I’m kind of behind on my race recaps so I thought this Tuesday was the perfect day to catch up. I ran the Santa Hustle Galveston Half Marathon on December 20, 2015 in Galveston, TX.

I ran it with my good friend Julie. We both decided to run the half marathon.

This is a holiday themed race which is really nice. I was in the need of some holiday spirit and this was a nice jumpstart to it all. Packet pickup wasn’t anything special but it was easy. Everyone got a red zip up jacket instead of shirt for this race too.

This race advertises having cookies and candy on course which is great. I wouldn’t mind running and having cookies as fuel. I didn’t like how the cookie and candy stations where no where near a water station. That made it kind of rough so I really didn’t enjoy any of this stuff.

Yes, I stopped for a cookie but I only ate half. It was a holiday themed race but it was warm. Because it was so warm there needed to be MORE water stations and water stations that had water out for the runners. I found myself having to wait around for water. I should have run with my own water bottles. Things got so bad at one point, I almost stopped at a McDonalds for water. I wish I would have done that though.

The best part about running this race is the beach. Even on a very windy day like that day, it was nice to run on the beach. You can’t be made when there are great views. The course was an out and back course and big chunk of it was running on the seawall. The race started and ended on the Strand.

I ran this race for fun. I had just ran my 50 miler the week before so I really just wanted to hang out with Julie and have a good time. Running was really just an after thought to the weekend. And I had a lot of other friends running the race too. I don’t see how Cody was running in that full Santa accessories because it got pretty warm out there.

I’m still battling a sore knee/calf so I didn’t want to push it too hard. I finished the race is 2:28 and was ready to be done with it. Wearing a long sleeve shirt during the race may not have been the best choice. I was pleasantly surprised at how the cute the medals were at the end. I didn’t like how the medals were still wrapped in plastic and kind of shoved in our faces when we finished. A little bit of the glory of running these races is having someone put the medal around your neck.

All in all, it was a good experience and fun. Lessons to learn: carry your own water bottle if you decide to run this race but it’s filled with holiday fun.