2019, 06-29 Indy Ultimate

This was the 4th year for the Indy Ultimate (Urban Obstacle Race - used to also be in the title!) and I've participated every year so far. The initial plan was that I'd be doing it with my friend Kristy and one of her friends. We were going to come up with a theme but that all fell through and we just did it "as is".

The race stared under yellow flag conditions and - although this event is no longer timed / it is about the experiences - they advised people to slow down and to not push it.

I didn't do some of the obstacles because of my shoulder issues and I also wanted to do a good job of documenting this for Kristy and Stacey since it was their first time. 

The race begins at the Circle (the Soldiers & Sailors Monument) and travels north up Meridian Street to the American Legion Plaza. The Indiana National Guard is waiting for you there to put you through some drills! 

Next, we headed down the Glick Peace Walk eventually making our way to the Canal. 

We stopped at the Indiana Historical Society's area to do a selfie with #16, Abe!

There were some changes to the course that I didn't really care for, especially how they redid the Trivia area. It was so much more fun and better when you had to answer questions to get through the maze. This year you just stood in a cluster and answered questions. We waited briefly for our turn but decide to just move on.

We didn't have to wait too long before it was our turn in the paddle boats. We paired up with a guy that was alone and he and Kristy sat in the front and did all the hard work.

Our next photo opportunity was in front of the NCAA Headquarters.

The next stop was inside at NIFS (National Institute for Fitness & Sports) and being in an air conditioned building was a nice break. As I've said before - and always will - I love seeing my friend Boomer. The best in the NBA.

Back out into the heat and time to head over to Victory Field to run the bases.

All About That Base

There's no place like home!

New this year was the Pacers Bike Share area. It was located in the South Lot of Lucas Oil Stadium and you got to take a small lap in part of the lot. I was skeptical at first and almost skipped it but it was fun. It had been awhile since I'd been on a bike.

Then one last stop before entering the Stadium. You could "Kiss the Bricks" at the IMS location. If you don't look closely, you might think this is a real section of bricks - if I hadn't been next to the seam - and obviously I didn't really kiss them!

You run down the ramp and onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium.  This would be where the team (Indianapolis Colts) would run onto the field as well. It was nice to be in air conditioning again. This stop included events from both the Colts and the USL soccer team, Indy Eleven. This was another stop where I didn't try any of the challenges since I'd done them before.

Kristy found one of her "fans" at LOS!

Out of the stadium and on to Georgia Street where we took a spin on the HandleBar.

We bskipped the St Elmo's shrimp station and went to the next stop which had us walk through one of the new RedLine buses. Odd but it was a brief moment of air conditioning again. Then we went into the Indiana Repertory Theatre. You could grab a prop, get on stage and recite a line. I chose to burst into song!

All the world's a stage!

Outside of the theater was a Rhythm Discovery Center area with a few different instruments. Naturally I wanted to beat on those drums!

Next it was on to the City Market area. I got to see my friend and fellow RUN(317) Ambassador, Teresa at the November Project stop.  I did not participate in the calisthenics they were doing.  

After this we went to the YMCA by City Market and then into the catacombs (which I have zero pictures of?)

Solid advice as the sun was beating down

It was then back to the Circle and the Finish Line. 

I'll definitely do this race again next year (and since I'm posting this 8+ months late, here's my spoiler alert...I'm already registered for 2020) but completing the 5th year might be my last unless I can convince my bother to do it with me one of these days.

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, April - REWIND

April was busy!

I was in Springfield, IL the first weekend for a half marathon. You can read about that here: Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon

Then the following week (Wednesday thru Friday), my husband and I went to Las Vegas for the Aerosmith concert and did some other fun adventures as well. You can read more about that here:Aerosmith and Vegas, Baby

Sunday the 14th was the Spring Brunch run. I worked the expo prior with some of the other RUN(317) ambassadors and then ran. No medal this year. That was disappointing.  

On Thursday, the 18th I participated in a Family Group Run at the RaceMaker Productions location in Plainfield. I found a hidden egg on the route and won a prize. Lee (pictured) and his wife own RMP and are great people. 

Work continues to be good. Got to be silly riding a bike out in the concourse, teamwork was required when we had to move some magnetometers in the rain and I celebrated my 3-year anniversary there.

EVERYONE was anticipating the Easter Bunny.

The NRA Convention was in Indianapolis and some Indy Honor Flight WWII Veterans were honored by Winchester so I went as a photographer to help document it for us.

These guys were ROCKSTARS at this event and I love seeing how a Veteran's eyes light up when they are talking to a child.

Speaking of Veterans...my husband and I got to have breakfast with our favorite WWII Veteran, Marvin. We like to go to Bob Evans because he likes to go there, it really is about an equal distance for each of us to drive and he is a ROCKSTAR there. Everyone knows and loves Marvin! 💗💗💗

On April 30th, we had a "work trip" to Victory Field to take in an afternoon game. You can't beat the fact that this venue is less than a 5 minute walk from the Stadium and it's nice to get out and just socialize with your coworkers.