Redding Road Race Review 2013

Today I ran the Redding Road Race, my first race ever.  There was a half-marathon and a 7 mile race.  I ran the 7 mile and a friend ran the half-marathon, which started first.    

The half starts with a loop of the farm. This is the end of the loop.  My friend is in the blue tank!

Race tips and highlights:

1. The course is hilly but not too bad.  I ran the 7 miler despite only having ever run 2.5 miles before that. I chugged along and did the whole thing, slow and steady.   By slow, I mean I may have only finished ahead of 5 or 6 other people.  You don't get much slower than me. 

My view: sorta lonely. A strong self-image comes in handy.

2. My favorite thing about the race was that when I was about halfway done-- jogging on quiet roads, with a couple people behind me and a few waaaaay up ahead that I could see faaaaaar up in the distance-- a bossy man on a bike rode by and said, "Stay to the left please.  Half-marathon leaders are coming through.  About 300 yards back."  I perked up.  I was gonna have company!  Sure enough, a fleet-footed guy blew past a minute later.  
    "Good job!" I said. 
    "Thanks- you too," he huffed back.  
Soon I was surrounded by HORDES of people- fast people! Running near me... for the rest of the race!  The last few miles were so much fun.  Not only did a bunch of the half-marathonners lap me (trailing glory in their wake that rubbed off on me), at another point, the course doubled back on itself, so people from both distance races were running in the other direction!  I went from being alone to being surrounded by the energy of hundreds of other runners.  I was so thankful to the race planners for doing that.  I can't even tell you how encouraging it was to not be left all alone in the back even though I was clearly one of the slowest people out there.  I still got to run with everyone else!  That's crazy... crazy awesome!

Before I started the race, I wasn't sure I would be able to finish.  Not only had I never run anywhere near 7 miles, two days ago my arch started aching while I was running.  I told myself I'd alternate walking and running if my arch really hurt.  Fortunately it only ached a bit, and I just took it slow.  I didn't take a single walk break, even on the hills.  Once I hit mile 5, I knew I was gonna have no trouble running the whole thing.  I listened to my body and it said, "Girl, you got this! Take your time and keep going."  

My finish, to cheering crowds!  Thanks Jon S. for the pic!

I achieved my two goals: finish the race, and finish before my friend who did the half-marathon so I could cheer her at the finish.  I may be slow, but I'm proud of  the progress I've made in my running since I started last Thanksgiving.  Running doesn't come easily for me. I'm not light or slim-hipped and I have terrible feet.  In January I injured my Achilles heel (how many ways can I find to injure myself?) near the end of my first Couch to 5K program and had to take 2 months off.  That sucked, but I joined a local Fit4Mom 5K program a couple months ago and carefully got back into running.  Getting back up to 2.5 miles with that group made me able to run this 7 mile race today.  Slow and steady...


3. I don't know if I'd do this as my first half-marathon, especially if I were worried about being able to do the distance.  The hills aren't awful but they're challenging. I'll probably aim for the Hartford Half this fall (I hear it's flat) and then think about either doing the Redding Half OR run the 7 miler again and go for a better time.  

4.  The race is casual but it's well-organized. This makes it less intimidating for a beginner.  As far as experienced runners... those leaders looked like they were hurtin'!  This isn't an easy course at all so I think it is a great race for people of all levels.  

5.  Pretty race tees, fancy medals, good food afterwards, a beautiful location, convenient parking... I highly recommend the Redding Road Race to everyone.  

My race tee and my baby

I'm so happy I signed up for this race in January.  That's one thing you should know- the race sold out in 8 days this year, so make sure to sign up as soon as registration opens next year!

Thanks John McClearly, race director, for a great day and for all of the newsletters that you sent to keep us up to date and psyched up for the race.  See you next year!