E Murray Todd Half Marathon Recap

Sunday was my third time running the E Murray Todd Half Marathon in Lincroft, NJ with my running bestie.

The weather called for snow, but not until afternoon, so we were optimistic. It was super cold, though, and even my warm weather running clothes weren't keeping me totally warm. I arrived at the race with plenty of time to grab my bib and tee, and meet up with some other Half Fanatics for a photo op.

What an attractive bunch we are!

We hung around a bit, mostly stalling before we had to walk outside for the race start at 9:00.

It was pretty cold out, but we knew that once we started, it would be okay!

Neither of us have  been training enough,  so we planned to do a walk/run, especially walking the many many hills! Luckily, we knew what to expect, so there were no surprises. 

At the top of this hill was the five mile mark. Afterwards, we started running past the nice big mansions. After this, it started snowing. Not very hard, just enough to be pretty. This was also where it got a little dangerous.

The roads aren't closed for the race, but there are plenty of volunteers and police keeping the traffic at bay. After that fifth mile, however, there were less volunteers and lots of twisty roads. More than once, a car came very close to hitting us! I don't blame the race, I blame the reckless drivers!

This was another of the big hills! Yikes! Our friends caught up with us at this point, so of course we stopped for a selfie. 

And some scenery....

Soon, we got to the ten mile mark and we knew we would be entering the park. This is one of my favorite parts, mostly because we are finally off the road. This is where the snow started really picking up. This is also where we saw Dave the trumpeter. I just love this guy!

The snow was really bad by now, we hit mile 11...

And 12.....

By now we were not really even looking up because the snow was driving right into our faces. We left the park and were on the road again, briefly, before we were back on the road entering the college parking lots.

We finally saw the final stretch leading to the finish line. Whew! We were so very cold, but we had to stop for a snowy selfie.

The race was over. It took us just over 3 hours. All they had left were bananas and water. I don't eat bananas, but I got my bottled water and went to look for my Sherpa. 

We did get bling, though! This is the first year that they had medals and I was very happy to get mine!

Maybe next year we will get back under 3 hours, but I doubt we will stress over it very much. This race is always a train wreck, but we love starting the season off this way! It's a sickness, I know.

Next stop? Washington DC with Rock n Roll!