This was my first race event in three years.  I signed up for it for the following reasons: 1) I needed a race to force myself to run after a three year hiatus 2) It was only 25 minutes from my home 3) I knew others running it.  Maybe a fourth reason was that it was the the 1st Annual race.  Usually my race reviews are two parts.  One part is what I thought of the race itself – the course, the perks, parking, etc.   The  second part is about how I felt I did. 

The Race Review

The race was a very fair price. I think I joined prior to the first price increase, which was around $70.  The race includes the finisher’s medal (pictured above), a baseball cap, and a fluorescent greenish-yellow technical shirt.  Pretty typical for most race events these days.   The hat is not one I would wear.  The shirt would be good for running at dawn or dusk, to be more easily seen by cars. 

Parking was very easy and close by (and free).  There seemed to be more than enough port-a-johns to handle the running crowd prior to the race.  It was a cold morning, dark, and they had music playing.  The course itself could be described as a spaghetti diagram.  They managed to cram 13.1 miles into a convoluted path of literal ups and downs and winding turns.  However, it was very clear where to turn or run during multiple path crossovers.  The course itself is part of Harrisonburg’s park system that connects different parks together.  It was scenic.  But the course was also very hilly.   Little hills and big hills, with some down hills too. I think it was the most hilly half marathon I have run.  The crowd support was decent.

Along the course, there seemed to be plenty of water stations and probably port-a-johns, but I didn’t really pay much attention to that.   Post race for me was disappointing.  The water and granola bars and other small snacks was not really an issue.   But the lack of a finisher’s beer was.  I also thought there would be a beer garden, and there might have been, but I didn’t see anything.  If there was, runners needed to pay for a beer if they wanted it.  In comparison to other races I’ve run, it seems customary to have one free beer.  My friend Brian and I decided to just head to Jack Brown’s for a beer and lunch. 

My Performance

I was alright with how I did since I had not run a race in three years and didn’t start training until June 2022.  I finished 2:05:39, which is my second slowest time I had at an official half marathon race.  I finished 290/660.  I think most of the course I ran well, but I was tired at the end and my pace really tanked.  It was a sign that I probably needed another month of training, but I didn’t have that option.  Training for this race helped me lose about 20 pounds, plus I lost another 10 pounds since. So if I run another half marathon in 2023 ( which I want to do), I could be going in better trained and weighing less, and I would expect to have a better race. 

My Recommendation on this race

I don’t know if they plan to host this race again in 2023, but if they do, I don’t have a strong recommendation for it or against it.  I don’t consider this race a “must-do” like I would Bird-In-Hand, Richmond, OBX, Norfolk, VA Beach, or Philadelphia. In fact, I would probably rather do any of those over this one again.   I think I highlighted what were my pros/cons of the race for me.  It would not be a bad choice to run this, but there are better options, as well as some worse options.  But I don’t regret running it. This was my comeback race. 

My race rating: 3.5/5 stars