Disclaimer: As a BibRave Pro I received a complimentary race entry to the Novant Health Charlotte Half Marathon. As always, all opinions are my own! Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro, and check out a BibRave to review find and write race reviews!”
Happy Tuesday! Welcome to another edition of Tuesday Topics. This week’s topic – what are your Winter weather running tips? You can write about this, or any other running related topic. Remember to Link-up with Kim and Zenaida and the bottom of this post!
Before getting started, Zenaida want to thank everyone for linking up with us week after week. It’s always hard to know if a link-up will be successful and I’m glad that this one connects me to many awesome bloggers. We always love reading your posts so keep them coming!
I’m going off topic today to bring you my Novant Health Charlotte Marathon (Half Marathon) race recap!
On Saturday I participated in the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon (Half Marathon). This ended up being my 42th half marathon. It was also state #15 on my quest to run in 25 states.
This race series offers a 1 mile kids race, 5K, half marathon, marathon and marathon relay – basically something for everyone!
Each year the race donates money to the Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital Child Life Program. The funds helps support patient programming items and supplies to help make the hospital feel a little more like home to the children staying there. This year’s race raised almost $38,000 for the hospital!
The Expo
I went to the Expo around 3:00 p.m. on Friday. It was held in the Charlotte Convention Center. It was small, but very efficient. I went to the back of the Expo to get my bib and didn’t have to wait in line at all. What I loved about this experience is that I picked up the bib and then my race shirt was handed to me in a bag. I didn’t have to go searching for the race shirt after getting my bib.
After getting my bib, I ran into this guy..
I’ll never say no to a character photo, lol.
I also loved this light installation for #RUNCLT. So cool!
I stayed at the expo for around 45 minutes before leaving to go back to the hotel. My back was killing me so I knew it was time to retire to the hotel room and relax for race day.
Race Day
It was unseasonably cold and windy on race morning, but thankfully the anticipated rain never came – yay! The race had a nice early start of 7:30 a.m. The hotel wasn’t to far from the race start so I left the hotel around 6:50. It was super windy outside so I didn’t want to wait longer than necessary. The race started right on time and I crossed the start mat within 2 minutes. I was not off on my hilly running adventure!
I looked up the route and elevation before the race, so I thought I knew what to expect but I didn’t think the race would just be up, down, up, down the entire time!
Miles 1-6
The first few miles are through downtown Charlotte, It was nice to get a tour of all the construction going on in the city. My Lyft drive from the previous day told me that on average 50 people move to Charlotte everyday – no wonder there was so much construction for new roads, buildings and apartments!
The first mile wasn’t bad but after that I started to notice the rolling hills. Toward the end of this portion we started to run through a few residential neighborhoods. I was impressed with the amount of spectators that came out during this portion to cheer us on!
Miles 6-10
I would say that this was the hilliest part of the course. I was cruising until mile 9 and then I had to take my first walk break. My IT band wasn’t feeling the uphills and my ankle and knees weren’t feeling the downhills. Can you say ouch? One thing that kept me going during this portion was the crowd support. There weren’t tons on spectators everywhere, but when we did see them, they were loud and full of support!
Miles 10-13.1
Okay, just 3 miles to go! At this point I was entering the pain cave – things were starting to get rough. Just as I approached mile 12 I got the boost that I needed. A spectator with an adorable puppy was standing near the mile marker and the puppy gave me a high five. I love animals so this was just what I needed! I was able to push through with a mix of running and speed walking for the last 3 miles. As I was running to the finish line wind was picking up like crazy. You can see in the photo below that I was trying to hold on to my hat, lol.
The race finishes behind BB&T Ballpark.
Would I recommend this race? Yes, but just be very prepared for the hills.
The race just posted this awesome video recap from race day – check it out!
My mom ran the 5K race and came in first in her age group! We didn’t know this until we left the finish area so I’m hoping they can mail her the age group award.
There were MANY pros to this race!
Welcome bag of swag
Upon checking into my hotel, I received a nice swag bag of race items – tall glass, sticker, temporary tattoos, phone wallet, portable phone charger, lip gloss and a pen. It was a nice unexpected treat!
Field Size
The race had 6,000 runners between all of their races. I think the half marathon had the most runners but the course never felt crowded.
Post-Race Food
After the race we were able to pick up water, bananas, granola bars, fruit cups, chocolate milk and Gatorade. I also appreciated that they gave us bags to hold all the items as well.
Race Swag
I received a really nice navy blue long sleeve shirt. I loved this because I don’t have too many long sleeve shirts so it’s nice to add that this to my collection. The medals for each race were awesome, and I especially loved my half marathon medal.
Communications
I was happy with the amount of pre-race communications that I received in the weeks leading up to the race. The race also did a great job at sharing updates via social media as well (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter).
There were also a few cons to the race as well:
Race Signage – When my mom and I arrived to the the start area we noticed that there weren’t many signs. Luckily we just followed a crow of runners, but it would have been nice to have more sign, especially for the 5K runners since they were supposed to be in a holding area since the other race distances started first.
Runner Tracking – The race uses the RaceJoy app for tracking and I’m not a huge fan of it. In order for it to work, you have to register yourself as a runner on the app. You also have to not only run with your phone, but you have to start the app as you cross the start line. I was very concerned that the app would kill my phone battery so I didn’t use it. It would have been nice if my mom could have used the tracker but I just ended up calling her when I was at mile 11 to let her know I was close so that she could meet me at the finish line.
Start Line – I didn’t even know the race had started until the people in front of me started to move. There was no National Anthem or countdown to start so it was a little weird.
So many HILLS! – I am NOT a fan of hills but I knew that this course would be hilly. I just didn’t think that it would literally be up, down, up, down the whole time! Technically this could be a “pro” if you’re a fan of hilly races 🙂
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Nice job, Kim! And congrats to your mom on her AG win! Real beer at the finish! Woo hoo!
That runner tracking app sounds like a big thumbs down to me! Why can’t it be linked to your timing chip?
Thanks so much Wendy! I agree with you on the runner tracking – it should be linked to the timing chip on the bibs.
Oooh, I love all the swag! And high fiving a puppy would be pretty darn awesome during a race (I might just run away with it, well, no, puppies are so much work).
Charlotte is definitely on my list of cities to visit so I’ll file this one away. I actually have a ton of long sleeve tech shirts (which I sleep in) probably because I love to race in the fall.
I really wanted to leave with the puppy – he was the cutest chocolate lab puppy! The high five gave me the push needed to finish the last mile.
Congrats to you and your mom! Hills are the nature of the beast in NC. When my in-laws lived there I’d always race when we visited, then wonder why because this flatlander is not accustomed to hills. Oooh that pint glass is nice swag!
This was my first time visiting North Carolina so I was so surprised that it was super hilly!
Congrats on your race! I really like it when marathons have relay options since it makes the course accessible to runners of all distances (more runners = more fun). Spectators are awesome, I cannot count the number of times that a high five has refilled my tank.
Me too! I love races that offer multiple race distances and I would love to do a relay race one day.
Fantastic job, Kim! And congrats to your Mum for winning the AG in the 5k!
I think they should have a sweet puppy at the 12 mile mark at every half marathon.
It looks like that runner behind you (bib 4002) missed the puppy high five!
Thanks for the interesting recap.
Thanks so much Catrina! I agree that puppies should be allowed at every race, lol
Well done, even on all those ups and downs 🙂 Although I usually have my phone with me for races (and most of my runs), I don’t like having it to abuse the battery power. That’s why I don’t use my phone for music. There was a similar app (or maybe it was the same one?) at Dam to DSM, and I bailed on figuring it out because I didn’t want my battery compromised. Huge congrats to Mom 😉
Same here! I do run with my phone, but I turn it off during the race. I just use it after the race so that I can call my mom.
I use my iPod for my music and sadly, I think that it’s on it’s way out (it’s been acting weird the past few weeks). Hoping it keeps working for a little while longer!
Congrats on another half. Love the swag!! yay for no rain. Boo for hills!
In races I don’t use my phone so I don’t run down the battery.
Thanks so much Darlene!
Congrats to your mom!
Nice swag bags! I hear you on long sleeve tees. Hoping the Manhattan 7 is one now that it’s in Feb. I only have Ted Corbitt and Gridiron, I think, since Lebow is a hat and Frozen Penguin insists on silliness.
(I don’t know if it’s my computer or not, but your font is all of a sudden super small. Just FYI in case something changed on your end. )
I’ve been having some issues with my font size on here and I’ve tried everything but I can’t fix it 🙁
Congrats to your mom! I like getting long sleeve race shirts especially since where I live I don’t need them for very long so I don’t always want to buy them.
Thanks Denise! Yes, I love the long sleeve tech shirts because they are perfect for layering up in the Fall/Winter!
This is the first time I’ve seen it, but it may also be browser change on my end. No worries, just wanted to flag if it was something new.
Congrats on another half and another state! And huge congrats to your mom on her AG!
Seems like this race had lots of pluses – that tracking app sounds like a huge hassle though. And, you know how I feel about hills, LOL!
Thanks Michelle!
Yeah the app was kind of a hassle and wasn’t user friendly at all.
Congrats to you and your mom! That race tracking app sounds pretty pointless – seems like you could use a generic GPS tracking app with less trouble.
That’s exactly how I felt about the tracking app!
Wow nice job you 2! Kudos to your mom how fun for her. Sounds like a really fun weekend. Who knew Charlotte was so hilly and so popular!? Looks like half marathons are your thing!
I didn’t know that Charlotte was so popular but it seems like it’s a city that is growing quickly!
Well done to you and your mum, and all the swag you got looks amazing (was the stuff at check-in from the hotel? That’s really sweet). Sounds like it was well-organised and friendly, and so nice to have people out there cheering you on, too.
Thanks so much Liz! The drinking glass and those other items were given to me when I checked in hotel – it was a great treat.
First off, congrats to your mom! That is awesome. Second congrats to you on half number 15! Looks like a well run race with cool swag!
Thanks Sandra! The swag was really great for the race 🙂
Nice! Congrats! Love me some free beer and a coozie!
Me too!
Awesome job getting it done in the wind! I despise hills and would be walking all of them. A huge congrats to your mom on her AG first place finish!
I definitely walked some of the hills in the last 3 miles – my legs couldn’t take it anymore!
Congrats to you and your mom. Nice job in spite of wind and hills.
Thanks so much Debbie!
Damn girl! Another half in the books! Congrats to you and your mama!! You guys are the sweetest. <3
Thanks girl! Miss you!
That is some nice swag from the hotel! The race sounded like a great experience, but I’m glad you included the cons of the race so the rest of us know what to expect if we run it. It’s really tough for me to get focused in the beginning of the race if the start line is chaotic! Fingers crossed that I remember to link up with you all next week. It sounds like a great topic!
Right?! The hotel swag was great! I always like to include the cons because i feel thats the only way to share an authentic race recap post.
Hilly courses are TOUGH!!! But way to get it done. 🙂 This looks like a super fun race!
Thanks Kaila! It was hard but still a good race.
Congrats to you and your mom! Sounds like the course was hilly like in Wilmington. Love the hotel swag! A portable phone charger and a tall glass? That is great! The tracking app is no bueno? Who is going to start the app once they cross the start line? I am more concerned with pressing the start button on my watch. 🙂
It was worse than Wilmington! 🙁
Totally agree with you about the tracking app. The only thing I press is the start button on my watch lol