Wineglass Half Marathon 2024
I’ve looked at Wineglass (WG) for several years now and decided that 2024 was the year to sign up. I debated the Half versus the Full, with a goal of a new PR for either. My Half PR would be 5.5 years old by race day versus one Full in my history: Goofy 2020. I opted for the Half, with a “B” goal of a PR and an “A” goal of sub-2 hours, which would be almost 8 minutes faster than my existing PR.
Registration was easy, although I ended up making 2 transactions when only 1 was needed: 1 for race registration and 1 for preorder merchandise. It was nice that WG makes many items available for prepurchase, with online photos of what they look like, and they ship once all items purchased are in-stock. By June (I think) my merch had arrived.
For the Half, I selected the VIP upgrade, which means a small private motorcoach instead of the fleet of school buses transporting the thousands of other runners. At least half of that fee goes to scholarships for local runners, which is why I did it.
The expo opened at 11am on Friday October 4th. I was coming into town from Pennsylvania up Route 15, so it was easy to turn east instead of west and get off Route 17 at exit 46 and head to the expo, which was held at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG). There were race expo signs on the walkway to the museum and in the main lobby. Staff noticed my rD Wine and Dine shirt and asked if I was there for the expo. Down the stairs, through the store, a left turn, and I was walking up to the expo, which was held in the auditorium of CMOG.
The 5k packet pickup and M/HM pacer group information desks were outside the auditorium. Once inside the auditorium it was impossible to miss the overhead digital sign for packet pickup. Each race had its own queue: HM on the left and M on the right. It was between 2 and 3 in the afternoon and neither side had a line. They asked me my name, and then started gathering my stuff. There was a backpack with reflective strips on it that had handles which also make it a nice tote, a stemless wineglass, a split of Pleasant Valley Wine Company champagne with a special race label on it, gear check bag, bib pins, my VIP bib, the coveted WG quarter zip (thumbholes and watch slits in both arms), and a surprise VIP gift: a nice stadium blanket with the race weekend logo embroidered on it.
There were a handful of vendors. I bought a jacket from one that is bright red and converts into a vest. WG merch was nice: shot glasses, pilsner glasses (I think), clothes from Nike, Craft, and Asics, hats, sweatshirts, vests, and more. From parking lot arrival to walking to and from the museum, the expo, and walking back to my car it was an hour, maybe 90 minutes tops.
Communication started about a week prior to the race. The first email noted the event guide was posted. Then I got one for VIP runners with details about pickup: where (Wegmans parking lot) and when (0600 prompt, and I’ll tell you now they meant it). Here’s where I learned there’d be VIP bathrooms. And 2 local hosts on the bus to give us tips and answer questions. On Friday a 2nd VIP email arrived, and I learned that the way I’d planned to come into Corning Sunday was not the route they said to take. An email to clarify was replied to very promptly, and I made plans to get off at the CMOG exit again, head south, turn right onto Denison Parkway.
I might’ve gotten 5 hours of sleep Saturday night, and finally got up 20 minutes early at 0300. It was the coldest morning I’d experienced in months: about 45-48 degrees at dad’s place on Keuka Lake. But not too bad (yet). By 0420 I was on my way, travelling a familiar route that I knew would take about an hour. But there was fog; lots of fog. And a few animals scurrying to and fro in the fog to keep alert for. About halfway there, I passed the start of the marathon in Bath. Signs for the race parking in Bath were already out. I got on Route 17 and headed east. The fog thickened. I was doing at least 10 under the speed limit the whole way to Corning. I stopped at a rest stop just west of Corning, and found it was colder there. About 41-43 degrees.
Just south of CMOG, you could see the buses lined up to take runners to the start. The M and HM share the same course, with the HM starting 30 minutes prior to the M to give us time to clear a late-race choke point.
Bridge Street was heavily coned off and blocked just past the south Wegmans entrance due to the course coming over the bridge on its southbound way to Market Street. 3 small school buses in the parking lot were for the bicycle course workers maybe? And 1 motorcoach that would seat about 36. Turned out the M VIP bus wasn’t there yet, so everyone was in the HM bus trying to keep warm. Our hosts showed up, called to check on the M bus status, and helped Wegmans load the snacks promised in the letter. At 0558 the call went out “2 minutes to doors closing!” At 0600 promptly (as advertised) we were on our way to Campbell. Each runner got a snack box containing: 500mL bottle of water, whole bagel, Luna bar, peanut butter squeeze packet, and a banana. Not wanting to eat all that I gave mine to some of the volunteers at the school where the start was.
The VIP bus had a reserved parking spot, a small tent next to it for stretching, and 3 porta-potties with VIP only signs on them and a couple of volunteers checking for VIP bibs for those using them. Our hosts gave us information about the 2024 racecourse detour due to a bridge out for construction and about the overall course layout.
As per Billy’s plan, I did a leisurely 10-minute run about 45 minutes before the 0745 start. I felt ok but chilly, which he’d predicted. Under normal race plans I’d have been wearing more than shorts, calf sleeves, a hat, short sleeved shirt, and light throw-away gloves. But the plan was if cold now, ok later. The fog hinted at lifting, but then came right back in just as heavy.
There were no corrals or queues, but there were pacers with signs, and folks seemed to be lining up based off them. I saw a pacer wearing a red flannel bathrobe. But it was almost time, and folks were doffing their clothes as fast as possible for the race start. Some local kids sang the National Anthem and there were announcements. A speaker for the PA was near me and very loud.
I started right in front of the 2-hour pacer, who was keeping warm via a plastic garbage bag. Next to me was someone in a 2014 Hershey Half Marathon shirt. We stuck up a conversation and talked about Hershey races, the fact that we both live in southern Pa, and the York Road Runners Winter Series.
We ran north to begin the race, under Route 17, and then east. After that the direction is a bit of a blur, as the map says we went east but it felt like we were going west at times. Maybe it was the fog. I tried to settle in at the 0858-0906 target pace for mile 1, but it was crowded, and I was going about 0930. Since I felt good, I told myself it was ok to speed up, which I did but it didn’t feel like that much more effort. This was a good sign.
The locals are very supportive of the race, but I think the fog kept some inside their homes or on their porches. But there were still regular groups out, some with their dogs, and some with their own unofficial water stops. There was one around mile 7-8 where I noticed they had beer among the water. Keystone Light and Genessee Light, if I saw correctly. I said to no one, “they have beer there!” A man running to my left said in reply, “you saw it too?”
I stayed ahead of the 2-hour pacer until the first water stop, which I think was about mile 3. There was a mass of back and forth as runners tried to get the Huma Lemonade or water, and the pacer got ahead of me. The pack of runners with him regularly numbered around 20, I’d say, and they sometimes took up the width of the course. I kept them within 20 seconds or so and told myself to keep to my pace and not worry about them, as I heard him say the pacing team’s goal is slightly faster than their posted sign. I didn’t want to burn energy early keeping someone else’s pace. But at miles 1 and 2 I heard the pack telling him he was nailing the goal pace. And I was keeping my goal pace and not feeling tired.
We approached the Painted Post exit of Route 17, during mile 8, which had been closed in both directions for the race, and I got past the pacer again in the leadup to it. My plan was to find a water stop opportunity to get past him and his pack on the left as they darted to the refreshments on the right. And it worked: I got ahead of them, still keeping to my goal pace, but knowing Billy said to maintain through the first 8 miles, be aware of a slight incline in mile 8, and then do a self-check to see if it was time to start pushing a little. As Billy said, “the goal is sub-2…not to see how fast you can be today”. The pace group enveloped me as we neared Route 17 and I let them sweep past me and up the incline. Fortunately, there was a downhill after that and I gained back the time I’d slowed for the incline.
The next thing on my mind was time to ditch the gloves. They’d done their job. I found a family holding signs near a school and tossed them the gloves and said, “enjoy them”. The girl on the receiving end wasn’t sure what just happened but the Mom told her I was giving her my gloves. They were free gloves from a vendor as thanks for our understanding of a quality issue years before. They had very reflective letters across the knuckles. This was around mile 9-10 and I think the sun was finally starting to win over the fog at this point. But we were on a park path and I was more focused on my pace. Around mile 11 it was time to say goodbye to my small bottle of orange Gatorade. I’d been taking cups of water at the stations, pinching them to a point, and topping off the bottle as best I could, but it was time to drop that into a trash box. My pace had been holding consistently in the 0900-0908 range, and I was able to start speeding up without feeling like I was pushing hard. The whole race I just kept knocking down miles at target pace and not really tiring. And I was reeling in the pacer again. His pack had dwindled to about 6 by the mile 12 flag. We were on Hillvue Avenue, and I could see the Bridge Street bridge. Left, short distance, right, and then…
Right on Bridge, Left on Market. That’s the saying on the jacket lining (among other things). It was also a phrase uttered by the VIP hosts on the drive to the start. I turned right onto Bridge Street and made a line to the left side of the bridge to cut distance. It was here that the pacer went permanently into the rear view mirror on my right. I was gaining on people ahead of me on the bridge. Once across the bridge, I saw my car at Wegmans and hugged the left on Market. They said you could see the finish line banner from the turn, but I couldn’t make it out. I saw 2 stop lights and maybe the banner. I’d calculated it must be about 0.5 miles to the finish at this point. I sped up again and changed my Garmin face from lap (so I could see my average pace for that mile) to overall. This was the first time all race I had any idea where I stood relative to the goal. I’d done my best to keep focusing on 1 mile at a time. And I was at 1:56. A little tired for math at the time, all I knew was that it was going to happen. I got closer to the finish and looked down: 1:58. At the finish I saw I was at 1:59 and something on the race clock. My Garmin said 1:59:08 when I stopped it. I’d done it. And I wasn’t too tired. It was sunny now, but only about 48 degrees. But the south side of the street was firmly in the shade, given the buildings.
It is likely I’ve got the initial finish sequence wrong, but there were people wrapping us in Mylar blankets, then the medals, and then there it was to my left: the PR bell. I got in line and oddly there were no volunteers or race media credential photographers there. Runners were helping each other out: I took photos for the woman ahead of me in line; the guy behind me took mine, and so on. There was self-service ice and wrap. Next up: volunteers handing out “plastic bags for your food”. They pointed out the tent on the right was open on both sides. With the HM sponsor being Wegmans I’d heard stories about this tent.
Coke products, Gatorade bottles, peanut butter on a spoon to grab, apples, bananas (I think), pre-sliced bagels, cookies (multiple flavors), chicken noodle soup, cream of tomato soup, and fresh hot cheese pizza. I took almost everything offered. There were temporary bench seats on the street, but they were low. When I was eating my pizza, a man dropped some of his food in front of me. I tried to help him from the seat, but both upper legs tried to cramp and I had to stop. The entire post-race runners-only area went for a block, I think. Then we crossed the street I came in on from CMOG earlier that morning and the rest of the party stretched for at least another block. The race-specific merchandise vendor was here, so I bought the zip-front hoodie I’d passed on at the expo. The line for bag check pickup was HUGE, and I was glad I hadn’t done that. To the left was the line for the digital boards. They take your BIB number, call it out to someone at a laptop, and then tell you which of 2 boards to stand by. The board displays your name, race, and official time. My official time was 1:59:04. Better than my Garmin, as I’d started it early and late. In the distance were the Guthrie (M sponsor) medical tents. I savored the finish area and experience as I ate my pizza, drank my soup, enjoyed my cookies, and then started the looooooong walk back up Market to Wegmans and my car.
I saw the M winner’s finish as I went, and tried to cheer on runners as they came, now HM and M interspersed, to the finish. It was 0.6 miles back to the car due to some detours you had to take around the race finish line and police vehicles. I changed my shirt, dopped off my medal and bag, and headed to Wegmans. There I bought 2 sushi rolls for meals Sunday afternoon and Monday lunch. I also bought a 4-pack of specially decorated race sugar cookies. An hour’s drive later, back past the mile 1 M banner in Bath and then the M start area to the east, and I was back at dad’s place.
My 2024 Wineglass Half Marathon was everything I’d read about and seen on
YouTube. It was professionally run, organized, with great swag, crowd support, and other helpful runners. The VIP bus was worth the $300 fee for the HM version. I’ve already started working to convince other runners at work to do this race. I can see me doing it again. Maybe the full next time for a PR at that distance. Mrs. is showing interest in the race weekend, too.
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