Shamrock Shuffle Half Marathon + GIVEAWAY!

Happy Monday everyone!  This weekend I ran a half marathon in the nearby town of Harmony, Pennsylvania.  This was actually my first time visiting the town, and I'm absolutely in love!  The town is so adorable and full of history, so I know that I'll have to come back again.  The race gave me a great chance to see the beautiful sights of the town, but now I want to explore all of the cute little stores.  Today, I'll be sharing my race recap (and there's also a giveaway at the end of the post!)

There are three different distances offered in this race, and you have the choice to run all three!  There's a half marathon, 5k and mile, but I decided to just stick with the half.  The race is advertised as one of the hardest courses in the Tri-State area, so I wanted to play it safe.

The race bag was absolutely amazing!  Along with the normal flyers and coupons, we also got a long sleeve cotton shirt, green gloves, Cocoa Elite protein powder, and a loaf of homemade cinnamon swirl bread (which is AMAZING).  

This is by far the smallest half marathon that I've ever run.  There were 199 finishers, so this was definitely a different experience for me.  Just a few things to note if you ever plan to run this race:

- There are no pacers or clocks out on the course
- There were no bathrooms along the course
- The roads were all still open, so occasionally a car would drive by.  This wasn't really an issue since it's a small town and there weren't a lot of cars, just something to keep in mind and keep an eye (and ear) out while you're running!
- I didn't see any gels at the water stops, but there was plenty of water and sports drink available.  The volunteers were all great!
- There's also a unique water stop at the top of the "big hill" at the halfway point in the race.  Not only was there green beer, but also jell-o shots and keg stands available!
- There is a lot of parking available all around the town square.  We parked in the Grace Church parking lot (where the packet pickup was) and there were plenty of spots available when we got there around 6:30.  Before the race started, I hung out inside of the church to stay warm, and also use the porta johns that were outside.  There were about 4 of them and no mat at the starting line, so plan accordingly and make sure you get to the starting line when the gun goes off!
- The finish line area had tons of food and drinks!  There was the usual water and Gatorade, along with French Toast, hot cocoa, and random snacks.  It was a great spread!

Overall this race was organized extremely well and all of the volunteers were so enthusiastic which is so important for runners.  There was always clear communication from the race director as well so there were no surprises or confusion on race day.  It was really different for me to run a smaller long distance race, but it was a really relaxing and enjoyable experience and I think great preparation for the Gettysburg Marathon, and I would highly recommend this race!  Now, let's get into my mile-by-mile breakdown.

Miles 1, 2, 3

[8:44, 8:34, 8:40]

Listed to : Modern Love podcast

Fuel : None

The race started right on time in the town square of Harmony, and does a few loops around the "downtown" area.  There are quite a few out and back areas in this first section, but luckily it's relatively flat.  I knew that there were hills in the middle portion of the race, so I tried to start a little faster to build up time.  I know this isn't always the smartest race strategy, but luckily it worked out!  There were a lot of turns in this first section, but the course was well-marked and every intersection had a volunteer to point you in the right direction.

Mile 4, 5, 6

[8:53, 8:36, 9:36]

Listened to : Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me podcast

Fuel : Water @ Mile 5

Around mile 4 , we headed out a country road that bordered a golf course and a little creek.  This is also where the course started to get a bit hilly and challenging (as you can see by my slower miles!)  Climbing up Textor Hill Road was really challenging, but the amazing view made it worth it.  Just check out the mountains in the background!  It was absolutely gorgeous. 

Here's a shot of "the hill" that everyone talked about.  It was super steep- the kind of hill that's just as hard running down because you constantly have to brake when you run so you don't lose control and fall!  A few of the sections were really steep and I walked up them, but in general I tried to keep running even if it was really slow.  This was pretty much the only section of the race where I was passing people which kept me motivated!

Mile 7, 8, 9

[9:47, 8:45, 8:34]

Listened to : This American Life podcast

Fuel : Water @ Mile 9

We got to the final turn-around at mile 8 and headed back down that monster hill.  We also passed by the jell-o shot/keg stand water stop again and I used all my will-power to pass it by.  After the huge down-hill, it was mostly rolling hills to get back to the start.  All of the hills that seemed so large on the way out seemed tiny now after tackling The Hill!  I also enjoyed the beautiful scenery at this point of the race.  Harmony is in such a beautiful area with rolling hills and fields all around and bridges that cross over the Connoquenessing Creek.  This is definitely my running happy place, so it made me fall in love with this race (despite the steep hills!)

Mile 10, 11, 12, 13.1

[9:11, 8:26, 8:45, 7:59]

Listened to : Music

MO- Kamikaze

David Guetta- Hey Mama
Selena Gomez- Me and My Girls
Justin Bieber- Sorry (Latino Remix)
O.T. Genesis- The Flyest
Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train
Pitbull- Bad Man

Fuel : Water @ Mile 11

We finally came back into the town and ran around the downtown area again.  Dan was able to get this great picture, and I was still feeling good!  I was having a little bit of stomach issues (which is why you see that I didn't take any fuel except for water, even though I brought dates and gels).  This didn't seem to affect me at all, and I had no energy issues during the race!  Overall, I was feeling relaxed and relatively good the entire race.  The main road that we ran on was pretty slanted, which caused some pain in my right leg, but with all things considered I can't really complain!

Overall Time : 1:54:34

Overall Pace : 8:45/mile

This is another confidence-building race!  The past few weeks have been discouraging for me and I've been contemplating not doing the full marathon, but this gave me some hope back.  The fact that I was able to set a new PR in the half marathon on such a challenging course was absolutely unexpected.  Now I'm getting excited to see how I can do in the full.  If you're looking for a challenging but beautiful race to try next year- I would recommend the Shamrock Shuffle!

Giveaway!!

The great people at Case App (check out my review here) have offered to give away a free phone case to one of my readers!  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below and I'll pick a winner on Friday, and announce it in my post that day. (If you aren't interested in the giveaway, just let me know if your comment!)

Anyone else have a race this weekend?
What is your "running happy place"?
What did you do this weekend?
linking up with Holly, Tricia and Katie