Ann Jonker's Staging Area

I couldn’t imagine a better race to call my first Half Marathon. The weather was absolutely perfect, to begin with. The air was crisp and a bit chilly at the start, but not so cold that I felt like my chest was going to cave in or that my fingers would go numb.

The participant pool seemed sizable enough, but I never felt like I was having to push my way through. Any congestion at the race’s start was easily navigable after a quarter mile at the most.

Miles were marked very clearly, and there were time clocks at the 5K, 10K, and 15K point. As someone who was not wearing a stop watch or a GPS, this was very helpful.

The race had plenty of water/gatorade stops, as well as port-a-potties. My one qualm here is that I felt that there should have been some consistency with the handing out of the gatorade and water. Either gatorade is always first and followed by water. Or gatorade is always on the left and water is on the right. It was hard to tell what I was grabbing at times.

I wouldn’t call this race flat, but I wouldn’t call it super hilly either. There are a few hills that were a bit challenging. One between miles 2 and 3 (not so bad, as I wasn’t exhausted at this point), and one between miles 10 and 11 (this one was rough, not so much because it was super steep but rather because it was toward the end; I noticed several runners walking it).

My favorite part was the portion that went on the trails through the park. Something about running through the forest makes the run much more enjoyable, and really reenergizes me. I was not a huge fan of the stretch on 56th (maybe because the majority of it was a gradual incline and the sun was in my eyes), but the rest was quite lovely.

There were a good amount of spectators at the start/finish line, and a few folks around the 5 & 6 mile marks, but for the most part it’s just you and the other runners out there. The volunteers were incredible and so full of energy and encouragement. They are the real heroes, in my book.

I would highly recommend this race to anyone, beginner or otherwise. The main thing I would definitely advise would be to do plenty of hill training in advance of the race. I only had one and a half weeks of hills under my belt, and while I made it without walking, I definitely could have used at least another week or two of varied elevation prep.

All in all, and incredible race. I will definitely be doing it again next year!