This was an awesome race! My third year doing the Shamrock Run, it holds a very dear place in my heart for several reasons.
1) Its a beautiful race! My favorite. It's held on a Friday night (vs. Saturday or Sunday morning) in downtown Savannah, Georgia. The course weaves in and out of this gorgeous sect of the city at a time of year where things are turning green, people are out and about, and the azaleas are bloomin'. Along the run, which is delightfully lined with many an encouraging townfolke and touriste, we hit several key savannah hotspots, beginning at the race start in City Market, crossing Broughton twice, around Forsyth Park and the numerous historical squares. We pass trolley cars and horse drawn carriages and the ever-present Friday night wedding in Forsyth. It just all adds to make a fantastic running experience.
2)The Shamrock Run marks my re-introduction to the racing world. It was the first race I entered in my adult life back in 2007. I had run cross country (haha- NOT competitively I might add) in high school, but since then had let it take a back burner while having babies and whatnot. At the encouragement of some dear friends, I entered the race and just had a blast- propelling me back into the running community!
3) Its a PR kind of race. I seem to make personal records each time I run. My first Shamrock, I came in a very sad 42 minutes. I am pretty sure that there were racers who had walked the entire 3.1 miles and still came in before me. Still, it was my first race- the bar was set- albeit low. The next year I hadn't trained much, but managed to shave a full 8 minutes off my previous Shamrock time! That's an enormous accomplishment I was very proud of! I enjoyed the race and was content with my 34 minute results. This year I had hoped, but truly did not expect, to continue and slice ANOTHER 8 minutes off the previous year's race result- and when I approached the finish arch and saw that I had indeed come in under 26 minutes (25:55) I cannot tell you the elation and shock I felt. If you could see the race results photos (that I am far too cheap to pay actual money for) you would see picture after picture of my jaw dropped stunned look crossing the finish!
All of this makes for one heck of a good time! The Shamrock Run seems to be getting too big for its City Market start, but it remains a great race. I doubt I'll ever shave off another 8 minutes off that last time, but I look forward to next year already!
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