Reading and Running: Susquehanna River Running Festival Recap

It’s official – I’m a sub-two hour half marathoner!

Hi readers and runners! I completed just the Susquehanna River Running Festival Half Marathon. The race is marketed as a “big town race with small town charm” and was sponsored by Asics. I really enjoyed this race and walked (shuffled) away with a new half marathon PR of 1:58:59!

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Training

This race aligned perfectly with my training schedule for the Richmond Marathon. My training plan for week 12 called for a half marathon race. Havre de Grace, Maryland is not far from me so it was the perfect opportunity to get my long run in and try to hit my 2024 goal of obtaining a sub 2 hour half marathon.

Training for the Richmond Marathon has been going really well! This race gave me a lot of confidence in my training and goals for the marathon in November. During this training cycle I began using a hydration vest which I love! I prefer vests now compared to running belts – I can carry more things and carry more water without having to stop and fill up small water bottles. I never raced in a vest before, so I opted to stick to a running belt for this race.

Here’s the hydration vest I’ve been using and loving!

Packet Pick-up

Charm City Run is a local to Maryland running store with 7 locations in Maryland and 1 location at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. There were multiple packet pick ups throughout the week at the different running store locations. Additionally you could have your packet mailed to you, pick it up at 5th Company Brewing (sponsor providing the post race beer), or pick it up at Tydings Park in Havre de Grace the day before the race or morning of the race.

I opted to get my packet at 5th Company Brewing the Monday before the race. There was a Charm City Run mobile store set up with merch – my favorite shirt was “It’s just a bridge, get over it” – I wish I would’ve bought it!

Race goals:

I like to set realistic goals with back up goals in case my “A” goal doesn’t work out. There are so many things that can go wrong on race day including things out of your control like weather, illness, or injury. Here was my main goal plus two back up goals:

A: Sub 2 hours!

B: Sub 2:03:00 (previous half marathon PR)

C: Sub 2:04:30 – race prediction my Coros watch was telling me

Race Day

Bracelets worn: I RUN THIS BODY, SUSQHEHANNA RIVER HALF, LET YOUR MIND RUN

Shoes worn: Under Armour Velocity Elites 2

Hat worn: Sparkle Athletics Rose Gold Visor

And face glitter!! – wearing glitter is so much fun and I usually get compliments on it. Plus it matched my visor!

Okay now onto the actual race….

This race had pacers from Baltimore Pacemakers, so I lined up with the 2 hour pacers and stuck with them for about two miles. I feel like I always go out wayyyyy too fast so I wanted someone to hold me to a 9:09 min/mile ish pace to conserve energy.

There is a slight hill around mile 2 leading up to the bridge then it becomes flat once you get onto the main section of the bridge. I was feeling good after the hill and realized I had dropped the pacers. I didn’t let myself panic and chatted with some other runners around me. If I could still talk that meant I didn’t go out too fast right??

The 10K runners start in Perryville (other side of the bridge) so I was able to cheer on the leaders of the 10K as the zoomed past the half marathoners in the opposite direction. I saw my mom running the 10K and cheered her on too!

Then I got bored, majorly bored. I started counting my steps, throwing in a few seconds of faster running, but the scenery had turned away from the river into a residential/park area. Luckily I created a new running playlist for this race that kept me entertained

The furthest I have run a half marathon race while keeping a sub-two hour pace was 5 miles, so I just kept telling myself that I could get past that. Then if I could do that I could make it 15 more minutes to the hour mark. The hour mark is halfway to my goal, so I could survive for another hour right? I struggled with mile 9 and 10 running a 9:30 mile and 9:23 mile but then I saw the bridge and knew my goal was in sight – I just had 1 bridge to get over.

Runners were treated to a nice downhill on the back half of the bridge into Havre de Grace. The course coming back through the town was slightly different so I was a little disoriented but kept pushing. I couldn’t give up my goal with two miles to go!

I saw the finish line, saw my family, heard the announcer call my name and sprinted as fast as I could across the line. And yes, I cried when I saw my finish time (happy tears this time!)

Post Race After Party

I think I had fun?? Honestly my feet were in so much pain it was hard to think of anything besides my blisters 😭 I was just in disbelief that I achieved my goal. I shopped at the Charm City mobile store, called my mother-in-law (she’s a runner too!), and listened to the band. I got a few group shots with my family and friends and a few pictures of just myself.

After the race I joked with my husband that I was out of it because I only had him take one photo of me in front of the backdrop and no others. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get any photos down by the water, but I also don’t think I would’ve been able to walk down the hill to get to the pier.

A group of us ended up going to 5th Company brewing since the beer line was so long and they kept running out of beer. We turned that negative into a positive because I was able to order delicious fries AND the brewery honored our beer tickets and apologized that they ran out of beer 🍺❤️

Overall Experience

Difficulty: 2/5

Bridge incline is manageable with a few rolling hills

Scenery: 4/5

Race premiums, medals, and merch: 5/5

I love the quarter zip race premium! The logo on the front is small and subtle that it doesn’t scream “race jacket.” I liked the design of the 5 and 10k (same medal) better than the half marathon but the half marathon medal was bigger 😝 An added bonus was that all race photos were free through Chessie Photos!

After party: 4/5

The location of the after party was at Tydings Park overlooking the river. There was a nice backdrop to take photos in front of and views of the river. The cover band was really good!! The only downside was they kept running out of beer – I don’t blame the race for this because it was the brewery who didn’t bring enough beer and had to keep returning to get more kegs. Runners love beer!

Overall: 4.5/5

It might just be because I got a shiny new PR but this was one of my favorite races! It was a lot of fun running across the Hatem Bridge twice and getting awesome views of the Susquehanna River. Running through Perryville was fun but became a little boring because it went through a park. I wish more people in the towns of Perryville and Havre de Grace came out to support and cheer for the runners! There were a few rolling hills I wasn’t expecting by nothing too unmanageable. Race communication and packet pick up was easy. I am familiar with the area, so parking on the side streets was easy and we only had to walk two blocks to the start. And huge bonus points for being able to meet Olympian Deena Kastor!!

This is a doable beginner friendly course that I highly recommend! I definitely will be back again to run this race!

Deena Kastor

A highlight of this race was Deena Kastor, 3 time Olympian and bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympic marathon announced the start and handed out the awards after the race. I am a huge running nerd, so I was so excited to get the chance to meet her. Also, one of my favorite running books, Let Your Mind Run, is written by her.

Fun fact: I actually have two copies of her book – one is the pristine signed copy and the other is dog eared and highlighted.

I asked my husband, Cooper, to find her after my start and get her to sign my book. I was nervous that I wouldn’t see her until after the race and didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to get my book signed.

Cooper was able to get my book signed before the start of the race – I had a good laugh because the race director announced Deena Kastor and said she would start the race as soon as she finished signing a book (my book).

When I finished my race I was able to meet Deena Kastor, get a picture with her, and exchange friendship bracelets!

Thanks so much for reading my race recap! Are you training for any upcoming races or have any running related goals? Leave a comment and let’s chat!

Happy running! 🏃🏃‍♀️