The Monday Brain Exchange is a fun blog event that Jill hosts over at Finishing is Winning. Every week, Jill posts a new topic and then recaps all of the bloggers that play along. If you want to play along, just include a link to Jill's blog in your post and join in!
This week's topic: Where was the best place you have ever raced and why? Where is your dream place to race?
Most of my racing has happened in either the Washington, DC area or Northwest Arkansas. I started running when I lived in DC and did a lot of fun races in that area. When I moved to NWA, I found fewer big races in the immediate area but did find a lot of races within 3-4 hours from here that were super fun and similar to what I was used to coming from a bigger city.
I think my all-time favorite place that I have raced so far has to be Miami for the ING Miami Half Marathon in 2008. This was a girl's weekend trip and there were 5-6 of us doing the half marathon. The scenery was so pretty with the course taking us running by cruise ships, along South Beach, and through fun neighborhoods. I really enjoyed the race and loved that we got to experience sun rise on the run!
Now onto the dream race locations...that's tough because most destination type events seem to be marathons and I'm not super interested in doing a full marathon. I also love beaches but know that those aren't necessarily ideal running conditions for me (hot, humid weather isn't that great for me!) I was really interested in the Rev3 triathlon series in Costa Rica this February. That sounded like a lot of fun but the idea of dealing with my bike for international travel seemed like too much to take on right now. I think for me it is more about the race experience that makes it a dream race..is it well organized, well supported, scenic, safe, etc. My current travel dreams include the following places (so if I could include a race in that would only improve the travel dream!): Hawaii, Sweden, Costa Rica, Canada, and Italy.
It is fun to start thinking about racing plans because my 2010 season is winding down and I really need to start working out what my goals and plans are for next year!
