Never Underestimate the Power of a Dream: Run Vermont: Unplugged Half Marathon Race Report

On Saturday I ran the Run Vermont Unplugged (aka “No Frills, No Hills”) half marathon. I ran the half marathon with my friends from college, Melissa and Holly. I played hockey with these two girls and we thought it would be fun to do a race together. Melissa ran her third half marathon in 3 months and Holly was running her first. It was also Holly’s bachelorette party weekend! Holly met Melissa and I in the morning and we all went to the start together. This race was a lot smaller than the other races I have run. It was also extremely laid back, friendly and non-competitive.

Melissa and I ran with Holly for the first half of the marathon and then Holly dropped back in pace. I wanted to help Melissa PR this half marathon. She was nervous since she hadn’t trained much since the Hyannis half but I knew she had it in her. I was planning on just taking an easy run and running with Melissa and Holly since Boston is 8 days away. The course was unbelievably gorgeous! A majority of the course was run on the bike path along Lake Champlain, with a 4 mile neighborhood loop in the beginning and a one mile loop towards the end. The course was generally flat, with one hill in the beginning and another at the end.

Towards mile 11 Melissa said her goal was just to finish. But in my head, I had a different plan for her. The mile 11-12 was tough because it was an extra loop around a neighborhood towards the end of the race and you can see the other runners finishing. It was motivating to push through but definitely tough to see others finishing – and to have a hill at the end. But once we turned the corner for the last .1, I said to Melissa, “You totally got this!” And she did! She PR’d! It was so cool to see her smile on her face! Then I ran back and got Holly. Melissa and I finished with her and she crossed for her first half!

After the race we celebrated first with a beer and then post-race lunch at Moe’s for a burrito! Later that night was Holly’s bachelorette party. I’ll spare the details, but it was a fun, low key girls night!