LAKE MINNEOLA HALF MARATHON - March 22, 2026 (Special Birthday Edition)

…And now for something completely different.

 

Having to bail out on the Miami half marathon, I was now down one race for the year.  The plan was to run the Chicago Spring half marathon again and meet Rachel there. Those plans changed as well. As my daughter put it “I love you guys, but if I go to Chicago, I really want to hang out with my friends.”

 

Now, with two races off the table, what choice did I have but to consult one of my close friend, ChatGPT.  I asked her (I’ve assigned ChatGPT a female voice) to find me a half marathon in Florida. It didn't have to be in the southern part of the state, but I want something small like Mount Dora.  A couple of suggestions really caught my eye. The first one was in Howie-in-the-Hills.  This is a small town in Lake County, which is a little bit north of Orlando. The problem...it was the same weekend as the Gasparilla half marathon, so that was a big no. The other race that caught my eye was the Lake Minneola half marathon.  Minneola is also north of Orlando and right next to Clermont.  It even has its own exit off the turnpike; I decided to visit the website. It looked like a pretty course, and it checked all the boxes. The best thing of all was that it was the day after my birthday. They also had a 5K and 10K; Glenda would be able to walk the 5K.  I sent a message to Aaron who is the ultimate authority on all races Central Florida and beyond.  He told me it was worth running, and he was planning on doing it again this year. That was all the confirmation I needed but there was just one more detail I needed to settle. I told ChatGPT that I wanted to stay at a hotel that was literally walking distance from the starting line.  That is one of my requirements when I do an out-of-town race. She recommended the Lake Minneola Inn.  Founded in 1882, the Lake Minneola Inn is a quaint, historic hotel located on the eastern shore of Lake Minneola.  It reminded me of the Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora, but on a smaller scale. I called there and spoke to Amber; just like that I booked the room for the race weekend. Amber told me that there was a Tiki bar and Grill right downstairs overlooking Lake Minneola, so no need to get into the car and drive for our meals.  If this weren’t enough excitement, I let Mary know that Glenda and I would be coming up for the weekend to do the race, and she said she would meet us and walk the 5K with Glenda.  Mary had run the half marathon many years ago, but the course had changed for the better.

 

 

 

Since all the races were taking place on Sunday, we drove up on Saturday. What an exciting way to spend the early part of my birthday! We got to the Inn around 3:30 and met Amber in person. She was super sweet and gave us a tour of the place which looked like an old Victorian home that had been converted. Our room was super nice, and you could tell it had been renovated somewhat recently. 

 Once we brought our stuff up, we walked over to Waterfront Park to pick up our race packets.  Waterfront Park is located alongside Lake Minneola and hosts festivals almost every week. It would also be the start of all the races on Sunday. The packet pick up area was exactly one mile from the Inn and was extremely scenic. Lake Minneola had a man-made beach all around it, which reminded me of Lake Michigan in Chicago. It was wild how many people were laying out in the sun. This is Florida, not Chicago; then again, this area is kind of in the middle of the state, so going to the beach is not something the locals get to do on a regular basis.  There were also a huge number of boats in the water.

 

 

The shirts for the race were extremely nice and long sleeve.  We walked around the park a little bit more before making our way back to the Inn.  After a brief Shabbos nap, we headed downstairs to the Tiki bar and Grill to grab some supper.  Amber warned us in advance that the place was always packed; boy howdy was she right.  There were very few tables available, so we wound up sitting at the bar. Once we ordered, our server told us there was about an hour back up on the food. I told her it was my birthday, if that made any difference.  She said, “nice try”. However, we did get our food about 20 minutes later.  I don’t want to throw out a cliché by saying it was worth the wait, but it was worth the wait. Amber also told us that the big highlight was the sunset, and that was spectacular as well.

 

With a 7 AM start time for the half marathon, we left the Inn around 6 AM. Once we got to the park, we met up with Mary. I was super excited to run this race and it’s always a pleasure not having to fight your way to the starting line.  434 runners ran the half, which was perfect for me (349 did the 5K and 330 did the 10K).

 

The race started out in the same direction as the Inn.  After about 2 miles we made a turn around and came back towards the starting line. It was about a mile after that that I saw Glenda and Mary, who had started their race at 7:10 AM and were on the way to the finish line. Most of the race was along Lake Minneola and was very pretty.  The park and surrounding areas were huge, and we ran on a paved trail the entire time.  The course was not congested at all, even though there were times where you had runners going in both directions.  The temperature at the start of the race was about 57°, but it seemed a lot warmer than that.  I also made the executive decision to wear my new Hoka Cielo running shoes that I purchased at the Gasparilla Distance Classic expo (discussed in my last blog post). I did a couple of runs with them before the race including a nine-mile run. I knew I would be taking a chance, but I must cut the ties with my Carbon X at some point.  We made the turnaround about nine miles into the race, and I was feeling good. Best of all…there were 30 runners behind me when I crossed the finish line.  My finishing time was about average for me.  There were lots of people still hanging around the park for the after party, which included servings of mac & cheese. I saw Aaron a couple of times during the race, and we met up afterwards to take a picture and talk. I met Aaron at Mt. Dora many years ago and he’s a great guy.  Mary drove us back to the hotel where we showered and grabbed lunch at the Tiki bar and Grill. It was nowhere as crowded as Saturday night since we got there when they first opened. We were able to score a table, and lunch was excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s my review of the race and the weekend. I’ve never given star ratings before; I’m not going to start now. I will be registering for this race next year.  Overall, everything was excellent. If I really had to nitpick, the water stations weren’t great, but they weren’t terrible. I did not stop one time to pee, but they probably could’ve used more Porta Potties on the course. The race seemed well run and extremely organized.  This is exactly the kind of race I really look forward to.  I just wish there were more of these closer to home.   

 

I told Elaine that I wasn’t going to do Miami again, and she should come down and run Weston with me. She signed up and Mary signed up to do the 5K with Glenda. As of right now that’s the next race on my calendar.

 

I may need to have another talk with ChatGPT to discuss my future running plans.