Independence Half Marathon Series day 4: Sussex, New Jersey

After a lovely day off in Gettysburg it was time to pick up state 47, New Jersey. This time I got the full Mainly Marathons experience -- heard the course talk, 

...celebrated some achievements... 

... and got the day's news. I'm sorry to report that the tater tot scramble was not vegetarian, because I would have snarfed a lot of that down. 

This was another mellow race for me -- just 6 laps on a nicely paved course through the woods. The day was glorious, and the shade meant it was never too hot. Bliss!

Got to chat with Wanda again; someone asked her if she was going to be at the NY race the next day, and she replied, "What else am I gonna be doing?" #retirementgoals

Here she is ringing the Loony bell: 

Back and forth, back and forth I went, stopping for a snack and a hello to the volunteers each time: 

And then, suddenly, I was done!

I got a little cleaned up (I had checked out of my room before the race) and went up to the monument at the High Point of New Jersey: 

There's a lovely view from up there of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. 

And a lot of wind, too.

I left and drove and drove across Pennsylvania to a little town called Ohiopyle ... really a staging spot for my Frank Lloyd Wright house tours the next day. But that night I sat on my balcony and updated my jacket because I had just run state 47!

Independence Half Marathon Series, Day 4: Sussex, New Jersey

3:24:21

State 47!

Urban Bourbon Half Marathon race report

Note: I'm finally writing this post in mid March, but I'm publishing this race report on the day of the actual race to keep the blog organized.

Kentucky was a "lost state" in my 50 States project -- it didn't match with anything else for a trip. Luckily, there was a race on my "wishlist": the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon in Louisville. 

Several years ago we ran the Oak Barrel Half in Lynchburg, Tennessee -- home of Jack Daniels. The race ran through the backroads of Tennessee, including one really big, "named" hill. The medal was made from an oak bourbon barrel (all these years later it STILL smells delicious!), and the shirt, hat and swag was also top notch. 

When I first heard of the Urban Bourbon half, the medals looked like a Jim Beam bottle -- which seemed like the perfect match. Of course, things change, so in 2023 the medals looked like an Evan Williams bottle -- which is fair, because there's a large Evan Williams presence in the town. 

The other nice thing about this race is that it's run in October -- just in time for some pre-Halloween fun. So we planned out a trip to Louisville for the race, followed by a short visit to the Great Smoky Mountains and... DOLLYWOOD. 

But, first, we had a race to run. 

We flew out on Thursday and picked up our packets on Friday. The pickup was at Louisville Slugger Field, home of the minor league Louisville Bats. (Cuuuuute.) Fast pickup, a nice mini expo, and bourbon tasting. 

After the race we finished our Urban Bourbon Trail and went to the visitor center to pick up our reward -- a handsome shirt and hat. And of course we snapped a pic with the Colonel, too. 

Race morning was cool and clear -- perfect running weather. We joined the large crowd at the start -- it was a little odd to be in a big crowd like that. I'm sure this was the biggest race we had run since before COVID began.

We started out by running along the main drag, then turned past the stadium and eventually did a long loop around the Cherokee neighborhood before coming back into town.

note Wil's Urban Bourbon Trail "reward" t-shirt!

It was nice to explore the neighborhoods outside of downtown -- we ran past a great area full of bars and restaurants, past the cemetery where Muhammad Ali and Harlan Sanders were buried, and through a gorgeous, windy, hilly park. 

When we had finished the loop and were running back through Butchertown, we passed a house where a bunch of guys were sitting on a "yard couch" (as our friend Kurt would say, "it's a couch we use in the backyard"). They'd been there on our way out, drinking, and they were still there, drinking, and whooping for the runners who passed. 

The wind was picking up as we headed back to downtown, and we were happy to turn away from the river and go up the last hills to the finish. Okay, we weren't happy about the hills, per se, but we were happy to be out of the wind. As per usual, we held hands and ran across the finish line. 

One of the perks of this race is a post-race Bourbon Bash in the Fourth Street Live! entertainment area. Pizza slices, burgoo (a meaty stew), and bourbon tastes were promised, along with live music. We waded in and discovered that everything had huge, slow-moving lines. After a few minutes we looked at each other and just left. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of people having a very good time. But we were happy to just find our own post-race fun. 

One of the other perks of this race, you see, is something they call the "Urban Bourbon Walk" -- visit one or all of the four locations on race day, show your medal, and make a purchase, and get a custom pin. You know how much I love a custom pin, sooo...

We started at O'Sheas because, well, because they were already open. After a quick drink there we went to Bearno's and had a drink and a small pizza between us. Then to Troll Pub (where we'd been on our first day) and Merle's (where we'd been the previous night) and of course GOT ALL THE PINS. 

The Urban Bourbon Half Marathon is run in mid-October every year. It's a nice, mid-sized race with a well-organized packet pickup, good swag, good organization, some pleasant scenery along the route, and a good post-race party. The town really embraces the race, too, which is nice to see. 

Urban Bourbon Half Marathon

3:10:57

Jekyll Island Half Marathon race report

 

When I plan trips to races, I often look at holiday weekends -- even for a long trip, getting an extra day off helps. So I had originally heard about the Jekyll Island Marathon in late 2021 and considered it for 2022 as it's always on MLK weekend. But I didn't get my act together in time... which turned out to be a good thing, because the race had to be cancelled at the last minute because a storm damaged a lot of trees on the course. 

When I started planning this trip, I proposed a long weekend in Georgia and then home. Wil said, "If we're going that far, why wouldn't we spend time at Disney World?" He gets me, you see. 

We flew to Jacksonville, Florida, stayed one night near the airport, and then picked up a rental car and drove up to Jekyll Island. 

We checked in to our hotel, then walked over to pick up our race packets. There were a couple of Maniacs there, and a 50 Stater or two, which is always nice. The next morning we were up with the sun, literally:

We walked the short distance to the race start, and joined the shivering throng. See, it was really cold -- AGAIN. We listened to the course talk -- a LOT of directions and we just hoped the course would be well marked. Happy to say that it was!

We would be running out along the main road to the northern end of the island and a little ways back, then turning on to one of the many bike paths and making our way back to the finish.

The course -- well, the entire island, really -- was flat as a pancake. But it was also very, very pretty. We knew that we wouldn't run much -- I think we ran the first mile before setting in to a brisk walk. It was a really pretty, mellow morning. 

Though the roads weren't fully closed, there was very little traffic that early on a Sunday morning. 

Not knowing the island -- and not really knowing the map, it came as something of a surprise when we turned off the road and onto the bike path.  This is when this race got really, really pretty. 

At the 7 mile mark we turned left toward the Clam Creek Picnic Area, heading to the northern edge of the island. You can just see the fishing pier to the left as we turned to head to the northernmost point. 

Along the way we hit an area where dunes were encroaching on the trail -- so as always we laughed that it was a trail run. 

Eventually we turned south, getting back on the road -- well, this time, the sidewalk -- for a few miles. We were really just walking steadily at this point, and had that weird experience of passing people who were run/walking. We'd catch up with someone walking, they would start running for a few yards, and then we would catch up to them again when they started walking. After 3 or 4 times, they would often just "give up" and fall behind us. 

After a while we reached the bike path along the shore line. I was happy to be almost done because my knee was bothering me a little. 

The finish line was in a grassy area by the shops "downtown" -- with a nice finish chute and arch. As usual, we held hands and took off running. Always nice to finish strong, eh?

The announcer even gave us a shout out for coming from so far away. 

We milled around a bit, snacking on crisps, chugging water, and cheering for other finishers. We thought about getting a drink at the nearby pub, but they didn't open when the sign said they would so we went to the market, picked up a couple of drinks, and headed back to our lovely hotel. 

It wasn't a great performance -- we strolled most of it -- but it was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday morning, and, of course, to pick up state number 43!

Revolution Run Half Marathon race report

I started my 50 states half marathon project a long time ago. I used to make lists of races I wanted to run in my remaining states, and plot out ways to maximize my travel -- especially if I could tie it to a work event and get the airfare paid for. 

One of my long-time dream races was the Revolution Run, which was usually run on New Year's Day. Why this race? Well, it's in Utah... but more importantly, it's an INDOOR half marathon. The race is held on the running track at the Utah Olympic Oval, a 4-lane, 442-meter track around the speedskating track and open skate ice sheets. Best of all, it's always 63-65 degrees in there. Perfect running conditions. Insane, right?

In 2022, because January 1 was a Sunday, the race was held on December 31 -- which just happens to be my birthday. So it seemed ideal to spend a weekend in Salt Lake City, run my first (and last?) indoor half marathon, and celebrate my birthday by picking up a new state. 

We flew from Seattle on the afternoon of December 30, arriving in SLC after dark. Overnight we got a lot of snow, which made us happy that I'd decided to use Lyft for all of our travel, but worried we wouldn't be able to get to the Oval. Silly me -- SLC gets snow all the time, so they are prepared for it, and we had no trouble getting to the Oval in plenty of time for the race. 

We walked in and -- though I guess I knew how big the space was -- I was AMAZED at how big the space was. I'm not sure these pictures do it justice. Here's the widest part of the track, along the "main straightaway". 

Here's one of the short sides of the oval, and you can see one of the two "ice sheets" -- the one that hockey games are played on. Just out of sight on the left edge are grandstands, which were occupied during much of our race by families cheering on hockey games. 

We picked up our shirts and bibs and timing chips, and were also given hand-held clickers so we could keep track of our own laps. The timing chips would also register each time we crossed the line, but this way we could always know how far we had gone. Well, sortof -- I kept forgetting to click my laps at first, and later on Wil forgot to click his, so we were often off by a lap or two. Because of the length of the course, we ran 49 laps to get our 13.1(+) miles.

The event hosts multiple distances -- a 5K, 10K, half marathon, full marathon, and a "as far as you can go in the 4 hours" event. So there was a good-sized crowd when we started. 

This sign, on the back stretch, made me laugh every time. Runners must yield to Zamboni! Note that the Zamboni stayed on the infield during our event, so we never had to wait for it to pass. 

It wasn't too long before the 5K and 10K runners all finished their events. And we just kept going around and around. There were some entertainments to distract us -- a group of very fast short-track speedskaters were working out on one of the inner ice sheets; it was amazing to see them work together and just get faster and faster. And on the other ice sheet we could glimpse hockey games. 

At the 2 hour mark we were turned around so that we could run in the other direction -- better on our hips, you see. And that's about when the speedskaters showed up to practice on the big oval. Watching them whoosh past at incredible speeds was so cool. We weren't the only people who stopped to watch them!

I'm not going to lie, this race was boring and I was SO HAPPY when the race director called out that we were on our last lap. (I hadn't dared hope!) So we hustled around and crossed the finish line for the final time. 

I should point out that the race was nicely organized -- the timing was fine, the medals were nice, and the snack food at the one water stop was plentiful. Nothing to complain about at all! And it was fun, and weird, to run around and around and around indoors while the snow fell steadily outside. 

After the race we went to the Vertical Diner, a vegan restaurant, where we had incredibly good food and beer. A perfect way to celebrate my birthday and a job well done!

Revolution Run Half Marathon (really 13.23 miles)

3:29:45 (ouch!)