Disclaimer: I received a free entry into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Half Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
So let me get this out of the first and foremost… I LOVE THE ROCK N ROLL SAVANNAH RACES! Seriously, this is my favorite race weekend of the year. A big group of my running buddies (27 of us this year!!) all load up and head down to the Hospitality City of the South, Savannah, GA. If you’ve never been to Savannah before, you should totally put it on your bucket list. It’s a beautiful city, very old South, with so many amazing things to do. Heck, I could hang out on River St. for days and days and never get bored (and I practically did).
I arrived on Friday in order to hit up the Health & Fitness Expo held in the Savannah Convention Center. Since our hotel was on Bay St. we only had to make a short walk down to the river and then take the free ferry across. FREE! Super convenient! The Expo is super well organized. You receive a link to your Bib number a few days before the event so you can walk right over to the correct area to get your bib. Or, there is also an app that you can get your information from. After getting your bib, you head over to get your shirt/shirts. You can switch out sizing if necessary, but mine were true to size. After you get your gear, you then enter the shopping/display section of the Expo. Lots of cool booths and displays to check out and the race merchandise is amazing. You also can get your wrist bands for beer so you don’t have to mess around with them on race day and also check in for your VIP experience if you opted for it, or Run Club if you signed up as one like we did. Run the Rock ended up being the 3rd largest club in attendance which scored us some cool perks, extra beer tickets, 2 VIP passes and a free entry into a 2020 race for a member the group – we’ll be doing a drawing for it, fingers crossed I score it!!
Saturday morning was race day for the Marathon and the Half Marathon. Since we were able to walk to the start this year, I got to sleep in a bit. Once we made it down the .25 miles to the start, everything was really well organized. The Waves were clearly marked and there was music playing to pump us up. Lots of port-a-potties on site, or several of the hotels had their lobbies open. The national anthem was sung a few minutes before the race start and then we headed into the corrals to take position.
You may recall, I had a HUGE goal of shaving at least 5 minutes off my last year finishing time to run my first sub-2 Hour Half. The plan was to find the 2 hour pacer and become their BFF. Well, right before the start… PANIC! I couldn’t find the pacer! So I made a rash decision to fall in with the 4 Hour Marathon Pace Group, who was clearly visible. BEST DECISION EVER!! They were the Party Pace Group for sure! We had a freaking BLAST. The miles seemed to just disappear with hardly any effort with this group. The pacer, Emmy, was a local and kept us entertained the whole way and right on pace. I met this awesome guy from Russia that we ended up exchanging info later to keep in touch. One guy was running his first marathon. Another was from near me. I’ll be honest, I was kind of sad to leave them at the split at 11.5 miles as the marathon turned left and the half kept on to the finish. I ended us sticking around after my finish in order to cheer them as they crossed the finish line. Nothing like running 11.5 miles together to turn strangers into besties! Just one of the reasons I love running.
Okay, let me back up just a sec to mention the course. It’s awesome. You run through some really nice areas of Savannah including the beautiful historic district. The course is super flat with really only 2 hills that I can remember, near the start and finish, but they were super tame compared to what I am used to running. Spectators line the course and every 2 miles or so there is a band to keep you going. There are lots of aid stations with water and Gatorade Endurance and a few have SiS gels even, so if you don’t want to carry at all during the race you don’t have to. Especially near the end of race, there are spectators that give out beer, water and other beverages to help motivate. For example, my Russian friend had a Tequila shot at mile 11. And one of my friends thought he was grabbing a water and nope, it was Vodka! It was a surprise, but he did hit a new Half PR so…
So, how did I do? Did I meet me goal? YES!!!! I am crazy excited to say that I shaved almost 9 whole minutes off my time for a 1:56:50 finish!!! I was pretty stunned actually when I crossed the finish! Months of hard work had paid off in a big way. It was so amazing. The whole walk down the finisher chute, I just kinda zoned out as people gave me a medal, took my picture and handed me drinks (water, Gatorade, chocolate milk and pineapple juice) and snacks (pretzels, trail mix and fruit cups). By the time I got out of the chute, I snapped back to reality and started looking for my friends to celebrate!
Since we were a part of a Run Club, we got an extra beer ticket and a tent in an area near the stage to set up plus access to the foam rolling area. It was pretty awesome. We hung out, laughed, drank and stretched. Then I took a quick stroll around Foresyth park, which is so beautiful and headed back to the finisher area to cheer on my Marathon friends. After, it was a short walk back to the hotel (just over a mile) and we stopped for coffee on the way. It was an AMAZING race day.
Sunday was the 5K, which took place at Daffin Park a bit later in the day, 12:30, which was to get to sleep in. Since it was a bit further from our hotel (3 miles) we had to drive over, but there was plenty of parking. Just like the Saturday races, the event was super well organized. Since it was at a Baseball Stadium (Go, Savannah Bananas), there was plenty of clean bathrooms. Waves were clearly marked and there was an organized stretching session to get everyone ready to race. The course was BEAUTIFUL, the whole thing lined with trees covered in Spanish Moss in a residential neighborhood. Again it was very flat and a fast course, and easy one to PR on, which, I didn’t push due to my big PR the day before, but instead ran it with a friend who did PR it! There was a water station around the halfway point and the course was very clearly marked. The finish was in the baseball stadium which was fun to do the final bit on the baseline to the cheering spectators in the stands. Like the Saturday races, there was a band playing at the finish and lots of beverage/snack options in the finisher chute. You also got a beer ticket with your bib. And because we ran both a Saturday and Sunday race, we got a 3rd medal for completing the Remix Challenge!!
We decided to stick around for an extra day this year in order to not have to rush back and drive in the dark and it was an awesome decision. After grabbing our beer, and cheering on the ones who ran the 5K, we hung out in the stands to cheer on the 1 Miler finishers and also to watch the Kids Rock races that were a part of the weekend of events this year. It was so much fun and a beautiful day. And the kids were so much fun to watch!
All in all, a truly amazing weekend. I left with a new Half Marathon PR, 3 awesome medals and some AMAZING memories!
Full disclosure – I have actually already registered for 2 of the races for next year already!