What happens when a race director marries her runner sweetheart? A wedding followed by a celebratory race. And a whole lotta fun!
Training & Goals My goals were to have fun, not cry too much (weddings, man!), and not get too sweaty. Also it would be nice to have negative splits. I've been trying to start out training runs at a slow pace... with mixed success.
Race Day: March 17, 2017 First I forgot my phone -- Arthur came running out of the house to give it to me just before I drove away. Then about halfway to the venue I realized I forgot my Garmin, so I had to turn around. Luckily I made it to Beck Ranch Park with time to spare.
This wedding and race took place on St. Patrick's Day, a holiday special to the happy couple and to West Volusia Runners, the club that brought them together. Along with folks dressing up for St. Pat's, there was a bridesmaid costume contest, so several runners (male and female) were dressed in old formal dresses for the evening. There were also runners wearing tuxedo t-shirts and many more wearing regular running clothes. It was a fun mix. I wore a running skirt and a matching top to look a little bit nice for the wedding and still feel comfortable for the run. It was a beautiful evening for a wedding. At the start of the run it was 66°F with 43% humidity and bright sunshine.
Mile 1: 11:30 The course was a simple out-and-back along the multi-use trail from Beck Ranch towards the St. John's River pedestrian bridge.
Mile 2: 11:15
Mile 3+: 11:01, 1:24 Negative splits: NAILED IT!
After Party After the race, runners, those in the wedding party, and friends and family gathered for a catered barbecue feast and fun. The whole event was put together beautifully with all aspects blending together seamlessly; I know a lot of people put a lot of work into making everything perfect and to my eyes it was a huge success.
Garmin time: 35:10 Race Amenities: A beautiful wedding, plenty of food and bev for all to enjoy, t-shirt & finisher medal for all Cost: $28.00 including $3 processing fee
I ran the sixth annual Swamp House Half Marathon on March 5th. It was my first time running this race, which courses through my hometown of DeBary, Florida.
Swamp House is a fundraiser for my local running club, West Volusia Runners (WVR).
The route follows residential streets, our small town's main drag, and oak-covered canopy rural roads. The start and finish are at the namesake sponsor venue, The Swamp House Grill on the St. John's River.
Training & Goals As far as training goes, I'm still focused on weight loss and staying healthy and "half ready" with my modest weekly base.
Goals? What goals? I have a hard time putting together a race strategy or plan, I guess due to fear of failure. This race was no different. Coming off of an easy week following Princess weekend, I kept expectations low. I did have the nebulous idea that it would be nice to run a sub-2:30 half marathon "at some point" this year.
Race Day: March 5, 2017 The start/finish area for Swamp House is accessible via one two-lane road, so although we live close by, Arthur and I left home around 6:15AM for the short 6 mile drive. The road in was to be closed to vehicle traffic at 6:45AM and Arthur was planning to drop me off and drive back home. By about 6:40AM we were still a mile away, stuck in a long line of cars headed to the parking lot. I got out to walk the remainder so Arthur could turn the car around and get out before the road was closed.
I arrived at the staging area and left my drop bag and used a portapotty. Soon it was time to line up for the race. Conditions were near perfect with partly cloudy skies, light winds, and 63% humidity. It was 61° at the start.
Mile 1, 2, 3: 10:40, 10:40, 10:37 Too fast, too fast, too fast. I felt good though and just kept going, constantly trying to tell myself to slow down. I planned to run intervals of 4:30 | :30, and at least I did that from the start. I also took water at each water stop.
These miles took us through residential areas as we ran east on Highbanks and then turned north on Donald E Smith Blvd. I looked for Florida Scrub-Jays on Smith but didn't see or hear any, but I did hear a few Eastern Towhees.
Mile 4, 5, 6: 10:30, 10:43, 10:51 Mile 4 had a lot of downhill, but here is another set of three miles ran way too fast. I knew I'd crash and burn at some point, but I felt good and apparently I don't know how to slow myself down so I kept going.
These miles were through a country club community along Debary Planation Drive before we turned south onto 17-92, the main road through DeBary.
At the end of mile 6 we took a short jog into the Springview neighborhood. Arthur walked over from home to see me on the course here. He even ran with me for a while! It was a great boost to see him. I told him I was going way too fast and I would probably have to start exclusively walking soon. He asked me why I didn't just slow down. Shrug.
Mile 7, 8, 9: 10:59, 11:00, 11:01 This pace is a bit more like it, but still faster than I would have liked to have been going if I had actually made a plan.
These miles took us back out onto 17-92 and the west down Fort Florida Rd for some nice "old Florida" scenery. When we ran by the overpass by Konomac Lake I looked for the American Kestrels I've seen there frequently this year when birding. No luck.
Mile 10, 11, 12: 11:00, 11:15, 11:50 By now I'd been keeping up a good pace for a big PR (personal record). I still felt good in mile 10 but by mile 11 I'd suddenly had it. I've biked this area frequently so I know the route very well but I kept underestimating how much further it was to the finish line and it discouraged me.
After I passed the mile 11 marker I just kept telling myself I had less than 25 minutes left of this running nonsense and then I'd be done. A little further, and I thought Amy, it's less than 20 minutes of running left, you can do this. I even thought I could "run" a 16 minute (or whatever) mile 13 and still get a big PR... but that would only be cheating myself. Banking time is a race strategy, but it's not a very good one. Along with talking myself into pressing on, I was doing a lot of mental math. Come on Amy, come on, you can do this! Oh, the head games a runner plays during a race!
Mile 13+: 11:32, 1:35 There was beer at the mile 12 water stop. I took water for the last time and tried to push for a strong finish. I was so happy to see that finish line and the number on the clock.
Every time I raise up my arms in race photos I look like an idiot so I try really hard not to do it, but I couldn't stop myself at the end of Swamp House. I knew it was a big PR but I wasn't sure exactly how big (7 minutes 25 seconds) until the official results were posted.
After Party This race is known for its great after party with unlimited free beer for participants as well as barbecue food and the usual runner's fare of bananas and donut holes. There were also plenty of vendors and reps from upcoming local races at the party, which takes place at The Swamp House Grill right on the St. John's River. It's a beautiful spot on the river for a party. After I picked up my drop bag, I had a few beers, rang the PR bell, and walked back to watch others finishing the half.
Recommendation The water stop volunteers, bike marshals, course pointers, and law enforcement folks who worked this race were all outstanding. Each water stop was full of enthusiastic volunteers who took their job seriously even though they were obviously having fun. The course is relatively flat and I really enjoyed running the familiar streets of my hometown. The amazing course support was matched by the great after party. I didn't stay too long but I enjoyed it and I know it's a favorite among local runners. I highly, highly recommend this race.
Chip time: 2:24:07 (7:25 PR) Placement details: 26th of 66 in Age Group; 376th overall out of 720 finishers Race Amenities: Swag included a nice gender-specific shirt, race-branded goody bag, unique alligator finisher medal with light-up eyes, fun after party Cost: $33.30 (super early registration discount)
Disney's Princess Half Marathon Race Weekend concluded with the big half marathon on Sunday. Since I ran the Glass Slipper Challenge, I had an extra challenge medal to look forward to at the completion of the 13.1 miles.
For this race I wore a custom t-shirt Arthur designed for me. The front read This is My Last Race in This Age Group in a Lilo & Stitch style font. The back read This Princess Turns 45 Tomorrow using text styled after The Princess and the Frog. As an early birthday gift from my parents I got my first SparkleSkirt, CalcuttaJoy in CapriSkirt style, which I paired with the t-shirt for the half marathon. I broke a big running rule -- "nothing new on race day" -- and did not live to regret it. I love my new gear and am looking forward to more running skirts from SparkleSkirts.
Princess race weekend is known as a women's event. Men aren't discouraged from running or participating, but there are no awards given to men and they must start in Corral B or later. For the half there were 18,504 female finishers and 2,097 men.
The course for the half is well-known to run through Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. Actually it's kind of notorious because this part of the course is known as a bottleneck. Anyway, this would be the first time I would run in the Magic Kingdom (it should have been during the 2017 WDW Half Marathon). The start and finish were back at Epcot and between the parks was a bunch of road running.
Training & Goals I'm focused on weight loss for now and staying "half marathon ready" with my modest weekly running base. Going in I wasn't sure how I would run this, though I was certain I wouldn't PR. I like to stop for photos and enjoy these Disney runs so I was going to just wing it, though with Arthur waiting on me I didn't want to dawdle too much.
Race Day: February 26, 2017 Arthur and I stayed at a Disney Springs hotel the night before the race so we could set our alarm clocks a bit later than usual for the early 5:30AM start. We thought we had the right route to Epcot but soon found ourselves in a traffic nightmare along with dozens of others that had taken a wrong turn and were forced to make a U-Turn at a painfully slow crawl. We saw several princesses get out of their cars and start to run towards the starting area in a presumed panic, but they had a really, really long way to go (a couple of miles, probably). It took us a long time to get to the parking lot but we made it with time for me to trot to the starting corrals and even make a very quick stop at a portapotty before it was time to run.
It was about 59°F at the start with near 100% humidity. Once I got into the corral (G for the half), runners were already starting to creep forward towards the starting line. I arrived just in time! Moving towards the start did take a while in the early morning cold so I was happy to have a throwaway fleece sweater on that I left in a clothing recycle bin just before our wave was released to run.
Mile 1, 2, 3 | 5K split: 38:57
I don't have Garmin GPS data for my splits, but we did cross timing mats three times during the run. These first three miles were uneventful road running. For the third time during the weekend, the course felt more crowded than other Disney runs to me for most of the race.
I loved hearing "happy birthday" from other runners during the race. It was a nice boost each time I heard it. Two guys were confused though. The one who asked "when is your birthday? tomorrow? oh cool" and the one who asked "who's birthday is it? yours? oh cool."
Between the markers for M1 and M2 there was a photo op with Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbosa that I elected to skip due to the very long line. Later during the race I was very happy to have made this decision (read on). Next up was a photo op with several Disney Princes (Phoebos from The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid; Flynn Rider from Tangled; and John Smith from Pocohontas) that I also decided to skip. Next we hit the entrance road to Magic Kingdom and had some more road running before we actually got into the park.
Mile 4, 5, 6 | 10K split: 1:26:03
I passed up the next two photo ops as well -- lines continued to look way too long. Mrs. Incredible was followed by a double opportunity (two photo ops with one line) of Maleficent and The Evil Queen with her mirror.
Next we ran under an aqueduct with a funny guy wearing ridiculous huge character hands. He was cheering us on and saying funny stuff and gesturing with his huge hands and it was hilarious.
Mile 6 was some slow, crowded fun. We ran through the Magic Kingdom and there were cheering crowds lining Main Street and all around Cinderella Castle. I was able to find Arthur and grab his hand as I ran towards the castle. There was a lot of congestion all over but it didn't bother me. It was a lot of fun to run by the spectators and through the park. Arthur took the following two photos while waiting for me to arrive.
There were a ton of characters out for photos in the Magic Kingdom: Buzz Lightyear; The Queen of Hearts; Gaston; Beast; and Woody. As we ran under the castle from behind, Anna, Elsa and Kristoff from Frozen cheered us on.
Mile 7, 8, 9 | 15K split: 2:06:36
We ran back out through some backstage areas and then it was back to the road to run back to Epcot. There was an elaborate castle backdrop set up with another set of two-for-one photo ops with Cinderella & Prince Charming and Snow White & the Prince. Then we ran by a big fire truck with a DJ blasting loud music and informing us that we were halfway done!
The 8th mile was jam-packed with photo ops. Runners could stop for the penguins from Mary Poppins; Richard the Grand Floridian Greeter; some dapper gentlemen with a Glass Slipper, and holiday Genie with a golf cart.
Mile 10, 11, 12
We were back on World Drive for Mile 10. I was surprised to see two repeat character stops: the Princes and the Pirates. The line for Jack & Barbosa was very short so I hopped over. I expressed confusion on seeing them again and a castmember said that they were out before but the PhotoPass camera "broke" so I guess they moved to the other side of the road for the runners? I wonder if the same happened with the Princes? Stopping for the pirates only took about 70 seconds. Cool.
Running up an overpass, a Green Army Man was a welcome sight. His hilarious motivational shouts of encouragement were a great distraction to the elevation. Hill? What hill?
Around this time I found myself playing leapfrog with the #PrincessMen. I was happy to get a photo of them a bit later.
Mile 13+ Just outside of Epcot runners could stop to have a photo with Mushu. Here are those #PrincessMen!
Inside Epcot, Daisy was a very quick character stop. She coincided with my watch telling me to take a 1 minute walking break. After I got my photo with her I started to run again... and about 20 seconds later my watch told me to run. So that was a very short line indeed!
It's typical to have a gospel choir singing at the end of a Disney half. When you hear the angels singing, it's almost all over, one way or the other!
During the Pro Bowl 5K in January I had qualms about stopping for a photo right before the finish line. But Mickey got me over that worry this time -- I stopped for a quick pic with The Mouse before crossing the last timing mat and picking up my medals.
After getting my medals, water, and banana, I met up with Arthur and we stood in line for a celebratory finisher photo with Merida, plus a couple of backdrop pics showing my shirt & medals.
Recommendation If you like Disney princesses and don't mind crowded courses, you'll love this race. I started in the middle of the pack and found it crowded. Starting corral and desired pace play a huge role in a runner's perception of course congestion. The amount of characters out on course was great -- there were a lot. Plus it was a ton of fun running through Magic Kingdom.
Chip time: 2:56:39 Placement details: 854 of 2166 in Age Group; 8956 overall out of 18504 female finishers Race Amenities: All the fun Disney stuff, including a tech t-shirt and a cute medal, plus one extra shirt and one extra medal for the challenge Cost: $331.11 (the cost of the Glass Slipper Challenge, which is the 10K and the half)
Princess weekend, day two! The 10K race was the first part of the Glass Slipper Challenge, which was followed by the half marathon on Sunday.
I ran this race as Anna from Frozen. It was the first time I ran with my hair in two braids and I was afraid it might be annoying. Luckily it was comfortable.
The 10K course took us from the Epcot parking lot, out to Epcot Center Drive, and then back to Epcot for some miles in the theme park and around the Boardwalk resort area. It was identical to the Wine & Dine 10K route.
Training & Goals Disney challenge weekend means the plan for this race was to take it easy and rest my legs for the upcoming half marathon on Sunday. I planned to stop for many, if not all, of the photo ops.
Race Day: February 25, 2017 Arthur came with me for this race. We left home at around 3:35AM and were parked by about 4:30AM. We went to get in line for a photo with Ariel. The race was to start at 5:30AM and when we got in line we were a few parties behind the "last in line" castmember. We knew we might not make it but Ariel stayed out for a long time and I was able to get a photo with about 5 minutes to spare.
I had time to use a portapotty before hurrying to my corral (C for the 10K) where I found position near the middle of the pack. It was about 61°F at the start with near 100% humidity.
Mile 1 Arthur took a short video of my starting wave.
I have no split data for this race due to reasons, but it was another long parade-style "run" with lots of photo stops and fun.
Leaving the Epcot parking lot we ran under an overpass where Moana was encouraging the crowd from above.
Mile 2 Shortly after the Mile 1 marker, there was a princess photo op with Elena of Avalor. The line wasn't too long and I haven't seen this character before so I decided to wait. After that came a photo op with Tinker Bell and some of her friends from Pixie Hollow. The line was pretty long and I elected to skip this photo op.
Mile 3 The next photo op was with the Evil Queen from Snow White dressed up as the old witch. After a bit more road running we finally made it to Epcot where we entered at a backstage area around Mexico.
Mile 4 The sun had started to come up as I got to Epcot. The first photo op here was a bunch of stilt walkers. I skipped the next two photo stops as well: Dopey in Germany and Pinocchio with Gepetto in Italy.
Mile 5 In France there was a very long line for a photo op with cast members holding giant wine bottles. I got line for this before I found out what it was for. This was kind of standard operating procedure for many of the photo opportunities during Princess race weekend. I would get in line and there would be a small chorus from all of the new arrivals -- "who is this?" "what are we in line for?" "which character is here?" Inevitably someone from a group would run ahead to find out or the info would get passed on from those already waiting. It was pretty funny. I decided not to wait for the wino photo and went on to have a picture taken with a cat. Marie from The Aristocrats was posing in France. This is a somewhat "rare" character appearance so I decided to wait in line for a photo with her.
Next runners headed into the Boardwalk area from the International Gateway of Epcot. I took a short video here.
Mile 6 As we headed back into Epcot from a backstage area there was an epic line for Princess Minnie, also a somewhat "rare" character. I elected to skip this line and just snap a picture of her on the run.
Back around World Showcase, we headed towards Spaceship Earth and back out to the parking lot for the finish. For a while I was running behind a pack of Meridas. If you look closely at the video I posted above at the Boardwalk, you can see them running.
After the race I met up with Arthur and we stood in line for another princess photo. This time we got Jasmine, where I complimented her on her shoes.
We headed to our favorite changing-booth/resort, Art of Animation, where I had a quick clean up and change of clothes before heading out to Animal Kingdom for breakfast at Rainforest Cafe and some park fun. Later we checked into our Disney Springs hotel and spent some time at the Springs before an early dinner at Noodles & Co. and an early bedtime for the big half marathon the following morning.
Recommendation It's a Disney race, what can I say? This felt crowded the entire time and I thought the huge lines for characters were daunting. I would have liked to stop for Minnie but the line looked like it would take over a half hour and I didn't want to waste that much time. The 10K course for Disney races is getting a bit stale as well. If the course doesn't change for this race I don't know if I would do it again. (Right, who am I kidding?)
Chip time: 1:47:08 Placement details: 1106 of 1311 in Age Group; 9753 overall out of 11593 finishers Race Amenities: All the fun Disney stuff, including a tech t-shirt and a cute medal Cost: $331.11 (the cost of the Glass Slipper Challenge, which is the 10K and the half)
I registered for all three Disney Princess races at the WDW Marathon Weekend expo. That's rather late -- just about seven weeks out. The races were listed as sold out on the runDisney website for months so it was both a pleasant surprise and a last-minute decision to sign up. A milestone birthday was coming up so I intended to celebrate my 45th with the races and a little getaway to Disney World with my sweetie.
A Disney race weekend always starts with a visit to the expo for bib and t-shirt pickup. It's also fun to shop for official event merchandise (I always pick up a car magnet), check out the vendor booths, and pick up any freebies being offered. When I got my bib the expo volunteer seemed mildly alarmed to see my name was not printed under my number. I tried to reassure him by letting him know it was due to my late signup but he was still flustered.
Sometimes there are photo ops available at the expo as well. The race weekend theme was Beauty and the Beast so a photo op with Beast's rose was available when exiting the expo.
I decided to run this race in a simple Gaston-inspired costume. I wore my yellow 2017 WDW Half Marathon long sleeve tech top under a red short sleeve tech top I already had. A big ugly brown belt and a black skirt, both already in my closet, finished the look, along with a new tiara bejeweled red baseball hat.
The course took us from the Epcot parking lot through the park and back out to the parking area for the finish.
Training & Goals Disney challenge weekend means the plan for this race was to take it easy and rest my legs for the upcoming 10K and half marathon on Sunday.
Race Day: February 24, 2017 I left home at 3:35AM and had the car parked at Epcot by 4:25AM. This left me time to get into the massive line for one of the two Princess photo ops. I had time to get my photo taken with Snow White before heading to the corrals.
For this race I was in corral B which meant a relatively early start. They released the corrals in waves and since I was alone I managed to shuffle my way to the front of the corral to start with the first wave at about 6:07AM. It was around 66°F at the start with approximately 93% humidity.
Mile 1 Since my Garmin was having some problems during race weekend, I don't have my splits for any of the races. But this was a very slow race for me (more like a parade) with lots of stops for photos and fun. The course took us alongside Epcot via an access road before entering the park. There was a photo op with Meeko from Pocahontas before we hit the Mile 1 marker.
Mile 2 The first photo stop in World Showcase was a bunch of viking dudes in Norway. They were funny -- just grunting and gesturing and not really speaking actual words.
Next there was a massive line for a photo with Dopey, and then shorter lines for Abu (Aladdin) in Morocco and for the mice Suzy and Perla (Cinderella) in France.
Mile 3+ Mile 3 started in a backstage area where we ran shortly before heading back to World Showcase via Canada. In Future World we ran by The Seas where there was a photo op with pretty costumed sea characters.
Then it was back around the middle of Future World to race under Spaceship Earth and out to the parking lot for the finish.
After the race I stood in line for a photo with Belle or Rapunzel (there were two backdrops with 2 princesses each with switching shifts). When I was near the front of the line, the group in front of me offered to let me pass them for a photo with Rapunzel. They were waiting for Belle (we were told it would be around 3 minutes) and I decided to wait as well. Word that Belle was coming out passed down the line and for a while there was no one who wanted to have her photo with Rapunzel. The race DJ felt sad for her and came over for a selfie.
Belle eventually came out to applause and cheers. Sorry, Rapunzel, this was Belle's race after all.
I went to change clothes and have a bite to eat at Art of Animation before heading to Hollywood Studios for a couple of celebratory post-race rides. I had my photo taken with the Oscar they had on display inside One Man's Dream and then rode Tower of Terror for the first time in years. I also rode Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania.
Recommendation The course was crowded and slow for the most part but I was taking my time so I can't complain... but I can warn others. All three of these Princess races felt much more crowded than the Dark Side and Wine & Dine races I ran last year. I enjoyed all of the photo ops and was happy they weren't all princesses because I prefer my characters to be furry. ;) I would recommend this race to anyone that enjoys a fun Disney run and knows exactly what they're in for.
Garmin Time: 1:23:04 Race Amenities: All the fun Disney stuff including a cotton unisex shirt and cute finisher medal Cost: $74.99
Report written March 8, 2017
Addendum 9/28/22: I gave this shirt away (Goodwill) in September 2022
My Garmin 235 started acting wonky a few weeks ago. At first I wasn't concerned about it, but performance started to suffer and I even started missing data without knowing it. It's not unusual for a smart device to need a soft or hard reset. I'm not sure if these initial problem "signs" all really could have been solved with a reset when I first noticed them, but since giving the watch a hard reset the other day the watch is performing as expected once again.
1) The first problem I encountered was a mystery .2 mile addition to my run during the Daytona Beach Half Marathon close to the start of the race. Typically GPS watch distance data doesn't match up exactly during races, but this was a strange, early anomaly.
2) Shortly after the Daytona Beach Half I noticed my watch was taking a bit longer than usual to be GPS-ready. While a wait of less than 5 seconds had been normal from the beginning, it started taking 30 seconds to a couple of minutes for the device to indicate it was GPS-ready.
3) The Bluetooth connection with my iPhone took longer and longer to sync. I wasn't typically using this feature during runs, only afterwards to sync data, so this issue wasn't too bothersome.
I wish I had reset my watch after noticing these small problems, because it seriously affected the data I got for the three races I ran during Princess Weekend at Walt Disney World.
4 & 5) During the Princess 5K, the watch gave me nearly 2 times the mileage (5.93 miles for a 5K / 3.1 mile race). I didn't find out until later that it also didn't capture or save any GPS data at all. I had stopped a lot for photos and I was kind of giving the watch some slack for the strange "workout" I was having it track. Still, I wish I had reset the watch after this race. I run all these Disney races for fun, with the 5K being the most about fun and least about time (I typically stop for all photo ops during a Disney 5K). So at the time I was just hoping the Garmin had experienced a one-time tracking issue.
During the Princess 10K, the watch gave me a distance of 8.3 miles versus the 6.2 I actually ran. I was trying to let Arthur know where I was and it was hard to predict when I'd come up on a mile marker or know how far I still had to run with the watch acting wonky. I have no GPS data from this run either. I was irrationally angry at my Garmin but it unfortunately still didn't occur to me to reset the watch.
During the Princess Half Marathon, the watch gave me a distance of 14.72 miles versus 13.1. While I wasn't trying to PR or even race this event, I was still disappointed to have my running watch giving unhelpful pacing information. It was an unfortunate distraction.
After race weekend I tried to troubleshoot what was going on with my Garmin and found this helpful post from The Wired Runner: Troubleshooting Your GPS Watch.
A soft reset didn't seem to have any effect so I did the hard reset and the watch has been working as new ever since. A hard reset puts the watch back to factory settings but synching with my computer got my personal data back and I just had to re-add my interval alerts and resync the Bluetooth with my phone to get back in business.
Have you ever had problems with your running watch that were simply solved by doing a soft or hard reset?
Training & Goals I'd been joining pace groups with my running club which helped bring me back up to speed (so to speak). Still, my focus has been more on weight loss and I wasn't looking to PR here or on a 5K anytime soon. I did hope to beat my previous result for this race, so 32:03 was the time to beat.
Race Day: February 18, 2017 I biked over to Gemini Springs and arrived in plenty of time for the start of the race. It was 59°F at the start with clear skies.
Mile 1: 9:53 I aimed to keep a steady pace and might only slow for water. I felt good but part of this mile and a stretch at the end take place on a loose gravel road that I'm afraid to run on all-out because of footing.
Mile 2: 9:20 All paved trail, zoom!
Mile 3+: 9:50, 1:10* A quick walk-through for the water stop on the way back and then a sprint to the finish for my second fastest 5K ever!
Recommendation This is a nice small race with a good atmosphere and fine support and organization. I was a bit disappointed that the finisher medal is virtually identical to the medal from 2016. I would recommend this race to others and am likely to run it again -- especially considering the location, my beloved Gemini Springs.
Chip time: 30:09 Placement details: 6 out of 16 in Age Group; 73 out of 189 total finishers Race Amenities: Cotton t-shirt & finisher medal. Post-race party with beer and barbecue. Cost: $22.70
*I often forget to turn off my Garmin after a race, so the final time is skewed.
I ran the 8th annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon on February 5th. It was my first time running this race, which takes participants from the famous International Speedway to the beach and back through the streets of Daytona Beach.
The race was available as a two-person relay this year and there was a new challenge as well for those who ran both the half marathon and the 5K that followed. The Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet was the beneficiary of the event.
Training & Goals So far this year I've just been trying to keep up my modest running base for a bunch of upcoming half marathons and 5K races. My main focus remains on weight loss at least through this race season. I do have hopes to run a sub 2:30 half marathon this year.
Race Day: February 5, 2017 I left home early and arrived at the Speedway shortly after 6AM, when packet pickup opened. Signs directed drivers into the speedway where we parked in the middle of the venue on a grass field. I got my t-shirt and bib and then went back to the car to stay warm before race time.
Since the race start and finish was at a major sports venue, there were plenty of public restrooms about for runners to use. I stopped by the WVR tent for a moment and asked a friend to snap my photo before looking around the Speedway a bit. Since I don't have any interest in car racing I would never find myself at this famous place if not for the half marathon. The race track is huge and the venue recently underwent huge refurbishments and I tried to take it all in.
When it was time to get ready to run I found a spot behind the 2:30 pacer. A race car roared past us on the track and then it was finally our turn to run!
It was 55°F at the start with 100% humidity and light winds. It was overcast and remained cloudy for the duration of the race.
Mile 1, 2, 3: 10:49, 10:53, 10:42 | 5K split: 34:11 I wanted to try running about 11 minute miles at least for the first part of the race. I kept checking my watch and slowing myself down. I have a lot of trouble with pacing at this distace -- I guess I need more experience! I did run | walk intervals of 4:30 | :30 from the start. At about mile 1.5 I caught up with the 2:30 pacer and played leapfrog with the group for a while.
These first three miles were almost entirely on the speedway -- it's so big! It was very cool to be running on the race track. There was a water stop at about Mile 1.6 but it was only on one side of the track and I missed it because I didn't see it in time to move all the way over.
Mile 4, 5, 6: 10:48, 10:52, 11:09 | 10K split: 1:08:44 After leaving the speedway we headed out onto the streets of Daytona Beach. Somewhere around here I passed the 2:30 pace group and stayed in front of them for (spoiler) quite a while. Mile 4 was mostly on International Speedway Boulevard before we turned into a neighborhood to continue the route to the beach mostly on Orange Avenue. My Garmin was in perfect synch with the mile markers until we hit M4, when it suddenly showed a surplus of about .2 miles. This threw off my planning a little bit. It was strange.
The water stop after the M4 marker was manned by the Marine Science Center and they even had a character photo op! This stop was also only on one side of the course but the crowd had thinned by this point so I saw it in time (after missing the first one I was a bit concerned about the rest of the race -- no worries). I snapped a quick shot of CC before running on.
Mile 7, 8, 9: 11:42, 11:05, 12:08 | 15K split: 1:46:14 Ugh, Broadway Bridge. These miles took us over the Halifax River for a quick run on the beach and then back over the bridge to head back to the speedway along International Speedway Boulevard. The beach run was comically short. I stopped to snap a few photos and appreciate the turnaround marshal shouting out crazy words of encouragement to everyone running by.
The 2:30 pace group caught up with me on the power walk back up the bridge and I lost them a couple of miles later.
Mile 10, 11, 12: 11:48, 11:43, 12:03 I couldn't get my mo back after the bridge and struggled through this part of the race. I was worried about repeating the disastrous finish I had at Lighthouse Loop but kept pressing on with my intervals, determined to walk only when my watch "told" me to. Someone stuck in traffic around Nova Road (towards the end of M10) was blasting "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones and that gave me a little boost. :) Maybe I should consider listening to music for longer races.
Mile 13+: 12:27, 3:31* The Speedway was visible for an excruciatingly long time. We entered the venue again with just about .2 left to run before reaching the finish line. I could hear the announcer calling out the names of some finishers ahead of me and then as I passed the first timing mat I heard my name, too! Woo hoo!
I picked up my finisher medal and beach towel (neat!) and sat down with a bottle of water to watch others finish for a while before checking out the breakfast buffet.
I think I may have missed some of the after party spread because I heard there were pancakes but I only found breakfast potatoes (too cheesy and kind of icky), scrambled eggs (tasteless with a strange consistency) and sausages. I loved so much about this race so my disappointment in the food on offer was a bummer. I also couldn't have a beer or five since I was there alone. Sad.
After poking my potatoes and tossing the eggs I checked out the preliminary results board where I was chuffed to see I got a new PR by 40 seconds with a time of 2:31:32. I think sub 2:30 is within reach!
Anyway I was pleased to be feeling fine after the race and headed off to the beach to do a bit of birding before heading home for the rest of the day.
I would definitely run this race again and will consider signing up for the challenge in 2018.
Chip time: 2:31:32 (:40 PR) Placement details: 58th out of 103 in age group; 773 out of 1205 total finishers Race Amenities: Tech t-shirt, beach towel, finisher medal, custom race bib with name. Cost: $75.20 (Black Friday deal)
*I often forget to turn off my Garmin after a race, so the final time is skewed.
The inaugural Space Race 2 Mile & 4 Mile Walk-Run took place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Febuary 3rd. The race was originally scheduled for January 20th but a scrubbed rocket launch postponed the race to two weeks later. United Way of Brevard was the beneficiary.
Training & Goals The rescheduled date put this race two days before the Daytona Beach Half Marathon. This was my first race of this distance (4 miles) which meant an automatic PR (Personal Record). Because I've been more focused on weight loss than running fitness I didn't have any particular expectations for this race except to avoid injury and have fun.
This was my also first night race. I've never enjoyed running in the evening and I had a hard time figuring out my meals for the day. I ended up eating several peanut butter sandwiches throughout the late afternoon and that worked out okay (just okay).
Race Day: February 3, 2017 I had expected to go to this race alone but my mom texted me at the last minute offering to come along. That was a nice surprise. We drove out to the coast in the early afternoon so I could do a bit of birding at the beach before heading down to Kennedy Space Center.
I wore a tech shirt with a Space Shuttle on the front that I picked up from Goodwill. My compression race shorts were a bit too snug (fit me fine last year -- yikes) and rode up my thighs in the first part of the race. I broke the "nothing new on race day" rule with my space-themed socks and as soon as I put them on I knew they were a mistake. They ended up riding down but luckily didn't give me any blisters or other problems.
It was clear and 61°F at the start with 94% humidity.
Mile 1: 10:07 The course was a two-mile loop through the visitor complex, starting and ending on either side of the Rocket Garden. Four-mile runners ran the loop twice. The first half mile was through the complex and most of the rest of the loop was around the parking lot at the facility.
I've had a season pass for KSC for several years so I am familiar with the complex, but it was still neat to run through the visitor area, around the rocket garden, and past Atlantis and the astronaut memorial.
Mile 2: 10:24 Running through the parking lot was a lot less exciting. The course changed surface a few times as we went from concrete paths to asphalt parking lot and transition areas. I thought the lighting wasn't adequate in some places and really had to be careful about my footing. I wished I had brought my Knuckle Lights.
Mile 3: 10:36 4-milers turned right before the finish line to pass a water stop and head out for a second loop.
Mile 4: 10:47* I felt good during the race and was glad to finish slightly better than my more recent 5K pace has been.
After crossing the finish line I looked for water. I got into the beverage line where they were selling beers for $3 and soft drinks or water for $1. With a ticket on our race bib we could get one free drink. It seemed like everyone was getting a beer so I tried to get a water and a soft drink but one ticket = one drink. I took my water and grumbled about the situation to my mom (sorry for being a crab, mom!). I've never been to a race where unlimited water wasn't free for all runners. I think they were selling food as well (no free bananas, grumble grumble).
Mom and I waited to watch most of the awards being given out to the top runners by retired shuttle astronaut Jon McBride.
The water thing along with the fact that I'm not a fan of night races anyway means I don't think I'd run this one again -- especially with no finisher medal.
Chip time: 41:06 Placement details: 8 out of 16 in Age Group; 50th overall out of 123 finishers Race Amenities: Runners received a unisex cotton tee, a drawstring backpack, and a collapsible water bottle. No finisher medal. Cost: $36.00 including $3.50 registration fee and $2.50 spectator ticket
*I often forget to turn off my Garmin after a race, so the final time is skewed.
Report written February 14, 2017
Addendum 9/6/22: I gave this shirt away (Goodwill) in July 2022
This season's NLF Pro Bowl is taking place in Orlando and part of the week's festivities were centered around the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World. One of the accompanying events was the first ever Pro Bowl 5K Run through Epcot, which took place on the Saturday before the Pro Bowl. The charity benefitting from the race was Make-a-Wish Central and Northern Florida.
Training & Goals My focus so far this year has been on weight loss -- I gained back some weight during 2016 that has got to go. I've been trying to keep up my modest base of 3 runs per week for a total ranging from 10 to 17 miles. I've got a few half marathons coming up and I'd like to just keep this base and not worry about PRs for the time being. Anyway, I don't expect to PR on a 5K fun run at Disney World! I wasn't sure if there would be characters on the course but my main focus was to enjoy the theme park run!
Race Day: January 28, 2017 The race started at 7AM and, unusual for a Disney race, packet pickup was available race morning. I left home around 4AM and arrived at the Epcot parking lot at around 5AM. Parking and pickup was easy peasy and I found myself with a lot of time to kill before the race began. The staging area was photo-op free so I went back to the car to keep warm for a half hour. At about 5:30 I went for a power walk around the staging area. Lots of folks dressed up in NFL jerseys for the race. I dressed as a referee and I saw a few others in the black and white stripes, too.
I got into the corral at 6:30 and chattered my teeth waiting for the run to begin. There were two starting waves and I was in the first group. It was 50°F with a stiff breeze blowing at the start of the race.
Mile 1: 11:20 We started in the parking lot at Epcot and ran towards the park, entering from a backstage area at the Mexico pavilion. Shortly after getting into World Showcase we passed the first mile marker.
Mile 2: 12:58 I stopped a few times around the lagoon to take selfies with Spaceship Earth behind me. After running past France we left Epcot at the back entrance. I stopped a bunch of times here to take photos of runners going the bridge by France. We went around another backstage area here and then ran back into World Showcase between the UK and Canada pavilions. We passed the second mile marker shortly after re-entering the park.
Mile 3+: 12:42, 2:42 The run continued towards Future World. We took a left towards The Land and made a loop between Journey Into Imagination and The Seas before heading back to the middle of Future World and running around Spaceship Earth and the entrance area. We exited the park again through a backstage area heading to the parking lot for the finish.
At the finish area there were NFL mascots handing out high fives and cheerleaders cheering us to the finish. I slowed down for a couple of quick blurry photos but I wish I had actually stopped to take some selfies. Even though it was a fun run, something about stopping right before the finish line just doesn't feel right.
I got my medal and then sat on the bleachers to watch other runners finish the race. Even thought I was in the sun, I got cold pretty quickly and headed back to the car to head out for the day.
Garmin time: 39:42 for 3.24 miles Race Amenities: Custom bib, finisher medal, fun run through Epcot. No shirt! Cost: $49.00 (saved Active.com fee with trial membership)
Report written March 9, 2017
