Hot Cider Hustle Half Marathon 10/27/19 Cedar Rapids, IA
Weather: 35 degrees, sunny
Terrain: roads and paved recreation trails
Terrain: roads and paved recreation trails
Distance: 13.1 miles
Garmin Data: 13.05 miles, 487.4 feet elevation gain
My husband and I hardly ever get to do the same race at the same time, so we decided to get a babysitter and make the hour drive to Cedar Rapids for a fun fall half marathon. We arrived 45 minutes before race start and easily found a parking space a block from the festival. We got bibs and shirts - a nice unisex quarter-zip long sleeve, with sleeves that actually fit us gangly folk (I'm 5'11", husband is 6'1"). The shirts were a fairly boring black with white letters, but they're nice. I'd recommend a different color for future years to the race director - maybe apple red or dark orange or gold. We dropped our extra stuff off at the car and hung out in the NewBo City Market building, which had bathrooms, drinking fountains, and plenty of seating. Lined up a few minutes before the race and started right on time!
The first couple miles wound through downtown Cedar Rapids neighborhoods, which was occasionally a bit crowded with lots of 5K folks making newbie mistakes like "walking five abreast" and "starting with the 7-minute milers even though I'm walking with a stroller." After the 5K split at around mile 2.5, we joined up with the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which is a long paved recreation trail, for an out-and-back. This trail ran adjacent to the river but was much hillier than I expected, which was great. The guy pacing for a 2:45 finish was bringing the party with a killer hip-hop playlist, so I tried to hang within earshot of him for this race. We leapfrogged a bit until after the turn-around, then ran together for a couple of miles. The halfway mark on the way out was very festive, with a sign and a speaker blaring "Living On A Prayer" (ohhhh, we're halfway there! Get it?) on what turned out to be repeat, as we discovered running back. At mile 10 my personal pacer realized he was slowing too much and wouldn't finish in 2:45, so he ran ahead and my dear husband ran up to help me out. He had finished the race in 1:35 (2nd in his age group), and since he's fully trained for a marathon two weeks from now he was comfortable running back 3 miles and finishing with me.
Not gonna lie, it was a struggle. Although my sprained ankle was feeling good, my butt was getting quite tired. Perhaps it was me not being used to the hills, perhaps it was the anemia preventing proper training, but ironically after all that great hip-hop I still did not know what to do with that big fat butt. My husband helped me as much as possible by encouraging me to "jog to that sign." We came back into downtown and I was able to jog a bit more to finish, with great spectator support, in about 2:48. Huzzah! Got my amazing finisher mug and medal, a packaged caramel apple (had the option to choose with peanuts or without), a cup of tasty hot cider, and hit the road for home.
Garmin Data: 13.05 miles, 487.4 feet elevation gain
My husband and I hardly ever get to do the same race at the same time, so we decided to get a babysitter and make the hour drive to Cedar Rapids for a fun fall half marathon. We arrived 45 minutes before race start and easily found a parking space a block from the festival. We got bibs and shirts - a nice unisex quarter-zip long sleeve, with sleeves that actually fit us gangly folk (I'm 5'11", husband is 6'1"). The shirts were a fairly boring black with white letters, but they're nice. I'd recommend a different color for future years to the race director - maybe apple red or dark orange or gold. We dropped our extra stuff off at the car and hung out in the NewBo City Market building, which had bathrooms, drinking fountains, and plenty of seating. Lined up a few minutes before the race and started right on time!
Hi, Mom!
The first couple miles wound through downtown Cedar Rapids neighborhoods, which was occasionally a bit crowded with lots of 5K folks making newbie mistakes like "walking five abreast" and "starting with the 7-minute milers even though I'm walking with a stroller." After the 5K split at around mile 2.5, we joined up with the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, which is a long paved recreation trail, for an out-and-back. This trail ran adjacent to the river but was much hillier than I expected, which was great. The guy pacing for a 2:45 finish was bringing the party with a killer hip-hop playlist, so I tried to hang within earshot of him for this race. We leapfrogged a bit until after the turn-around, then ran together for a couple of miles. The halfway mark on the way out was very festive, with a sign and a speaker blaring "Living On A Prayer" (ohhhh, we're halfway there! Get it?) on what turned out to be repeat, as we discovered running back. At mile 10 my personal pacer realized he was slowing too much and wouldn't finish in 2:45, so he ran ahead and my dear husband ran up to help me out. He had finished the race in 1:35 (2nd in his age group), and since he's fully trained for a marathon two weeks from now he was comfortable running back 3 miles and finishing with me.
On mile 19 of his half marathon
Not gonna lie, it was a struggle. Although my sprained ankle was feeling good, my butt was getting quite tired. Perhaps it was me not being used to the hills, perhaps it was the anemia preventing proper training, but ironically after all that great hip-hop I still did not know what to do with that big fat butt. My husband helped me as much as possible by encouraging me to "jog to that sign." We came back into downtown and I was able to jog a bit more to finish, with great spectator support, in about 2:48. Huzzah! Got my amazing finisher mug and medal, a packaged caramel apple (had the option to choose with peanuts or without), a cup of tasty hot cider, and hit the road for home.
Modeling my dope race goodies
Pros:
-Logistics. Parking was easy, having a warm place to hang out pre-race was great, and the festival area was small and easy to navigate.
-Swag. Good shirt, big mug, medal, caramel apple, hot cider.
-Course. Nice (mostly) out and back with good fall colors and a view of the river.
-Swag. Good shirt, big mug, medal, caramel apple, hot cider.
-Course. Nice (mostly) out and back with good fall colors and a view of the river.
Cons:
-Crowded in beginning. With the 5K running at the same time and lots of newbies, people who seeded themselves badly really get in the way in narrower sections.
-No bag drop. This ended up being okay with nearby parking, but some folks might not enjoy carrying their car key for 13.1 miles.
-No bag drop. This ended up being okay with nearby parking, but some folks might not enjoy carrying their car key for 13.1 miles.
Race Grade: A-. Very nice fall event with festive swag and great logistics!
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