This was the first year for the Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k. The full marathon goes all the way around the lake! I'd like to do it one day, but for this year we settled for the 10k distance.
It was a ton of fun - a gorgeous course that climbs up gently in the first half, has a steep downhill around the halfway point and then rolls gently along the lake shore back to the start line. The 10k started at 9 (the longer distances at 7 am) so it was still a little chilly at the start, but we warmed up pretty quickly as we climbed the hills. We started out slowly, chatting along the way and admiring the views. There wasn't much traffic along the roads and there were plenty of volunteers holding traffic at a few spots. I know some folks had written in to the local paper to complain about the race, but at least for the 10k, we didn't see much car traffic, so I don't think we impeded the folks driving along the road all that much.
About halfway through the race, we turned down a sharp downhill and at this point I lost my friends because I just let the hill take me down. This probably wasn't the most responsible way to run, but all I could say was "whee!" and be glad that I didn't trip and fall and roll right into the lake! Then it was flat to gently rolling back to the starting line down at Honeysuckle Beach. I finished in a hour, so I was pleased considering that I hadn't done any specific training and didn't study the course beforehand. I set out to have a fun experience, and that is what it was.
The 10k was super scenic, so I know the other distances were too. The half marathon runs through some very pretty neighborhoods on the northwestern side of the lake, and we all agreed that we wanted to train for that distance next year.
The finisher shirts were awesome, and the half and full marathon finishers got some cool medals. They had plenty of food at the finish, including three different kinds of delicious soup and free Qdoba! (Yeah, I kind of stuffed myself after the race!) And yes, we waited an hour after we finished for our free food, haha! But we got to watch the half marathoners and full marathoners finishing and that was super inspiring!
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| Modeling my finisher t-shirt! Half marathoners and full marathoners got long sleeve shirts. |
I also have to mention that this race is a bargain - we paid $25 as the late registration for the 10k. I think the longer distances were good prices too. I only heard one half marathon finisher mention that the first aid station was at mile 6 and she wished it had been earlier.
This was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful Saturday morning! I hope to make this an annual event!
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