North Jersey Half Marathon Race Review
I had originally written a long-winded post about how bad this race was but I decided to delete it. This race doesn’t warrant a big recap just bullet points.
On Saturday, October 20, 2012, I ran the North Jersey Half Marathon in Pequannock, NJ. The race started at 8:30 (ended up starting around 8:45 because of bathroom situation) and I paid $65 back in July.
Pre-race excited face! I tried out the top I am going to wear for NYCM and it gets a thumbs up.
Pros:
- Close by to my house, just a 30 minute drive
- Flat course
- Good course signage, you would never get lost
- Chip timing and not gun to chip
- Female and Male specific long-sleeve tech shirts
Cons:
- Flat course = B.O.R.I.N.G
- Just 4 port-o-potties provided for a field of up to 1,500
- Slow packet pickup – it took me over 15 minutes to get my # and shirt
- The majority of the course was on busy roads which weren’t closed off. At one point cars were honking at runners to move over. I spent a lot of the run on the sidewalks for fear of being run over.
- Only water provided at aid stations (Gatorade or gels aren’t a must but it would have been nice)
- Warm, humid day makes for bad running (out of control of the race)
- Expensive – $65 for early registration but $80 on race day
- Boring course…a tour of NJ surburbia
This was the only scenery on the entire course, ughhh
Would I do this race again? Nope. I thought it was a bit disorganized, expensive and the course was boring.
My finish time – 2:16:18 with a minute mile pace of 10:24. After the race was over I ran another 7 miles to make 20 for the day. I am so excited for taper time and ready for marathon training to be over.
Post half marathon + 7 extra miles = MISERABLE
Have you ever run a race you wouldn’t do again? I tried out 3 new NJ half marathons this Fall (Run the Reservoir, Shades of Death and North Jersey) and would only ever do Shades of Death again…loved that one!
October 22, 2012This entry was posted in Medals, Post Partum, Race Recaps, Races, Running, Sweat Pink and tagged half marathon, north jersey half marathon, postpartum, race recap, race review, run, running, sweatpink.
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the North Jersey Half. True there weren’t nearly enough port-o-johns and the pick up moved slowly, but I was able to run through my town and I had my family working one of the water stops. Great job getting the rest of your miles in.
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Man, how did you find the mojo to run another 7 miles after a not-so-great half marathon? You are my hero. you are going to KILL the NY marathon! So excited for you!
Glad to hear that you could use it as a training run for your marathon – even if the race itself was not as you had hoped