First Race of 2023 Completed: Citrus Heritage Run 1/2 Marathon

On Saturday, January 7th, I completed my first race of the year which was the Citrus Heritage Run 1/2 Marthon which was held in Riverside, California.

Prior to the start of the race, I met up with two members of the Black Girls Run Inland Empire (aka BGR-IE) running club that I'm a part of and we took a selfie before the race began.

During running the 1/2 marathon, I ran past the local Citrus Hertiage Run Musuem as well as ran past local orange groves. 

After finishing the 1/2 marathon, I met back up with members from BGR-IE and took some photos to celebrate completing the 5K, 10K, and 1/2 marathon distances. 

In addition to this race being my first 1/2 marathon for 2023, I also ran this race in memory of my Uncle Willie who recently passed away and was also buried on the day of the race.

 Having completed this 1/2 marathon a little longer than I initally planned, I am working towards revising my training plan for my next 1/2 marathon which will be the Anchorage Mayor's 1/2 Marathon on Saturday, June 17, 2023.
 

First Visit To Hometown Since COVID & Little Rock 1/2 Marathon Race Recap

     In an effort to complete my life long goal of running a half marathon in each state, I signed up to run the Little Rock 1/2 Marathon in Little Rock, Arkansas. Since the race occurred on Sunday, March 6, hubby and I decided to fly in early and drive down to my hometown in Alabama to visit my best friend as well as my parents (which I haven't seen in person since 2019. I was happy to be able to meet up with my best friend and her son over lunch before visiting with my dad and my mom.

Best friend and me

Dad and me

Hubby, dad, and me

Mom and me

Me, mom, and hubby

      After our brief visit to Alabama, it was time to return back to Little Rock to prep or the half marathon on Sunday. While taking a break from race prep, I was able to enjoy some delicious vegan food from Blue Sage Vegan Bistro.

Spicy mushroom tacos

Chick'n fried steak sandwich

Vegan grilled cheese with mushrooms and arugula

Spiral fries

After a good night's sleep at the hotel, it was time to get up and run the half marathon. The half marathon was fairly uneventful expect for a brief period of sprinkles followed by a later period of brief rain. Luckily, I made sure to pack a poncho in my pants pocket so I didn't get too wet during the race. 

Me before the half marathon

Bridge I ran on during on during race

Communion on the Run tent

Arkansas Governor's mansion

Me with half marathon finisher's medal

Close up of finisher's medal

Although there were many interesting tents set up along the race route, my favorite was the "Communion on the Run" tent in front of a church which gave runners the communion experience using pretzel bites to represent the body of Christ and a cup of grape juice to represent the blood of Christ. This to me was a very creative idea! Overall, the Little Rock 1/2 Marathon was a wonderful race to run and I loved how many community members come out to support us runners. I'm looking forward to visiting my family for a longer time sometime soon as well as looking forward to my next 1/2 marathon which will be the Las Vegas Women's 1/2 Marathon next month. 

My First Race Since COVID-19 & Race Recap: Havasu Half Marathon

      This past Saturday, I completed by first in person running event in a year which was the Havasu Half Marathon the took place in Lake Havasu, Arizona. I was excited to run this race since this was my first in person running event in a year and it was also this provided me with an opportunity to run in a new state and get closer to run a half marathon in all fifty states.

     I was bummed when the race was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 and was glad that since vaccines are now available, the race was able to be held this year with safety precautions. A few weeks before race day, I received an email from the race director clearly explaining the ways in which he was working to make the race a safe experience for all runners.

     The first safety precaution was that all runners were assigned a specific time to attend the race expo. The expo was held outside and everyone was required to wear a mask when attending the expo. When I arrived at the race expo, I was greeted by two masked volunteers who took my temperature before I was able to enter the expo. Each runner was given twenty minutes to pick up their bib and race shirt from the expo. 

     The second big safety precaution was that runners were assigned to a specific start time on race day and were distanced by number safety cones leading up ti the start line. The third safety precaution is that all runners were required to wear a mask when crossing the start line as well as when crossing the finish line. After crossing the start line, since runners tend to run at a distance, runners could take their masks off. Below are photos from race day.  

Waiting at start/finish line

Mural on race route

Dune buggy on race route

Landscape during the race

Me at halfway marker

Sidewalk smiley face on race route 

Patriotic supporter on race route 

     One of the coolest things about the Havasu Half is that some of the race is run on the London Bridge which is actually a portion of the London Bridge which was purchased by someone in Arizona and then moved from London to Lake Havasu.

Running towards London Bridge

The view of London Bridge

Me with Lake Havasu Half medal

     

     Overall, this was a very enjoyable race and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to run my first person race as well as check off a new state to have run in. I also think that a new part of racing in the COVID-19 era is that in addition to giving out race medals, race companies will also provide branded racing event face mask as a souvenir of the running event. 

Havasu Half medal and event souvenir facemask

Race Recap: Sawblade Texas 1/2 Marathon

Happy New Year! As usual, I welcomed in the new year by running a race in a different state. This year, I decided to begin the year by running the Sawblade Texas 1/2 Marathon in Kingwood, Texas.

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.

My First Marathon aka race recap: Honolulu Marathon

When I first start running consistently in 2011, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would someday complete a marathon. The idea of run 26.2 miles was daunting to say the least and I felt that women like me don't do marathons (plus size and slow.) Thanks to an increase in plus size/fat role models in the running world such at Latoya Shauntay Snell (aka runningfatchef,) Mirna Valerio (aka the mirnavator,) Martinus Evans (aka 300poundsandrunning,) Jill Angie (aka not your average runner) and other, they inspired me to tackle the challenge of completing a marathon!     

Below are photos from the marathon expo, race day, while on the race course as well as post race and finisher expo photos. If you're someone planning to check complete a marathon off your bucket list, I can't recommend this race highly enough. There is no course time limit so you can take as long as you need to complete the distance. I finished the marathon in 8:51:26 however the marathon course stays open until the very last person finishes which were two participants from Japan who finished in 17 hours.  

 

 

 

The race course was beautiful and the course support staff where friendly and helpful. I enjoyed that I could take my time to fully take in all the sights and sounds of Honolulu. The aloha spirit was definitely in full effort on race day.

 

 


After completing the marathon, finishers were given a shell necklace as well as the medal. On the following day, finishers had the opportunity to pick up their official finisher certificates as well as have the certificate laminated and framed.I am so happy to be able to check this off my bucket list as well as having completed my big running goal for the year of completing a marathon.This was absolutely the best way to end my 2019 year of running!

 
 

Bakersfield Half Marathon Race Recap

I recently completed my last half  marathon for the year which was the Bakersfield 1/2 Marathon in Bakersfield, California on November 17th. The course was fairly flat and the community support while running the race was top notch. Below are photos from before the race, at the start line, after the race and a final photo of the race medal.

Me before the start of the race

Bakersfield 1/2 Marathon Starting Line

Me after the half marathon

Me and online Facebook friend meet in real life

Me at booth after half marathon

Bakersfield 1/2 Marathon Medal