So sorry it has been a week since I have written a post, I was away for a bit and have just gotten around to catching up on things! Thank you for all of you who entered my giveaway on the pro compression socks. I am always so blown away on how many people enter so thank you for visiting my blog and for taking the time to enter my giveaway! There are more to come I promise! The winner of the pro compression socks was Liz D.! Congratulations!!
Moving right alone a few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to run in the Old Sandwich Road Race Half Marathon. I had written a blog about this three race event which you can read here. This race consists of a half marathon, a 10k and a 5k. I ran the half.
Just a short recap of the race, it is run in Plymouth, MA and runs along Old Sandwich Road, one of the oldest roads in Plymouth. Most of it a dirt road the winds through farms and fields throughout Plymouth. A very scenic route if I must say so.
This was my first time running this race so was unsure of what to expect. You park at the finish line and you are bused out to the start for the half. (This will be primarily about the half because I did not run the others.) The start line is the beginning of Old Sandwich Road, which you have to take the highway several exits to get to. Something that can be a bit intimidating especially if it is your first half. We were dropped off and there was place to use the bathroom and get some water. They also had portable lockers where you could store your stuff if you wanted to and then those were driven back to the finish line. It was a pretty warm day so I didn't have anything that I needed to get a locker for such as extra clothes. The race started a little bit later because some people were late getting to the bus so we ended up starting about 10 minutes late which bothered me a bit. I want everyone who is signed up to be able to run but get there with enough time to spare.
Once the last bus arrived we crossed the street to Old Sandwich Road and we were off. The first 5 miles were dirt road and pretty flat. The one thing that did bother me was when cars drove by us it got very dusty around you. You then were breathing in dirt for a bit. Also there were little rocks throughout so you really had to be careful where you stepped. We came out of the dirt road and were then on pavement for the remainder of the race. This was a bit of an adjustment on your legs since the dirt was so soft to run on. The mile markers at this point got a little screwy which you will later find out why. It was starting to get very hot so I had to slow the pace down it seemed like the rest of the race was in the bright sun too little to no shade. At the first mile I had team up with a girl who was running her first half marathon and paced with her for the remainder of the race which was really nice because I am telling you the heat was getting to me and I wanted to stop. We chugged along and got to a water stop and they said your at mile 10. My watch only said 9 and I knew my watch was not that off since it had been right on with every mile when I started. We kept going and then stopped at another water stop and the guy said just around the corner and you are done. I said my watch only says 11 miles and the man said they messed up the half route so it is short. We finished running and it ended up totaling about 11.5 miles, not quite a half marathon.....
Now I understand things go wrong at races and I get it, there are a lot of people doing all different things but a race distance is something that should be right on point. It was getting hot and I will admit I wasn't pissed I didn't get the last mile and a half in but if I hadn't raced the day before and it had been my first half marathon I would have been so aggravated!
A few days after the race I did receive an email from the race director offering all of the half marathoners a spot for next years race or if they wanted a free entry into any of the other races the company puts on they could do that . I was happy they were trying to make good on this.
All in all the race was a nice it had beautiful scenery through out but was very hilly in spots. Everyone got a medal no matter the distance and everyone got a tech shirt. I would recommend this race for intermediate runners. Not sure I would want this race to be my first half but those who have been running a while and are familiar with halves will enjoy the small challenge and the beautiful scenery.
Disclaimer: Although I was provided a race entry all opinions are my own.
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