Amy Weber's Staging Area

In it’s 43rd year – and my 6th year of running it – this race runs like a well-oiled machine. The expo is set up well, with the packet pickup in the back, shirts (gendered) on either side, and then tables in teh middle. I feel like the Expo has gotten more and more boring every year, so we probably won’t even wander next year unless I specifically need something like Clif or Honey Stingers.
In the a.m. there are PLENTY of Tampa PD directing traffic, you can reserve parking in a very close garage, and the start line is well-defined.
The course is a very easy out and back along Bayshore Blvd, which is beautiful along Tampa Bay / Channelside.
Afterward, the finish chute is well organized with Finisher towels, bottled water, cups of Gatorade, then your medals and photos, then snacks at the end (snacks this time were Special K poptarts, bananas, Dole fruit bowls, Cheez-Its, Yasso bars, and cups of Coke). If you were running the 5k after, they had a place to drop your 15k medal and gear so it wouldn’t get lost.

I began running in 2012, with my 1st half-marathon at Disney in 2013. After doing that one, I wanted to do a “real” one (a non-Disney one), but I’m slow (like 4 hours slow), so I needed a race with a long time limit. I don’t remember how I discovered Celebration, but I signed up for the Inaugural in 2014 and fell in love with the entire experience. I’ve since run every year, so I can proudly say I’m “Perfect” or a “Streaker”!
Sign up is easy, and the race is affordable, especially for the swag you get! Over the past 7 years, in addition to the awesome medal and tee, I’ve gotten a Yeti-style 32oz tumbler, a hat, a visor, 2 different blankets, a beach towel, and a 6-can soft cooler. I use the tumbler daily, I wear the hat/visor to all races and even to Disney, I use the first blanket every day when I’m on the couch (haven’t opened the new blanket I got 2 days ago), and the towel is in regular bathroom rotation.
The tees can be hit or miss. The first year or so, they were okay. Then for a few years they used Raw Threads, and they fit great (I’m a big gal). Last year, the shirts were cut very small, and this year, they’re more of the typical tech material, but it fits, so I’m way happy!
The course is also great! Being in FL, it’s flat, with maybe a tiny incline here and there (I’m thinking of the tiny “bridge” that goes over a drainage pond). There is ample Police presence for blocking roads and stopping traffic. There are DJs on the course, playing pumping music and calling out to runners with microphones (but not obnoxiously). Many neighbors come out to cheer you on; some hand out oranges, or Gatorade, or other goodies. There is one house around Mile 4 that puts up all of their holiday inflatables, so that’s fun to see!
The half covers good ground in the area, so you aren’t looking at the same thing, like an out & back. You start in the center of town, run through some residential areas, then past the beautiful golf course. You pass some business areas and then you walk behind the large Advent Health Center. Once you exit from there, you move to Celebration Blvd, along another side of the golf course, with rolling hills, beautiful green grass and white picket fences. This is probably the longest stretch of uninterrupted road that you travel on, so the course is lined with funny signs (like “Chuck Norris almost signed up for this race” or “Hurry Up Marathoners, The Half-Marathoners are Eating All the Food!” It’s a nice distraction if you’re prone to hating these types of stretches.
At the end of this road, you enter the Celebration High School and run a lap on their (very nice) track, then loop around their bus circle and come back to Celeb Blvd. At Mile 7, you enter a boardwalk area that is full of little ponds and wooden boardwalks (be careful in the rain!). It’s a little tight in this area, so for you speedy folks, be prepared for that. (For us slower folks, enjoy the peace and quiet that this area provides – it’s my favorite part of the whole course). You stay here for about 1.5 miles and then exit into more residential neighborhoods. You stay in neighborhoods until about Mile 11.5 when you cross a few more boardwalk/nature areas and take the pathways that line beautiful lakes and gorgeous houses (like HGTV Dream Home gorgeous). At this point, you can hear the race announcer at the finish line, and it’s pumping you up to move faster. At Mile 12, you are at the final stretch, where you can see the lake side of the Bohemian hotel and the waterfront area and the finish line. I’ve run this race seven times, and EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I tear up at the sight of the crowds, the roar of the cheering, and the fact that HECK YEAH, I am finishing strong with my head held high! Mile 13 is right where you started that a.m. and then you take two more tiny turns amid hundreds of cheering locals, racers, spectators, and volunteers, and you finish!!
The chute is simple; you get your medal, then water (they give you cups, not bottles, at least this year), then space blankets and weird papery jackets. The medal is a nice size, probably the size of your palm (maybe the size of an original Oatmeal Cream Pie). It’s bright, heavy, and colorful. This year, the ribbon was velcro so you could take it off, I guess? I don’t particularly like the velcro, because it’s scratchy…
As you continue through the chute, you get your choice of cups of soda (I recall seeing Coke, Diet, and Sprite), as well as bananas and granola bars. You exit and receive a Food Card that enables you to get food from local vendors. And I’m talking REAL FOOD! Like pizza, clam chowder (ooh, so good), rice & beans, so much food. Oh, and of course, beer, and mimosas, too.
Once you’re done and ready to leave, traffic is well behaved and well managed.
I truly can’t give this race enough stars. It turned me into a lover of running and for that I’m eternally grateful. Can’t wait for year eight!

From the outside, and maybe for a lot of people, this seems like an immensely boring race… you run around cabbage and potato fields… no crowds, no music, no energy?!?
Oh, but if you’re like me and you LOVE the beauty and stillness of a country farm in the warm summer morning, you will LOVE this race. The sun coming up, over freshly turned dirt, the smell of the earth in your nostrils… it’s beautiful.
Packet pickup and pre-race is very easy. They allow you to use the Library bathrooms (no porta-potties at the start/finish lines), and there’s plenty of places to either sit or stretch. The tee shirt is very soft and very comfortable.
The race itself is very laid back. Wide open roads between fields, you see cabbage growing, you see horses, you see potatoes growing, it’s so lovely. The finish line is a basic arch.
Afterwards, there are more snacks besides bananas (I think I remember granola bars and the like), as well as bags of fresh (like still dirty) potatoes, and a head of cabbage. Seriously… they give you produce! And a cute little medal. It’s thin, it’s inexpensive, but I love it. I’ve done this race a few times now, and I’ll keep going back, just for the peacefulness!