A few of my favorite races

I've blogged about a lot of races I've done, but there are a few that stand out in a major way. Here are the top five races I've run:

5. Capital City River Run, Lansing, MI
I've run the CCRR three times - more than any other race I've done. I generally don't like to repeat races, but I like it so much. It's a great expo, a lovely, flat course, and it always has a shirt I love (as a bonus). I've done the half marathon twice and ran the 5k last year. It's a race I always intend to do - it shows off the best of my adopted hometown. I would recommend anyone in the Lansing area do it. Excellent race.

During the 2012 CCRR 5k
4. LL Bean 10k, Freeport, Maine
The LL Bean 10k was on my race bucket list. Something about this race intrigued me, and we built our entire 2012 summer vacation around it. Totally worth it. Not only did we fall in love with Maine, but I ran in the same race as Joan Benoit Samuelson! Granted she finished 20 minutes ahead of me and I didn't actually MEET her, but whatever. Awesome race. Great New Balance shirt. Challenging, hilly course in Freeport. Downtown Freeport is quaint and fun. It was 100% worth a trip to Maine for this race.

Finishing the LL Bean 10k
3. Detroit Free Press Marathon, Detroit, MI
My first 26.2. I swore it would be my last, and here I am training again. The race is fabulous. Extremely well organized, great course highlighting the very best of one of my favorite cities. It was unequivocally the most challenging race I've ever done. As I was running around Belle Isle park in the last ten miles of the race, I was really struggling. A race volunteer jogged beside me and gave me the best pep talk. It kept me going. This is a race that encompasses the entire community, and it's fantastic.

At the start of the Freep Marathon 2010
2. Covenant Knoxville Half Marathon, Knoxville, Tennessee
I registered for this race for two reasons: to tick Tennessee off my state list and because it finished on the 50 yard line at the University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium. I didn't expect to fall in love with the City of Knoxville with it's pedestrian mall downtown, college town feel, delicious food, and riverfront beauty. The race itself was VERY hilly, and it was a fantastic challenge. It's a really fabulous race.

In Neyland Stadium after the Knoxville Half in 2011
1. Nike Women's Half Marathon, San Francisco, CA
You never forget your first. My first half marathon in 2006 was painful. It was emotional. It was then that I was hooked, and here I am nine half marathons later, and training for my third marathon. This race was a challenge because of the terrain and my IT band injury. But the feeling of standing with tens of thousands of runners in Union Square at the start trying to shake off my nervousness is one I'll never forget. The "ran like a girl" Nike shirt is still my all-time favorite race shirt. Plus a Tiffany necklace as a medal? Priceless. 

So, so nervous before my first half, October 2006
What are your favorite races? No favorite race survey could be complete without a least favorite race survey. Stay tuned for it...
 

Comments

  1. TRJanuary 17, 2013 at 9:44 AM

    I heard about that nike's women's half a lot..all I needed t ohear was the tiffany's at the end. I would LOVE to run that one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SamanthaJanuary 17, 2013 at 2:17 PM

    You should - it's TOTALLY worth it!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some Reasons Why Diet Culture is Garbage: I Poop a Lot and I'm Always Hungry

Image
It was the spring of 1996, and my mom and I were at the mall shopping for my senior prom dress. I had decided I was only going to eat 500 calories a day over the weekend. It was track season, so I couldn't starve myself on practice and meet days, but in my mind it seemed perfectly logical to basically starve my healthy, 17-year-old body on less physical days. I was in the fitting room trying on dresses, and I heard the sales person say to my mom, "Your daughter is so tiny!" I was light headed and nauseous from not eating, but that overheard compliment made me feel like it was all worth it.  Senior Prom 1996 I've struggled with my body image since I was a pre-teen, and in the 30+ years that have passed it's still something with which I struggle daily. I spent years punishing my body so I wouldn't gain weight: eating very few calories and working out for hours, purging, taking laxatives, only drinking alcohol until I threw up so I wouldn't gain weight. It...
Read more

Here's a Shortcut: Do the Work.

Image
I have a confession to make: I don't think I'm my best self right now. I've been thinking a lot about being my best self overall (including fitness which is a huge thing for me), and I've come to a simple, unalienable truth: there is no shortcut. To be the best version of yourself (whatever that means) you have to do the work. I'm not the same version of myself at 46 as I was at 26. (Man could I give that girl some good advice though.) I spend a lot of time reflecting on who I am and who I want to be. While doing the work all the time seems daunting on its surface, it's not. It doesn't mean life has to be a grind 24/7, but it does mean that there is effort in whatever is important to you (which of course is unique to each of us). Where am I willing to do the work to be the best version of me? Fitness. I love exercise. My husband says I'm "obsessed", and I retort that there are way worse obsessions. While I'm logging way fewer miles than I ...
Read more

Why Do I Talk About my "Stuff"?

Image
A few months ago a friend told me someone we knew was venting that I share too much about myself in my blog and on social media. She said (I'm paraphrasing) something like "We all go through stuff. There's no need to share it." At first I was irritated until I realized this person has zero impact on my life. And it's true: we are all going through things. But since then I've been thinking a lot about why I am so candid about things in my life (in particular my struggle with Crohn's Disease).  I was 19 when I got sick. It was so embarrassing. No college girl wants to tell people they're dealing with bloody diarrhea and nausea and horrible cramps. That's the thing about a chronic illness: it's easy to feel like you don't have anyone to lean on. I had my colon removed 5 weeks before I started law school (the delightful adventure chronicled in this blog ). I began law school having lost 30 pounds in less than a month, with steroids puffing up m...
Read more