2018 Energy City Half Marathon Race Review + Recap

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Find race details in this 2018 Energy City Half Marathon Review and Recap. Add this small, well organized race to your calendar!

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The 2018 Energy City Half Marathon (+ 10K and 5K) was held on March 24, 2018. I participated in this series for the second year in a row. After running the 10K last year and enjoying every moment, I knew I had to sign up again. This year, I opted for the half marathon and began training in January.

Last Friday after work, I headed over for an easy breezy packet pick-up and headed home. The swag bag included a water bottle, a sweat towel, a few coupons, and a race series t-shirt. After snagging my goodies, I headed home to enjoy a pizza dinner with my husband, lay out my flat runner, and head to bed early.

For the night before a race, I slept pretty good! I had my alarm set for 5:15 and only woke up a couple of times to make sure I hadn’t missed it. I got out of bed around 5:10, had a quick wake-me-up shower, drank some coffee, and had a pre-race breakfast of oatmeal and eggs. Shortly after 7:00, hubby and I headed to get the party started!

The race was scheduled to start at 7:50 with 10K and 5K kicking off around 8:30, so there was some hurry-up-and-wait going on after we arrived. Around 7:55 they sent us on our way. Right after the start I saw two of my students who were volunteering at the race. After some big waves hello I got back in the zone and suddenly the miles were flying by. The first half of the course is almost identical to the 10K course, so it was very familiar in the beginning. I would characterize the course as “flat and fast”. There are a few gravelly spots, and one “back road” area, but other than that it’s all run through neighborhoods and well maintained streets.

Regardless of the fact that I used the restroom right before we left the house AND as soon as we got to the race, I still had to potty before the race even started. I told myself I’d stop at the first Port-a-Potty that didn’t have a line. Right before mile 4 we came upon a water stop and I saw no line for the potty, so I took my chance. I was making good time, so I wasn’t worried.

Related: How to Train for a Half Marathon With a Busy Schedule

I was feeling great and took advantage of all the water stops. There were plenty, but I made sure to sip my own also because the temp was rising quickly. There was one stop offering gels, I think around mile 9, but I brought my own so I passed. The course was very well marked — orange arrows at each turn — so it was almost impossible to get lost, but there were no mile markers! Normally, this would have really messed with my head, but I was feeling so good I just ignored it and kept on moving. There were also some super nice people on the course cheering us on. I saw one woman with a cowbell four times, and two women and a young boy three times — with different signs each time! It definitely made me smile.

Around mile 8, I could feel myself starting to fatigue. We were also running through a country club and all the old men in golf carts weren’t wanting to share the road, so I was ready to get that part of the race over with. By mile 11, I was feeling good again and realized I was going to reach my time goal.

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As I rounded the corner for that last .1, I saw my husband, gave him a wink and kicked it into gear. I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 2:12:39. My watch logged 13.23 miles, so I did a pretty good job of sticking to the tangents as well. That was one of my goals for this race because I totally failed on that at Wine & Dine! What I was most excited about though was that my finish time was 22 minutes faster than my half marathon finish in November. Regardless of where I fell within the pack or my age group, that alone qualified the day as a complete win.

I chugged some water because it was now well over 70 degrees, stretched and inhaled a plum. I hopped in line to get my drill bit medal and learned they were giving away finisher t-shirts too! Awesome. 🙂 We hung around for a few minutes until the official time was posted and then headed home for a pancake brunch. It was a great race day and one that will be hard to beat in the future. I absolutely recommend the Energy City Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K!

Pros:
-Small (around 700 runners total)
-Participant and finisher t-shirts
-Oil and gas themed medal
-Plenty of water stops and helpful volunteers

Cons:
-No mile markers

Question: What is your favorite local race?

I’m linking up with Annmarie and Nicole for Wild Workout Wednesday!

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