So I went down to Jacksonville and did the half marathon. This is such an amazing race for so many reasons. First, 100% of ALL of the entry fees go to Breast Cancer Research. Everything at the race, shirts, drinks, post race beverages/food, port-o-potties, police/EMS help, and everything else that was race related was donated to this cause.
The community really rallies behind this race and fan support is amazing. Besides cheering you on, there are of course a few young gentlemen offering to give free ta-ta exams....mmm, no thanks.
The race is mostly flat except an awful bridge you cross in the beginning...not so bad...and again upon finishing....pure torture. The race even runs on the beach along side the ocean. It was really nice hearing the ocean tides crashing on the shore while on this run. I turned off early from the beach as I only did the half but I would imagine another few miles of that would have truly turned me into a Zen runner. After the beach, you run down a road with lots of crowds cheering, back over the bridge (from hades) and finally you reach the finish line.
The race is amazingly organized and well done. A few months ago I met Amanda (don't remember last name) who served on the board of directors for this race. She mentioned to me that their first topic of conversation was always "are there enough port-o-potties?". Well let me answer that for you....yes. I think this race had 2-3 more water stops then most other races AND if they weren't handing out Gu every other water station, it sure seemed like it.
I can't say enough of what a great race this is. If you have the opportunity you should give it a try. Be warned however, you will use this race to measure all other future marathon/half marathons against....don't say I didn't warn you.
Side note: I got to run with the marathon front runners for about 3 seconds.....sure I was on mile 11 and they were on mile 24...minor details. Sure most of those 3 seconds was me watching them disappear in front of me ...again minor details. You know it is one thing to see them running on TV like when it is televised as the Olympics were. It is even more powerful to actually see them in action. There are no words to describe it.
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