Swag - I don’t know what I loved more... the awesome medal that opened to reveal a piece of chocolate or the super comfy Hot Chocolate jacket! That jacket has been my go to jacket so far this fall for everything because it’s the perfect weight and it’s so soft!

I loved the after party that was held on the Hot Chocolate Indy event page on the day of the race. Even though the event had to be virtual having this made it feel like everyone was still together celebrating even though we were still all running apart. It was a great way to celebrate a morning of running! Thank you to the Hot Chocolate team!

The Queen Bee is a Half Marathon and 4 mile race in Cincinnati, OH in October that is geared toward women. Men are allowed in the race, but must start in the last corral. This was my first year running the Queen Bee Half Marathon. This race is put on by the same team that puts on the Flying Pig in Cincinnati and I have ran that the last 2 years and so I was familiar with the course, as it mirrors parts of both the half and full marathon courses of the Flying Pig. After speaking with some others runners that had run the course before, I knew that early on that we were going to be encountering some pretty large sized hills. I also knew that getting to the top of these hills offered a beautiful view of the river and we happened to reach it as the sun was coming up. It was absolutely breathtaking!! (I promise it was the view that took my breath and not those hills that I had just climbed!!) Each mile of this race had a theme (i.e girl's best friend, etc) and before reaching the hydration station at each mile there was a station with some kind of treat or needed item, such as tissues or petroleum jelly. The treats included things like chocolate, twizzlers, chips, cookies, gels packs, etc. I'm telling you that I felt like I ate my way through this race and it was fabulous! There were also teams of people cheering on the course which is always welcome! The race offered pacers for several different finish times and I ran with the 2:30 finish pacers and they were amazing! So supportive and right on pace! I am always thankful for races that offer pacers who are supportive!! The finish chute offered smiling faces handing out Queen Bee medals that have flashing lights that can be turned on and off. They also had an array of snacks available and the biggest bottles of chocolate milk I have seen at a finish line. There were mylar blankets available and each runner was handed a big yellow sunflower as they left the finishers chute. Outside of the finisher's chute was the after party which had First Watch serving delicious pancakes at no cost. Each finisher received a finisher's gift which was a fleece running headband with a cute purple bee on it! Oh and the swag! The race shirt is a long sleeved tech shirt with a glittery bee on it (but not the glitter that comes off everywhere!) and is comfy and was available in a women's fit. We also got a poster, a custom Queen Bee headband, and a Queen Bee gym bag. The expo was in conjunction with the Wellness Your Way festival (and each registration came with tickets to the festival!) which had several booths with vendors with health and beauty products. My husband and I went back to the festival Saturday after the race and enjoyed walking through the festival and trying samples of different health foods and products. My favorite part of the expo was the braid bar where you could get your hair braided for the race free of charge!! Another nice surprise was at the party after the race was that they were selling alot of race merchandise for 50% off so I purchased a shirt and hat that I had actually passed on the day before due to not wanting to spend the money. This is a race that I will be putting on my calendar for years to come!!!

This was my third year running the Indy Women's Half Marathon. Packet pick up this year was held at the beautiful Indiana State Museum. I got there around 5 pm and was able to park in the garage with no issue and was given a voucher to make parking $5 with packet pickup. Packet pickup was a very smooth process and I also purchased a cute Run Like a Girl hooded tank and a short sleeved crop at the expo. There were also booths that had different energy gels and other types of race fuels for sale as well as a few other vendors present. Overall it was a pretty small expo but easy to navigate and quickly get what we needed. My only issue with this race is the race shirt and the sizing. The first year I ran I got a Medium tank and these are women's fit as this is a women's only run. The shirt fit pretty snug which sometimes women's mediums will on me and so I sized up last year. the women's large last year was too big almost falling off of me. So this year I sized back down to a medium and once again have a tank that is snug. So next year I am not sure what size t choose. The design of this year's tank though is really cool! Check out their facebook page to see the design, it's one of my favorites!
The race this year started at Military Park and we found parking easily right across the street from the start/finish line. There were plenty of bathrooms at the start line too which is super important. The race starts at 7:30 and this year that made no difference in the weather. We are having some crazy Indiana weather and this year it made for a hot and humid run but there were aid stations about every 1-1.5 miles on the course offering both gatorade and water. The water stop at approx mile 6 had pickle juice! I was not brave enough to try it but now learning some things that I have about the benefits, I wish I would have been. There were also energy gels at around mile 9-10. The course is mainly flat although there are a couple smaller hills in the first half and a bigger hill around mile 8. Also around mile 9-10 (that is an estimate because it was super hot by then so I may be off) the road got pretty rough to run on with lots of potholes. This is not the races' fault obviously but did take extra concentration not to step into a hole or trip. The volunteers on the course were all so nice and inspiring and knew all the right things to say to make you want to keep going! At the finish we were presented with beautiful butterfly medals and a long stemmed rose. There were also free massages available as well as a delicious looking pancake breakfast and chocolate milk!! This is a race that I will run again and again and that I hope to one day run with my daughter!

I have ran the She Power Half Marathon in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and I am already registered for 2020!!! This is a race that I look forward to every June!! The course highlights beautiful downtown Indianapolis and runs along the canal which offers great views and great photo ops!! There is always lots of fun swag that can be added on and the race logo is my favorite quote “She believed she could so she did!” The race medals are the biggest that I have ever see and get more incredible every year! 131 event productions does a incredible job with the races they put on and my favorite part is there is a number on the back of you bib that you can text h you bib number for instant results!!! Included in your race swag at the finish line is also a rose, a drawstring bag and a pair of Balega running socks!!! I didn’t know about these socks until I ran this run in 2017 and after that they became my favorite running socks!! This race is a must for women in June in the Midwest!!