I have been running events for a few years now. In those years, I have only been to a handful of organized runs. But of all the different ones I have run, the A1A is the greatest, hands down.
I was reminded of this last weekend when a few friends deiced to run it again.
I was signed up for the 1/2 marathon. I was sure I would regret it, and be a broken down mess after just a few miles but as with the past ones I have done, I sorta just signed up and trained a little with a sense of ignorance that it would all be OK.
The morning started out well, and early. We were parking in a ramp downtown Fort Lauderdale and that went smooth, surprisingly, for a such a large event.
We worked our way to the start line and the different areas, based on estimated end time. everyone was pumped up, giving positive energy to each other that they would have a good run day.
Then we were off. as with other years, there was plenty of assistance along the route, and plenty of water stations. In fact in the last couple miles there is even a beer station( I stayed there for a little bit). At the end was tons of fanfare as I crossed the finish line. I can;t lie, It was great having a bunch of people cheer for you as you cross a finish line.
As I continued on I was handed my medal, then I walked a gauntlet of booths with run related things. But unlike other runs, these booths weren't just trying to sell stuff, most have free foods, drinks, and just cool free stuff. Everyone was milling around, enjoy the opportunity to bag some swag. After a few free beers we called it a morning and went to ice down a little. What a great run. read more