Women’s Running Series Nashville Half Marathon Race Recap

WABAM!  Look at that bling!  In person, the Women’s Running Series bling is on par with the over-the-top sizes of runDisney, with size and quality..meaning they’re super awesome, shiny and ginormous!  If you were wanting to do an all women’s half marathon or 5k that is big enough to be well coordinated and small enough to still have heart and not be corral-chaos as the race starts, I highly recommend the Women’s Running Series.

This series just was purchased by Competitor, so you may notice a few changes (I think for the better) that are a result of pairing up with the group that manages the Rock N Roll Series: New branding (no more Lady Speed Stick), bigger medals, solid race coordination, and of course, the post-race bubbly.

The Women’s Running Series is an up-and-coming destination race in some really fun locations- Tempe, Arizona; San Diego, California; St. Pete, Florida; and of course, Nashville, Tennessee!  This was my first trip to Nashville and it didn’t disappoint!

Music City is a fun one, the “Country Vegas” with plenty of good food, fun bars and tons of great music. Having a race-cation is two parts: a well coordinated race day in a fun city- Nashville is quite the city to run in!

Roaming around Nashville…the country kitsch and the good food is worth the trip!

I arrived on Friday to head directly to expo and explore downtown Nashville.  Packet pickup was easy, hosted at the Renaissance Marriott Hotel downtown.  You could get into the block of rooms, I didn’t book early enough and missed out and had to stay way out in Opryland, but lesson learned!  Luckily, the fabulous Nita, a Nashville running blogger and all out awesome person gave me a ride around Nashville during my visit.  Thank you!

Expo included great vendors from Running Skirts, Skirt Sports, Hot Chocolate 15/5k, and plenty of local races and vendors so if you forgot your armband or compression socks, you were covered (which I forgot the armband for my phone so I did some shopping!)  If you travel to races, chances are, this has happened to you and without the expo, you might have to go without and that’s not good!

Registrants received a chartreuse WRS Nashville tech tee (see below), reusable shopping bag and   some little goodies and coupons to look over.   The bag came in handy since the expo was full of great vendors and the location was central to some fab downtown shopping to hold my gifts to take home to the beau!

The course was hilly and winded from downtown, up through the neighborhoods of Nashville and down to Music Row before a very happy finish line- the course was great!

Race morning, things were lively but not overcrowded.  The race started in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame and there were plenty of bathrooms for all.  There was a “refresh tent” as well if you forgot sunscreen, needed deodorant or feminine products- huge plus!

If you’ve ever forgotten sunblock or chapstick, it can be a long 13.1 miles!  I cannot tell you how many “women’s races” lacked tampons or pads and you just had to wonder, so great job WRS, this tent was awesome!

Thanks to Nita from TheBruncher.com for this photo of the Refresh Tent and post-race bubbly!

Running across the finish line was a very exhilarating  moment for me and the Women’s Running Series medal was worth every mile- a giant shiny pair of cowboy boots with a detachable WRS spur charm!

Nita and I celebrated with some bubbly and Powerade fruit, pretzels, bananas, apples and plenty of ice cold water.  The music was lively, there were decorated tables to snack at, but we parked it out on the grass.  We toasted to Nita’s fabulous PR- this was her goal race for the year and she ROCKED IT, great job girl!

I’m totally sold on the Women’s Running Series Nashville– it’s a great city to visit and a very fun one to run!  I did see a few fellas that wanted that cowboy boot medal on the course, so while it’s for the ladies, you could bring your fella or come with your girlfriends- it’s always bound to be a rockin’ time in Nashville.

If you are itchin’ for a racecation but are tired of insane crowds and long corral wait times, the WRS is a great race to run with!  You can see some gorgeous new cities across the country, enjoy a well managed race without having to hurry up and wait- it’s the best of both worlds.

Women’s Running Series has a few upcoming races:

Scottsdale/Tempe, Arizona on November 3rd 2013

St. Pete, Florida on November 23rd, 2013

San Diego, California on February 22nd, 2014

Yes, the medals are just as awesome:

Disclaimer: The Women’s Running Series is compensating me for this trip as a member of Fitfluential, but all opinions (especially the part about being an awesome slow runner) is entirely my own.