1. They're fun! I feel like I always have a goofy smile on my face during these races. There are always people in costumes (how they run in some of those is beyond me!), bands playing, and of course, zombies on the course at the Wicked 10k.
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| Basically always smiling like this. (It's really hard to be serious when someone's taking your picture). |
2. The food. Both on the course and at the post-race party. My favorites are the gingerbread cookies from Surf-n-Santa, the pie on the Norfolk Harbor course (pretty sure they know it's around my birthday), and the crab chowder after Crawling' Crab.
3. Did I mention the post-race parties? Always lots of good food and plenty of beer. After the half marathons you get 4 beers (full size). It's always fun to celebrate, especially when they are on the beach (after the Shamrock Half last year I saw dolphins!). There's also a PR bell (you know you wanna ring it!) and a board where you can write your new PR time.
4. Amazing "swag." <--Does anyone else think swag is a weird word. The medals are always fun, my favorite running shirts are all J&A race shirts, and I have a pretty sweet collection of beach towels thanks to these races. I also have a hat for every day of the week.
5. The courses. (I had to get to the actual running part eventually!) A lot of them are in Virginia Beach and have portions on the boardwalk. In my book you can't beat seeing the ocean on your run! The Surf-n-Santa course is amazing and you get to run under the Christmas lights at night. The Big Blue 5k ends on the ODU football field. It's really hard to pick a favorite because they are all different, yet awesome.
Obviously I love these races (and have for the past 7 years now!), so I'm thrilled to be a J&A ambassador again this year! Hopefully I'll have some good recaps for you in the coming months!
What races do you love? If you've run J&A, what's your favorite?!
