Lake Maggiore Half Marathon

      A few weekends ago I ran my first half marathon! 21.0975 kilometers. 13.1 miles. 2 hours and 58 minutes. 

My bib number. 7082.

     A few months ago my friend Tara asked me if I was interested in running a half marathon with her and a few other ladies. The next week I was introduced to 3 other amazing ladies and we ran 7 miles. From that day on every Monday we ran a long run to prepare for the marathon. 

The race was at Lake Maggiore which is about 3 hours northwest of here. 

We drove down on Saturday morning, checked into our hotel, picked up our race packets and bibs, and then walked around the town of Stresa. 

We ran from a town called Verbania to Stresa. Here is the map of our trail.

The rest of the pictures were taken with my iPhone during the race. They are crooked, a little distorted, and not very good, but you get the picture. :)

From left to right: Dwanna, Annette, and Tara

Crossing the start line.

I started to take a picture of every kilometer marker, but then I realized there were there a little over 21 km and I stopped pulling my phone out.

This is my friend Tara. We ran together the entire time. It looks like she is walking, but we were running!

We would pass this couple, then they would pass us, and back and forth. We chatted with them a few times in passing. Don't worry, be beat them in the end. :)

This is me taking a picture of myself during the run. Don't worry, I didn't let those guys behind me pass.

The bystanders would yell "Bravi bravi!"

It looks like I'm about to sit on the guard rail, but I was really running. See that big ole GPS watch on my wrist? (thank you Joseph Morgenstern for giving this to us several years ago) Well, I charged it all night long before I left and it must have accidentally got turned on in my bag on the way because when we started the batteries died! :( So I wore a big watch for nothing!

Finish line!

We got a small medal.

After the race we rode a ferry back to our hotel. This is Chrissy, Rachel, and Tara.

Me, Dwanna, and Annette

I had a great time! I felt good the entire run and did better than I thought! I can't wait for the next one so I can beat my time! I really enjoyed getting to know all of the ladies that I ran with. They are awesome!

A little bit of randomness……

So, the hotel that we stayed in had a "in case of fire" plan on the back of the door. This was the translation in English. I was cracking up!

My favorite…please remember, panic is more dangerous than fire!!