Because I was going to be in Memphis around St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to arrive a day early and enter the half marathon in Germantown on the southeast side of the city. And because she will travel nearly anywhere for a half marathon, my friend Deb agreed to go with me.

Germantown was a fairly small half marathon with fewer than 1,200 people finishing. A 5K race started at the same time, so there were about 1,700 total at the start.

Our hotel was 1.3 miles from the starting line, so we walked. (An elite Kenyan runner we saw in the hotel lobby that morning thought we were crazy for walking. He drove to the start, but did not offer us a ride.)

The temps were in the 50s, so we were able to wear short sleeves and shorts! It felt great after the cold weather in Ohio. Because it was St. Patrick’s Day we both wore green. Out of character for us, I had a big green sequined bow on my hat and Deb wore deely boppers.

Everyone in Germantown was extremely friendly! The people in line for the Port a Johns found Deb entertaining as she encouraged those in the front of the line to be more aggressive. One woman very kindly offered us advice for the race — I didn’t have the heart to tell her we have entered about 30 half marathons.

Deb and I started pretty far back. We entered this race knowing we would not be trained for a speedy race, but we knew we have a fitness base strong enough that we would finish feeling OK. Originally, our first half of the season was going to be Cap City in Columbus on May 4.

The race started with a good-sized crowd cheering us on! As we went along, there were pockets of people in their front yards cheering. The farther we went, the fewer people there were.

The route went through beautiful neighborhoods and several really nice parks! An unofficial beer stop was in the middle of one park and we got a turbo boost from a hot dog at the end of another. Most of the race we were in bike lanes on the streets or we had an entire lane of the road.

Because we expected this race to be “sparce,” and because we are not in peak shape, Deb and I had planned in advance to walk the entire race together. It’s a good thing we did — there was very little crowd support, few people at our pace and no entertainment. (Very common for races of this size.) It would have been very lonely.

Overall, the course was relatively flat. There was a hill around 1.5 miles and there were some small rolling hills, but we barely noticed them. (Someone I know from Louisiana thought it was very hilly. If he does the Flying Pig he’ll change his mind.)

The pre-race instructions said participants who could not finish in 3-hours or less would be moved to the sidewalks. Though we were slower than that, there were no sidewalks near the finish so we were good.

We crossed the finish line and were given a really nice finisher’s medal! We walked toward the Germantown Athletic Club and saw a couple large water coolers with cups next to them, but they were nearly out of water. We each got about half a cup of water. We walked on assuming there would be more water somewhere, but there wasn’t any. I don’t know why I didn’t think to go inside and get some from a water fountain.

A local BBQ place provided Brunswick Stew that was delicious! There were bananas, oranges and cookies — but no water. Massages were being given, but when I walked up they had just stopped. “We’ve been out here since 8:30,” she said. “I’ve been walking since 7:30 and I’d really like a massage,” I replied. It didn’t work.

Volunteers gave us a computer print out of our results right there, which was very nice!

Overall, this was a pretty good race s at an affordable price.

• The course was pretty and well marked with good volunteers. The roads were wide enough and there were no traffic issues.
• Everyone we met was friendly and helpful.
• There were plenty of Port a Johns on the course. (I won’t even explain why I know this.)
• The race was lonely, but we expect that with a race this small. It would be helpful to have someone to race with or to carry your own music.
• The technical shirts are nice, but way too big. Again, with a race this small I expect that. (It can be expensive to offer women’s size when there are so few participants.)
• The medals are very nice! Much nicer than a lot of races I’ve done.
• The stew was wonderful! The cookies hit the spot.
• The initial registration fee was $45. I think I paid $55 because I missed the first deadline.
• My only real complaint is that there was not enough water at the finish. The weather wasn’t hot, so it ended up not being a big deal, but I would have liked to have had more water.

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