for New England obstacle races. With Tropical Storm Andrea hitting the northeast on Friday night, the race got pushed back three hours, so we didn't get there until the afternoon - nice change of pace after all these early-morning starts!

We had our friends Brett, Kristen, and Jeff come along with us to spectate. Unfortunately, they had to spend $20 just to get in, which is all well and good - obstacle races cost a lot of money to put on - but I was disappointed in what they got in exchange for the entry fee: a $5 ticket to the merch tent (none of them wanted to buy merch for an event they weren't participating in) and a view of the smallest portion of the course possible. All three of them agreed that the $20 would have been worth it if they got a free beer or burger, and access to more obstacles so they could take pictures and cheer us on. I would have loved to have them cheering me on at all of the obstacles that were just over the hill from where they were waiting for me! If they had done a bit more for the spectators, I bet more people would spend the money to come to the event.

There were many different types of people running the race, from elite athletes to those attempting the first athletic event of their life. I would say that the majority of the obstacles are totally doable by everyone participating, and if you couldn't complete the task, you had the option of taking the penalty of 10 burpees and 10 spins on the dizzy bat. (They may as well have given us a couple shots of tequila instead!) The obstacles we had to complete were:

Up and down a giant hill twice
Climbing the wall near the start (pictured above)
Up and over a cargo net which was pretty high off the ground - definitely made me face my fear of heights!
Run through tires
Crawling under barbed wire
"Leap of Faith" - a 15-20 foot drop into a pool of water. We just got up there and jumped before we thought of how far the drop was and freaked ourselves out, haha. Lost my headband at this point!
Swimming under barbed wire
Swing across a pool of water on rings
More barbed wire!
Dragging a cinder block through sand
Carrying a sandbag across a river
Rock Wall (this obstacle was closed - I guess it got ruined in the storm)
A number of walls you had to get up and over, or under and through
Mud holes
Balance Beam
Rope climb
Army Crawl through mud and under barbed wire
Slip n' Slide (I'll detail this one in a bit)
"The Beast" - a giant wall that you had to scale using a rope
"The Final Battle" - two guys that are trying to tackle you that you have to dodge

I was able to get through all of them except the rings and the rope climb. Let's be honest - I have little to no upper body strength.

The Slip n' Slide was my only real complaint about the course. Apparently while we were out on the course, the Slip n' Slide broke or something, so instead of shutting the obstacle down (you know, the smart, safe thing to do) they just took half of the tarp away (the part of the tarp that would have plateaued and slowed you down) and let people slide their way onto the ground at top speed.

I'm sure this was fine when the bottom was still grass, but after hours of racers and water sliding down, the bottom turned into rocks and gravel. They didn't warn us about the rough landing, so Louie and I went down the slide, oblivious to what would happen. I bruised up my arms and booty pretty badly, and Louie scraped his side and legs. We saw a few people at the bottom with broken bones, and after the race there was tons of people with scraped up backs and bums. Not a smart idea on their part at all. Even if you have people signing injury and death waivers, you shouldn't have obstacles that are straight up unsafe. With an event this scale, they should have known better than that. Just shut it down next time.

The Beast was definitely the obstacle I was most nervous about, but when I finally got to it I had a pleasant surprise!

Brett had volunteered to help the event staff out and basically ran the obstacle! It was definitely a comfort to have a familiar face helping out on the obstacle I was most nervous about. :) I really didn't think I was going to make it over the wall (again, no upper body strength!) but Brett came up with an idea of pulling the rope while I walked up the wall and I made it! Louie also made it up the wall, although he's a bit stronger than me, and didn't need as much assistance. I'm proud of us for making it up!

One thing that would have made The Beast better would definitely be better padding at the bottom. There were only hay bales to catch people if they made that enormous drop, and again, I saw a lot of injuries at this obstacle. Jeff suggested using high-jump mats at the bottom of this obstacle, which I thought was a perfect idea. It's an extremely high drop to just be caught by a hay bale, especially when people are falling back first, or even head first.

I'd say that despite a few safety issues and benefits for spectators, this race was put on well and a lot of fun. Superhero Scramble is still in its first year of touring the nation and they're working out a few kinks, so I really hope they take runner reviews into serious consideration going into their second year to make their event even better. I would love to do this event again next year to see how far it comes!

(copied from my blog review here: http://versustheroad.blogspot.com/2013/06/race-review-memorial-day-marathon-15k.html)

A couple weeks ago I ventured over to the Berkshires to run the MDM 15K Trail Race. The race was part of a huge race weekend sponsored by Berkshire Bank, which also included a 5K, 10K, half marathon, full marathon, and a kid's race. The 15K Trail Race, which happened on Saturday, was the first race of the weekend.

Unfortunately it was raining the morning of the race, which made waking up at 4AM and the 2 hour drive slightly miserable, but I decked myself out in Red, White, and Blue (even put a bow in my hair!) to celebrate Memorial Day, slapped a smile on, and hit the road!

Since I live so far away, the early packet pickup wasn't an option for me, so I had to be at the race site at 7AM sharp to beat the lines and pick up my number and swag bag. The registration fee came with a super nice tech shirt, a "Boston Strong" wristband, and some other goodies from local running stores. Berkshire Bank also matched the amount of registration fees for the weekend and donated them all to One Fund Boston, which I thought was a fantastic part of this entire event!

The race began at 8:15. There was about a mile of road that we had to run before hitting the trail, but it was full of great views of the Berkshires. There were 3 different trails that we looped (slowly and carefully, as it was very slick from the rain) but the second one was by far the most difficult to conquer. The second trail was essentially straight up the side of a mountain. I tried so hard to keep running, but eventually I had to break down and walk, along with everyone else. I did, however, make sure I ran the flat parts, the uphills that were reasonably steep, and the downhills that weren't to slick.

I would have to say that this was the most difficult race that I have run so far. I figured that being used to trail running and being a half marathoner would make this 15K a piece of cake, but I was wrong. I'm more proud of myself for finishing this race than any other race I've run so far. I came in at 2:01:11, which gave me a pace of about 13:01. Far slower than my half marathon PR, so that should give you some idea of how hard it was!

If you're looking for a challenge and you're in the half marathon range in your training, I suggest trying a trail run for a change of pace. It will test your endurance, strength, and mental toughness, and will make you feel awesome once you finish!