Monday, October 7, 2019

Race Review: Ocean Beach/John & Jessie Kelley Half Marathon 2019


In August I participated in the Ocean Beach/John & Jessie Kelley Half Marathon down in New London, Connecticut. I was searching for a half marathon to round out the summer and came across this one that just so happened to be free for runners. You can read more about the story of the race here, but I thought it was so cool that a race that has been around for as long as this one has still operates solely off donations and that folks who love to race can participate for free if they would like. I donated some money to the race while I was signing up because I thought the initiative was just so cool and something I hadn't seen before. I wanted to keep it alive!




I tried to keep in mind that this race was free as I was evaluating how things were being run. One of the first things that I really noticed was that bib pick up was a little on the chaotic side. There really wasn't a lot of direction as to where to go and how to pick up your bib, so it was pretty overwhelming trying to swim through the crowds and figure out where I was supposed to go. I was a little worried that that was going to be reflective of the entire race, but thankfully that was the only real complaint I had about how the race was managed all day.


Race morning was absolutely gorgeous and sunny, but It was going to be a HOT ONE. That always makes me pretty nervous when I'm running a long distance, but I wasn't really trying to strive for a fast time. I was just there trying to put some miles toward my Newport Marathon training and enjoy the scenery. I opted to take the run super easy and one mile at a time.

The race limits the field to the first 1,000 registrants and it was completely sold out! I love when I'm part of a sell out field. That's how I know I'll be running with folks nearby the entire race. I made some small talk with the runners around me as we awaited the national anthem and did some warm ups and stretches, and before I knew it we were off on the course.


I felt super nauseous for the first three miles of the race. I was honestly questioning whether or not I should take a DNF because the starts just were not aligning for me, but eventually I settled into the race and I started to feel better. I just put one foot in front of the other and kept on trucking through the heat and humidity. The route was absolutely gorgeous and we got so many waterfront views. It's one of those races that just make you feel so lucky to be outside enjoying the scenery, you know?

I will say that the course support for a local race was so great. There were water stops every mile and a half or so, all with enthusiastic volunteers cheering us on. One of my favorite stations was mile 8 where they were handing out bags of ice cubes. I didn't know how much a needed a bag of ice cubes until I was handed a bag of ice cubes, haha. I walked for a while with the bag on my head as the ice cubes melted down. The community was also so great with cheering on the runners. I passed so many houses that just had their hoses going for runners to run through and get cool refreshing relief from the unrelenting heat. I love when neighbors do that along the course!



This half was one of my longer halfs to date, which between the heat and my feeling gross for the first quarter of the race makes a whole lot of sense. I ended up finishing at 2:46:08 and crossed the finish line to so many friendly faces. The race itself had a 3 hour time limit but it seemed like a decent amount of runners just stuck around to cheer everyone across the finish line, which was so nice to see! I also stuck around for a while longer and cheered the last few runners through. I love that feeling of camaraderie at a race! 😊

Even though the race was free to participants, you still got a medal at the end of the race which I wasn't really expecting and was so pleasantly surprised! I figured that because the race is free that it was just going to be a get-your-bib-and-run situation, but you still got a medal to commemorate your accomplishment which was amazing! They were also giving out waters (which I obviously took) and I believe they were giving away some bananas as well. They also had a hose-shower at the finish line to cool off with. Not too shabby for a free race, in my opinion!



Overall this race was great, and something that I'm definitely considering participating in every year. I don't really have a race that I always run on an annual basis, but I can totally see this race being that race for me. Such a fun, well put together race for the very very affordable price of free! 😏

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