Rock n Roll Savannah 1/2 Marathon Race Report

There is so much to tell about the Savannah Rock n Roll ½ marathon that I almost don’t know where to start. As many of you know, I ran this race as a member of Team in Training and raised over $1600 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I surpassed my fundraising goal and ran this race in honor of my friend Melissa, a young mother of three who is currently battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma.  Another special aspect of this race was running it with my good friend Lorraine of Run Wifey Runas part of her Race & Relax on the road series. With Race & Relax we were treated like VIPs and the food – outstanding! But I’m getting ahead of myself.We (Lorraine, her sister Nicole and partner Christie) hit this road on Friday morning to Savannah and made it in by 2:15pm.

They dropped me off at my TNT hotel and I got settled in fairly quickly because I was warned that expo crowds would be thick. The Savannah Rock n Roll brought over 23,000 people to Savannah and the expo was on an island accessible by one bridge if you were traveling by car. I had no problem because the ferry over to the Expo stopped at my hotel and primarily folks staying at the hotel boarded so I was on the first ferry. Sadly, so many people were stuck in traffic on the bridge that the expo ended up extending hours.The expo was crowded but despite leaving my paperwork in my room I was finished with picking up my race number and gear bag within ten minutes – I found the system to be very efficient. The expo itself was very crowded. I stopped by the TNT booth to make a

sign for Melissa and later headed to a t-shirt decorating party hosted by the American Cancer Society. They were the primary sponsor of Race and Relax events but sadly the traffic kept most of the people from getting to the decorating. We had enough time to meet Allison and head back to meet at the restaurant for dinner.At dinner I connected with the 14 other women running with Race and Relax, ranging from first time ½ marathoners to two very experienced ladies – Sara and Darlene who ran the full marathon. We had a wonderful dinner at The Charter House and were surprised by the American Cancer Society and the Competitor Group with passes to the Rock n Roll VIP tents and a visit from John “The Penguin” Bingham.

I retreated to my room at about 8:30 and got out all of my gear for race day. I was representing TNT in full purple and my race singlet I decorated with five butterflies – 3 large ones for Melissa, Je’naya (Jennae’s daughter, my 6 year old honored hero from last year in remission) and Peyton (Anissa’s daughter who beat cancer), I also had two small butterflies representing my Aunt Helen and cousin George who succumbed to cancer.

It was lights out at 10:30pm but I did not sleep well. When my alarm rang at 4:55 am I had just gotten in a twenty minute nap. But I still felt refreshed and dressed quickly.

    

Winner of best dressed with my purple Team Sparkle skirt!

I took a few photos with my TNT team and then headed to the VIP area at the Hyatt to enjoy a breakfast of a bagel with peanut butter and a banana.

Ladies of Race & Relax at Breakfast

After a bathroom break I headed out with Lorraine, Shannon and Kimberly for our corrals. We ended up at the back of corral 9 and crossed the start line about 15 minutes after the first corral.  I decided to try something new and stick with Lorraine for this race. I debated over doing intervals for the first 10 minutes and when Lorraine caught up to me I decided to just go for intervals. My BEST decision ever.  We did 3 minute run/ 1 minute walk intervals and we were hauling ass! It was the greatest feeling to push myself hard during the runs knowing I’d have a minute to recover.Savannah is a nice flat race route and the music along the way was EXCELLENT motivation. But even more than that, the people from the communities that we ran were so supportive. When I say we were in the hood, we were DEEP in the hood but folks were outside early in the morning cheering us on, praising the Lord and encouraging us every step of the way. The prettiest and most memorable area was mile nine when the crowd was ten deep on both sides of the street and the Spanish moss was hanging from the Oak trees. It was so warm and inviting.

I planned on PR‘ing (personal record) this race and I hyped Lorraine up to go for it. Well, we did! At mile 11 I told Lorraine to keep going, I needed to slow my pace. She kept it moving and I did the last few miles on my own. In hindsight I wish I’d kept pushing myself but overall I am happy with my showing. I did PR and crossed the finish line with a time of 2:30:22! And as I crossed the announcer called out my name and I felt like I won the race – because as I tell my son, everyone that crosses that finish line is a winner!

Lorraine PR’d as did my friend Nadia and both Sara and Darlene PR’d in their marathons! I highly recommend this race to first timers, I am sure they will have the logistics worked out. After the race I checked in the Team in Training and headed to the VIP tent to meet up with the ladies of Race and Relax. I had a celebratory mimosa and then walked back to my hotel (waiting on the shuttle was nonsensical, the line was WAY long and no one was able to tell me where my shuttle was located).  After a few stretches and a shower I took a quick nap and then headed across the street for the Race & Relax celebratory luncheon.

AWESOME!!!!

We were showered with gifts a trophy, race entry from DeterminNation,  GoSport ID bracelets, Degree women (my deodorant of choice), wine from the Wine Sisterhood and more goodies than I can mention! The food was fabulous and the company even better! I loved experiencing the Race & Relax event with Nadia, Dorethea, Shannon, Sonja, Rachel, Lindsey, Kelsie, Christie,Yvette, Darlene, Pam, Kimberly, Nicole and of course our fearless leader – Lorraine!