I did the Abe Lincoln Half Marathon this weekend! And there's a so much awesome that happened... I'm not sure where to start. For the past few years, some gals and I made a point to do a half marathon in the spring. Last year, as we were driving home from the Champaign/Urbana half marathon, I found the Abe Lincoln half marathon in Springfield, Illinois. When we saw that the medal was a giant penny... the decision was made!!!
Our hotel was three blocks from the start and one block from the finish line! Win. And the race day weather had it looking to be one of the prettiest days all spring. Things were looking good!
We settled in at the hotel and quickly starting discussing clothing options for race day. Temps were going to start in the 50s but head up to the 60s. And our friend that once brought two different types of shoes to a race realized she had no shorts and no capris. Shaking our heads, we found the local running store and were on our way to find her more acceptable options. We met a local that described the race course and the HUGE hills. My friend not only found a pair of capris and shorts, but they were both on sale. I swear she has magic powers. And we were all wondering... are Springfield hills like our hills? Bigger? Smaller? I guess we'll see.
RACE DAY! Small race, not too cluttered starting line...PERFECT! And one of my friends was terribly under trained so I was going to have company! YEAH! So here's some fun things that happened along the way:
-Guy dressed as Abe Lincoln
-Girl dressed as Abe Lincoln
-Guy dressed as giant penny
-Girl running race while carrying her phone, race packet, and race map? Really? Did she think she was going to get lost?
- Not a ton of spectators but an AMAZING group of 8 or so on a corner screaming their heads off. So Fun!
-Stopped to get picture with Abe Lincoln guy. My eyes are closed, but probably because I don't want to see his "Babes for Abes" sign. A little creepy... but when you're running a race as a training run on heart rate training... might at as well stop for a photo op, am I right?
-Lots of beautiful parks to run by and historical markers. So cool!
-At about mile nine I look to my right, then I look at my friend and say..."hey, if we went that way we could cut the course". Now let me make one thing painfully clear, I would NEVER cut a course! EVER. But for no reason, the thought crossed my mind. My friend that was running with me was understandably in shock. Of all the people in the whole world that might cut a course, she knew I would be the last one. We laughed and kept moving on. The very next turn, we realized that if we had cut the course.... we only would have made it longer! Crap. Go figure. That's why cheaters never win. And that's why I don't even try. I'd be the WORST at it!
- We got to the finish line with smiles and were handed the BEST medals EVER (see picture above).
-There were doughnuts, chocolate milk, bananas, and oranges at the finish line. Yeah! The oranges looked great until we notice where the bucket was from...
The meat room? No thanks... But makes for a good post race laugh.
We got our free crappy beer from the local bar and some lunch. We got to see some sights in Ye Old Springfield and had an all around fantastic weekend. The race was great the company, even better. And the meat room orange slices? Questionable.
Run this race!
so - what were these 'hills' like? were they real hills or did the springfield folks have no idea what a real 'hill' was?
ReplyDeleteUm, they were bigger than Indianapolis "hills", but not the monsters we were warned about.
ReplyDeleteSo happy I got to run this race with you! And I'm quite sure you will never ever consider cutting a course again :-)
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