Space Coast Half Marathon Review

I decided to cap off Thanksgiving weekend with my first half marathon of the season. My husband, 4 year old and I, decided to drive over to Cocoa Beach on Friday and make a mini vacation out of it. We stayed at the Hilton on A1A which sounds super fancy (and it was) but all of the hotels had the same race rate ($119 a night) so why not stay at the really nice one. The hotel was right on the beach and we were able to walk around and collect shells (it was pretty cold for Florida standards). 

Expo: On Saturday morning we got up and drove the 20 miles down the road to the expo at the Kennedy Space Center. The expo was small but did have some great stuff. I got the jacket that made me feel like Usain Bolt (see below) 

They had all kinds of free stuff and everyone was allowed entrance into the first part of the space center. Lucy and I got full day tickets (as we had never been) and enjoyed the whole center. It was a really nice relaxing way to spend the day before a race. 

Race Day:  The Hilton had two buses that were taking people to the race so I didn't have to wake up until 4:40am. The bus was right outside waiting for me so we didn't have to sit in the cold. We drove over to the start area and there were plenty of porto-potties for everyone and some actual bathrooms for those who wanted to wait. There was music playing and there was some water available. Burt Yasso was outside talking to runners and taking pictures with them. 15 minutes prior to the start they asked everyone to start lining up. The start was on a nice wide street and there was plenty of room for everyone. I lined up between the sign that said "12 mile pace" and "Health Walkers". I feel like there is a lot of room in between there but whatever. The race started with a big NASA countdown and then 6 minutes later I was across the start line.

The whole half marathon was up and down the river and it was a beautiful sight. The sun was rising and you could hear the water lapping up against the rocks. The weather was cold but warmed up throughout the race. The other side of the street was residential and plenty of the residents came outside to cheer for the runners. A lot of them also set out stations with bananas and water. Each water station had gatorade and water and a few stations had GU. I had a bad experience with GU during a race once so I did not take it. 

I passed a lot of people wearing space outfits and towards the end there was a Darth Vader in the middle of the road walking towards the runners. The end of the race was amazing. It was set up in a circle so you got to pass a lot of spectators right at the end before crossing the finish. I was wearing my newly designed Go Sherry? shirt (see below) so I got some love at the end. 

The first thing I thought when crossing the finish line was. Where is the food? I was starving. They did not make it hard to find. After getting my medal they handed me a beach towel and there was a serve yourself station for water and gatorade. After that they offered me a cold wet towel to wipe off and I was grateful for that. Past that there were baby pools filled with coke and diet coke cans. To the left of that was a line to get free pizza (I think I chowed that down in less than a minute) and next to that was the pancake line. There was a big grassy area that everyone was putting their beach towels down to visit with their families and eat their grub. Doug and Lucy came by car to see me finish and they were able to navigate in easily and get a great free parking spot. There was also a playground and bounce house in the finisher's area so Lucy had plenty to do while waiting.

The Medal:

Overall it was my favorite race experience so far (way better than Disney princess last year). Everything was so well organized and the only thing you had to focus on was your own run. 

Speaking of my run. I completed it in 2:51:32 at a 13:06 per mile. I used a 1/1 walk/run ratio. I actually passed a lot of people who maybe started off fast and then wore out. I was 6 minutes away from PR but I blame it on the piece of pizza I ate the night before the race (problem with traveling with non-runners they will not call you out on your food choices). 

I will definitely do this race again!! Now on to the Disney World Half Marathon in January!!