The Hurley Awards: 2015 Hershey Half Marathon Edition

For the second time ever (in the history of the world), the Hurley Awards are about to be bestowed.

In case you’re not familiar with these prestigious honors, let me explain: At every race, the fastest of the fast (both overall and in various age groups) are publicly recognized. But only rarely – such as in the cases of costume-themed races and those longer races where every finisher receives a medal – do people who aren’t Speedy Gonzalezes receive public recognition. The purpose of the Hurley Awards is to recognize people, experiences, circumstances, etc., that may otherwise have gone largely unnoticed. Winners receive resume padding (“I also earned a Hurley Award in 2015, you know…”), 15 minutes of fame on this blog, and the satisfaction of knowing that they improved my race experience and have therefore earned my unending appreciation.

So, without further ado, your Hurley Award winners from the 2015 Hershey Half Marathon:

Best Race Packet Item: The Hershey-themed 13.1 magnet! In previous years, I’d had to buy magnets, but this year, one was included in our race packets! Woohoo! The design was slightly different than the ones I’d purchased before, so that was cool. This year’s includes the date of the race, and it’s white and black (instead of white and brown).

I love this magnet!

Best General Aspects of the Race (multiple winners):
-organization: This is such a well-organized race. And organization is what you want as a runner, whether you’re a first-timer (looking to limit your nerves to general pre-race butterflies and not wanting to be worried about what you should do or where you should go) or an experienced half-marathoner.

-the cause it supports: The race benefits the Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. More on that later!
-THE CHOCOLATE AID STATION and the fact that the race is chocolate-focused: YUM, YUM, and MORE YUM.
-the variety of scenery: Runners go through Hersheypark, near a country club, on a scenic school campus, though downtown Hershey, etc. It’s a perfect mix, and it keeps runners from getting bored.

Best Sign: “Waking up early to hold this sign wasn’t easy, either.”
— Honorable Mention: “You’re running faster than the government!”

Best Costume: Gumby! I saw Gumby getting out of his car when I first arrived, and I saw him in the corral before the race. Then I saw him approaching the finish line, and I tried to get a picture (you can kind of see him). I never knew that Gumby was a runner, but I have even greater respect for him now. 🙂

It’s GUMBY! (He’s behind some other runners, but you can still kind of see him.)

Best Spectator Comments (multiple winners):
-anything my parents yelled!
-I saw a bunch of signs like “Smile if you peed a little” during the race, but there was one group of people holding a sign and having little conversations like:
“Oh, we’re getting lots of smiles!”
“Yeah, we are! You know what that means!”
“Sure do!”
Anyway, I found it humorous for some reason.

Best Random Spectators: There was a family between Mile 5 and 6 that had a table with fruit, little bottles of Gatorade, and bottles of water. It couldn’t have been cheap making tons of stuff available for thousands of sweaty, disgusting strangers! I was running on the other side of the road and didn’t need a pick-me-up at that point anyway, but I really appreciated the gesture.
–Honorable Mention: All of the little kids who were out there (with adult relatives) cheering on their parents. You rock, kiddos!

Biggest “Yikes!” Moment: At some point during the first few miles, someone ran on the back of my heel and nearly tripped me up. It wasn’t bad enough to be really dangerous, but it did catch me off guard and remind me to expect the unexpected.

Reality Check Moments (multiple winners):
-Just after Mile 11, I was running up a short but (for some reason) very tough hill. I knew I was slowing down on this hill, but I didn’t think it was that obvious that I was struggling. But it was on this hill that TWO people cheered for me using my name (the only times that strangers used my name during the race). Sure, they misread my bib and called out the wrong name, but…the fact that two random spectators bothered to offer extra encouragement using my name shows that I was really struggling up that hill.
-I thought I was really warm during the race, but I didn’t realize how cold/numb/frozen my hands were until I went to grab a Mr. Goodbar at the Chocolate Aid Station. I couldn’t move my fingers, so, instead of grabbing the chocolate, I ended up accidentally – and clumsily – knocking it out of the volunteer’s hand.

Most Memorable Smell: Part of the course took us near ZooAmerica – behind the elk exhibit, to be precise. How…aromatic. At times like that, you’re not sure whether to breathe through your nose (so you can smell it but not taste it) or through your mouth (so it enters your mouth but you don’t have to smell it). The best part was hearing other runners’ comments as they ran by: “Whoa.” “Phew!” “What is that?” Etc. Haha.

Best High-Five: OK, you know how at college sports games (in particular), people have giant cardboard cut-outs of the players’ heads? Well, I was running along, before Mile 2, and I saw that a guy up ahead was holding a giant cardboard cut-out of a cat’s head! It was hilarious, amazing, and random. So as I ran by, I jumped up and high-fived the cat’s whiskers. Epic.

Biggest Difference-Makers: The volunteers (each and every one)! I always aim to verbally thank every volunteer who hands me water. But this award goes to all volunteers: at water stations, packet pickup, the finish line, cleanup, etc. It doesn’t matter if volunteers’ jobs put them where runners can see them or if they’re entirely behind the scenes; this award is for all volunteers because without them, the race wouldn’t happen.

Hundreds of volunteers (like the woman on the far right, who’s standing in the cold handing medals to sweaty, smelly runners) make spectacular races like the Hershey Half Marathon possible.

Moment of Greatest Temptation: Before reaching the Chocolate Aid Station, I had decided that I was only going to take one chocolate bar; last year I had ended up with like six or seven. So this year, I grabbed a dark chocolate bar as my one. But then I saw a Mr. Goodbar and thought, “Mmmm, I should grab that one, too.” But that was when my frozen paws knocked the chocolate to the ground instead. So my temperature-affected extremities saved me from that temptation.

Most Motivating Factor During the Race: There was some guy dressed up as the Grim Reaper holding a sign that said something like, “Just imagine that I’m following you.” So that was motivating enough, but I added to that idea in my mind, thinking, “Yeah, but I’ll imagine that Creeper Duck is following me!” (Creeper Duck is our department mascot at work. He stealthily hides in various places around the office and watches people. It’s unnerving when you find that he’s been staring at you for days/weeks and you had no idea.)

Terrifying waterfowl. (This is Creeper Duck.)

Funniest Moment: Probably when I ran off the race course with a few tenths of a mile left to go and nearly ran into a race official. Oops. We had just rounded a corner, and I somehow ended up on the wrong side of the cones that marked the course. Thankfully, I looked up just before I smacked into the race official and was able to get back on track!

Weirdest Moment: The same song has come on at the same point of the race all three times I’ve run Hershey, despite the fact that I’ve used different playlists and different music devices each time.
–Honorable Mention (because I only heard about it; I didn’t witness it): A woman who lived along the parade route was getting into a heated discussion with a police officer because she wanted to move her car and wasn’t allowed to (because there were thousands of runners going by her house, and having moving vehicles would just be a bad idea).

Best Shirt: A shirt with a Canadian flag on it! I saw a woman wearing it after I’d finished the race and was cheering people on to the finish. I yelled, “Woohoo! Go, Canada!” And she looked over, smiled, and gave me a thumbs-up. I love Canada.
–Honorable Mention: Just after Mile 10, I saw a girl up ahead with a shirt from one of the 2013 Pittsburgh races. I wanted to catch her to find out if it was the half or the full, but she was too fast for me.

Most Inspiring Moment: Without a doubt, the Miracle Mile! The Miracle Mile is a section of the race right around Mile 12 where children (and their families) who are receiving treatment at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital cheer on the runners. It’s always incredibly motivating, and the high-fives given/received there are so meaningful. It’s great to have a reminder of the wonderful cause we’re supporting by running.

Favorite Moment: There were so many favorite moments, but the winner is the “I love this” moment I had just after the race started. The sun was rising, the air was perfectly cool, the spectators were cheering, and all I could do was smile and think, “Wow. God is good. Life is good. Running is good. I feel like I could run forever.” It was so peaceful; I really can’t describe it any better than that. If you’re a runner, perhaps you know what I mean.
–Honorable Mentions: The four times I saw one or both of my parents along the way. There were two points where I knew I’d see them, and I looked forward to those moments for miles. There were also two points where I was surprised to see them, and I just lit right up! Seeing people I know automatically gives me a boost. 🙂

Genuine reaction upon seeing my parents along the way

Best Runner’s Advice: This actually happened when I was picking up my race packet the day before the run. Mom was holding my place in a very long line while I checked out the different vendors to see about buying a sticker and/or magnet. As I was looking at some options, a woman stopped next to me and said, “Hey, there’s a magnet in the race bag this year, so you don’t have to buy one if you don’t want to.” And she showed it to me. The fact that she mentioned that to me resulted in a savings of like $5 because I didn’t buy a magnet! Thank you, random runner lady!

Moment I Knew Without a Doubt I’d Finish in Under Two Hours: Probably when I reached Mile 11 at 1:37:something. Doing math while running isn’t a strength of mine, but I knew if I averaged anything faster than 11-minute miles, I’d finish with my third consecutive sub-two-hour half marathon.

Moment I Knew Without a Doubt I’d PR: After I crossed the finish line and paused my watch. Even when I glanced at my watch when entered the stadium (homestretch) with just a tenth of a mile to go, I still wasn’t sure. That’s how close I cut it! When I looked at my watch again after crossing the finish line, I was stunned. I hadn’t even thought a PR was possible at this race.

My unofficial time according to my watch (along with my Run for Boston and Team Casteel (Pray for Ryan) bracelets)

Best Post-Race Goodie: Aside from the medal (which is never a letdown at the Hershey Half), my favorite goodie was the large oatmeal raisin cookie. Yeah, I know some people are bummed that it’s not chocolate chip, but I actually enjoy oatmeal raisin. (Honestly, as long as there’s a cookie in my bag, I’ll eat it and enjoy it no matter what it is!)

I ate the cookie before I thought to take a picture of it, so here’s a picture of my finisher’s medal!

Best Race Memento: Um, the race shirt, of course! It’s the same design as last year’s shirt, but with a different year (duh) and in a different color. I loved last year’s design, so having a different color scheme to match different workout pants/shorts is great! To the person/people who designed it: You’re great!

Loving the shirt!

Best Post-Race Conversation: My parents and I chatted with a man and woman from Canada (!!!!) who had just run the Baltimore Half Marathon the day before. Running back-to-back half marathons is just impressive! I asked them if they had ever done back-to-backs before, and they said that they had done a New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day half marathon challenge in Texas. Wow. Pretty inspiring.
–Honorable Mention: While cheering people on at the finish line, I talked with a lady who had done the Spartan Beast in Killington, Vt., a few weeks before. It was fascinating to hear her tell about how insanely tough that event was.

The “You Rock” Hurley Award (Best Runners): Hands down, this award goes to Emily and Chelsea! Hershey was their first half, and they both knocked it out of the park and did a phenomenal job! You rock, Emily and Chelsea!

Runners of Chocolate! (from left: yours truly, Chelsea, and Emily)

Winning an honor such as a prestigious Hurley Award is cause for celebration, to be sure. Give the winners of this year’s Hurley Awards a round of applause!