MOUNT DORA HALF MARATHON – December 22, 2024

  

Baby, it’s cold outside…But I’m a real trooper.

 

When you live in South Florida, anything under 70° is considered cold.  Getting an opportunity to run in these “subarctic” conditions are far and few between.  As I kept checking the temperatures for the Mount Dora Half Marathon & 5K, it was trending towards the low 40s…Perfect running conditions.

 

We arrived on Friday afternoon, just in time to watch the Gators pound Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl.  We picked up our race packets during halftime; the shirts were very nice.  This was our anniversary (#43), and we dined at the Goblin Market to celebrate.  It was in the 50s as we walked back to the room, but the temperature was most definitely going to drop during the night.

 

The 5K started at 7:45; true to form, it was 42°.  1,040 runners/walkers braved their way through these frigid conditions.  With the sun shining bright, we were treated to a little bit of a change in the course.  The major highlight was walking past Mount Dora High School.  Glenda’s back had been giving her problems recently, so she struggled a little bit.  After crossing the finish line, we made a “bee line” to One Flight Up Cafe for some hot breakfast and some even hotter coffee.  The afternoon was filled up with shopping and watching college football.  Supper later than usual at the Olive Branch Grille and Bar, so we had a little bit of a wait.

 

 

Walking out of the cottage Sunday morning, it was 42°.  For some reason, it didn’t seem as cold as it was on Saturday (maybe the adrenaline flowing through my body).  977 runners took their mark, which was 142 more than last year.  I had some fun conversations right before the race started, including one with a guy who was running without a shirt (there's a joke here somewhere, but this is a family-friendly blog).  I decided to wear a throwaway sweatshirt, but that was a mistake; I was already thinking about taking it off before the race even started.  I peeled it off 1.3 miles into the race and handed it to a police officer.  I told her it was brand new, and she should find a nice home for the shirt.  I was wearing a long sleeve shirt under a short sleeve shirt, but the high was only going to be 51° when the race ended.

 

 

Maybe it was the cold weather, or maybe the new Theragun Pro I just purchased (or maybe both), but this was now the second race in a row that seemed very easy.  I also used the Theragun the night before; I think it made a difference.  The weather was outstanding, and I was really enjoying the race.  Four-bathroom breaks, but I chalk that up to the cold temps.  I spent part of the run talking to Lenny and Glenda; that made the time fly by a little quicker.  Speaking of quicker…not this race!  It’s not as flat as South Florida, which is as good as any excuse I could make at this time.  I crossed the finish line with lots of energy and a big smile.  I saw Aaron afterwards, and we took a photo together.  Lots of pizza at the end, and just a great weekend in general.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve run this race every year (13) and already signed up for next year.  I can’t recommend this race enough.  If you follow them on social media, Kelly does an outstanding job of promoting the weekend.

 

Two days later, it was the 12 Miles of Christmas at Runner’s Depot, and off to New Orleans on vacation.

 

 

 

 

Happy holidays and Happy New Year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WESTON ROTARY RUN FOR TOMORROW HALF MARATHON – December 8, 2024

 

What is the best way not to crap all over a race?  Give the race its flowers.

 

It seems as if every review of this race sounds like a broken record.  So much so that I won’t rehash my complaints; just read some of my previous reviews.  My “fan base” is always surprised when I keep running in this event.  The quick answer is the following:  It’s super-close to my house.  There are not that many half marathons in this area.  It’s also very easy in-and-out, with lots of parking.  I decided to sit down and ponder what I really don’t like about this event.  I’ve concluded that all the other things going on (5K, 10K and the one-mile fun run for the youngins) are taking more of a center stage; the half marathon is an afterthought.  In my opinion, advertising that the cutoff is three hours has stunted any potential growth of this race.  With 293 participants, do the ends justify the means?  This is without a doubt one of the smallest half marathons I’ve ever participated in, and the numbers have remained consistent over the past years.  Being the slowpoke that I am, only two people finished after me.  This is not the case in any other race I’ve entered.  Once again…in my opinion…if they don’t advertise a three-hour cutoff, I think more people would enter the race.  With all of that out of the way, I was very excited to run my first half marathon of the race season.

 

I picked up my race packet on Saturday; the shirt was just okay.  I’m not a big fan of highlight yellow running shirts.  It was Glenda’s birthday, so we went out to dinner that night at Incontro Italian Cuisine Steakhouse.  The food was good (huge portions), but I can’t say that it “knocked my socks off.”  That notwithstanding, I would eat there again.  We went home and I watched some college football until I couldn’t keep my peepers open anymore.

 

 

 Now on to some positives about the race.  I do love the fact that this race starts at 6:20am.  They want everyone off the course before the fun run starts.  I was excited to run and was determined to finish as close to three hours as possible.  The temperature was 61° when the race started, and it did not get much warmer than that.  With so few participants, I ran most of this race with the road to myself.  One of the best complements I could give this event is that there is a water station every single mile; not just water…Gatorade as well.  You don’t even see that in bigger races like Miami or Gasparilla.  One negative is only one bathroom along the way, and it was at the turnaround.  I had to pee two times, so I’ll leave it up to your imagination where I went the second time.  I spoke to Lenny the last hour of the race, so it made the time go by quicker.  It was going to be close to finishing under three hours, but I missed it by only four minutes.  The best part of all was I crossed the finish line before all the rugrats got there.  Of course, I still had to go and hunt down my medal.

 

 

 No more complaining about this race.  Just gratitude I’m still running strong.