When we pulled into the parking lot it was already packed and we made our way up to to pick up our race pack. I couldn't believe it when I saw that there was 800 people signed up for the race and more signing up the hour beforehand. I have to say there was some sweet swag for this race and especially for the cheap sign-up (we paid under $25 each).
Included was:
-Sweet New Balance shirt
-Custom wine glass w/logo
-Buffet dinner (we ate LOTS..bonus in my book)
-One drink ticket (wine, beer or pop)
-Tons of wine tasting (wish I had felt 100% to take advantage of it more)
-Cover band
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| This will definitely be getting it's fair share of use. ;) |
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| Bright pink and reflective! Ooo! |
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| So much tasty food...not gonna lie, we had heaping plates full. This is before it was ravaged by all the hungry runners. |
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| Wine, wine, wine...yum! Definitely going to Fenton Winery & Brewery to pick up some wine. |
First off, I really liked the course. The 4 mile run was on the golf course, with lots of rolling hills which was a nice extra challenge and a wicked wind (freaking 30-35 mph gusts was just lovely). There were a few spots where the sprinklers were that posed some potential hazards and an excess of goose poop to navigate around though. Ryan and I split up at the beginning since he runs quicker than I and I tend to bonk out if I try to keep his pace (someday I'll get there), but was able to find a couple other runners to pace myself with.
The after party was great too with lots of BBQ fare foods to nosh on, lots of wine samples, bands and a pretty fun group of people. I really wish at times that we had more friends that were into fitness events because this would have been a group event to have a group of friends to run with.
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| Hubs and I before the race began. |
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| Lots of pretty trees changing along the way. |
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| At the finish line....before the race. Like how we're color coordinated? Totally not planned. |
All in all, we had a great time. We hung out a bit at the end and enjoyed some wine samples and the band, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling the best still so we kind of ended the night earlier than planned. Ryan came in 7th place in his age group and I came in 8th so I'm pretty happy with that since I hadn't ran in about a week and also wasn't feeling that great after praising to the porcelain god the night before. This year was the first time they've done this run and I really hope they do it again. I was amazed how well it was put on for such a large crowd and first time event.
What's my next race? I'm not sure yet! There are a couple of fun Halloween ones (Headless Horseman Run in Howell) that we may do if we are able. I'd like to work my way up to a 6K soon, but not sure how that'll work since winter is coming up and I don't know how I feel about winter running.
Do you have any races coming up? Do you have any tips about running in the winter?
