Race Review: Lexington’s Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon 2017

Once again after a destination race weekend, I’m feeling inspired and excited to be a runner, and I’m itching to share my experience from Lexington, Kentucky’s Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon!  After finishing our last half marathon (the Charleston Half Marathon) in January, we were all pumped up and ready to sign up for another. I browsed race calendars looking for the perfect race at the right time and in the right location.  Lexington is just around the corner for us Ohioans, and it gave us a little over two months to continue our preparation, treating the Charleston race as just another training run.  After checking out the race website and learning that they promote themselves as America’s Prettiest Half Marathon, I was sold.

I was also convinced that I would prepare better for this race.  With a recent half already completed, I felt like the rest of my training would be icing on the cake.  I added a few more long runs, and a couple of “speed” workouts (basically just tempo runs) before beginning a luxurious taper, complete with carbs and adequate hydration.  Ready to race!

With race weekend upon us, we headed down to Lexington on Friday evening, barely skidding into the expo on time.  Held at the Keeneland horse racing course, it was already as picturesque as promised.  Great race expo full of Bluegrass themed gear for sale, bourbon and food samples, and plenty of photo opps!  My only regret – no real horses to pet.  Sigh.

On race morning, we rolled up to the starting line, still struggling with the realization that we chose the one unfortunate day of the spring that wasn’t abnormally warm.  The air was lightly spitting a misty rain at us, and my fingers and toes threatened to reject my attempts at blood-flow if we didn’t start running soon.  The saving grace for this race was the generous indoor space available to hang out pre-race.  Unlike the massive races with tens of thousands of runners, this race was intimate enough for the crowd to move around, use bathrooms, and share the indoor and outdoor spaces without any challenge.  And small enough for me to bump into two grade school friends who were equally far from home and enjoy a “what a small world” moment.

Despite the gray day, from the vantage point of the starting line, I could already tell that the race would live up to it’s reputation for prettiness.  Kentucky’s rolling hills are something to look at, but they were a little daunting when you knew you were about to go for a long hard run on them… On top of the scenery, however, the race was equally beautiful thanks to the participants.  I’ve never seen so much blue converge in one place at one time. Even the theme color contributed to the great esthetic of the race.  It seemed like the participants got the message and delivered.  Even I had gotten into the spirit and planned a blue-pants kind of day.

The race started with the sound of that bugle they play before the gun goes off at the race track.  Basically, it permitted me to feel like a horse, and that was possibly my favorite part.  Once the race began, the sky stayed gray, but the misty rain cleared up, allowing us to then focus our full attention on those hills.  During the race, we passed the most gorgeous, scenic horse farms, and I did my best to appreciate them while forcing my legs to propel me up and over again and again.  Honestly, the constant hills forced me to use a kind of focus that I could rarely sustain for 13 straight miles.  Instead of simply showing up and jogging, I actually had to CONCENTRATE.  I literally found myself mid-race strategizing about how hard I should push up a hill.  And as a very average runner, I do not generally find myself strategizing.  It’s tough to reign it in while watching people run past you up a hill, hoping that your restraint will pay off.  I caught some of those people on the downhills and flat parts, but some got away.

I think the experienced runners and the folks who’d trained on the hills had a big advantage in this race.  There were those who slowed down on the uphills and flew on the downhills, and there were stubborn folks who insisted on maintaining their pace no matter the incline.

In the end, I crossed the finish line with tired legs but feeling great and really happy with a finish time that I know I couldn’t have run if it weren’t for the extra effort I put into training and preparation this time around.  One of the coolest things about this race was that the professional photos taken by the race-day photographers were complimentary!  As in, you won’t get 30 emails per day for six months after the race reminding you that there’s limited time left to purchase your commemorative photos for $100.  Instead you just download them.  And what gems!  I think this is my favorite finish line photo of myself of all time.  I would seem that I was so relieved to be done – perhaps I decelerated a little too quickly for this gentleman who was powering through the finish line.  Sorry pal.

The post-race festivities were a delight.  I could only imagine spending the rest of the morning on the lawn at Keeneland enjoying a couple extra beers and finishing off a delicious fresh glazed donut, or maybe trying the liege waffles and guetta available from the food trucks on hand.  However, my Raynaud’s phenomenon and cool air got together and conspired to send me indoors.  After a couple quick photos, we were off to our conveniently close parking spot to begin defrosting in the car and plotting out how we would reward ourselves for the rest of the day.

There is actually a rule that all events in Kentucky must be celebrated with a bourbon-based cocktail, and this race was not an exception.  This one was a simple combo of Maker’s 46 (one of the race sponsors!) and some Red Ribbon almond cream soda.  Mmmm…

And as always, after the race, I can’t wait to sign up for another.  This is turning into an expensive hobby, but if you could come close to putting a pricetag on happiness, a half marathon entry fee would be a good place to start.  🙂

Now… which one to do next?