2013 Race Favorites

I meant to write this around the New Years since it seemed a fitting way to recap 2013.  But alas, here we are in March.

I set a few PRs in 2013.  Some by default, and some by training. I set a half marathon PR in March, and then set a new half marathon PR six months later in September.  I set a 10k PR as part of a 50k relay, along with a 5k PR.  These were by effort.  That is, these are instances of measurable improvement.  In comparison, I also set a 1 mile PR and a marathon PR by default since they were the first of these races that I've ran.

There were a few races in 2013 that were quite memorable and enjoyable for me.  Of course, because experiences are biased by default, you should take my pick of favorites with a grain of salt.  Had the weather been different that day, had I better trained, etc, I might have picked a different set of favorites.

In the category of half marathons, the Quad Cities half marathon is my favorite of 2013 for the unique experience of running across a suspension bridge, a very scenic course, cheap race entry and the ease of logistics.  The Get Lucky half marathon comes in second for its awesome swag and ease of logistics.  There aren't too many races where you can easily find parking just a five minute walk away when it's 50 minutes before the start.  Third is a toss-up between Fort Atkinson and Madison Mini-Marathon.  The Madison Mini drops a bit because of the course change that sends you up some not fun hills at mile 10, which also makes the last bit not as interesting.  However, the beginning of the race is still quite lovely as it hits all the highlights of Madison.  Fort Atkinson, on the other hand, has a quaint small town feel.  I love that the field of runners is so small and the race entry is so cheap.  I also particularly enjoy the AYCE pancake breakfast at the end and its flat course.  Last, of course, is the Haunted Hustle.  That one, I'm never doing again.

I only ran one marathon in 2013, and even if I were in the vicinity, I don't know that I'd do again in 2014.  I still remember the hills of Cincy, but I also remember the very well organized race.  I suspect it's one that I'll come back to in the future, just not immediately.

I ran three 5ks in 2013.  My favorite is definitely the Full Moon 5k.  I mean yes, I did PR so that may be why I think of it as fondly as I do, but I also remember the amazing view of the Capitol building at night as we rounded Monona Bay.  The glittering reflection of the Madison skyline in the water is mesmerizing.  I'd run it again just for that.  Neither the Arboretum Sprint nor the Valentine's 5k made a strong impression on me.  Those are take it or leave it for me.  The same goes for Syttende Mai and Crazy Legs.

The last 2013 race that I'm sad to be missing in 2014 is the Mad City 50/100k.  This is also a small race, but I enjoy it for the opportunity to run my favorite path in Madison, as well as the chance to run among runners of all speeds.  In most other races, I'm corralled or grouped with other runners of relatively the same speed as me, but in this event, I get passed by the faster elite runners AND I get to see the slower runners steadily plodding along, and both of them inspiring me to keep pushing for my best.  I also really like watching each of the relay teams support their teammates and the general camaraderie as we wait for our own teammates to finish. 

I have yet to make plans for 2014 races mostly because I'm not all that certain where I'll be for the second half of the year, but I'm looking at some of the races mentioned above if I happen to be in Madison.