Yuengling Oktoberfest 5k 2014 Recap

My god, this race was disappointing. I can't say I had very high hopes considering how the Yuengling Light 5k turned out, but still. We arrived early to pick up our packets on race day, even though they "would really rather we didn't." Considering our other options were to drive the three hours round trip the day before to get the packets or have them mailed to us for $15 each, it wasn't a difficult decision.

The annoyances started out early when they were out of size small shirts at packet pick up. Why do I bother registering for a specific size if you aren't going to use those numbers to order the proper amount of shirts? We also got a big plastic beer stein with our registration. The race itself started on time and the course was awesome. It wasn't too hilly, the views were good, and the crowding wasn't bad.

 

The finish was where it totally fell apart. Rather than having the cattle shute style finish area like almost every other race in the world has, they decided to set this race up where you have to walk down to some tents and push your way into the crowd of people in the area to get your water, snacks, and finisher's cookie. The cookie was totally the best part of this race, by the way. It was adorable and delicious.
 

 

After we all finished, we decided to go see what was in the beer garden area and get something to eat. We had to sneak into the area past the fence and the security guard because the line JUST for the free beer wound all the way out of the garden and into the street. There was obviously no way I was waiting in that line, so none of us got our free beers that were included with registration.

I feel confident saying that I will never run another Yuengling race again. Both of them that I've done this year have been badly organized and incredibly crowded. Why run a Yuengling race when you can't even get your free beer at the end? Better question, why would you have ONE BEER TENT for the 5,000 runners who have free beer tickets?? For the money I spent on this race, I should have just stayed home, gone for a walk with my family, and bought a case of beer with them to celebrate.

Hershey Half Marathon 2014 Recap

A couple weeks ago, Joe and I ran the Hershey Half Marathon, which was celebrating it's fifth year anniversary. I had a much better experience this year than I did last year, even though I feel like I'm in worse shape this year. We went down early Saturday morning to pick up our packets at the stadium and then went right to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire and had a kick ass time. I knew I wasn't going to break any PRs in the race since I haven't been running much, so I drank wine and ate whatever I wanted without worrying about how it would affect me the next day. We stayed at the Harrisburg/Hershey La Quinta and would definitely recommend it if you're looking to do this race next year. It only took us ten minutes to get to the race in the morning and the room was very clean and quiet. The night manager even opened breakfast up an extra hour early for all the runners!

Unlike last year, we weren't waiting in line for the restrooms when the race started! We actually started on time; however, is was very cold and windy just like last year. It even started to sprinkle and everyone around us seemed pretty unhappy about the idea of running in the cold rain. Thankfully though, the rain stopped and we just had the chilly wind to deal with.

Running through the park is so much fun, but seems like it's over way too soon. The real highlight though is running through the Milton Hershey School campus; the kids there are always out cheering and it's so motivating.

After running the Pocono Lake Region 13.1 three weeks ago, the hills in Hershey seemed like nothing. I felt really good throughout the whole race, which was a huge difference from last year and I was so happy for that. It was sunny through most of the race, which helped negate the wind a bit, but the final finish through the parking lot toward the stadium was brutal just like last year.

I finished in 2:20:39 and was so mad at myself for not being able to dig in and cut that minute off to finish in the teens. However, I finished twenty minutes faster than the half three weeks ago and I ran the entire thing, so I couldn't be too mad! Plus, the medals are insanely awesome this year; they're so heavy and the detail is incredible. I might even like it more than my Scranton Half medal. :X

I can't say that we will for sure be back next year, since we are really hoping to run our first marathon and it would be the week before Hershey, but we'll see how things go! All in all, this was a super fun weekend and Hershey did a great job (again!) of organzing this race.

Pocono Lake Region 13.1 2014 Recap

This was my very first half marathon last year, so even though I wasn't in the best of shape from not running most of the summer and for being in phsyical therapy, I knew I wanted to try running it anyway. Sadly, sign ups were way down (possibly because of the Eric Frein manhunt) and there were only about 100 people who ran this year.

It was a chilly, but gorgeous morning and you really couldn't have asked for better scenery. This is a tough, hilly course but it's absolutely stunning this time of year. We started right on time and I knew from mile one that this wasn't going to be fun for me.
 

By mile five, I was taking consistant walk breaks and I just felt so winded and out of energy. My legs were tight and I couldn't for the life of me force myself to run. I wound up completely walking the final three miles and finished in a time of 2:39:32, which I didn't think was too bad considering all the walking I did and all the tough hills. Obviously it's not something for me to brag about, but I figured the fact that I was able to complete the half meant I wasn't in as bad of shape as I thought.

 

I wound up placing 3rd in my age group which was really funny and unexpected. Sadly, they accidently gave away the 16-24 award to the actual 25-34 winner, so I get to pretend that I'm a little older than I actually am. ;)

I made an appointment for a massage right after the race and it was so incredible. The only thing that sucked was getting up off the table afterwards! We had a fantastic crab cake sandwich lunch and relaxed for the rest of the day. Hopefully more people will come back for this race next year and make it a bigger event!