Jill and I ran in the 22nd Annual Indy Half at Ft. Ben. The race took place in historic Ft Harrison state park in Lawrence, IN. This is on the Northeast side of Indianapolis. Overall we had a very good experience with the event.
The bib/race jacket pick up took place on Friday evening at the Sterret Center. It was 2 blocks from the start/finish line and lasted 9 hours. The week before the race, bib numbers were sent out to participants with a plethora of other race info. This made bib pick up extremely easy. All the info in the email was very helpful including where to park morning of which is always something we fear going to a new race. There was no morning of pick up. There were several vendors in the center including a really unique one called @73threads. They had at least 25 different running inspired tanks/tshirts/hoodies that could be made on site. The owner was very nice to talk to and she said they just started traveling around the US going to events. We arrived an hour before the race started and there was plenty of parking at the Major General Beane federal building a couple blocks from the start/finish. There were several vendors in the large grassy area and even 5 fire pits going. Corrals were clearly marked and sound system was great. Race started right on time. The course mainly wound through the park and was also on some city roads. There were NINE water/Gatorade stations and almost all were manned by the local JR ROTC. Very encouraging young men and women working the stations. There were several areas of declines and inclines with nothing major. I stopped my Apple GPS watch at 13.1 miles exactly and wasn't done yet. My guess is course would have measured 13.3 if I had kept it going. Jill's watch had almost 13.2. More course for the $$! We were disappointed with the post race. We got water and a banana. As far as we know, the only other food/beer on the grounds was for purchase. Overall we were very pleased with the event and recommend it to all runners. We only had a 10 minute drive to and from the race as we stayed in Fishers. The quarter zip jacket was the best garment we have received from a half and the medal ranks up there as one of our favorites.
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Jill and I traveled to the sleepy village of Morrow, OH for the Little Miami Half Marathon. It is a 4 hour drive from Evansville and about 45 minutes Northeast of Cincinnati.
The shirt/bib pick up was at a small running shoe store in Mason, OH. We arrived right at the start and there was no wait at all. Since Morrow is a town of 1,000 people, there are no hotels located there. The closest we found were 30 minutes from there and we stayed in Liberty Township. Mason and West Chester also had a lot of places to stay and about the same distance to the race. The race started at 7:00 am sharp and 430 people finished the half and 300 did the 10K. Even though it was a small race, it was very tough maneuvering through the runners the first mile as the streets in town are narrow. Once we reached the Little Miami Greenway it started to spread out rather quickly. Although the course is entirely flat, it was a mental challenge as we ran 7 miles straight to the turn around and came back the same way. Water stations were spread out every 2-3 miles. We were very fortunate to have race temps of 65-70 for entire race. However, if it would have been hot, I think we would have been fine as the entire course was in the shade trees running right next to the Miami River. If you are looking for a big post race event, this is not the race for you. There was plenty of water, bananas, orange slices, and a few other snacks for the participants. However, not much else was going on. Overall, Jill and I liked the race and we recommend participating one day if you like a small town organized event. Jill and I ran in the Abe Lincoln Presidential Half on Saturday April 1. It was our first trip to Springfield, IL. Pack pickup took place the night before at the Abe Lincoln Double Tree Hotel. This was very convenient for us since it was also our hotel for the night. It was well organized with a few vendors in attendance. On Saturday morning, the race started and finished 2 blocks from our hotel. Announcements began right at 7:30am and Abe Lincoln himself spoke a few words. The race started at 7:35am with the roar of Civil War era muskets. The course was flat a majority of the way with 3 nice sized hills. We didn't get to these until the last half of the course. The 3 best views on course was that of Abe Lincoln's house, his tomb, and the state capital building. Of all the races I have ran, the view of the capital building was the most beautiful sight to date. We ran a mile up the street leading to it and with the sun hitting it just right made it a breath taking view. The rest of the course ran through the neighborhoods outside the downtown area. There were ample water stops along the way and several had Gatorade. One had GU gel as well at mile 7. The course measured 13.25 on our GPS watches. We believe the longer distance was due to a small detour on the course. After the race was over, we were immediately handed the coolest race medal we have to date. Gatorade and water was right next to the finish line. The snack tent had Krispy Kreme donuts, chocolate milk, granola bars and bananas. Beer was provided by a local brewery and a local band was playing. Overall we really liked the race and recommend it to all. Driving distance from Evansville was 218 miles (3 hours 20 minutes). |
Author Hello fellow runners & walkers! My name is Brandon Barrett and I am the owner of Tri-State Fitness and several 5K races in Evansville. I am married to Jill and we have 4 children Brennan (9), Braelyn (7), Brecken (5), and Brycton (3). Needless to say my wife and I stay very busy! In the little free time we have we enjoy running countless local races and also traveling around the Midwest to run in Half Marathons. Archives
July 2018
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