Need help picking my first Half!

[Mrs D]

Hi Gang!
I am starting to train for my first Half marathon and am having the hardest time picking a race. I have 3 which fit into my timeline and are in my general area. I am not sure why this is such a difficult decision - maybe I want it to be Disney instead .

Here are the races - I'll give links (if you want to look at courses) and my commentary.

1. Egg Shell Shuffle - Hubby just mentioned this one (only added to my indecision). It is the closest to me (so friends would be more likely to come cheer), is in a forest preserve which is appealing. I think some members of my local running club will be there. I'm not sure if this is the first annual but I can't find any race results for last year.
They are giving tech running shorts, I suppose I'd wear them somewhere but I don't run in shorts (I run in skirts), so not a big appeal for me.
There's an Easter Egg Hunt after so my little ones would like that.

2. Southwest Half Marathon - This looks professional, big, but not too big. My 12 min pace won't leave me coming in last on this. It's an out & back on a closed 4 lane road in a wooded area. My Mom doesn't live too far from here (just saying), it's about 50 minutes from me, but it's not a big deal. Biggest motivator - a GENDER specific tech shirt! Not sure what kind of after party, I'm sure there will be something since it's a good sized race.

3. Splish Splash Half - This is an inaugural race, but is being done by a company (never heard of them or their races before though). It starts at a local hotel/water park, run on very busy commercial streets over an expressway, to a huge outlet mall, then back over expressway (I think) to Great America, looks like you run through the park and back to waterpark. I imagine they will have at least part of the street closed. This is the least desirable course to me, though running through the park could be fun (but it's not Disney). I would guess the party after will be cool.
The race is about 40 minutes away from me, friends would maybe come to cheer/run. There are many question marks since it's inaugural.

So there you have it - now tell me - which race is a good first half?

Thanks for weighing in!

 

[jmasgat]

Hmmmm..... Well, I guess it depends on what you want out of the race. Bling? They all have it (this is an important item! ) Scenery? Course layout? Fan support? Goodies? Race extras? (e.g. party, food)

I agree the last one looks least desirable based on your description...plus they have a grammatical error on their page (bugs me, but I know it's irrelevant).

The first two are both out and back courses, which can be sort of boring. I thought the sound of the water stops for the second was interesting "Each of the seven water stations will represent a different holiday. So be sure to stop by each refreshment station to celebrate your favorite holiday as you run the race." Could provide an interesting pick-me-up.

Beyond that it's a toss-up. Seems like they both would work. So....I'm no help!

Good luck picking

Maura

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I won't be much help either I suppose. Bling is always important to me and a deal breaker if no bling. Since they have bling, then I guess you've got some thinking.

Since your thoughts on these are not exactly deal breakers for me here are my first thoughts.

If your friends will actually come out to support you that may be fun. You could have your own cheering squads along the course.

If you won't wear the shorts, but will wear the shirt, then that would be a thought if these are the only things that you are filtering.

Do they have medal pics available? Pick the one with the coolest bling for the first maybe?

See, I told ya, no help at all here...

 

[Mrs D]

Since non of them are too far and I have a pretty supportive group of runner friends I'm hoping a few will come out regardless of proximity. Hubby, kids & Mom will certainly come, maybe hubby can even jump in with me but it'll be like going snails pace for him.
There is a pick of a medal on the Egg Shell page, but I can't tell if that's their real medal of just a stock photo (Ok, I just emailed them to find out). The Southwest Half medal is not very attractive.
But honestly I am leaning towards the Southwest for the female tech shirt. I think it's so appealing because so many race are just Tshirts (I've mostly done 5k's up to now) and when I do get a tech shirt it looks just wrong on my body.

 

[fashionista311]

in addition to what everyone else had said..i would also try and see which race has better crowd support (strangers cheering for you when you have to dig deep to get through the last few miles is really helpful imo) and also if any of them have any pro photographers on course (after all, you only get your first half marathon finish once!)

it's also helpful to look through last year's results if they are available so you can see where you might fall in the pack. i did a handful of local races as part of training runs this summer. the middle of the pack finished in the 8 minute/9 minute area...so while i wasn't the last one coming in, it was definitely pretty isolated on the course with me in my 10-11 minute training zone, which is something i've never really experienced at a race before. now some people would prefer an empty course, while others like having the support of the other runners in the crowds. personal preference, but something to factor in i think.

whatever you go with will special no matter what...you never forget your first!

 

[MouseDogMom]

The only question that occurred to me is whether the Egg Shell Shuffle is a road course or more of a trail course. Looks like it might be a little of both? I didn't look at the map, but just at the description. That may not matter to you, but if it does, it could sway you even more to the Southwest.

Good luck!

Jackie

 

[cewait]

Shouldn't be all that tough of a decision......

Run ALL

OK maybe not the correct answer but I ended up 2010 with seven half finishes. Not sure what happened.

Back to your quandary... go with your gut. There is no right answer.

Inaugural events are really fun but also fraught with issues. As a first time runner, do you want to come up to mile 9 and find that the water stop is missing? Usually all inaugural events seem to work out well and the added bonus is that once you start with event #1 you can have a perfect streak.

Don’t worry about the after party or any extraneous perk associated with the event. Honestly, if you went for a great after party you would never run Disney. The exception would be shirts (preferably tech) and bling

To firm up your decision print out all three course maps. Look at road surface, elevation gains and course design. If there is no map yet, maybe you should avoid that as a first. If you train on flat ground, do not go for the event with a 2 mile long hill at mile 11. Out and backs are not always a fun event, especially if you start to fade.

You can easily plot an approximate course out on Mapmyrun.com. You will have elevation access and satellite views for road surfaces.



Make your decision based on what you want and then go out and have fun!