Rhode Island : Newport Rhode Races Half Marathon

This was the race where ALL technology decided to fail and in a strange serendipitous way, led to me slowing down and missing some benchmarks

My watch died about halfway through the race. It was pretty liberating to not give a damn about my pace and timing. With no idea of how long I'd been going, I decided to stop and take several pictures of the amazing coastline and the beautiful mansions.

Little did I know my phone would also go KAPUT and almost NONE of my pictures turned out. In a weird glitch that even three hours at the Boyleston Street Apple store couldn't make clear, my phone refused to take several pictures...but not all in a row. I had no indication anything was wrong when I took the photo. After the race, a quick review of the photos showed all the thumbnails. Once JV and I sat for lunch on the harbor, I clicked on the thumbnails which expanded into huge photos of GREY NOTHINGNESS. It became very clear that while a few photos made it, none of the ones from the race course came out.

Here's the serendipity--I slowed down because I didn't have a watch. I stopped and took photos (something I have never done on a course). I came in at 2:04:27--well within striking distance of sub 2:00, if I hadn't slowed down because of the watch to take photos.

In any case, JV and I had great races. The course is absolutely beautiful, with some rolling hills and windy coastlines. The views truly can't be beat. While there aren't too many mansions in eyesight, if you know what you're looking for, you can see the tops of them from a few angles of the course. Post-race party was great--there was PIZZA! Parking was very close to the race start and end--no need to have taken the shuttle.

I *did* just ran a half-marathon and yes I'm glowing.

Don't love this medal. 

It's a connector, meant to encourage participation in the series.

Since I'm not doing the series, it's just weird looking.

The next day I got to take part in cheering for the Boston Marathon. I was able to see my cousin Bonnie run--no, ZOOM--past me. I also was able to see all the elites--Galen Rupp, Meb Keflezighi, Shalane Flanagan and my new favorite Jordan Hasay. Spectating for the Boston Marathon will always be one of my favorite activities--I can't wait to run it!