MO' Cowbell Single Chuck Challenge - Half Marathon #53

On a cold Christmas Eve morning in St. Louis, my runner friend and I finally completed the Single Chuck Challenge for the MO' Cowbell Virtual Half Marathon.  Since summer we had trained and were working our way up to running at least 10 of the 13.1 miles, if we couldn't run the entire distance.  We were on track and had a great eight mile run on November 7th, but soon after that our training got derailed due to a couple Covid scares and crazy work schedules.  The rest of November and the 1st half of December, we hardly ran at all.  Since our training had completely derailed, we settled for walking the entire 13.1 miles.  

Once we saw the forecast for Christmas Eve we knew that despite the cold, the weather was otherwise beautiful and sunny.  My friend asked me how long I thought a walking half marathon would take and in my experience as a race sweeper, I told her four hours.  We finished just under that, around the 3:52:00 mark.

Our finish time

Our course was beautiful and almost completely clear of any other humans, partially due to the holiday and partially due to the bitter cold.  We started at Longview Farm Park in Town & Country, walked several loops through Drace Park, down Bopp Road where we felt tiny as we walked by mansions, and then repeated the same course back to Longview Farm Park.

Drace Park along the course in Town & Country

We even passed several holly bushes along the course, which made the race feel more festive. 

Holly along the course

As we got back to Longview Farm Park to finish the 13.1, we were cold but we were not sore.  We were the only two cars in the parking lot when we left, which was a completely different view from when we started training together this summer.  We had picked up our race SWAG back in October and normally I refuse to wear race SWAG until I complete the race, but I've actually been using this year's race SWAG ever since packet pick-up.  I wear hats much more often now since I primarily work from home in the Covid-era and I LOVE the face mask because it is perfect for workouts.  I actually wore my MO' Cowbell face mask during the entire virtual half marathon not only for safety, but also because it protected my face from the bitter cold!

Single Chuck Challenge SWAG

Normally my runner friend and I volunteer on race weekend, so it was nice to be a participant again this year.  Be sure to stay tuned to the MO' Cowbell Marathon website to see what they have in store for 2021.

See you next year!

My first Virtual Half Marathon

As I have gotten more connected with other running blogs this year, I kept seeing people mentioning "virtual races."  The concept makes sense to me now, and don't laugh, but I honestly pictured people running in place as some sort of race via video game.  This is probably because we go to Cardinals games frequently and one of their giveaways is through the Lumiere Mile, where a selected fan runs in place for 45 seconds in order to try to run a virtual mile to the Lumiere Place Hotel and Casino.  As I learned more about virtual races, I still wasn't interested because part of the reason why I love running is because I love the race experience and the journey to the cheering crowd at the finish. But this year more than any other, has made me realize that running races is not a cheap hobby!

Recently I came across a virtual half marathon through U.S. Road Running called Movie Madness and I fell in love with the medal.  I ended up signing up for that race as well as the Pirate Half Marathon, because I also liked its medal.  For less than $20 each, I received a nice race medal and bib.  Each race had its own completion deadline and you just run the specified distance on your own time and in the location of your choice.  Once completed, you post your results to the race results page and you are done!  Virtual races are perfect for those on tight budgets, runners who want to fit another race in but can't find one that meets their availability, or runners who just don't have as many race options near them.  So although I LOVED paying less than $20 for a half marathon, I also found myself missing the other runners, course support, and crowd at the finish this morning.

Of the virtual half marathons that I signed up for, the Pirate Half Marathon had the earliest completion deadline.  The medal and bib have sat in my dresser drawer for several weeks, just waiting for me to earn them.  I was getting very close to the deadline and yesterday was brutally hot, so I decided to run it this morning.  I got started a little later than I had originally planned but I was on the Katy Trail by 8:30 a.m.  It was around 80 degrees when I started, and it just got hotter as the run continued.  It was definitely one of my slowest times, but I finished.  I wore my Garmin as I always do, but I really missed seeing mile marker signs along the way.  In addition to the heat, I really felt like I cared less about my time because I wasn't part of a crowd of runners even though runners and bikers were also present on the trail.

 
Overall I think virtual races are a great way to save money while still meeting that need to run a race, and they work well into your schedule because YOU pick the date, time, and location.  I will be running a few more virtual races this year because I want to test out different trails and parks in the St. Louis area. I am sure there are many other virtual racing companies, but I listed a few that I like below:
U.S. Road Running
I Run For...Virtual Half Marathon
Will Run For Bling
A Christmas Story 5K and 10K