Well…my original Tuesday’s on the Run post vanished into thin air…so this is my attempt to revive it!
This week, Erika, Marcia, and Patty discussed how they choose their races! These days, there are a few variables [probably a lot more than I care to think about the second time around in writing this] that go into my race choices…so let’s dive in!
Family Planning
Probably the highest priority on my list of “will I sign up for this event?” is, “Who is going to watch the little man?”
With limited family where we live and a hubs that works a lot of hours, I always have to first think about little man and who can take the time to watch him while I run. Since the hubs works long hours and MOST Saturday’s, I will always and forever need outside help with our little family.
Location
Hand-in-hand with Family Planning [see above] is the location of the race! As I already said, depending on the location of the race, I need to figure out who is going to watch little man.
Most of the time, I can talk my in-laws into watching little man. Sometimes they will come to my house for a local race, but most of the time, my races are in the KC area and I can just leave him with them for a couple hours in the morning.
If I have races that are a little more distance from home, I still ask the in-laws first to see if they have the availability those weekends…
Also with location is LOCATION. I would love to be able to travel around the US and plan “racecations” in amazing places.
I am lucky enough to be able to pace a race in August in Colorado – Georgetown to Idaho Springs. From what I read, it is a beautiful course! This will be my first solo “racecation” and I can only hope to have more with the family in tow!
Crowd
I have found that the size of the race and the level of crowd support are becoming more important with the races I run. While small local events are still fun, I really enjoy large, long-standing events that draw both runners and spectators to the area.
One of my favorite races over the years is the Hospital Hill races. This year was the first time running/pacing the half marathon distance and the amount of support along the route was great! Runners feed off the crowd’s energy and Hospital Hill is one of the great ones I have experienced.
Bling
Yeah, I will admit it. I am a Bling Chaser.
I know I have a problem…it happens! I like having a little PHYSICAL proof that I completed a great task of running 13.1 or 26.2 miles! My [planned] first half marathon had a 6-8″ medal for finishing…that is HUGE! I have since seen other race medals that are GINORMOUS… I mostly like having a little memento of the time spent training and completing the race.
Pacing
One of the more “recent” developments in my running adventures is pacing half marathon races. If I plan on pacing races, I need to be cognisant of the timing of other races in the same span of time. To be on my game for pacing, I need to allow at least 1-2 weeks of time between “races” and pacing events to be sure I can give my runners all of my energy and attention when I pace.
This past spring, I ran my first full marathon, then paced my first half 2 weeks later, then my second time pacing 2 weeks later, then another event 1 week later…and finally my 4th pacing 2 weeks after that! A lot of running for sure…a lot of fun running! Since I pace quite a bit slower than my “racing” times, these experiences are more like a moderately paced long run than a “race”…which I would have been doing anyway if there was not an event in the calendar 🙂
You better believe I still gave it my all, but talking and supporting my runners takes more out of me than the task of running.
Well…there are several other things that come to mind when I think about choosing a race [money, course, popularity of event, history of event, live or virtual, swag, etc]…but those can wait until another day!
Check out the Tuesday’s on the Run link up for more running and racing related posts!
livinglovingrunner 