First off, this was my first, not only Rock n Roll Savannah race, but my first Rock n Roll race in general. A few of my crew had run this race before and highly recommended it, so when I had the opportunity as a BibRave Pro to run it (Disclaimer: I received a free entry into the Rock 'n' Roll Savannah half marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!) I jumped at the chance. As a BibRave Pro, I signed up for the Half Marathon. I then decided to sign up for the 5K (to earn the Remix Medal) and also the 1 Miler (cause the Sweet Georgia Pie Challenge). The other members of my group signed up for the following - 1 the Half Marathon, 1 the Half Marathon and 5K, 1 the Relay and the 5K and 1 the Relay, 5K and 1 Mile.
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| The Crew! |
Signing up for the race was a breeze. Like most races, the earlier you registered, the less expensive and there were ample discount codes, including a $15 off one from BibRave. Emails were aplenty from the Rock n Roll team and I always felt like I knew what was going on. One of our group's MIL lived in the Savannah area (right off Tybee Island) and she was gracious enough to offer us a place to stay, so that was super lucky.
The 5 of us road tripped down to Savannah a bit after noon on Friday to make the 3.5 hour drive to the Expo, held at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. It was super easy to get to (the previous year there had been some construction that caused issues) and we arrived around 4:00. There were attendants to help with parking, but there were ample spaces.
The Expo was super well organized. The packet pick up area was large and had great signage. The race had sent out your bib numbers the week before so as long as you had those (which we did) you walked straight up to the correctly numbered table and got your bib. Those of us who were running multiple races were also given a wrist band to collect our Remix Medal after the 5K on Sunday. After bibs, you took your bib to the area for shirts and they tore the tab off your bib and gave you your shirt. There was an exchange area for you to change out your size if necessary. The shirts were a bit snug, so I'm glad I traded up. It was super easy, barely and inconvenience.
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| Look, it's ME!! |
After we had all our race items, it was time to make your way through the shopping portion of the Expo. The largest part of the Expo, at least half of the space, was occupied by Brooks, who was the official merchandise partner. There were all kinds of cool shirts, gear, and souvenirs specific to the race. The one cool thing my friends and I flocked to was the walls where all the participants names were listed. That was fun to see. On the other half of the Expo were smaller booths from other sponsors and vendors. We all got temporary tattoos from the Toyota booth. One of my friends bought some sunglasses and socks and I purchased a pair of CEP compression socks (they had orange ones!!). It was neat to check out the Rock n Roll area that displayed all the medals for Heavy Medal participants (multiple races per year) and overall, it was a decent Expo. My only complaint would be that there were no food vendor and no food samples. Otherwise, easy peasy to get in, get our stuff and get out.
We headed to our home for the weekend, had dinner and tucked in early for our Half Marathon in the morning. Of course I had to lay out my gear before hand.
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| Ready to Race! |
First thing we tried to do the next morning was book and Uber to take us to the race. We didn't want to bother with navigating the closed downtown streets and parking. It must have been that many had this same idea as no drivers were available! After a brief panic, our kind host offered to drive and drop us off at the race. She was able to get pretty close even with lots of the streets closed and we only had to walk about 3 blocks to the start area. The area was really well organized with lots of PortaPotties and the Waves were well marked. We were all in either 5 or 6, so we decided to line up at the back of Wave 5. It was a bit chilly (about 50) so we waited for race time inside a parking deck just around the corner to keep out of the wind. I knew I'd warm up as soon as I started running so I opted for short sleeves with easily to remove Buff arm sleeves.
The race started right on time, immediately after the singing of the National Anthem, the first Wave was released and each Wave made their way continuously to the start. When I arrived to the start, I took off as I hit the start mat and didn't have too much trouble getting out of the crowd as the waves were broken up nicely (I think I heard someone say there were 16 waves. My friends and I kinda scattered at this point to run our own races, but I knew I would be seeing one of my girls at the 7 mile mark as she was the second leg of the Relay, so that was nice to look forward to.
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| So pretty! And look at all the spectators!! |
I really enjoyed the course. Savannah is literally what you would expect a city in the deep south to be. Charming, beautiful, draped in Spanish Moss and pretty darn flat. And the people of Savannah were super kind and gracious to the runners. It truly lived up to it's nickname of Hostess City of the South. There were people on the side of the course cheering THE ENTIRE ROUTE. I have never run a race where that has happened before. And not only cheering (which let me say just how many sweet older ladies I saw ringing bells and waving, so cute), but offering things as well. Impromptu aid stations, with things like boxes of tissues (which, by the way AMAZING thing to offer, had never thought about it or seen it on course before, but OMG, tissues!!), water, food, and I swear I ran past 4 or 5 groups offering beers in the last 2 miles alone. If you feed off crowd energy, HIGHLY recommend Savannah Rock n Roll. The parts through the downtown area were absolutely beautiful. The only part I wasn't a fan of was the conditions of some of the older roads, running on brick and large cracks in some areas were not my favorite, but it was only an issue briefly.
On course aid stations were plentiful and had Water and Gatorade Endurance. I don't carry during a race, so I took advantage of each station (except the last) and alternated Water an Gatorade. There were also a couple stations that handed out gels, but I bring my own, so I did not take any of these, but it was nice that they did.
As far as my race strategy, I had planned to take it conservatively. I wasn't aiming for a PR because I had just set a new one in the Spring, and a few times, I purposely slowed my pace, esp early on. But by mile 10, I realized that if I had a good last push, I would PR. I felt good, so I picked up speed. I ended up crossing the finish at 2:05:26 - an almost 2 minute PR. Made me wonder if I had run more aggressively earlier, could I have hit a sub-2? Maybe next year...
At the finish, there were tons of volunteers handing out medals, which were cute and transpiration themed (the Half was a bike and the Relay was a tandem bike, which, adorable!) and the crowds were immense. I felt like a RockStar when I finished. They were also handing out bags of pretzels and trail mix, but that was the only food there. There were also bottles of water and Gatorade Endurance. I was quickly able to find one of my friends who finished 3 min ahead of me (also a PR for her) and we went back to the Relay meet up area to find the other members of our group. Those running the Relay met up near the end and ran the last .20 together. Rock n Roll has an App which I had not downloaded previously, but it became apparent I needed to. You could track runners on it and it also posted your results immediately. The girl running the Relay had it and It was kind of fun watching the progress of her partner on it so we knew exactly where she was and when she'd be there. Needless to say, I downloaded the App too.
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| I LOVE THIS SHIRT!! |
After we had all crossed the finish line, we headed over to the post-race party/concert area. 3 of my friends immediately got in line for massages. Another girl and I got in line for our free beer. The lines were long, but went quick. In face, I stepped out of line to go to the merchandise tent to pick up a shirt (I got cold real quick after the race) and by the time I got it and came back, my friend had already gotten her beer, so I had to start over at the end of the line. Oh well. And, my shirt was AMAZING. Remember how I had said at the Expo they had walls with participants names? Well, they made shirts with them too, and I totally snagged one! You had to be careful, because 1 shirt was names A-K and the other L-Z, and luckily I grabbed the right one on the first try. I say luckily, because I actually grabbed the LAST one. There was also a shirt with the 5K names on it which one of my friends got, and all names were on 1 shirt for that one.
We hung out for a bit, listened to the band and kind of wandered around the area. The finish line was near Forsyth Park which was beautiful, like picture perfect with beautiful statues and fountains.
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| This was right behind the Finisher Post-Party, so PRETTY! |
We then walked a few block to a cute coffee shop to warm up with some coffee and wait for an Uber (which came super quick) to take us back home.
Here's how we celebrated our accomplishment!
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| Aren't we a lively lot |
All and all, it was an AMAZING race! But, it was only Day 1 of our Racing Adventure. Stay tuned for Day 2 - the 5K and 1 Mile!
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