Here's a photo of the Texas sized medal and squeezie dog that all participants received instead of an age reward.
This race consists of a marathon and a half marathon. The marathon began at 8am and the half marathon began at 8:15am. The marathon consists of completing four loops around local greenbelt trails while the half marathon consists of completing two loops around the local greenbelt trails.
I was excited to complete this race since this was my first race to welcome in the new year and also, I liked that the race doesn’t have an official time limit other than asking that runners be done before 5:30pm which is when the greenbelt trails are closed. There is a limit on the total number of participants which is 700. According to the race website, weather temperatures range between 32-60 degrees and on this race day, the weather was overcast and cold, but not unbearable.
I appreciated that there was water and Powerade available every 1.5 miles at each of the aid stations and snacks available at the start/stop aid station every 6.5 miles. Porta potties were located at the start line and at each aid station. The race course was flat, the volunteers were helpful, friendly, and encouraging which helped make this an enjoyable race to run.
The runners were friendly and constantly saying encouraging words to each other as they passed each other on the greenbelt trail. The only slight annoyance was that since so almost 700 people were running on the greenbelt at the same time, this lead to congested areas along the route at times. In addition, since both the marathon and half marathon are being run at the same time, you’ll always see someone on the course. Also, there are clear signs posted along the course so you don’t have to worry about possibly getting lost during the race.
The last reason why I love this race is the awesome race swag they give before and after the race. When picking up your race number, each participant also recta hat and a duffel bag. I especially liked that they don’t give out age awards but instead that everyone who finishes the 1/2 marathon or marathon receives a medal as well as a finisher squeezie critter will your overall finishing position on it. 2020 will be the year of the squeezie Happy Dog.
Recommendations: Due to the range of of temperatures between 30-60 degrees, I’d suggest having a light jacket and gloves available (if you are comfortable wearing these while running.)
Would I recommend this race: Definitely! This is a great 1/2 marathon to start off the new year since there are lots of aid stations. In addition, this race has no official time limit and the course remains open until 5:30pm. Also, since the are no age awards, all runners leave feeling accomplished for completing the race distance and having their overall finishing position on it.
