A 4:23 am wake up call came mighty early after being at a wedding the night before, but it was well worth it. It was race day!!!!
Meghann and I met up in between our houses, and carpooled over to Callie’s. She lives super close to the race start, so her husband Nate was nice enough to drop us off nice and close to the start! Thanks Nate!!! We were quite bundled and ready for the “feels like” temps in the low 30′s. For a Florida crew, that is straight up cold!
We got down to the start line and we were some of the first people there. It was drearily bare, as everyone was probably smart enough to get out of the cold and wait until the last second to get out there. We posted up beside a dumpster at the Trop. Yep, we kept it classy! We were protected from the wind, and that was all that mattered! Any way to keep warm, and we were fine with it.
I grabbed a few hand warmers from my cold weather gear, and those babies saved me! It kept me warm as Meghann and I were dancing to keep ourselves warm at the start!
Meghann had a goal of 1:45, which rounded out to be 8 minutes per mile and I offered to pace her to help her reach her goal. If you have a goal and find it difficult to stay on pace, I highly recommend asking someone to pace you! It helps to have someone to keep you going! Anyhow, we agreed to keep chatting to an absolute minimum, as Meghann wanted to save her energy for her legs (and ya, she knows I’m a chatter box when I run 
We got into our corral and had tons of room to stretch and warmup. I was quite surprised that the start line was so spacious and not congested in the least bit. Corral 1 was released and we waited about 30 seconds,and then it was our turn! It was the only race start that I did not even once have to tip toe around and get my space. Big win for RNR St. Pete!
The few first half of the race absolutely flew by! The course was nothing crazy great at the beginning (I guess they were saving that for end) but it was definitely not bad. The water stops were evenly spread out, and there were plenty of volunteers!!! We even were able to see Marcus and Emily a few times!
Before I knew it, we were passing the 10 mile mark and only had a 5k to go. I could tell Meghann was starting to feel the faster pace, so I was sure to give her enough space, but also stay close enough so she knew I wasn’t leaving her behind. Needless to say, she kept moving and really kicked some major butt! We crossed the finish line at 1:45:39, right at Meghann’s goal!
Our unofficial finish time
She shaved 6 minutes off her previous time, and came out of RNR St. Pete with a huge PR!!! Congrats Meghann, you did soooo well! I’m proud of you for pushing yourself so hard!
I had a nice 2 mile cool down, and made it back just in time to catch Flo Rida headline the post race concert. We were having so much fun screaming and jumping around, much to our surprise. Meghann even hopped up on stage to sing and dance to “Low”. Such a great way to wrap up a half marathon!!
Brunch followed our amazing race, and we met up with a few other RNR finishers. Congrats to Callie, Katie, and Casey on your first half marathons! You all did sooo well!!!
I am excited to run the race again next year! The staff did a great job with all the logistics, and everything ran soo smoothly, especially for the inaugural year!
The 8 minute pace felt so comfortable for me, and it was such a great confirmation of the work that I have been putting in to my training. I can not wait for Ethel RNR Country Music Marathon!!! Only 9 weeks to go!!
Check out Meghann and Callie’s recap here and here!
Great race!
Great recap, Mary! It was great to see you!
Great to see you too! I loved meeting Eli! He is stinking cute!
so RUNspiring.
Ha ha love it!
Great race, all four of you! I’m glad RnR did such a good job with it – they’ve got this race directing thing down. Sounds like you’re going to be ready to tear it up in Nashville!
I sure hope so! Only 9 weeks to go!
Awesome job pacing! This race was a blast.
I love the beach pic of you guys
You’re going to kick butt at your next race. I hope to be as speedy as you one day!
It really was so much fun! I’m glad you enjoyed it too!!!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! For being my pacer and pushing me when I needed to be pushed. There’s no way I would have crossed that finish line when we did if it wasn’t for you. I owe you times a million
You are welcome!!! I loved pacing you and hanging out all day
Seriously, you kicked major butt! You should be beyond proud of your accomplishment!
RNR races always seem like such fun. How cool that you helped her reach her PR. Love the running community and how we help each other reach our own different goals. We know how big that moment is. Sounds like a great race !
Definitely! She worked hard and really deserved the PR she achieved! The blogging community is the best!
So neat you were able to help Meghann reach her goal! I love that.
Well done being a pacer and it’s incredible to me that your pace felt comfortable – definitely confirmation of hard work. Exciting to look forward to your next race with that in mind!
Absolutely! Meghann did an amazing jo, and didn’t even yell at me once for pushing her
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