Space Coast Half Marathon 2014

Thanksgiving weekend 2014 we traveled down to Florida for the Space Coast Marathon and Half Marathon.  After checking into the Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach, we drove to the Space Store in Cocoa Village so I could pick up some souvenirs for my class. I had previously researched online a store that sold space shuttle erasers.   Sure enough, they had them!  Here I am right outside the store.

A Space Shuttle eraser!  I had to get them something since they helped with my race (as you will see later in this post).

The next morning we got up and went to the expo which was being held at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral.  We picked up our bibs and did a little expo shopping.  I found a jacket I liked, a shirt for our son/stepson who was with us, and a Christmas ornament for our tree.  We have ornaments from all our Disney races as well!  

We also saw Runner's World CRO Bart Yasso!   We took our picture with him and he signed the two books we bought from him.

There were plenty of photo opportunities at this expo! 

The Space Coast Marathon currently has something called The Big Bang Series where a different space shuttle appears on the medal each year for five years.  A special extra medal is given to those runners who run three out of the five races (Milky Way Finisher) or all five races (Intergalactic Finisher).  This year the Challenger Shuttle was on the medal.  Sidenote:  For those of you interested in anniversary years, the upcoming Space Coast race in 2016 is also their 45th Anniversary race!  They had a display at the expo with all the medals for all the years, both half and full marathons.

Here is a picture of my bib, shirt, and -a first for me at a race, but fitting - a Moon Pie!

After getting back to our hotel from the expo, we decided to relax at the beach for most of the afternoon and have an early supper.  

We had an early morning wake up the next morning.  We drove to Cocoa and found street parking.  I took a picture of the street signs so I would remember where we parked, as the plan was for me to drive the car back to the hotel when I finished.  That way I could shower and get ready, while Dan would take the shuttle back to the hotel.  We were checking out that day so we had to have a plan!

We stopped at some porta potties while walking to the beginning of the half marathon.  We had someone take our picture.  This has almost become a tradition.  We were joking that our prerace pictures always have porta potties in the background.  A gal heard us and offered to take our photo off to the side of the porta potties. 

Since Dan was running the full marathon, he was wearing his usual marathon shirt.  You will see this shirt often in his marathon posts.  

Since this year's medal was the Challenger shuttle, the one with the teacher (Christa McAuliffe) as part of the crew, I wanted to tie in the fact that I was a teacher, too.  I had a local sporting goods store help me design a sparkly space shuttle on the front with the words "Mrs. Smith accepts the challenge."  On the back, I had them put enough white stars for my class to each put their name in one.  I had them use a black Sharpie to write their name.  I told them this would help me finish the race!

The start line was at the beautiful Cocoa Village area where we had picked up the Space Shuttle erasers a couple days earlier.  They had loud music to pump up the runners.  Dan waited with me till it was almost time for me to start since the half marathoners started a half hour before the marathoners.  In keeping with the theme of the race, they played a video on a big screen of a shuttle launching off!

The half marathoners went south right away in an out and back loop.  The marathoners went north in an out and back loop, then south in the same route as the half marathoners.

It is a beautiful course!  You are running by water the whole time.  It's a flat course, awesome volunteers.  Even homeowners along the route were cheering runners on.  It was amazing to see the sunrise as I was running.  Here is a shot from the beginning of the race, provided by Almost There Photography.  MarathonFoto was also there taking pictures which were available to purchase.

As I was getting closer to my finish, Dan and I crossed paths as he was into his South loop.  He was so in the zone I had to almost jump out in front of him to get his attention!  It was awesome to see him at this point, as I was very tired and ready to be done!

The finish area was in a pavilion in Riverfront Park.  I received my medal, finisher towel, and some snacks.  I sat down for a bit, but then knew I had to hurry back to the hotel so we could catch our plane.   The circular area was a bit confusing.  I wasn't sure how to get out of the "circle" as most of it was roped off, being it was part of the course. I managed to escape the circle, but was still pretty confused on which direction to walk.  It was dark out when we started.  Luckily I had my photos on my phone that I took of the street we parked on and used my GPS to get me there!  With any race, it can be tricky trying to drive out with many roads closed, but I was a little familiar with the main roads since this is near where my parents live three months out of the year.  I took a long way back to the hotel, but it was a route I knew.  I hurried back and showered while Dan finished his race.  I will provide a link to his recap when he gets it up.

Here is my medal and finisher towel....

-Sue