Indy half @ ft. ben- 10/8/17

     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.

Race Website