Pros: Beautiful scenery, Free race photos, Free runner tracking, TWO Free beers after the race, Awesome medal if you complete the series

Cons: No race expo, Shuttle to start, No chocolate milk at the finish

There was no real race expo here, more of just a packet pick up, which was held in a very small conference room at the Main Stay Hotel. I got there as soon as it opened. I waited on line for a few minutes to get my race packet; it seemed to take quite a while for only the 5 or so people that were on line before me. I was sent to another table to grab my t-shirt. There were a few other vendors in the room – one from the Newport running store and another from the Velofix bike shop. It seemed to be getting crowded so I left as soon as I got my shirt.

On race morning, we drove from our hotel to the parking area. We stayed at a hotel in Middletown, RI – much cheaper than the ones in Newport – and only 5 minutes from the parking area. We just missed the shuttle (school bus) that was there when we arrived and had to wait for the next one. We still got to the race start at Easton’s Beach with plenty of time to spare. Although I’m not a huge fan of shuttling to the starting line, this went fairly smoothly.

Once at Easton’s Beach, we walked around for a bit to try to stay warm. They had plenty of porta-potties there, although I was glad I used one when I did because the line got very long right before the start of the half marathon. The marathoners went off at 7:30. Then it was our turn at 8:00! We had driven the course the day before, so I knew there was a huge hill at the beginning; I also knew we got to run down the hill at the end! The first part of the course was through a neighborhood in Newport, we then went down to the Harbor where there was a beautiful view of the some boats and the Newport Bridge. We continued on to Fort Adams, then along the coast for a few miles past Brenton Point. Past Brenton Point we ran by some of the Newport Mansions on our way back to Easton’s Beach. The course was absolutely beautiful. Slightly windy running down by the ocean but totally worth it!

The aid stations were about 1.5 miles apart – perfect. They had porta-potties, water, Gatorade, and Clif energy gels and blocks.

After the race I was able to find my fiance quickly as it was not very crowded at the Finish Line. We took a walk closer to the beach so I could get a picture with my medal! Afterwards I headed to the finisher tent to grab some food. They had bananas, bagels, risotto chips (? Didn’t try those), a few other small snacks and PIZZA. For some reason I was obsessed with the fact that they had pizza. My stomach definitely wasn’t feeling up for a slice at the time, but I’ve never seen pizza at a race finish before. Sad to report that there was no chocolate milk here.

After walking around for a bit I decided I was ready to claim my free beer! Who doesn’t want free beer?! And Shipyard at that! The only downside to this was that the “Beer Garden” was very small and it was underneath the boardwalk in the shade so it was pretty chilly in there!

Lastly, race swag. The shirt was awesome! I love anything nautical/anchors so I loved it. Good fit (love when they have womens sizes) and comfy too. The medal was nice too. I didn’t realize this when I signed up, but this was a series of 5 races in Rhode Island. For each you get a race specific medal; but if you sign up for 3 or more you get an additional medal that looks like a ship wheel; which each of the race specific medals connecting via magnet to the ship wheel. So awesome! I was very tempted to sign up for 2 more, but I’m not sure I can fit them in my schedule!