Diva St. Augustine Half Race Recap

I ran the St. Augustine Run Like a Diva Half!!!

What a fun race! I was debating on whether or not I should run the Diva 1/2 that was in Peachtree City, GA. For months I thought about it. It was to take place over Labor Day weekend. The reason I was having a hard time deciding is because I was trying to figure out if I would fly or drive. For once my procrastination paid off!!! I was stalking their website yet again and I noticed they added St. Augustine!! I immediately emailed my mom to see if she wanted to do the 5k. I signed up and booked my hotel. Little fact about me, I was a travel agent a very very long time ago. The website said the hotels would be announced later, but I didn't want to wait. I decided on the Hampton Garden Inn. It was close to the start/finish PLUS it had a microwave and fridge!!

We live 2 hours from St. Augustine, so we left Saturday afternoon and drove straight to the expo. The expo was at the St. Augustine Amphitheater. The expo was smaller than I thought it would be. It was a very easy and fast to get our bibs.

We walked around the expo then headed to our hotel. After we unpacked, we decided to walk out to the beach. That's when we discovered just how close we were to start/finish line.

Flat Megan

Finish line!

We took a short walk on the beach and headed back to our room. The rest of night we just hung out in the room. I know boring :) I had no problems sleeping that night! Finally a good nights sleep before a 1/2!! Our alarm went off and we got ready to head out to the start line. We got there and took our prerace photos. Right after that I was about to go look for water to take my ENERGYbits when it occurred to me that it would be easy to just walk back to the room. Back to the hotel we went. Again, great location!!

When we got back to start line I found my Sparkle Cheetah twin!

I also met Amber in person! We "met" on Instagram!!

Before I knew the race was beginning! My plan for this race was to finish between 2:15-2:30. I wore my 2:15 pace band. For the first mile I ran straight through no intervals. Mile 2 is when I started doing my 3:1 intervals.

This was a very fun race! The spectators along the course were awesome!! I'm not sure where in the race I met the megaphone guy. I was walking along and this guy with a megaphone saw my bib number and kept saying 1688 you can do it! I started running before my walk break was up after I heard that. Then I kept hearing him say my bib number and I kept waving! I ended up seeing him two more times on the course! The last time I saw him, he was in his car stuck in traffic. There were also two other guys that were following runners along the course. I love seeing that!!

Just before mile 10 we made a turn and there was the wind. Oh my... I believe for the next mile we were in a strong headwind. Wished I had gloves, it was cold. Mile 11 and 13 there it was again that wind. It was terrible. I just put my head down and fought my way. Right before the finish line, they have a boa and tiara station.

I tried to cross the finish line with my tiara on, but when I made the last turn it fell off so I ended up crossing with it in my hand. Oh and one of the things that makes this whole race worth it, is the shirtless fireman at the finish line with our medals.

As I was heading to the champaign table I saw Tara. She and I ran in the same pace group during Space Coast the week before.

I didn't use them, but they had pink porta potties!!

Got back to our hotel with enough time to shower before checkout! I asked for late check-out, but I didn't need it. I quickly got ready and we headed out. Stopped by the front desk and had someone take our photo.

My mom and I went out to the course and cheered for other runners! After watching the rest of the runners finish we headed back south.

This was one of my favorite races!! I'll be back next year for sure!!