mother's day Archives - http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/tag/mothers-day/ Thu, 18 May 2017 19:18:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/cropped-logo-square1-32x32.jpg mother's day Archives - http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/tag/mothers-day/ 32 32 2017 Race Recap – Hippie Chick Half http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/2017-hippie-chick-half/ Thu, 18 May 2017 19:18:48 +0000 http://www.ridgetopfarmandgarden.com/?p=8338 The Hippie Chick event is a women’s event, which takes place Mother’s Day weekend. It is part of the Hood to Coast race series, which always has good events. I have a soft spot for the event because it was the first race I signed up for when I started running. That year I finished …

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Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

The Hippie Chick event is a women’s event, which takes place Mother’s Day weekend. It is part of the Hood to Coast race series, which always has good events.

I have a soft spot for the event because it was the first race I signed up for when I started running. That year I finished the quarter marathon. The next year I did it again, beating my previous time by 23 minutes. The year after that, I skipped the Hippie Chick for Disneyland and finishing my first half marathon. Which brings me to 2017, 4 years after participating in my first run event. At the time, I didn’t know how far I would go with my running. But I have stuck with it, ran multiple half marathons and even one full marathon.

 

SWAG

The swag I received at packet pick-up included a tshirt and snacks in a cute little bag. Plus, I got a towel for registering early.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

PRE-RACE

One of the fun things about participating in a larger event are visiting the vendors. In this case, it was especially awesome. Franz, the bread company, had a wheel to spin and I won donuts. Not a bad way to start the morning.

Since it was raining pretty good, I sat in my car and ate half a donut. Yes, yes I did.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

THE START

I’m not sure how many women ran the half, but it didn’t seem too crowded.

The rain stopped for the few minutes I waited to start and for the first few minutes of the race. For a second, I thought the rain for the morning had passed and the event would be dry. Ha!
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

THE COURSE

I knew the quarter marathon was flat, I was hoping the half was too. It was. I’ll make up for it next month when I run the hilly Helvetia Half.

It rained. And, rained some more. So, I didn’t take many pics. At one point I looked down and saw soap suds on my capris. What? I thought it was a fluke and wiped them off. Then a bit later, there were bubbles on my other leg. This time I decided it deserved a photo. Weird. Why isn’t our washing machine rinsing our clothes better? Apparently I need to run in a downpour to get all the soap out.

At the turn around point, there was a guy spinning fire. That was something I hadn’t seen as on course entertainment previously.

Mile 10 is always my gauge of a race. I don’t often run over 10 miles on my training runs, so I’m usually about ready to be done by the time I reach that mile marker. I thought I might be able to PR at this event. I was hopeful if I could hit mile 10 in under 2 hours then there was no good reason I couldn’t PR. It was exactly the motivation I needed to finish strong. I did reach mile 10 under 2 hours, so I knew I just needed to keep up my pace and I would PR. And, I did! I was pretty stoked last April when I my PR’d. I beat that time by 10 minutes.

The last few miles the rain finally let up. It didn’t really matter by then, I was already soaked. But, I was glad it stopped.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

THE FINISH

Because the Hippie Chick is a women’s event, finishers are awarded necklaces as opposed to medals. When I earned my first one I thought I might actually wear it. I don’t. I’m not a jewelry person. But, I do have the necklaces with my other bling.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

Vendors and band on the field at the finish line.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

After the race you can grab pancakes, oranges, and chocolate milk.

You can also get a mimosa and ghiradelli chocolate bars. This was an excellent way to end my already exciting day of PRing.
Ridgetop Farm and Garden | Ridgetop Runner | Race Recap | Hippie Chick 2017 | Half Marathon

 

That’s a wrap. Another half marathon in the books.

 

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