My first remix challenge! I figured it couldn’t be too bad doing the mile on the sand the day before the Half Marathon, right? This race was very different compared to anything I’ve run before. I never really ran on the sand (plus I don’t think many people do). I live about 2 hours from the beach, plus trail running is way more fun anyways! Before the race someone was telling me that some people believed the mile on the sand was harder than the half marathon (I’d beg to differ!).

The early morning drive up was beautiful and I was able to catch some of the sunrise. I missed being in this area. I lived out here for 4 years while I was in College so it was good to be back.

The race started at 8:30am at the Oceanfront and 19th street. I left pretty early because I still had to pick up my race packet. They surprisingly had free bag check! (which is so rare). I hung around the starting line area and tried to warm up my legs. I jumped around, jogged back and forth and did some stretches. There were signs set up for the different mile pace groups. While warming up I kept debating which heat to start in. I knew I could run a mile in under 7 minutes, but I was not sure about doing it in the sand. I also did not want to overdo myself since I was running the Half Marathon the very next day. I almost went in the 9 minute in under group, but I decided to play it safe and went with the 8 minutes and under.

I noticed some people were running the race barefoot, but to me it wasn’t worth the risk (plus I’m a pretty big klutz). I always seem to make the funniest facial expressions while running so I chose a couple that were decent looking to put on here.

Pictured below is the starting and finish line. I took this picture after finishing the race. There were so many people doing it, I am glad I started early and got it out of the way. We ran up the beach and back.

At the finish line they gave us our medals and were handing out chips (Yuck!). I was quite disappointed because I was looking forward to a banana ha. They gave us a towel for doing the race (it got pretty wrinkled in my bag, oops!) The sand dollar medal was pretty cool. I was able to get my name and time engraved on the back of it.

It was a good race and was not as hard as I thought it would be. There was a lot of sand being kicked around so I had to be careful with all the runners in front of me. Rankings wise, I did a lot better then I thought I would! I finished the race in 07:32. I was 5th overall female out of 1168 females! Although I did not place in the top 3, it was still quite the accomplishment!