Race Recap: Wisconsin Half Marathon

This weekend I was excited for a little racecation with running buds Rachel, Matt and Kathy. You have to make sure you pack the essentials first. I made sure to pack on Thursday night and Friday morning I was throwing in last minute items as I thought of them.

The course is a double out & back course so it's fun to be able to see your friends twice. You also run along Lake Michigan for a good portion of the race and the sun was just sparkling off the water. First you make your way through a residential area and then through downtown, as you run along the park you start watching for the lead runners to come through. I love when you are able to see the faster runners and cheer for them! My plan was to start off easy and see how long I would last.

My first mile was 10:06 and the next several were under 10 as I was feeling good and the pace just seemed to work, Kathy and I were running together which was great for the company and distraction. The first miles seemed to go by quickly too. The first turnaround is along the shores and you can see the finish on your way back. The building you can see ahead in the distance is the finish, it seems so far away yet. Around mile 10 you come out of the park and back through downtown, this was where my wheels fell off and I told Kathy to go on ahead. I needed to just get into my head and work this out myself and I did not want to hold her back. After going through downtown it was hard to keep going south when the finish was only two blocks away. You then run the first part of the course again and turn around at mile 12 for the finish and see friends again if you are within 15 minutes or less of each other. Afterwards we waited around to cheer for Amy to come in from the marathon, she killed it!

Kathy, Matt, Rachel & I

 There were three Newport firefighters that I spotted along the course and they ran in their gear. We ran into them after the finish and I wanted to congratulate them and say thank you. It's not every day you can be sandwiched by three firefighters!

My first bathroom stop after the race was at the Rustic Road Brewing Company and I loved their sign. I really needed that after struggling through the last 4 miles of the race.

This year they changed it up with the shirts as the women got purple and the men were grey instead of the same shirt for everyone. The medal was big this year and of course included a bottle opener.

CHEESE THE DAY!!

Race photos came in, and let's just put it this way.

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly