The day before the race we left our house around late morning & when we got down to Virginia Beach we went straight over to the Expo center to pick up our race packets:
The weather wasn’t as nice as we had originally planned for so while we were at the Expo we purchased a pair of running capri pants for me & a running jacket for Dan. Thank goodness they sold running gear there because we would’ve frozen our buns off on the morning of the race.
We then made our way to our hotel, which was about 10-12 miles from where the actual race started. We regretted staying so far away because the hotels that were beach front would’ve been much more fun. We stalked up on some pasta at Olive Garden for dinner the night before & went to bed early since we had to leave our hotel by 5:45 the next morning. On the morning of the race we parked at what we thought was a relatively close parking lot, but once we started walking & following other racers to the starting area we realized we were totally wrong. We probably walked a little over a mile to get to the actual start line. The racers were divided into 4 corrals & for some reason Dan was in corral 1 while I was in corral 4 – when I realized this I was slightly offended automatically thinking that I was in the last corral because my pace was slow. Dan wanted to start the race together so he actually stayed back in corral 4 with me. We gave each other a good luck kiss just before we crossed the starting line & ran at our own paces. I thought the race was pretty entertaining since there were so many people dressed up in St. Patty’s Day gear. I counted 4 men dressed in leprechaun outfits & there were lots of people wearing green, large beads around their necks, goofy hats, head bands with the bouncy four leaf clovers attached to the antennas & green tu-tus...I could go on forever.
A few great things about the race course was that every few miles they had DJ’s playing at the mile markers where several groups of people would be lined up passing out water, energy gel packets, etc. You would be surrounded by loud music & cheering - I thought that was so fun. Another thing that I liked was how your name was printed on your running bib that also held your number. There were several people throughout the race course that yell encouraging comments & also say your name, such as, “Looking good, Danielle!” “Keep up the good work, Danielle!” “Danielle! Looking strong!” The first time I heard my name I didn’t quite understand how that person knew me, but then I realized that my name was on the front of my jacket. =)
Throughout the race I felt good & kept my pace consistent UNTIL I reached mile 11. I basically hit a wall & had to slow way down; thankfully, I saved my energy gel until I really needed it & once that kicked in I got my second wind - mile 12 & 13 were much closer to the pace that I kept throughout.
Our Race Results:
Dan: Time: 1:56:02; Pace: 8:55
Me: Time: 2:05:38; Pace: 9:35
Once I crossed the finish line I was directed to several people that handed me my free goodies: (1) a completion medal, (2) a sweatshirt, (3) a cookie, (4) a Gatorade, (5), a banana, (6) a bag of pretzels & (7) a hat. By the time I reached the middle of the boardwalk I had so much stuff in my hands I could barely move. After finally finding Dan on the beach we took a few photos & congratulated each other:
After spending some time in the food/music tent on the beach, we decided to make our way back to the hotel in order to shower & nap. Afterwards we went to a restaurant just off the beach & had a fantastic seafood dinner.
Our long weekend was a lot of fun & even though I was completely exhausted after the race, I was so excited to share the experience with Dan. We have even talked about running in the race next year, although Dan mentioned running the full marathon instead of the half. Yikes! We shall see...
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