My First Virtual Race and a 1/2 Marathon Race Recap

Hi friends, this post is written by Bethany, so "I," means Bethany. :-)

This post is LATE but better late than never! I did my first virtual run back on May 26th, it was hosted by Katye from Long Legs on the Loose. The 3 mile run was in memory of Chelsea King so I couldn't pass up the chance to participate. I did a 1 mile warm up from my apt to the track, ran 3 miles non-stop on the track and then ran 1 mile back home as a cool down. The run was enjoyable, it was VERY hot out that day even though I ran at 8am. I always run with my Garmin when running around this particular track because the distance is a bit off, 3 3/4 laps is 1 mile. It took me awhile to realize the track was off, I thought I was off! I kept getting frustrated wondering why my times were so slow then one day I brought my Garmin along and figured it out.

Stats: 3 Miles, 20:45, 6:54 pace.

Half Marathon Race Recap: 13.1 Marathon "Boston"

 This past Sunday I ran a half marathon with my dear friend Jill. It was her first half and she was AMAZING! She was VERY strong and VERY upbeat! She just kept going and going, never complained once! I was very proud of her and I had a great time! I asked her to be one of my bridesmaids around mile 7. She said yes :-)

Running with Jill was great but he race itself was not. VERY VERY UNORGANIZED!! I have run hundreds of races and I've never seen anything like this before, it was downright bad. This race was advertised as being in Boston but really it was 30 minutes outside of the city in a very rural town (this I already knew...). The course was said to have a few rolling hills but there were a lot of decent hills. Water stops not only ran out of water EARLY ON, but CUPS too. People were drinking straight out of gallons.  Luckily I grabbed a cup at mile 2 and held onto it for the rest of the race. Even before the race was weird...we weren't allowed to make 1 line for ever 3 port-a-potties, we had to make individual lines at each one, which took forever!! I had to climb over a stone wall to get the the start (which resulted in a little blood), we started behind at least 1,000 walkers and the finish line was disorganized too. To get our medals once we finished, we had to walk across a field (way out of the way) and pick one off a table...When it was time to leave we were trapped in the parking lot!! They would not let any cars out until 9:30am, the race started at 6:13. Yes, 6:13, that is not a typo. ANYWAY, I don't want tot be all negative about it so that's enough dissing on 13.1 "Boston."  I got the impression that they were trying to model themselves after Rock N' Roll races but it was nothing like a RNR event. OK, like I said, enough dissing on them...

Does she look good, or what??? (at the finish)

Yay, GO JILL!

Happy 4th to everyone!! We will be racing on Saturday and then doing another race Sunday for fun. Sunday I'll be running a 10k with my friend Beth! It will be her first race ever! I'm so excited for her!! 

** Leave words of encouragement/advice for Beth and I'll make sure she reads the comments!**

Wishing you all a safe and fun holiday weekend!!!!