2019 GW Parkway Classic and 2019 National Women's Half Marathon

On Sunday April 28th I ran the 35th Annual GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler put on by Pacers Running for the second time in my life. This 10 Mile run begins at south end of George Washington (GW) Memorial Parkway at George Washington's home and historic site Mount Vernon and Heads 10 miles north on the parkway ending in Old Town Alexandria.

While the race views are for the most part fantastic as the course parallels the Potomac River this is one of my least favorite races because I don't like any races that require taking a shuttle to the race start....this means I have to get up extra early, get to the shuttle, and often times wait around for an hour or more until the race starts which can suck if like me you are a nervous pooper and like me both years had bathroom issues because of the long time waiting for the race to start and then getting frustrated because of the ridiculously long bathrooms lines and having to sit around outside in the cool weather. Both times I have done this race I have had a not that great experience solely because of these things.

If you aren't a nervous pooper like me and don't mind taking a shuttle and waiting around this is a great race. I ran it again this year because my boyfriend was running it for the first time and so were several people from our run club.

If you thrive on crowd support this race really isn't for you as there really isn't much until you get to Old Town. The post race festivities are always fun especially if the weather is nice. The first year it warmed up and was sunny after the run so it was nice to lie in the grass at the finish line festival and listen to live music and have my complimentary Port City beer. The second time it was pretty cold especially if you are sweaty and didn't bring extra clothes. Pacers always puts on great local races but in my personal opinion having to do a point to point race is not worth the price which is also pretty expensive for a 10 Miler.

GW Parkway Classic Medal

The week following the GW Parkway Classic I decided to sign up last minute for the 3rd Annual National Women's Half Marathon exactly one week after the 10 miler. I have a hard time motivating myself to do long runs once summer starts to come in and things get humid in the DMV so signing up for halves and 10 milers is something I do to get my miles.

Anyway this race had a decent price...cheaper than the 10 miler but no free beer. The race started and finished at West Potomac Park in Washington DC at 7AM which sucks if you do not live nearby because Metro doesn't open until 8AM on Sundays and parking is limited. Lucky for me I live about 3 easy miles from the start so race day I jogged over since I wanted to get more miles in anyway but I could've easily biked or scootered over or taken an Uber. It was a rainy spring-like day so I wore my race swag shirt to the start on top of the shirt I planned to wear during the race to keep warm until the race began as normally I don't like the stress of gear check lines and since I didn't like the race sway shirt (fitted) I was fine with leaving it at the start line. When I arrived at the start (about 15 mins to start time) I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a small field of mostly women and that there were plenty of porta potties and very short lines. I easily made my way to the bathroom and did my business and was already warmed up from my jog over.

The race course is pretty scenic as you make your way down and around the tidal basin and back up to Rock Creek Parkway where you run past the Kennedy Center and several miles out until the turn around at about mile 8.5. While not the best of the DC race courses in terms of scenery it was still pretty nice. Perhaps it was because of the rainy conditions or because it was an mostly women's race but there were not too many spectators along the course and most of the runners were pretty quiet. I really enjoyed this as I was listening to the 3rd Game of Thrones book with Audible and the quiet and peacefulness of the race really allowed me to relax and zone into the story. For me this was prefect since I had a stressful work week but for others like one lady on the course it was not that great....this lady started yelling and whining about how the runners were too quiet and how she thought they were lacking motivation. She tried to encourage others to cheer and hoot along with her but I think that many of the runners like me were enjoying the meditation time because no one really joined in with her....so again like the GW Parkway Classic if you thrive on crowd support and energy this may not be the race for you. 

When I finished up the race it was starting to rain a bit harder so I found a bike share away from the race course a rode home. Overall I really enjoyed the race experience and would do it again. This race happens to fall on the same weekend as the Flying Pig Marathon/Half Marathon in Cincinnati,OH which is one of my favorite races and I am signed up for next year so I will not be coming back for the National Women's Half in 2020 but encourage you to do so if you are around and are looking for a nice and easy peaceful half marathon.

Medal for the National Women's Half

For my next race the boyfriend and I will be traveling to Burlington, Vermont to run the Vermont City Marathon Memorial Day Weekend. I love traveling for races and staying a bit longer to explore the city/state. We've both been to Burlington before so for the majority of our long weekend we are heading to the mountains to check out popular breweries and enjoy nature after the race.

Savin Rock Half Marathon

So after my attempt at the Bel Monte 50K March 9th I ended up with a cold and in good old Sara fashion I decided not to take it easy and pushed through several mucous filled runs...but at least the weather was warmer out...a lot warmer probably in the low 70s.

The weekend after Bel Monte I was signed up to do a local race, The St Patrick’s Day Double (5k+10k) on Sunday morning. It also turned out the my former run club picked that Friday as the day to re-launch themselves with a new partner bar so I had to go. Sadly turnout to the club was very low just a few of us who had been part of the club back when its heyday. The new bar was too warm, poor beer selection, and an ok menu and to top it off when we got back from the run our table had been taken over by folks looking to get St Paddy’s day weekend started...we squeezed into another table and I had some wings but the BF and I headed home after an hour. Fast forward to Saturday morning and I’m feeling terrible and star throwing up and end up have uncontrollable bowel movements...was it the wings from the night before?...not sure but I spent Saturday on the couch with some water rushing back and forth to and from the bathroom. So Sunday’s race also didn’t happen...I spent most of that day pretty much the same as Saturday... I tried to go out on a short run which ended up with me frantically looking for a bathroom. Monday and the rest of the following week I was no longer in desperate need of being near a bathroom but was feeling drained so I took it easy in preparation for my next race...the Savin Rock Marathon.

I didn’t know much at all about this race except that my BF picked it and signed up for it so I decided to do it as well and it was in Connecticut. My BF’s friend was also going to run it with us and we would stay at his pace in a Rhode Island and drive to the race race morning. I quickly learned my lesson to not trust my BF to plan for a great race experience and to tell me that the race was two hours from his friends house so flying in at 9PM the night before the race wouldn’t be a good idea.

The friend also turned out to be sick when we arrived so the BF and I piled into a borrowed car at 5AM to make the two hour drive to Connecticut. West Haven Connecticut is pretty much just a small town by the water. The race was two half marathon length loops around the town. Race morning I decided to drop down to the half marathon because like I’ve said before I’m a fair weather runner and it was cold and windy out and judging by our drive through the town to the race start this wasn’t going to be a very scenic race.

The race itself was very underwhelming. Most of it just wound around the neighborhoods of West Haven with about a mile or two of each loop along the water. Roads weren’t closed off for the race we had to stay to our right was best as possible as local traffic tried to get by us. Since it was a cold day on the second loop...according to BF...there were far fewer runners so the local police helping direct traffic weren’t always prepared when a runner came by so runners had to stop and wait for traffic to pass.

The course had a lot of hills which at times broke the monotony of running through neighborhoods whose residents didn’t seem to know or care that a race was happening and at other times added to the dismay of just wanting this race to be over with. There was about zero crowd support except for when the course ran by the start so family and friends of those participating could cheer you on.

When I was finally done I sat in the “convention center” waiting for my BF and sipping water as the post race festivities included bananas, pieces of plain bagels, water, and some non-alcoholic beer.

Before making the two hour drive back to RI we stopped in New Haven for some Frank Pepe’s Pizza and then New England Brewing for a few beers...the highlight and saving grace of the day.

I would not recommend this race if you aren’t a town local. At least I can cross off Connecticut for my 50 states 50 half marathons goal....for my 50 marathons goal I’ll look for another race and I won’t be letting BF plan our races again.

Bel Monte 50K

The month of March didn’t go like I had pictured it would...my boyfriend got a cold the first week of March and I thought my immune system had successfully fended off catching the illness but I guess 4 hours in the mountains in temperatures around freezing trying to not slip and fall to your death and having to traverse icy cold streams multiple times will really weaken your immune system...

So to back track a bit while my boyfriend had his cold I felt fine and was ready to head out to away Waynesboro VA to run the Bel Monte 50K. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that the beginning of March in the mountains would be cold and possibly snowy which it was. 

My friend Josh (he was running the 50 miler) headed to Waynesboro Friday early afternoon to beat rush hour traffic and have sometime to kickback before heading to bed early for our 430AM wake up so we could drive the 30 minutes to the race start and get our race packets. Friday later afternoon we headed to Basic City Beer Co. which was a surprisingly good brewery. The atmosphere was great, the beers were pretty good, and the food from the Hops Kitchen was surprisingly gourmet and they offered healthy options...so if you find yourself in Waynesboro checkout Basic City Beer Co.

If you plan on running Bel Monte I recommend signing up early and renting a cabin ASAP before they are all booked. The drive to the race from Waynesboro isn’t bad since I have an AWD vehicle and the snow wasn’t terrible...non 4WD or AWD vehicles did have some issues parking. Getting a cabin at the race start will allow you to sleep in a little, stay warm before the start, and shower after your run...all things I wish I had.

I’m not a very good trail runner...I’m a klutz and get very uneasy trying to find the right footing but I will shuffle along the trails and enjoy nature...when the weather is pleasant...race day weather stayed around the mid 30s and since it had snowed the day/night before there was about an inch of snow on the trail which quickly became packed down and very slippery as runners made their way through the race course. The first 8 miles of the race took almost 2 hours for me...not just because I was slow but because a lot of that portion was single track and lines of people quickly formed as we tried to get past particularly slippery sections that required very careful footing and for you to hold onto a tree and I can’t forget to mention that most of the race’s elevation gain was in the first 8 miles. After mile 8 things flattened out and the ice was pretty much gone but now bring the muff and multiple calf deep freezing cold stream crossings..after mile 8 for about a mile or two I was finally feeling good again like I could continue on with the race but once I hit the 4th stream crossing my feet were freezing and eventually the rest of my body tightened up. I’m a fair weather runner and if  I’m not feeling the run I will not continue especially in this instance knowing I would have to cross those 4 streams again and go back through those 8 icy hilly miles so at the mile 14 aid station I DNFd. Josh, who is a much stronger runner than I will ever be, pushed through 48 miles only to miss the last cutoff by 15 minutes and  DNF. Tough weather conditions and a tough course (curse you whoever told me this was a good beginner race) made for a tough race. The post race festivities were also lacking especially if you’ve run races put on by  EX2 and  Rainshadow Running or done trail races like Devil Dog 100 where there is tons of post race food and merriment and in the case of Rainshadow tons of post race beer. 

Would I try Bel Monte 50k again...probably not...would I recommend it...yes if you’re up for a challenge.

Hello It's Been A While....2019 Race Preview

So it's been a while since I last posted....

This past year I ran a few races but not as many as I had in previous years. I completed three halves, attempted two 50Ks, and completed my 4th marathon. My I ran more miles than 2017 but overall wasn't really feeling my running. Fast forward to December 2018 and things are getting more serious with my boyfriend of a year+ who is a crazy runner and come January 2019 I have a new spark for running. It could be the colder weather or getting competitive with my BF to see who can get more miles in....he always does but I still try to catch up on our Strava annual mileage....but what I do know is that in about a week I will once again be attempting to finish my 2nd 50K race and have already signed up for 3 marathons and a road 50K for 2019 and have been combing the internet for more races so I can do 50 marathons 50 states!

Given this rekindling of my love of running I've decided to pick back up on my blogging. I plan on doing a lot of races this year most of which will be out of town (I live in the DC area) and I also plan to stop by and check out the local brewery and food scenes as part of my travel so stay tuned for race recaps as well as food and brewery reviews!

Races I'm signed up for this year:

-March 2nd: #FITDC Herstory 5K (Washington, DC)
-March 9th: Bel Monte 50K  (Lyndhurst, VA)
-March 17th: Pacers St. Patrick's Day Double (Washington, DC)
-Every Friday Evening in April: Pacers Crystal City 5K Fridays (Arlington, VA)
-May 26th: The Vermont City Marathon (Burlington, VT)
-September 29th: BMW Berlin Marathon (Berlin, Germany)
-October 19th: Baltimore Running Festival Marathon (Baltimore, MD)
-October 27th: The First Ever MCM50K (Arlington, VA)