Healdsburg Inaugural Wine Country Half Marathon (Read 535 times)

This weekend I enjoyed an absolutely beautiful HM +1 mi run in perfect conditions. Unfortunately, the organization was a total disaster (and this from a professional outfit that charged $85 for the run), but it didn't put a damper on the fun! Healdsburg is a cute small town with typical wine-country flair - plenty of fine and casual dining options, both of which I enjoyed over the weekend. Lodging is pricey in the area, everything was booked when I called - the tiny mom 'n' pop motel I finally found was a relative bargain at $125 a night! The race expo on Friday ended at 5:30 pm and there was no way I could make it there on time, but there was an option (for $10) to pick up your stuff at the starting line on Saturday morning. I anticipated a lot of people would choose the am pickup option, so I got there early and - oh dear was I right - it was a zoo! But here's the kicker - our race packets weren't there! We all stood around shivering for an hour, finally about 20 min before the scheduled start the packets arrived...and there were not nearly enough staff to deal with what appeared to be a couple hundred runners! Needless to say, that wasn't workin' - so everyone mobbed the table, organized the packets, and got it all squared away almost in time for the start. The start was delayed a bit, and in the end it was no big deal. Let's hear it for teamwork! By start time, I was shivering so hard I stabbed myself getting my number on, but then we were quickly on our way, and the variety of costumes kept my mind off my frozen fingers and toes. I think my favorite was a young lady who I thought might be Bacchus (hey, it's wine country), but the wearer assured me she was Pheidippides. I later caught up to one woman and finally figured it out: "oh, you're a clown!" I exclaimed... "And it's no laughing matter!" she admonished There was one really weird dude... We came up behind a guy with headphones who kept sort of...well... grunting....and yelling at himself (I guess that's what he was doing) - "C'mon!" - "HAH!"..."GO!!"...he sort of freaked us out, so we beat feet to get away from him. That was only about 5 mi in, I don't know if he made it to the finish, I didn't see him again...poor guy... A couple miles into the course, we headed toward the Dry Creek Valley "appellation" (yup, that's what we call 'em now here in California), following a small country road, West Dry Creek Rd. Along the course we would eventually pass 21 wineries, some well-known (Ridge!), but most were tiny little outfits run by gentleman and family farmers. Once in awhile, you could catch a whiff of fermenting wine - the crush was just a couple of weeks ago. At mile 6, one of the wineries offered thimblefuls of wine: a dry grenache rose and a sauvignon blanc - yes, I indulged and the dry rose was quite good. They also had samples of organic honey - sort of a primitive version of gel, right? It sure hit the spot! There wasn't much in the way of spectating, however the donkey that brayed enthusiastically around mi 8 gave a lot of us a laugh and a nice boost. My on-again/off-again training partner and I trotted along at an easy pace, passing several people (a new experience for me), and I was feeling so good my partner had to keep reminding me to slow down! I guess the beauty of the place and the perfect weather was going to my head...or was it the wine and honey? The course rolled easily up and down along West Dry Creek Rd. until about mi 10, then we turned onto a slightly busier road and eventually made our way to a large park where the organizers had set up a small festival that was primarily a wine tasting festival. There was supposed to be a 15 mi option, but when we got to the half marathon finish line, no one knew where the course went (another oopsy on the organizers' part), so we just ran around the park near the finish to get our scheduled 14. Glancing at my watch, I matched my previous HM PR and could have easily PRd, hey maybe next time. Total 14 mi at 10:40 pace and average heartrate of 139 on a rolling course, I could have run another few miles no problem... I'm a happy camper about all of that! At the finish you turned in a coupon off your bib in exchange for a wine glass, so you could sample wines from maybe a dozen local wineries (from Dry Creek where we'd been running, and also Alexander Valley), one brewery (Anderson Valley), and check out a few vendors. It was odd to have wine at 10 am but I guess when you've been up since 4:30 it's sort of like 5 pm - ok so I don't have an excuse but it was a ton o' fun. Male and female winners got small cash awards and double magnums, age-class winners got regular 750 ml bottles of wine, and there were costume awards as well. I had a chance to chat with one of the race organizers, they were well aware of the problems - I hope they get their act in gear. This is the group: http://www.destinationraces.com/ - I have no idea what their other races are like, hopefully they are organized better than Healdsburg was this year. I suspect they WILL get it together, but even if not I'd recommend this one simply for the stunning setting. I think it was more than simply me having a good day that made for an outstanding run. Arla

Fun stuff! Congrats!

Sounds like a nice race if you like wine Good job on your run.

Hey that sounded like fun. I was going to run that race but I didn't get back from travelling in time and instead ended up in Livermore on Sunday to race. At least you guys got free wine! Good job on your run.

Congratulations, Arla! It sounded like you had a fantastic time. You're going to do great in your marathon. Yes, the Napa Valley is a beautiful area. I love stopping there and wandering around whenever we go to the Bay Area. Used to be members (is that what it's called?) of St. Helena Winery. They don't sell their wine on the open market, but if you ever come across a bottle, I highly recommend giving a try. Very good.

Way to Go Arla! Sounds like you had fun and what a beautiful area for a run!!!

Great report - very descriptive. Thanks! I *almost* came to do the full version of this race (did you notice a full marathon option? They were supposed to have one). The website was kind of sparse and I was wondering how the org would turn out. There was also an enviro-sports trail marathon on the Napa side on Saturday. It made for a great double opportunity.

SR- there was no full this year. The organizers put on three events in California, all of them are HM only, so I don't anticipate a full becoming an option. I know the half is too easy for you I think (hope) the organization will improve, the people I talked to were painfully aware that things had gone very badly. Arla