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Women's Half Marathon- St Pete, FL
Talk to me about this one ladies. I know some of our WFL H&F'ers have run it. In an effort to take advantage of lower entry fees, I'm trying to select a fall half now before prices go up.
My fall goal is a sub 1:50 half, so I'm ideally looking for a flat, fast course. I see there's a bridge....is this a big bridge? Fun race? Worth the drive from Jacksonville and an overnight stay? Reviews please.
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Re: Women's Half Marathon- St Pete, FL
I've done it twice, and I hated it both times.
If my blog was working, i'd link you to the posts.. ugh.
It's usually HOT, but since you arein FL you are used to that.. Last year it was miserable by time the race started. I hate running on the pier, IMO, it's way over rated. Every single race in st.pete goes on the pier.
You run on brick streets - Some people are fine with this, but it wreaks havoc on my hip & knee.
There are a billion turns, which also wreacks havoc on my knee/hip.
It is fairly flat. There is a slow incline around mile 9 - if you train on hills/bridges, you'll never notice it, but I don't and each time i've run the race i've fallen totally apart at that point. No bridges.
(i just saw that you said there is a bridge.. uhm. Hm. I need to look @ the coures map I guess.) Oh.. there is a bridge going into snell isle.. no, not big. very small. if i can handle it anyone can handle it.
running in the Trop is horrid. It's hot, it smells,and running on the astro turf at mile 11 is like slogging through mud.
The medals are great - for me, that's the only highlight of the race.
I really feel like a negative nelly here, but i really don't like this race. I won't be doing it this year.
I like a lot of local races, but this isn't one of them.
ETA: I found a link to one of the recaps..maybe it will work http://www.lifeisbeachykeen.com/2011/11/20/whm-recap-in-pictures-because-trust-me-you-dont-want-me-to-talk-about-it/
lol. I'm so negative about this course - Maybe Pinkwillow will chime in - She ran it last year.
The race organization it self is fine - I've never had any issues with registering, or packet pick up, or corrals..The after party is fine... awards ceremony is fine.. just the course, it gets me every time.
PinkWillow is trying to get me to run the Police Appreciation race in May which is downtown.. but.. it's downtown. yuck
Thanks for the feedback! St.Petegirl, it's definitely a beautiful area, that's one of the main reasons I was thinking about it.
Stingshark- I was trying to remember if this was the half you keep hating. Sounds like it is!
Thanks for the reviews. I guess I'll keep looking. We were also considering Savannah RnR, but keep hearing mixed reviews about that as well.
There are plenty of people that LOVE this race. I have a lot of team mates that love it. They love the course - I just don't happen to be one of them
There are quite a few blog recaps out there about the race, i'm sure some of them are positive.
No dice. I'm not a fan. I'm not sure if StingShark mentioned, but the small Florida Halfathon series seems to be fast and flat.
But the Women's Half - crowded, always HOT, crappy roads, lots of turns. I'm not a big fan. Maybe I just had a crappy run. I've run it once... with StingShark the first year.
Happily Married
The Plan Stan
Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well Blog
I was going to mention the Florida Half series, but it's a small local race, so i'm not sure it would be ideal for a destination type race.
However, i LOVE LOVE LOVE these races, and the race director is awesome.
Aww Moonstone, that half together was .....special. Ha
I ran it two years ago, and I have to agree with Sting, I was absolutely miserable basically the entire race.
I flew in from PA, so going from PA weather in November to St. Pete weather just did not work. I wasn't acclimated to the heat anymore and it just killed me. Now obviously this wouldn't be as much of a problem for you, but still.
Overall I thought the course was very pretty, I don't live near the beach, so running along the water was cool and the town itself was nice. The pier was fun, but probably only because I don't get to ever run on one. I also enjoyed going through the stadium, although I know a lot of people didn't. I didn't care for the brick streets, I was constantly worried about turning my ankle or something.
Overall I just had a bad race. I was late to the start so didn't have time to pee, so I held it for 6 miles and that was not a good idea. Then my race number kept falling off of my belt so I kept having to adjust that, plus the heat mixed in...it was just awful. Remarkably I finished with a decent time (for me), but being miserable for over 2 hours wasn't worth it.
I probably would not run it again.
You can easily run a PR at RNR Savannah. That is one of the positives of that course. It is flat and fast.
Thanks, everyone! This is the helpful feedback I was looking for. I'll look into the halfathon series. I'm hoping to work my attempt at a half PR into training for my Feb full (I use the time as a check point for my full time goal,) so anything in November or early December will work out well.
Thanks for the feedback on Savannah, ECUPirate. A few people from my running group are looking to make a half trip together, so I guess I won't take this one out of the mix just yet.
Chiming in late here but..
I'm with stingshark and moonstone, I didn't really like this race. I DO like running through downtown st pete though. And don't listen to stingshark, she IS running the police appreciation challenge. :-D The link to my Women's Half recap:
http://motivationalmiles.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/womens-half-marathon-st-petersburg/
I also highly recommend the florida halfathon series races EXCEPT for clearwater i you're trying to get a sub 1:50! Clearwater goes over 2 giant bridges twice (for a total of 4 bridge climbs)! Here is a link to my review of the entire series, links to the individual halfs are in that post (stingshark and I ran all 4 this year):
http://motivationalmiles.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/florida-halfathon-challenge/
Race PRs {5K-23:55} {10K-48:54} {15K-1:24:30} {13.1-1:53:39} {26.2-4:30:43}
get real
LOL
we'll see.
I think that's the wknd Moonstone wants to hang out - ... guess I can't do the Police Race - I have plans. HA HA HA
LOL, lucky for you moonstone wants to hang on saturday and the race is sunday. ;-) I've also heard the striders are going to be there.
Race PRs {5K-23:55} {10K-48:54} {15K-1:24:30} {13.1-1:53:39} {26.2-4:30:43}
Awesome. Thank you!!
As for Stingshark, it wasn't all that long ago that she posted about never having the slightest desire to run a full & now you have her planning for that.
I'd bet you'll have her running the Police appreciation challenge. Lol
LOL
I question my sanity daily regarding the decision to run a full.
and the police run. ugh.. i need to look @ the course
LOL. Don't be ditching me for some race.
And Jena, did Jenny convince you to do a full??? Woohoo!
Happily Married
The Plan Stan
Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well Blog
hanging out w/ Jenny is dangerous - I don't even know how I got roped into this. ;-)
hanging out w/ Jenny is dangerous - I don't even know how I got roped into this. ;-)
Almost everyone I know including myself ran a PR at that race and some of them were huge. Mine was 21 minutes. There is literally 1 hill at mile .5 and that is it. Pancake flat, cool temps, and lots of energy. It truly is a PR race.
Good luck in your decision!