We even arranged to meet-up several times to get to know each other better.

Then we attempted to coordinate who would drive whom.  In the end, it all worked out.  Most of us arrived on Friday at various times.

I was lucky to be able to leave early on Friday.  I drove with Judy and Jan. The weather was awesome (nicest day of the weekend) and we got in a nice walk in Glimmerglass Lake State Park and lunch in Cooperstown before arriving in Painted Post where our hotel was located and had dinner.

On Saturday after breakfast, we drove to the expo to collect our race swag and we met up with Alyssa, my roommate.

Afterward, we walked into town (Corning, NY), checked out the race finish and had a scrumptious lunch.

Everyone but Alyssa and I headed back to the hotel to relax.  We decided to visit the Museum of Glass, shop in town (and get ice cream) and then make a sand-blasted wine glass.

We all reunited for dinner at the Radisson Hotel.  The dinner was amazing- pasta, salads, potatoes, chicken, meatballs and more. Then we listened to the speaker, Dave McGillivray…so inspiring (go hear him if you ever get the chance.)

Finally early to bed to prepare for the next day (Although as usual, I didn’t sleep much.)

Race Day:

So 4:45 am came early on Sunday morning. Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep in on a weekend??

The race was scheduled to start at 7:45 am but we had to catch a shuttle to the start.

Wineglass is a point-to-point race starting in Campbell, NY and finishing in Corning, NY. (see course map below:)

Check out this elevation chart:

The 90 degree temps left for awhile. And it was actually pretty chilly.  Not chilly but COLD like 35 degrees!!!

I planned to wear my usual half marathon outfit of a tank and skirt. I brought my DIY sleeves, a long sleeved shirt and gloves to discard when I warmed up.  I also brought sweat pants and a jacket to wear before and after.

One good thing about the hotel (that and the price) was that they opened breakfast early for everyone – 5 am!! So I was able to eat my oatmeal and have coffee.

At 5:30 am, we piled into two cars and headed out to find parking near the shuttle bus which would take us to the start line in Bath, NY.

We found parking in parking garage, hopped the bus and in 15 minutes arrived at the start where there were port-a-potties (lots) and a school to gather in to stay warm  This was a God send.  It was freezing!!!!!!!!! I had to surrender my jacket and pants to put in the bag check so I would have them at the finish line.

We hung out in the gym for awhile bumping into many local runners that I knew (and didn’t even know were running the race.)

Soon it was time to head to the start line. Brrrrrrr.  Some of used the port-a-potties again. And some of us (me) headed to the start line but on the way, found a booth handing on tinfoil heat wraps.  Score!

There were several corrals: under 2 hours, under 2 hours 30 and everyone else (with pacers for different finish times).

This was the crowded part.  It was hard to get to your pacer because you had to squeeze past the faster corrals. You entered at the start line and then had to head to the back.

I just wound up squeezing behind the 2:00 pacer and huddled in the crowd until it was time to throw away my tin foil and move.

The race is a blur as usual but here’s how I remember it:

Miles 1-3:

9:16, 9:22, 9:18

I was in the second wave and didn’t have to wait long before I started to run. The race started on a narrow country road lined by corn fields. So it was quite crowded at the beginning which slowed me down and that was a good thing.

The scenery would have been quite beautiful if it weren’t so darn FOGGY!!

The one and only hill came in just past the 1st mile marker but it wasn’t so bad.  Even I was able to run up the whole thing.

As I said, the scenery I believe was awesome…lots of streams, fall foliage and corn fields.

Although, I wasn’t warm or thirsty, I did walk and drink at every water station. I warmed up a little and rolled down my DIY arm warmers but didn’t dare take them off in case I got cold.

The bottom of my left foot (due to a bunion) which usually starts to bother me around mile 9, started to hurt at mile 2.  It hurt on and off for the rest of the race but not enough to affect my pace.

Miles 4-6:

9:14, 9:41, 9:38

I don’t remember much about the scenery in this part but I did see Amanda, a fellow Skirt Spirts ambassador.  She was wearing the same skirt as me and so I caught up to her so we could chat a bit.

Around Mile 4.5, I took a GU and found it impossible to open with gloves on. So I took off my gloves and carried them in my hand for the rest of the race. (My hands were numb by the end!!!)

In hindsight, we didn’t need that many water stops due to the cold but that’s just my opinion and my downfall.  I use them as walk breaks and so I walked more than I needed to (which cost me a PR 😦 )

Plus the cold seemed to be cramping my legs.  After every time I walked, I found it difficult to start running again.

Miles 7-9:

9:38, 9:51, 9:55

These miles were on busier roads and even part of the highway, so I ended up running on that slanted part of the shoulder a lot.

I wasn’t really concerned about my pace and glanced down at my watch every now and then.  I was always pleasantly surprised to see that even with all that walking, my pace was in the 9s.

We didn’t see a timing clock until mile 8.5 and I was at 1:21 which was pretty good, I thought.

I took one more Gu hoping for an energy burst.

PR thoughts now floated through my brain!!! Was it possible???

Miles 10-12

9:41, 10:00, 10:06

I LOVED the crowd support in town and how we were running on these little paved paths for some of it.  There were kids and lots of awesome signs to distract me.

Unfortunately, I was losing steam and my walks at the water stops got longer.

I knew a PR was possible but my legs were not cooperating.

As a distraction, I started chatting with a young runner running her 2nd half.  She was having a big PR race and I was happy for her.

Mile 13- 13.17:

9:42, 8:32

The last little bit of the race winds through the town of Corning and across a large bridge. In the last half mile, the course turns onto Market Street, the anchor street in this old fashioned downtown, and finishes right in front of a cute clock tower on a little square.

I didn’t see anyone from our group the whole race until now.  Then all of a sudden, Alyssa caught up to me.  I was shocked.  That meant that she was going to have a BIG PR!! She tried to encourage me but I was spent. I did the best I could but I could not catch up to her.

And when I saw the clock, I knew that I was close but would not PR.