What a day! I’ve been ‘racing’ a lot recently. I use that term loosely: I’ve been running a lot of organized races, I just haven’t been trying to run my fastest race at most of them (although I always have some sort of plan or workout devised). I’ve run them for fun. I love the environment, I love the energy, and in many cases I love the WHY – the reason these races exist.
Today’s race was one of those. The team from ITZ Events has been putting on the Race for Women’s Wellness Half Marathon and 5K in Coral Springs for some time now, and it’s been an incredible event as long as I’ve known about it. This was my third time running it (’14, ’15 & ’18). Had it not been for my injuries, I most likely would have run it the past few years as well.
This is a great event if you are looking to race or PR! The course is flat and fast. Several pacers are available for those in the 1:50-2:30 range. It’s is on well paved roads without too many turns (1 U-turn). Mile markers are clearly labelled, and include clocks with accurate gun time. While many of the roads the course follows are busy multilane roads, runners have a dedicated lane, since it’s early traffic isn’t too bad and police presence is robust (not to mention awesome: I loved running by the cop cars with windows down and music cranking, especially the rocky one). There are lots of aid stations, some including gels or on course medical. The biggest downside is its so early – 6am. While this means its generally pretty cool for the majority of the race for most entrants, it means I have to get up way too early, and that the roads can be a bit dark at times.
It’s also got a solid post race. Wet towels to clean up and cool down at the finish line, plenty of food (bagels, bananas, and more for the runners and even free donuts, iced coffee and sandwiches courtesy of the sponsors. There were quite a few vendor tents and all in all a fun post race social. Ohh did I mention the beer? While I’m still avoiding alcohol with my TBI concerns, beer is alway a great race amenity.
The finishers medals are well done, and although the industry trend is otherwise… this is the size I prefer to see for a race of this distance. While my performance this year didn’t earn me any awards, there were plenty. In addition to the running awards, it’s always great to see this events recognition of it’s why – supporting the fight against breast cancer. The awards ceremony honors all those present affected by this disease, as well as the fundraising efforts to support the Lisa Boccard Breast Cancer Fund. Running a half marathon is nothing… these are the real champions of the day. Overall this is the kind of event I love to support. Well organized and clearly a product of passion for both running and it’s charitable cause.
In 2015, I raced this one, and finished ONE second shy of my then PR (set when I was just 17). I wasn’t sure whether to be ecstatic that I could keep up with my teenage self, or frustrated that I was ONE SECOND off my PR! This year, I originally hoped to try for another PR or close. Unfortunately this past week my health has slipped a bit. Half the week I could barely get out of bed. Both the brain and back have been rough. Which meant I wouldn’t likely be having my best race, and kind of limited my efforts to figure out transportation. So I improvised… Life can slow me, life can knock me down, but I will continue to find ways to thrive somehow. I decided to make this a tough workout: I would bike ~45 miles to the start, run, then bike some more. Total distance being pretty much a half distance triathlon, with the swimming replaced by extra cycling.
I wasn’t expecting this to be a quick and easy ride. The only functional bike I’ve got at this point is The Beast. She’s solid, but heavy and a bit too big for me. But the Beast and I are unstoppable. We don’t make excuses. I left at about 2am for the 6am start. I figured it should take about three hours to get there. I was quite a bit off on that projection – with Miami Music Week chaos on South Beach, my less than ideal health and a heavy ride… it took close to four.
That meant I was pulling into the event venue as runners were being given final instructions. Instead of a relaxed ‘transition’ it was super rushed. So thank you (and sorry!) to the race staff for facilitating my bib pickup literally at the last second, and for not shutting off the start mat until I crossed (nearly four minutes after the race was underway). I ran down the street to catch up to the sweep vehicle, pinning on my number as I went. Yeah this wasn’t going to be fast… but I’d still have fun
It was a tough run. My first mile was OK considering, and I had a solid next two with the psychological boost of passing everyone. Around mile three I started to feel it. I wasn’t too surprised considering how rough this week had been, and made the never fun decision to ease up significantly. This was a brick workout. Today’s goal was just to keep going, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
An hour and forty five minutes later I finished, soaked in the scene, partied with old and new running friends, then took off after the awards. It was time to bike a few more miles to support the MSD students and pay tribute to those lost just over a month ago. Especially after my experience in Boston nearly five years ago, its an honor to stand with all communities affected by these types of events, and further inspiration to renew efforts to build OneRun. That is my why!