The Seymour Mini Marathon took place on Saturday, May 4th. I found out about this race near the end of 2012 and the entry fee was only $20 if you signed up before 12-31-2012. Aside from this super cheap entry fee, another positive thing about this race is that a local animal rescue & shelter was the beneficiary of it. They also asked that you bring an item for the shelter (dog food, collars, bleach, towels, etc.) on race day.
For some reason, I thought that the start time was 7:00am. Seymour is about an hour & a half south of Indianapolis but with what I thought the start time was, we decided to get a hotel room so that we wouldn’t have to get up so early. When investigating hotels in the area, I was surprised to learn that they were all requiring a 2 night stay because the Kentucky Derby was the same weekend. Note: Louisville is still an hour away from Seymour. Oh well. I found a hotel in Edinburgh which was just 30 minutes north of Seymour. And although the race start time was actually 8:00am we still decided to stay closer to the race.
We left Friday night after the dog sitter arrived at our house but stopped in Franklin, IN to have dinner with Rodney & Jill at Applebee’s. The hotel (Holiday Inn Express) was a short drive from Franklin. It was a very nice hotel and then second good Holiday Inn Express I’ve stayed in prior to a race. Great service and clean. We weren’t out of bed very long and then it was lights out.
I set my alarm for 4:30 which was probably a little too early. But better to get everything taken care of (shower, food, etc.) rather than feeling rushed and perhaps having an “emergency” later. 
It was 30-35 minutes to the Seymour High School where the race was starting. We got our packets, bibs and shirts and after a quick stop in the bathrooms (inside the high school!) we went back to the car. My husband tried to nap but I decided to walk around and take some pictures.
The race started on time. This was a very small race; 200 registered but just under 150 finished.so no corrals and no timing chips. I hadn’t run since last Saturday’s half marathon so I was curious to see if that factor would end up being helpful or harmful. The course started through some of the downtown area, residential areas and then about a 3 mile out and back on a country road and then back through neighborhoods before finishing at the high school. I was able to see my husband on the turnaround. Of course he was heading back in as I was just heading toward the turnaround. There wasn’t much “fan: support on the course but there were water stations every two miles and they were handing out GU gels at the turnaround. While we were running through the downtown area, we had to cross a railroad track three times. I always wonder what would happen if a train came. That would suck to be stopped by a train.
My head wasn’t in this race for some reason and I took way too many walking breaks. Not sure if it was the “no running for a week” or what. At least I was able to stay in front of one girl and a couple that I had been doing “the dance” with throughout the race. I did however finish ONCE AGAIN within my average finishing (slow) time slot. They were giving away prizes afterward but you had to be present to win. However, we were ready to head for home. We had another event to attend at 3:00pm.
On this same day, the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon (the “World’s Largest Half Marathon”) takes place in Indianapolis. My husband and I have done “the Mini” several times so I am now on the hunt to find other half marathons in Indiana. The hope is to do all the half marathons in Indiana at some point.
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