Jersey Beach Mama: Long Branch Half Marathon Race Report

So my Garmin froze on me again today so I had to do this half without. That means no splits. I was so mad at first. :( But, it turned out to be nice. I wasn't obsessed with checking my splits. Then just before mile 8 I realized I had my phone in my belt and I could've started mapmyrun. Whoops! LOL!

I was very happy with this race overall, parking in the morning could have been done a little different, but it was their first year starting at the race track, so they need to work out some bugs. But we did get to use the bathrooms inside the race track. REAL bathrooms! No porta-pottys. And they were clean and warm, and the line moved very quickly. For anyone that has seen the horror that can be race morning porta-potties knows this was the best blessing ever!

I was supposed to be in corral D, but I hopped into the back of corral C with KC and we started together. After a minute I could barely see her. Until I passed the first porta-potties around mile 3ish. She yelled and waved with a big smile. She gets the tummy issues while running sometimes, that I know a lot of people have to deal with. So I sort of laughed and waved and knew she'd catch up to me. She never did. Poor thing stopped 5 times total. Stuff was coming out both ends. My poor poor friend. I was so sad for her.

Some funny things I saw: a man in a black tutu, a man wearing flip flops (with a strap around the back), a spectator in a full bunny costume and there were so many funny signs. I just wish my brain wasn't so jumbled I could remember them. And at every porta-potty stop on the course, and some spots that didn't have potties, there were many many men using the, uh, woods to do their business. I never understood that. Can't you hold it? I gave birth to 2 children, naturally, and I can hold it for almost 2.5 hours

The spectators were fantastic! (see above: woman in a bunny suit). They were cheering on almost all the streets we ran and just so great. No one said anything inappropriate, like, 'You're almost done' at mile 6. There were even a few bands playing. I even got Lei-ed just before mile 12. ;) (See my pics- it's on my wrist. lol.)

This finish was great. I saw Hubby and the kids just before the finish and he got some great pictures.
Unfortunately, it was just too cold to hang out after the race. Wish we had a little sun peak out, but the temp was great for running. Thank goodness my girlfriends who ran, KC, MP, TC (all girls who went to New Orleans and DC with me) and I had Hubby to bring us back to the race track from Long Branch and we didn't have wait on line in the cold to get on a smelly school bus back to their cars.

I was much better at the end of this one that I was in New Orleans. In NOLA I couldn't walk. I just laid on the grass for almost a half an hour (I think). I kind of lost track of time. This year I was walking around and playing outside with the kids. Now I feel very stiff. I probably did too much today. Time for bed.

Don't you just love the scenery! BEACH!