The following guest post is from our Best Damn Ambassador, Caitlyn Connolly. You can follow her blog at Live.Sweat.Sleep!
Better late than never…
And don’t they say you save the best for last?
As a Best Damn Race ambassador, it dawned on me that I still had not written a recap for BDR Safety Harbor — and being apart of the BDR Bachelorette weekend!
| *use code: CAITLYN for a discount!* |
Patrick and Tori are one of the cutest couples I know. He proposed at the finish line of Ironman 70.3 Augusta, their engagement pictures involved a tri bike, and they broke through finish line tape to enter their reception
(guys, propose to me at a finish line and I’m all yours, lol).
As you can tell, fitness & running are a big part of Patrick & Tori’s life, so it only made sense that Tori included a race for her bachelorette weekend.
One of the things I love about BDR races are the distances.
They offer a 5k, 10k, the 5K/10K Challenge, and a half marathon — participants of any fitness level can join! This attribute worked perfectly for that weekend; since not all of the ladies joining for the weekend are crazy runners like Tori, we had options with BDR.
The weekend started with a quaint dinner in Safety Harbor, fueling up for our race morning.
For this particular race, I had decided to run the 5k and try for a PR. At the time, Tori was marathon training (the new husband and wife were running the Paris Marathon on their honeymoon), so her and a few other ladies started early with the half-marathon.
Getting to the race & parking was a breeze. So many of my friends run this race it was like one big [no alcohol] cocktail hour upon arriving.
| Ran into Denise & Jessica – both doing the 5K/10K Challenge |
The buzz created by BDR that morning was exhilarating — regardless of the time that morning, you were able to see runners made their final turn to the finish line. I chatted it up with these two ladies, checked my bag, and headed to the start line.
I had been itching for a PR lately, so I gave it my best shot.
Since you’re on pins & needles, I’ll save you — I did not PR, but was close and had a good race. Finished in 28:05 with a 9:02 pace, and 9th in my age group; this is pretty stellar if you ask me! I typically cannot say that my place in age group is a single digit!
| the finish shoot & my hair whipping in the wind with my speed… |
Loved the course, as I knew I would; most of it was along the water and through the quaint neighborhoods of Safety Harbor. The water stops were positioned perfectly along the course and there were quite a few spectators & cheerers along the course too!
And a 5K with a medal?! C’mon, what’s not to love about BDR??
Ran into this pretty lady…
Who knew we’d be so alike and such good friends a few short months later??
| And needless to say the Best Damn Bachelorette crew was pretty popular — we even had some paparazzi! |
The BDR races worked out so well for all of the Bachelorette crew — everyone had a fun race! We took full advantage of the after-party before lounging at the pool for the afternoon.
Of course, even though we were all up early to run — we clean up well!
[I seem to be the only one that dislikes shirts]
The crew of ladies hit up Ybor for sushi & a few adult beverages.
*BACK.TO.THE.BASICS*
– Packet-pickup is super easy and convenient with multiple locations –
– Awesome bling for every race distance –
– When registration opens, you can get in for as little as a $1! –
– All over Florida, in chronological order:
Cape Coral, Jacksonville, Safety Harbor & Orlando –
– It’s a race by runners, for runners –
[confused on that last one? Do one and you’ll see what I mean 😉 ]
– Kick a$$ after party with music, food, drinks and vendors –
– Easy registration process –
– You can find the rest here: www.bestdamnrace.com –
And I did save the best for last — me & the beautiful bride.
Have you done a race with a wedding party?