Vero Beach Half Marathon Race Experience
I remember when I fell in love with the half marathon distance and how a goal of running shifted into being ready to run a half marathon whenever I wanted, regardless of what my training looked like. It wasn’t even about being in shape to run a PR; it was about being in shape to sign up for a half marathon at the last minute and be able to run strong. Goal accomplished this past weekend at the Vero Beach Half Marathon. I decided to run on Friday, signed up Saturday, and laced up to cross a finish line on Sunday. If I had to sum of this race in one word, it would be “sweet.” Read more to find out why.
Note: there are links below that I am sharing in support of the businesses I personally interacted with; I do not receive any commission or perks from those businesses.
Accommodations
Last minute trip meant limited hotel options, but it all worked out with our stay at The Islander Inn. The property is located on a main road (Ocean Drive) in the beachfront area of Vero Beach. This road has several blocks of stores and restaurants, so everything felt cozy. The room was nice with a beach-feel, there was a champagne cocktail hour Saturday night and pastries and coffee Sunday morning. The best part of The Islander Inn was that it was a 15-minute walk to the start and finish areas of the race.
Expo
The Vero Beach Half Marathon didn’t have an expo, but they did have a packet pickup, which was located at American Icon Brewery. Everything was straightforward: I registered for the race at packet pickup, paid an extra $5 for the long-sleeve race shirt (smart move as it was a chilly weekend in FL), and got my bib and medal. It felt weird getting my medal with my bib, but it was a nice reminder that I run for more than medals as I would participate in the event regardless of the medal.
Pre-Race
The race started at 6:45am and it was nice not having to wake up as early as usual to run. Like I said earlier, The Islander Inn was a short walk away; I left the inn at 6:15am and made it to the start area, which was in a large park (Riverside Park) with enough time to use the bathroom. Speaking of bathrooms, there were two sets in the park: port-o-potties and park facilities.
Post-Race
No medal at the finish line, but each half marathon runner did get a Vero Beach-themed beach towel. There was the usual post-race snacks and pastries, chocolate milk, and beer samples from American Icon Brewery (one of the race sponsors). The race finishes in the park and there was plenty of space to hang out in the park afterward to socialize, take photos, and hang around.
My 5-0 is actually a 0-5 because I forgot the camera goes right to left, not left to right!
On the Course
Water and Gatorade stops were at about every two miles or so with gels around mile 8. Course-sponsored bathrooms were limited, but there were beach facilities around mile 8 and port-o-potties around miles 6 and 10. The course starts and ends in the same area of Riverside Park, making the course feel like one big looping tour of Vero Beach. I actually really liked the course, even with having to cross a massive bridge (“massive” to my Miami legs) twice in the first 5 five miles, because I felt like I got a good feel for the business side, residential side, and commercial side of Vero Beach. The course is supported by volunteers and it is a small race (maybe about 400 half marathon participants), making it feel very homegrown. The course does run on streets, but course support and officers do a great job at making sure runners feel safe sharing the road with cars. Because the race started at 6:45am, it was dark at the start but lightened up quick with beautiful views from the bridge.
Race Experience
I went into the race with the intention of treating it as a training run with the aim of keeping my time around 2:15. The race felt intimate and like I was experiencing the heart of the Vero Beach running community. There was this one woman (runner #841!) who was cheering everyone on and was such a positive presence on the course. Any time she passed me, she would tell me that I looked strong and told me that my pace was steady. At one point, while we ran side-by-side, I told her she was the reason why I loved the spirit of running so much and that she did a beautiful job of embodying the joy of running. At the end of the race, she found me and again told me how strong and steady I was out there on the course. I learned that she lived in Vero Beach and that, because this was her hometown race, she wanted to encourage everyone around her as much as possible. I will always remember this race as the one where the kindness of a stranger carried me through the miles.
This course reminded me that bridges make me feel really strong, even if I curse them while running up them. I ran conservatively until mile 11 and, out of curiosity, tried to pick up the pace for the last two miles. That was a great choice, but a hard one! My legs were tired from a strength workout I did on Saturday and from the bridges ran earlier in the race. The sweetest part of my race experience was seeing my husband and oldest daughter (youngest was in the bathroom) around mile 8 as the course runs right down Ocean Drive and in front of The Islander Inn.
I didn’t miss getting a medal at the finish line because I really appreciated the practicality of a finish-line towel. The temps on Sunday were cold for Florida, which was great for running, but not so great for standing around all sweaty. I enjoyed having a towel to warm up with afterward over a medal.
Overall Impression
A half marathon is a half marathon is a half marathon, right? In distance, yes. In feeling, no. The Vero Beach Half Marathon was all Vero Beach heart. From a course that gave you the best tour of Vero Beach to the local runners and volunteers, I felt like I got to know the Vero Beach running community well. We were only in Vero Beach for the weekend, but in that weekend I feel like I saw the best of Vero Beach and I can’t wait to go back and see it all over again. So, would I do this race again? Absolutely.
Pros
6:45am start time. That extra hour of sleep makes a huge difference!
Ability to walk to and from the race area. Walking in the morning helped wake me up and walking back after the race helped start the recovery process.
Enough course support. This race was a nice reminder that you don’t really need much beyond local community to pull off a great event.
The course was a great way to see the different parts of Vero Beach.
Enough bathrooms for the amount of runners.
Post-race snacks, beer, and chocolate milk.
Free finish line photo.
Small field-size of about 400 made me feel like part of the Vero Beach community; lovely introduction to the Vero Beach running community.
In-person registration gives you the option to opt-out of race shirt.
Finish line towel that felt great for warming up post-race.
Pacers! Plenty of pace groups, given the size of the race, making it perfect if you thrive on small group or one-on-one pacing.
Cons
Depending on how you feel about this, getting a towel versus a medal at the finish line might be a con.
The “climbs” on the bridge early on in the race.
Depending on course preferences, one might not like running through residential neighborhoods or sharing the road with local traffic.
Depending on field size preferences, one might not like running a small race. There were parts of the race where I ran alone, but I could see the runner ahead of me and could feel/hear the runners behind me.
For those of you who like the numbers, this is half #50 and my official time was 2:17:48. Next up for me is the Miami Half on Sunday, February 6th.
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