We stayed at the Hilton DeSoto which was also the official hotel for race weekend. The staff was able to check us in early and we were able to drop off our luggage before heading to the expo. The Hilton DeSoto was absolutely beautiful! They are in the middle of a renovations in the hotel, but the room was great! Oh, and how about the view! The hotel sits slightly outside of the River Street area of Savannah (just a 7-10 minute walk to downtown), but there was still a lot of see, do, and eat right here.
Disclaimer: I am a 2017 Publix Savannah Women’s Half Marathon & 5K ambassador. As part of my role, I have been compensated with a complimentary race entry, other race weekend amenities, and race sponsor products. All opinions are my own. After months of excitement, it was time to head to Savannah for the 2017 Publix Savannah Women's Half Marathon and 5K. I left home around 9am to let rush hour traffic die down a bit and arrived to Savannah around lunch time. We stayed at the Hilton DeSoto which was also the official hotel for race weekend. The staff was able to check us in early and we were able to drop off our luggage before heading to the expo. The Hilton DeSoto was absolutely beautiful! They are in the middle of a renovations in the hotel, but the room was great! Oh, and how about the view! The hotel sits slightly outside of the River Street area of Savannah (just a 7-10 minute walk to downtown), but there was still a lot of see, do, and eat right here. Staying at the official race hotel definitely has its perks - like the expo being right there! We just went outside of the hotel and around to the back part of the hotel and there it was (the exit to the expo was inside of the hotel lobby). Upon entering the expo, you first picked up your bib. There were stations set up for different sections of the alphabet and you picked up your bib according to your last name (both 5K and half marathon was together). After getting your bib and gear check bag, you started to make your way into the expo area. Each runner received a lovely gift from Nourish - one of their signature bath fizzies in a scent of your choice. I LOVE Nourish, so I was crazy excited to get this. Rather than provide race shirts, Publix Savannah Women's Half Marathon & 5K does different participant gifts. This year's gift was a charm bangle featuring the race logo on it. The past two years the race has done tote bags as participant gifts. Everyone has their own opinion on what gift they prefer, but I thought the bracelet was a very unique gift. Don't worry, if you had your heart set on a Publix Savannah Women's Half Marathon tote, they had surplus from 2015 and 2016 for sale. The team at Publix greeted us with cheers and another great gift: an icepack and drawstring tote with the race logo on it. That was pretty dang sweet! I had barely been in the expo and collected a ton of awesome swag already! As you entered the shopping/vendor area, Fleet Feet had a HUGE selection of race gear, New Balance product, and last minute race day needs (nuun, gels, KT Tape, etc). I must say, the race specific merchandise was pretty awesome! Since we do not receive race shirts at this race, I decided to pick up a shirt to commemorate the weekend. (I bought the blue tee below) What I really loved about the expo is that the vendors were all local businesses. One of my favorite things to do on racecations is to shop local. Since I was familiar with Nourish, I knew I had to hit them up. They had an awesome expo specials on their shower steamers, bath fizzies, and shower gel. While I was at Nourish, Momma K found her way over to Savannah Rae's for some Oreo Cheesecake popcorn. This was really a great opportunity to showcase some of Savannah's great local shops and businesses. I have never been to a race expo that was all local businesses, and it was really much appreciated to see the Savannah Women's Half Marathon & 5K take that much pride into their local community and businesses. Before we headed out, we stopped by the Savannah Magazine booth to get our VIP wristbands. A few weeks ago, runners received an email about the special promotion that for $15 you would receive a year subscription to Savannah Magazine as well as VIP perks on race day including mimosas, massages, and breakfast after the race. It was a smaller expo, but the vibes were just awesome! Like I mentioned earlier, the local businesses supporting the race weekend were amazing and you could just feel the support for the ladies this weekend. Now it was time to head out and explore Savannah a bit before getting ready for 13.1 miles in the morning!
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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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