Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon

Alright guys, I know that I've been really bad about posting lately, but the end of the summer/start of the school year has been extraordinarily busy, and, unfortunately, something had to fall by the wayside.  Now I know that I ran this race back in July, but hopefully you'll all agree with me that the post and pictures are better late than never.

Michael came with me to the Bay Area (another post on our fun times in San Francisco and Wine Country to come soon) and so he was able to drop me off at the start line and then head to the finish area to wait for me to come across the finish line.

One of the fun wine bottle inflatables at the start line of the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon, which started right next to the beautiful Domaine Carneros Winery.

All ready to start the race, complete with my "Will Run for Wine" headband that Tim and Leila got me last year.  I was really excited for this race...I wasn't running to hit a particular time, I was simply running to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and of course to get some great wine at the end.  The gun went off and away we went.

This is some of the gorgeous scenery we got to see along the course! (I think this is somewhere around mile 5)  I thought the barn nestled in the vineyards was just wonderful.  The course was definitely hilly, but not as bad as others I had run previously, so I was able to look around and really enjoy the view.

This was another fantastic shot (closer to mile 8 or 9 I think) with the cute little windmill in the background.  Just had to take a picture as I ran by.

This was at mile 11...not only did they have a water station, but they also had a wine station!  Now I know what some of you are thinking, "Oh my gosh, gross, how can she drink wine while she's running?!"  And I would come back with a fast and rapid, "How could I NOT drink wine while on a wine country run?!?!?!"  As I said before, I wasn't running this race for time, I was running it for the enjoyment of the experience, and I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy a run through the gorgeous Napa Valley wine country than by partaking in the extra special "wine stop" toward the end of the race!

Michael was able to get me crossing the finish line (that's me in the white shirt on the right hand side) and I finished in 2:05:35...not a PR, but that's not what I was going for.  And for not really caring about my time and simply running to enjoy the course, it wasn't a bad time at all in my opinion.

This is right after I crossed the finish line...sweaty and tired.  I promise, I was happier than I actually look.

I was able to look a little more happy the second time around.  Once Michael and I found each other after I had crossed the finish line, we grabbed our official tasting glasses that I got for running the race...

...and we proceeded to get our drink on!

And another one with Michael's camera for good measure.

There were at least 20 wineries from both Napa and Sonoma counties and they were all doling out as many wine tastings as you could take...and we took PLENTY!!!  Once I had a bit of wine in me, we found the finisher's photo background and I got a little creative/silly.

Oh, and did I mention that not only did I order an extra wine glass just to have, but I found one on a table that someone had abandoned, so it therefore became MY wineglass. :)

Heck yes I'm happy about all of my goodies!  And have I mentioned how cool the finisher's medal was?!?!?!  Not only was it a wine bottle stopper, but it had a corkscrew attachment...BEST.FINISHER'S.MEDAL.EVER!

Each runner got a pretty cool finisher's shirt as well...here's the front (the little text bubble is hard to read, but it says "Wine, you'll feel better")...

...and the back, which has the same logo as the finisher's medal...

And Michael even got me an extra shirt after the race to wear around wine tasting so that I didn't have to walk around in my sweaty running shirt, getting cold.  Isn't he sweet?!

We stayed around tasting for a while...okay, let's face it, we shut the place down!  By the time we left, many of the tasting stands had shut down because they ran out of wine (may or may not have had to do with me) and then went back to our hotel for a much needed nap/pass out session!  Such a fun race with an even more fun after party...I would totally recommend it to any runner looking for a fun race.  The course isn't that bad, hill-wise, and the wine at the end definitely makes any hills you encounter worth it!

Again, a secondary post about our San Fran escapades and our Wine Country excursions is soon to come, but for now, I'll leave you with this post.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Have you ever run a race where you got wine at the end?