After my last marathon in January (the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon), I was itching to race again. I decided I wanted to train for a Spring Half Marathon that was nearby. After much thought and deliberation, I decided on the Bridge Street Town Center Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama! I had never run a race in AL, and it was only an hour and a half away from home. My husband was also interested in checking out the Space Museum, so we figured it would make a fun weekend trip. Read on for my 2023 Bridge Street Town Center Half Marathon Race Recap!
Sign Up
I first heard about this race via a running Facebook group I follow. It was easy to find online and sign up for the race. The price was very reasonable, which was another great reason for me to commit to this half marathon! There were no spammy emails before the race, just a few “know before you go” messages.
Where We Stayed
While I could have driven to this race in the morning (leaving very early!), my family decided to rent an Airbnb in town and do more exploring of the area. Our Airbnb was actually 20 minutes from the race, up in the hills around Huntsville. It was gorgeous where we stayed and I absolutely want to go back and do some hiking!
Packet Pickup
We stopped by Fleet Feet Sports the evening before the race to get my bib and race shirt. Though this wasn’t an expo (there was nothing going on special at the store for the race), it was nice to have anything we needed for the run at Fleet Feet. I grabbed some gels and wished we lived closer to the awesome store! It really felt like a great running community. I could already tell that Huntsville loves its runners!
After getting my race gear we had dinner nearby at Grimaldi’s for some pizza. It was tasty! I felt like I got my pre-race carbs in.
The Morning of the Race
After a rather sleepless night (our kiddo got sick, and we were all a bit stressed out), we headed to the race. It started at 7 am, and we got to the shopping center at 630 am. This was a perfect time to be there as people were slowly starting to show up.
There was morning of packet pickup, and I could have easily gotten my bib then. There was no line 30 mins before the race started. If you were going to cut it close and get to the race right before the kick-off, you might have had a line. But with a bit of a cushion, it was very easy to grab your packet.
I used the port-a-potties and hung out around the mall. This place is amazing! I want to go back and shop, there were so many stores. My inner shopaholic desperately wanted to spend the day shopping, but unfortunately, I had other things to do! 😉 They had us line up five minutes before the race.
They had pacers scattered around the start area, so I placed myself between the 2 and 2:10-hour pacers. I didn’t have high hopes of running a speedy race, but I figured I’d just do my best and see what happened.
Race
Miles 1-6
The start of the race had us running a mile around the shopping center. This was FLAT so I felt great running strong and speedy. It was also a nice perk that we passed by the start area again so I could shed my long-sleeve layer to hopefully pick up later.
The next miles were small rolling hills. I’d heard so many people comment on how flat this race was that I was a bit surprised by all the rolling hills. None of them were huge, but I would not characterize this race as “flat”. Other than that initial shock, the race was pleasant. The weather was perfect (fairly cool in the 40s and 50s F), the other runners were polite and positive, and the fluid stops were well-manned.
Let me just take a minute to note how nice and polite the runners in Hunstville were! Not everyone knows race “etiquette” (and I do not always do a great job following it myself), but the folks at this race seemed to be very courteous! Way to go Huntsville, you all are awesome!
We ran past schools and on some large main roads. We ran through a cute neighborhood that had people out and cheering us on. There were a few port-a-potties in the initial miles, but I figured I would stop later in the race if I needed to use one. This was not a great decision…
Miles 7-10
The middle miles of the race were mainly industrial park-type roads surrounded by large office buildings. The scenery wasn’t gorgeous, though it was very well-maintained and mostly green.
They handed out Gels at mile 7, which was nice! I had my own nutrition, but if you had forgotten to bring something this was a good perk. Mile 9 was a little confusing as there was a running trail parallel to the street that we were currently running on. Eventually, I noticed everyone hopped onto the running trail so I joined as well. This was a cute and curvy trail that went through some large industrial buildings.
I decided I needed to use the restroom right after the last port-a-potty I saw at mile 6(ish). And thus started the long wait for a restroom that never came. There may have been more restrooms available (do some research folks so you don’t end up like me!), but I had no idea where they were.
Miles 11-13.3
The end of the race had us running some of the areas we ran before, heading back to the Bridge Street Town Center. My headphones decided to glitch at about mile 11, right where a port-a-potty was, and I totally missed it! That was the last restroom before the end of the race. Holy Moly did I have to pee when I finished!
We ran back through the same area that we ran in the morning, which was by a hotel and a pond at the shopping center. I was a bit perturbed that the race was long (13.3 miles) which threw me off of getting under 2 hours. The finish area was nice though with lots of cheering and fun music playing!
Post-Race
I grabbed my medal and started looking for the restrooms…. which were nowhere to be found. After asking two different people I finally found some. Yikes! Don’t sleep on those race port-a-potties if you need to go! It was a struggle to figure out anything after the finish line!
Other than that whole debacle, the post-race area was FUN! There was live music playing, free pizza, cookies, and snacks for runners. It was a great time and would have been so much fun to play with our kiddo there (if he wasn’t feeling so bad). I met up with my family and we all headed back to our Airbnb.
Swag
Each racer got a long-sleeve race shirt and a finisher medal. The shirt was nice and light for the early spring months and had a really cool design! The medal was a spinner medal with stained glass in it! I love both of these items and even though there were no “extra perks” I think the swag was awesome!
Would I Run The Bridge Street Town Center Half Marathon Again?
Even though my family ended up cutting our weekend trip short and heading home after the race, I think Huntsville is a really interesting city! There is plenty to do there, and the people are all very kind. What really stuck with me was the sense of community that I got from the Huntsville runners. There was a positive feeling about the race that made me believe that this city values its runners and has created a great place to run.
While the race wasn’t flashy or full of extra entertainment, it was still a wonderful experience! The crowd support wasn’t overwhelming, though there were certainly some people out cheering everyone on. The course wasn’t flat, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable with the rolling hills. My only gripe was the lack of obvious restrooms in the last half of the race. Regardless, I had fun and enjoyed seeing some of Huntsville. If you want a moderately hilly, well-organized race, surrounded by kind runners, the Bridge Street Town Center Half Marathon is for you! I would totally run the Bridge Street Town Center Half Marathon again! We really enjoyed our time in Huntsville and already have plans to visit again this year! Happy Racing! =)
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