Even though it has only been on my race calendar for a few weeks (thanks to an ice storm earlier this year that canceled another race of mine), it feels like my excitement for the A1A Half Marathon weekend had been growing FOREVER! There were a number of reason that I was giddy about this weekend: I was getting to spend time with family, I have heard great things about this race, it has some pretty awesome bling, and IT IS FLORIDA! I stayed at one of the race hotels that was about a mile from the finish line. Free shuttles were offered from the finish line to the start line (and vice versa). Rather than walking a mile or so to the finish before the race, I opted for an "unofficial" shuttle from my hotel that was scheduled by runners with a shuttle company for $10 a person. I will take it. $10 for convenience and one mile less on my legs pre race and a bit extra sleep, yes please. Hey, the race started at 6am, so if I could sleep until 4:00 instead of 3:45, I was happy to spend a few bucks. Since I took the first unofficial shuttle, I got to the race pretty darn early. Like 5am early. I hung out for a bit and headed to the porto-potties around 5:15. Welp....THEY WERE OUT OF TOILET PAPER! Thank you so much to the sweet spectator that was in line in front of my and had a few baby wipes in her bag and shared one with me! OYE! It seems as if the portos were only stocked with ONE ROLL in each! There was no sign of rolls on the holders and just a cardboard tube (or a partial roll in a few lucky portos). What a nightmare! Thousands of runners and a shortage of toilet paper is not a good start to the day - especially at 5:15am! Around 5:45 I got situated in the corral. There was just one general corral for the marathon and half marathon runners. The pacers in the crowd served as a gauge as to where to place yourself in the corral which seemed to work well. At first I was shocked that there wasn't at least two waves, but I thought the race was going to be much bigger than what it was. Don't get me wrong, it was a pretty big race, just not THAT big. We were off and on our way at 7am. The absolute most craziest thing happened just around .2 mile in - as we approached the train tracks, the signals for a train coming started going off! Despite a hold on trains that was suppose to be in place from 7-7:30am, a train was coming through just as the race started! As I was 10 feet away from the tracks, the chimes and lights started going off as the arms were about to come down. I BEAT THE TRAIN! Unfortunately for a HUGE number of runners, they did not beat the train. Runners that got caught by the train were taken back to the start and restarted the race after the train passed. Yes, it was good that the race gave them a clean start, however they now had an extra 20-30 minutes that they would be running in the sun because of something that shouldn't have happened (and was to no fault of their own). Y'all, it was HOT! Like, DANG HOT! I know it is Florida and heat and humidity are expected, but this was nonsense! Talking to runners that are local and/or have ran this race previously said that the temps are usually in the 50s-60s for A1A weekend. Today it was in the upper 70s with 94% humidity at the start. I was DRENCHED by mile 1! Even though I had been hydrating like a boss knowing I would be running in some sticky weather, I knew that I was going to need to run slower and be smart today. Just as I approached the bridge on Las Olas, the sun was just starting to peep from the skyline. We don't get views like this in Atlanta, so I was definitely going to soak this in! I made my way to Fort Lauderdale Beach and famous A1A! This is what I was waiting for! OH MY STARS! Even though I knew that sun was about to make the next 10 miles an absolute scorcher, I could help but swoon over one of the prettiest sunrises that I have seen in a long time! Hot or not, I will gladly sweat a bit extra for views like this! We made our way north on A1A for about a mile and headed into Hugh Taylor Birch State Park for a two and a half mile loop through the park. It was very pretty in the park and shaded which was very welcomed! As we came out from Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, we were greeted by a number of adoring fans (aka - awesome spectators). A huge shoutout to Team Twizzler for the pick me up! Man, that was just what I needed to give me a good jolt mid-race. Thank you, dear strangers, thank you. Since the half marathon course was mostly an out and back, you were able to see a lot of the runners along the course and cheer each other on. With palm trees and the Atlantic OCean on one side and beautiful hotels, restaurants, and residences on the other, there was no lack of scenery. Just around mile 10.5ish, the lead marathon came through. He was going strong, but you could tell that the heat was likely getting him, too. My pace at this point had slowed down a good bit, but I would rather be safe than sorry. While I ran a few races in warmer temps recently, my body isn't used to this in February. I took an orange slice at mile 11.5 and just enjoyed the scenery and experience. 13.1 miles, a train, a twizzler, an orange slice, several cups of water over my head, countless amounts of sweat, and many awesome memories and sights later, the A1A Half Marathon is DONE! My Aunt Vicki who came along with me this weekend, met me at the finish line which was awesome! :) The finish line area was HUGE and quite popular. There were so many different vendors set up and a TON of runners and spectators were sticking around to check things out which is AWESOME! To be honest, when I am that crazy hot and gross, the last thing I want to do is be in crowded situations. Since I had a mile to get back to the hotel and had to shower and get checked out soon, it worked out anyways. Don't think that I didn't leave without my chocolate milk though ;) I am a girl with priorities. Ok, A1A Marathon weekend, you win with this medal! This thing is legit! First, for as large as my medal collection is, I don't own a stingray medal. Plus it is hinged an opens to a suncatcher inside. HOW AWESOME IS THIS THING!!!!! Thank you A1A Marathon for an awesome 13.1 mile tour of A1A & Fort Lauderdale! Yea, there were some issues and I might have a different tune if I got caught by the train (don't get me wrong, I feel HORRIBLE for each of you), but I had a great time still. Thank you to the staff, volunteers, emergency personnel (who were crazy busy with the heat), and fellow runners made it a memorable time.
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BrandiI love to run and most importantly I love to have FUN while I run....I am the "Funner Runner" Feedspot's Top 100 Running Blogs
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