2019, 06-09 SHE POWER Half Marathon

Sadly, I don't remember much about this race now.

Saturday, June 8th: I went to the 50 States Half Marathon dinner the night before at Rock Bottom. One fun fact from the night is that a woman had called into work that Friday before hoping to get a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium. I learned that she was originally from Indiana (Crawfordsville) but currently living in North Carolina. She is an Army veteran, Colts fan and dealing with an elderly mother as well. There was just something about talking to her on the phone that clicked with me and before you know it, I've invited to her to the dinner that night and made arrangements for her to see the stadium afterward.

Sunday, June 9th: there was rain in the forecast so I didn't take my phone with me so I don't have any course photos along the way but it was the same route as last year. The rain was different this year though. Although in 2018 it rained almost the entire race it was mostly a light rain. This year the rain would stop and start multiple times and it came down heavy at times which then made an area behind the zoo even more flooded than the prior year. 

131 Events gets some great photos from the race which are always free to download and I got some from friends as well.

It was an honor to run a bit with Linda. This woman is a powerhouse and I hope that I will have her drive and will when I am her age.

Barely...but its a floatie picture!

Luckily I met a very nice woman in line at the Finisher's banner who was kind enough to take a photo of me with her phone and then text it to me. The photographer that was there left just before it was our turn and although I could have walked to my vehicle to get my phone and come back - it was only 2 blocks away - I was soaked and really just wanted to get home and into a warm shower then dry clothes.

This medal though...

Official race photo

To really get a feel for how big this medal is I placed it next to the saucer that we were served cake on. If you want a ginormous quality medal, you have to do a 131 Event!

Initially we were told that this was going to be the last year for this race. The folks that run 131 Events have moved to Arizona and have decreased the number of races that they now do in Indiana but a few days after the race was over they posted on Facebook that they changed their minds and that they would be back in 2020 for the 5th year of SHE Power.

Obviously, I'll be back for year #5.



2019, May - REWIND

The month of May = WOW!

MAY 1st - the month of May is incredibly exciting in Indianapolis and this year there was a big kickoff at noon downtown so I walked over to partake in the festivities during my lunch hour. 

Always good to see my friends!

Boomer is one of the best in the business

Doug Boles - Mr. Indianapolis 500 (and President of IMS)

MAY 2nd & 3rd - although I was not running the Indy Mini Half Marathon this year, I went to the expo. And it is always a goal to get another picture with Frank Shorter, the very first person to win the race back in 1977. I also worked the RUN(317) booth there one day. I love a race expo and go as often as I can. Luckily this expo is right across the street from where I work so how could I NOT go multiple times?!

MAY 8th - Run With Racers at Speedway Run Club. Although at this point in time I wasn't an official member yet, I had been going to many of the Wednesday night group runs. Always in May, they get some racecar drivers to come run with the group. 

MAY 10th & 11th - I made a whirlwind trip to Kansas for the Running With The Cows Half Marathon. You can read more about that here: RWTC Half

MAY 14th - Taco Run Indy. FUN! FUN! FUN! It was the 2nd year for this Racemaker Production event and I was super excited to be doing it with my friends from Speedway Running Club. I "may have" brought some extra margaritas! 😲🙌😜 

I thought my shadow on this person in front of me was too funny not to snap a photo of! 

I won a chance to crack open the pinata and I was the last person to "take a swing" at it and thus was the one to open it. I have learned that you do NOT want to be the one to bust open the pinata. By the time you realize it is open and can get the blindfold off, everyone has bum-rushed the area and grabbed all the good stuff. 😢😡😠

MAY 16th - our first RUN(317) event, downtown on the Circle. There were some very bad storms hours before this event and it almost got canceled. Luckily it was merely delayed. This is one of my favorite events. And I took AAAALLLLLL the pictures! 

My friend and coworker Katie

AMBASSADORS!

FRIENDS!

MAY 17th thru 19th - We headed down to Chattanooga, TN to volunteer at the Ironman 70.3 and also so my husband could run and ride some of the course in preparation of his 140.6 down there in September.

Friday night we met some of his extended family for dinner at the Frothy Monkey. 

Then on Saturday while we was riding and running, I went for a run as well. 

Later on Saturday I went and listened to the panel of female professionals.

But is was lights out early on Saturday because we were working body marking at 4:30 AM on Sunday!

MAY 27th - Honor the Brave 5K always takes place on Memorial Day. This race is put on by 131 Events and if you are a connoisseur of medals - like I am - you usually can't beat their bling. Bonus this year was that my friend Angela was there too!

MAY 29th - was the kick off to the Summer Fun Run program put on by our local parks department. In the past, I've made it to almost every Wednesday night run but - spoiler alert - in June I officially joined the Speedway Running Club and since they meet on Wednesday as well, this was the only SFR I did. I was very happy to see my friend and former coworker Pattie that night. 

MAY 30th - last but not least, I participated in a free demo Boot Camp class at the YMCA near my house. Three of my Speedway Running Club friends joined the festivities as well.  It was HARD! And with my shoulder issues there were several stations I couldn't do. While this would have been a great class to register for it was out of my price range. But we sure had fun that night.