Callaway Gardens Half Marathon Race Report

I am a huge fan of race reports.  Mostly because before every race I do a search for "______ Race Report" and see what I can learn from the reports, what to expect, and what to watch for.  Honestly, there are some crappy race reports out there!  So here is my race report for the Callaway Gardens Half Marathon on January 30, 2016. 

Tri Columbus GA had taken over this event.  This was the first year that they were responsible for the entire event.  So HUGE shout out to Tri Columbus for a well organized event

Saturday January 30 at 7:15am I arrived at Callaway Gardens and parked my car.  Generally Callaway Gardens will send you a little card in the mail with directions to the event, scheduled times, and this also is used as your parking pass.  Tri Columbus did not do this so I was worried that there would be confusion with parking and entrance.  There wasn't!  I came equipped with my race confirmation just in case they asked but they didn't.  The volunteers were pleasant and helped me park my car.  It was a tick chilly so I left my running leggings on and went into the pavilion.  There was a full marathon and a 5K running that day as well and the lines were a little longer than I had hoped for.  But I waited patiently and got my turn.  I retrieved my bib, my race packet and shirt and walked over to a bench.  The pavilion is very large and has lots of room for roaming about and stretching.  The T-shirts were nice and soft and I will certainly be wearing the shirts again.  The 5K runners were supposed to launch at 8am and the full and half runners would launch at 8:10am.  However, this was changed so that the 5K runners would not be in the way.  So the full and halfers launched at 8:10am and the 5Ks went 10 minutes later. 

The  Course

The Elevation 

The course, again, is beautiful.  You run through trails, fields, golf course, along rivers and lakes, through forests.  It is just a visually stunning course.  Certainly one of the best courses I have run. But as you can see, the elevation between miles 5-8 are no joke.  What you can also see is the last 3 miles are on a steady incline.  I slowed WAY down as I took the mile 5-8 hills a little too vigorously and didn't save enough energy for the incline at the end. 

Over all, a fantastic race.  Well run, well stocked aid-stations (GU, pretzels, bananas, RedBull, Coke, Water - of course, Gatorade, chips) and fabulous volunteers.  The aid stations were every 1.5 miles or so, which is perfect for me as that is about the time I will get tired.  And special shout out to bib #647.  I saw you on the course and you looked beautiful.  I don't know your name but keep being amazing!  I hope you stick with running, you inspired me!