Presque Isle Half Marathon, Erie, PA-July 19, 2015




This year (my 5th year of running a half marathon a month, as well as hitting my 'half way' mark of the 50 states) I have been very lucky on receiving some complimentary stays for race events. So when I came across a comp stay at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland, OH, I snagged it up. No races in PA have really struck an interest the past few years. My trend (being a Florida beach gal) has been trying to stay along coastlines and/or flat races. So when I stumbled upon small town Presque Isle PA half, I knew this would be my PA race. Presque Isle in Erie PA is a State Park that is a peninsula on Lake Erie. I went into this race thinking it was super small (no real race website, no real race Facebook page), however I quickly learned the day before and on race day it was about 2,000 runners!

So why did I stay in Ohio to run a Pennsylvania race?!.....
-flights were the cheaper into Cleveland OH
-my friend that went with me is from Cleveland and we could visit her mom who still lives there
-it was her moms birthday
-I could get a free hotel stay at the Ritz Carlton downtown Cleveland

It really was only a hour and half drive to Presque Isle so all signs were pointing "why not?" However, as the race day approached, I started feeling bad running a PA race, staying in OH, and not really experiencing what PA has to offer.

PARKING AND PACKET PICK UP
Race Start time was 645 with same day packet pick up starting at 545. I arrived at 6a and the lots were already filling up. (note for out of towers, park before the entrance to PI park. The walk seemed shorter than going to the lots within the park). I ended up parking about a mile away.

By the time I parked, there was about 15 minutes til start, so I started running. The Packet Pick up line was a good size, but not nearly as ridiculous as the porta potty line. Later I learned they were expecting the bath houses to be open, but they were not, which made the lines ridiculous. After getting my packet, I realized there was no gear check. So they were expecting us to go back to the car and back to start all in time? Wasn't going to happen, so I stuck it behind a tree and hoped it would still be there after the race. (it was)


COURSE
It was going to be a warm and sunny day with temps reaching the 80s, but luckily most the course was in the shade. We ran the peninsula and on the return it seemed to be windier which helped keep it cool(er). All the water stations were properly stocked and they even handed out wet towels on the second half. I did see one person being taken away by ambulance for heat related issues. The flat course stays on paved road and paved bike path. With the water views and abundance of trees it is a pretty course. There were plenty of bathhouses as well as a few porta potties set out. This flat course was highly enjoyable, but time of year is hot.

RESULT
The night before I had little sleep and for some reason had some allergic reaction and first my right eye swelled and by morning both eyes were overly puffy. Luckily it calmed down by race start time. I got little sleep as the walls at the Ritz were fairly thin and with a casino next door, winners were coming back at all hours excited they won!

I went into the race exhausted just wanting to survive and that is basically what I did. I used my pace alert and had it set to a 3x1 (run 3min, walk 1 min) for the first half and basically 1x1 on the return. I did not see anyone else with a pace alert and was questioned about it after I passed a couple people towards the end. Its fun to not only talk about the Galloway, but to show that it actually does keep you strong to the finish and have a good recovery time as well!

FINISH
The after party had really good (real) food.... boxed lunches with a choice of wrap. I was disappointed in the drink selection (all sodas and no beer or recovery drinks). I grabbed my food and headed over the lake (right across the street) where everyone seemed to have the same idea of jumping in the cold water to ease the muscles.

It was a mile walk back, but was cool because I got to cheer on the last runners. One group of women were dressed as different super heroes.


SHIRT AND MEDAL
I am disappointed with both the shirt and medal which are generic in style...no race name, no date.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
I really loved the location, the course, and food afterwards. There were campgrounds at the entrance, so I definitely would have done that if I didn't stay in Cleveland. There were lots of recreation activities to make a weekend out of it.

Overall I would recommend this race and give it an A-

13.1-2:38
State #22
Half Marathon #52

I am currently running a half marathon a month and also running a half marathon in each state all to show support and raise awareness for breast cancer via The Donna. Please consider showing your support by making a donation today!
www.donate.breastcancermarathon.com/2016-marathon/melissajohnson

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