The Sweetest Place on Earth

While many of my friends were running Runner's World Half Marathon or partaking in one of the many races that were offered, I did not. I did run that half marathon last year and I didn't want to run it again. Why? It's not that I didn't enjoy it, actually, I did not and I was in a lot of pain running that half. But, that wasn't why. There are so many half marathons out there, that before I start repeating them (with exceptions of course) I wanted to see what was out there. So, I signed up for The Hershey Half Marathon. Who wouldn't? It's a new adventure, check. 2 free tickets to the park, check. The Sweetest Place on Earth, check. So, Saturday Oct 19, Makayla and I drove to Hershey. 

When we arrived, we got stopped in traffic. NBD, I made the best of it..
This is when I really started to get nervous. I knew NOTHING about this race other than it was advertised as flat. (LIES! ALL LIES!) But, I was excited about the idea of running another half marathon, my second in 2 months! So, we headed to the expo. Now, this used to be my favorite part of the race, but lately they have been hit or miss. 2 out of 3 up to this expo were misses. Since it was at HersheyPark, parking was very plentiful. The ease of finding the expo was a breeze. I actually got to the expo before it even opened. 

Once we got inside, I was blown away with how small the expo was. They had a stand from a local running store, and some other stores, but nothing like I have seen before. Packet pick up was a breeze and even though they couldn't find Makayla amongst the registration, it was easy to rectify the situation.

I love how she is looking at the runners in this photo! Also seen at the expo were some of the Hershey characters...

Once I had seen it all, I think we went around twice to make sure, I had to capture the thing that made this race extra special...

This marked Makayla's first race! I was so very proud at this moment. Since we were waiting for my sister and her family to arrive, we burnt some time with some pictures near Chocolate World.

This character was by far my daughter's favorite. We HAD to look for him EVERYWHERE! 

Oh, and this was by far my favorite purchase...

Overall, the expo was small and simple and to the point. You were in and out and I liked that. You definitely were not overwhelmed. There was a lot of free stuff, and small amounts of stuff to purchase. So far, a good impression was made.

Stay tuned for race recaps, both mine and Makayla's!