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What is your FAVORITE half marathon? (Read 1653 times)

Fiftystateshalf


    Tell us about your favorite half marathon and why it's your favorite.  From location, to scenery, to how well the race is ran, to swag, course, after-party, etc.


    an amazing likeness

      Why do I have to pick one?

      What if I haven't yet discovered my favorite?

      Favorite this year, or favorite of all time?

      Favorite in what sense...course, size, location, scenary, time of day for the start time, how well I ran?

      What if someone posts that their favorite is a race I think sucks?

      Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

        My favorite half marathon is probably New Bedford. It's a no-frills race in a blue-collar town with a fast course and a fast field. It's a mostly urban course and it's usually windy and cold as the race is run in March. There are no frills, no swag and the "after party" consist of eating fish chowder out of a styrofoam bowl in a school gymnasium.

        Runners run

        BeeRunB


          New Bedford Half Marathon in New Bedford, MA. Reasonable and sane price for a half marathon. Challenging due to the wind and long hill in the final mile. Course begins and ends in the same place. Great post race food. Reasonable size. It's well-organized. Easy parking close to start.

            SmuttyNose HM at Hampton  Beach, NH (late Sept or Early Oct)....

             

            Fast - flat - and about 2,500 HM runners so it's a decent sized field.    You run on back roads for a lot of the race and then the last 5 miles are right along the Atlantic.....great scenery...

             

            After the race is all  the 'SmuttyNose' Beer you can drink (which for me is ONE beer)....food and a rock back playing your favorite old hit....

             

            Put on the the LOCO Runners ----- just a great race and a fun day......

            Champions are made when no one is watching

            npaden


              My favorite so far is the only one I've run in! Wink

              Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)

              Current PR's:  Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)


              A Saucy Wench

                Helvetia Half Marathon.  (Hillsboro Oregon)

                 

                I think for me it is a combo of the course -rolling to serious hills through mostly country and the timing -weekend closest to my birthday which means guilt free birthday cake that night and also it tends to be good running weather that time of year here.   The organization is good and the finish line food is ok. 

                I will admit that last year I started feeling it was getting too big.  I either need to get faster again (I'm pretty smack dab in the hobby jogger lets run a half with 50 of your closest friends pace right now) or find a new favorite because I hate running in a crowd the whole way. 

                I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                 

                "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                  My favorite half is usually the one I just finished. So, this weekend it is the Monumental Half Marathon in Indianapolis - fast and flat, nice and cool, nice gender specific shirt, great medal with a really nice ribbon, and they give all finishers a sock hat at the end. This race is getting big - but so far they are handling the crowds well.

                   

                  And today I ran the Bowling Green Half, (BG26.2 Full, KY) inaugural race. Awesome swag pre-race - long sleeve tech shirt, mug, lunch bag, bumper sticker - all in a drawstring bag; all finishers got a medal, and a sack of food as they crossed the finish line (I think this is brilliant - after yesterday's half I was practically juggling all the post race food people were shoving at me - I had to say no to most of it because I couldn't carry it all) - also had a plastic cup with the logo on it for beer.

                   

                  Both were well marked courses with great volunteers.

                   

                  MTA: The 1/2 today also had 5x7 photographs of runners already printed and ready for purchase at the finish - 3 for $20. Nice touch if it was a moment you really wanted to capture.

                    Long Branch Half Marathon in Long Branch, NJ, crowd is super supportive the entire time.


                    Mmmmm...beer

                      My favorite so far is the only one I've run in! Wink

                       

                      Same here!  My next one is supposed to be a good one too tho, and both courses put together make up a full that I want to do in the future. Smile

                      -Dave

                      My running blog

                      Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!


                      not lazy, just tired

                        Well, I've only run one so far, so, at this point, I guess I'd have to say that my favorite is the Hartford half. Smile

                        Not if it makes sense.

                          I love my local HM, the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (aka the Mini) in Indianapolis. It's huge, so I'd never try to run it for a PR. Plus I think if you did, you'd be missing out on a lot of the fun. There's a ton of entertainment along the course: bands, people with sound systems, even dancers. Lots of spectators, with plenty of little kids to high five. Cowbell. Festival princesses and cheerleaders at many of the water stops, for those who are into such things (I've done this event 5 times with my son, who was aged 12-16...we slowed down to high-five a lot of cheerleaders along the way!). Anyway, my take is that you should do it for the experience: slow down now and again to take it in instead of putting your head down, ignoring everything, and trying for a record.

                           

                          It's great for a beginner, as the course is super flat and there are a lot of aid stations. And if you're into Indy racing, you get to do a lap around the Speedway. 


                          Maggie & Molly

                            New Bedford Half Marathon.  Relatively cheap, tons and tons of good food afterward, pretty decent fan participation along the route. But, not an easy race by any means, windy along the water, hills near the beginning and at the last mile (of course it is my first 1/2 and my hometown too) 

                             

                            I"m also glad to see it is the fav of others!!

                             

                            MTA:  it is held on St. Patrick's Day and in this area the weather can be anything from 40-50's to snow to rain.  You just never know!

                             "It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop."
                            Wisdom of Confucius

                            HF 4363

                            FlippyNoodle


                            Not a dude

                              I have only done one, but I can say that the medal from the Route 66 in Tulsa, OK is pretty badass. I don't have any basis for comparison on the other elements, but overall I found it to be an enjoyable experience for my first half. Well, except for that whole running while my legs felt like they were on fire part. Smile

                                I can't name 1, but some do stand out that I have run. My favorite HM finish would be the Detroit HM when it finished in Ford Field. I guess overall it would be Montreal, the one I ran last April, much of the course is on a formula 1 race track. Very flat course with nice river front and city skyline views. Lake Placid has to get a mention for Adirondack views & atmosphere. Plus my HM PR is here, although it is far from a PR course, I just had a good hair day. The Eastern States 20 miler (New Hampshire Seacoast in late March) has an accompanying HM, I always run the 20, but if I ran the HM that would be near the top. Love the course. Flat but obviously the weather can make things more adventurous then optimally desired being a seacoast run in March.

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