From 2013 to 2019, I always knew what I’d be doing on the third Sunday of October: running the Hershey Half Marathon. Only one of those years – 2016 – did I waver in my commitment to run the race; fortunately for me, though, I happened upon a social media post that announced that the 2016 medal would showcase a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. That pushed me over the edge, and I signed up.
The 2019 race wasn’t a good showing for me, thanks in part to a driving rain that lasted nearly the entire time I was out on the course. While those were epic conditions, I was looking forward to redeeming myself in 2020. Alas, it was not to be: Organizers announced in late February (unrelated to COVID) that they were discontinuing the race after 10 years. As a seven-year veteran of the race who looked forward to it every year, I was majorly bummed out! I was even more bummed out when I realized that my annual decision to “wait until next year to buy an official race jacket” now meant that I would never obtain such merchandise.
Since today would have been the day I would have run my beloved Hershey Half Marathon this year and since it has now been two years since I crossed that glorious finish line, I decided to do a tribute post, recalling some of my favorite and least-favorite moments from over the years.
TRADITIONS
When you do a race as many times as I’ve done Hershey, you tend to develop traditions. And when said race takes place in a location as chocolatey and iconic as Hershey, those traditions are often edible and therefore extra enjoyable. For example, Mom and I always drove the 45-ish minutes to Hershey the day before the race to pick up our packets; while there, we would wait in line for the free ride at Chocolate World and collect the chocolate sample afterward. Then we’d head over to one of the bake shop areas and buy a somewhat-decadent-but-not-overwhelmingly-decadent cookie to enjoy on the way home. (Any overwhelmingly decadent treats were purchased after the race.)
We’d grace Chocolate World with our presence again about 24 hours later, when we’d stop in post-race. I’d duck into the bathroom there and swap out my sweaty running clothes for a pair of sweatpants and the official race tech shirt, which I had earned the right to wear because I’d finished the race. Mom and I would then purchase one of the overwhelmingly decadent treats that we had forsaken the day before – one year we bought gigantic cupcakes filled with chocolate or other delights and topped with an impressive, albeit messy, crown of icing. We foolishly thought we could eat while driving, but we soon realized the error of our ways and pulled off into a Sheetz parking lot to polish off the treats.
Chocolate wove its way into the race itself too, thanks to the Chocolate Aid Station. Located between miles 11 and 12, the aid station provided miniature sweet treats – either original chocolate bars or the mini assorted bars – handed out by volunteers. Every year I’d promise myself that I wouldn’t grab more bars than necessary, and most years I abandoned that promise, shoving the candies into my SPIbelt with near-reckless abandon. I never, though, actually ate chocolate during the race.
Mom and I were on the same page that way. Our first year (2013), she went right down the line of volunteers, grabbing a chocolate bar from each one and placing them all in a section of her waist pouch that didn’t close. A few miles later, she gave SUCH a kick on the homestretch that they all fell out!
Lest you think that all of the race’s traditions revolved around food, I can assure you that they did not.
-Jumping pictures and/or flexing pictures. These somehow became a post-race tradition – not just at Hershey but after every race – a symbol of victory regardless of my finishing time. The “I did it!” moment that usually indicates that my legs still had too much left in them (otherwise, jumping wouldn’t be possible) and I should have run faster. But I love my jumping pictures and will continue this tradition as long as possible! And when I can’t (or when I forget to jump), there will undoubtedly be a flexing picture waiting in the wings.
-The McDonald’s bathroom. Every runner can probably vouch for how long the porta potty lines can be before a race. Mom and I sought to avoid this issue by scouting out another nearby “relief station” when we left the expo the day before our very first Hershey Half in 2013. Our glorious find was a McDonald’s not far from the race parking lot. Over my seven years running the half, we stopped there for the bathroom (and for Dad to get a coffee) every single time. We’d clearly found our hole-in-the-wall bathroom spot, as it was never crowded; the majority of the other runners never discovered our secret bathroom spot.
-Selfie at the starting line. Not much needs to be said here! There’s just something about capturing that pre-race moment when you’re all smiles and excited, before the suffering begins. Ah, yes. Soak in the atmosphere, you naïve little runner, because in a handful of miles that smile will be all but a memory!
-Wearing my Run for Boston bracelet. Since I bought this at the Pittsburgh expo in 2013, it has adorned my wrist at every race, from 5Ks to marathons.
SEMI-TRADITIONS
Probably about half of the years we ran Hershey, Mom and I would watch “Chariots of Fire,” the Olympics story of Eric Liddell, the afternoon or evening before the race, often while carb loading with homemade pasta salad. The film’s score and storyline always got me psyched to run while reminding me of what’s really important.
OTHER
-ZooAmerica was always a highlight. We didn’t actually run through it – if we had, I probably would have stopped to look at the bobcats or the lynx family or the mountain lions and never resumed running, and I would probably still be there to this day – but we ran behind part of it. Which part, you ask? Oh, the elk exhibit. Let’s just say it was memorable from an olfactory standpoint, and just about every year, a runner near me would audibly express his or her displeasure!
-Is there anything better than mascots giving you high-fives as you run by? OK, there probably is something better, but is it not memorably cool to be cheered on by a gigantic Kit Kat or Hershey bar? The plot twist was always that I knew I would be eating miniature versions of those candy bars a few hours later. Awkward.
-Milton Hershey School always made the race even better. About 3.5 miles of the race took place on the school’s campus and, despite the early hour of the race, kids would always (ALWAYS) be lining the roads. And not glumly, either. They were energetic, loud (the good kind of loud), and encouraging. Different sports teams would root for us, the cheerleading squad would cheer, the band would play, etc. I usually started to struggle at that point in the race, but those kids always gave me a pick-me-up. And I tried to run better so I wouldn’t let them down!
-The Miracle Mile – what more can I say? Probably a lot, actually, but I will leave it at this: At the 12-mile mark or so, weather permitting, the children receiving treatment at Penn State Children’s Hospital, along with their families, would line the route and cheer us on. That always impacted me, knowing that the race was supporting them and that they, in turn, were rooting for me. Even though at that point in the race I often just wanted to be done, I reminded myself that I chose this struggle, but these kids didn’t choose theirs. So I would buckle down, high-five these amazing kids, and press onward, knowing that they were going to do the same.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS
-Over the years of running Hershey, the same song on my playlist played at the same part of the course five out of seven years. Whoa. That’s extremely unlikely. Let me lay it out for you: Over my seven years running Hershey, I used a total of three different music-playing devices with several versions of running playlists, all of which were always on shuffle. Add in the fact that my half marathon times were around two hours, give or take, and you end up with it being nearly impossible for the same song to play at the same point in the course TWO years out of seven. But FIVE years out of seven? Just wow.
-In 2013, my long runs during training had led me to think that at some point I could finish a half marathon in under two hours. But my 11- and 12-mile paces had been significantly slower, so I knew 2013 wouldn’t be the year. As I entered the corral at the race that year, Dad shouted, “A two-hour half is in sight!” I just laughed it off because I knew there was no way. But there was a way. I had a great (for me) running day, the weather was perfect, and everything was clicking. And I crossed the finish line in 1:58:18, my first-ever sub-two-hour half!
-Also in 2013, just before mile 11, a runner emerged from a cornfield, which had clearly served as her makeshift porta-potty. Some nearby runners ribbed her about it, and she said with a laugh, “As soon as the race started, I knew I wasn’t gonna make it the whole way, but the bathroom lines were too long!” Hey, do what you have to do. But it is worth noting that this cornfield was cut down every year after that!
-In the pre-smartphone days, I ran with my iPod Nano. At the 2014 Hershey Half, I had both my iPod Nano (for music) and my iPod Touch (for taking pictures). Don’t ask me why I didn’t put running music on my iPod Touch and just take one device; hey, I was young and…and…I don’t know. Anyway, between miles 8 and 9, my iPod Nano just died, despite having been fully charged. So I guess it was a good thing I had brought TWO electronic devices along, because I was able to switch them, albeit in an ungainly manner, and listen to whatever awkward non-running music I had on my iPod Touch.
-Perhaps my iPod Touch had died during that 2014 race because it was cold. And windy. Oh, boy was it ever windy! In fact, I was on pace to PR until the last few miles, when I had to fight the wind every step of the way. It felt like I was charging into a direct headwind no matter which direction the route was taking us!
-In 2015, a spectator was holding a giant cat head cutout. I’m a cat fanatic, so this gave me a boost! It’s a shame it was only at mile 2; I really could have used a sighting of that around mile 12!
-The 2015 race was the coldest one I had run up to that point, so I wasn’t really aware that it would be to my benefit to move my fingers every now and then. When I approached the Chocolate Aid Station and went to grab some chocolate, I realized that my fingers had the dexterity of a bear paw due to having been immobile in the cold for so long. Instead of gracefully plucking the chocolate from the volunteer’s outstretched hand, I clumsily knocked it from her hand onto the ground. I still chuckle when I think about how that must have seemed from the volunteer’s perspective.
-2015 was the year I nabbed a half marathon PR. It was a good time! (HAHAHA, see what I did there?) But I almost crashed and burned with just a few tenths of a mile left to go as I headed up a very small incline. At this point, a row of cones separated the course from the sidelines. Legs burning, I put my head down and tried to guts it out. Thankfully, I looked up to see that somehow I had ended up on the wrong side of the cones and was headed straight for a race official! I quickly maneuvered back to the actual course, en route to my race PR.
-I finished the 2015 race before Gumby! It’s true. Some would say it was a person in a Gumby costume, but I am convinced it was Gumby himself. And I beat him in a half marathon. Life goals I never knew I had…
-My bib number in 2016 was 1828. That just happens to be a significant number due to my thorough use of Webster’s 1828 Dictionary when I was in school! I wish I could say I ran that race particularly well, but I did not. That was also the first half marathon that I didn’t diligently train for, so I have no one to blame but myself!
-2017 marked my fifth year running Hershey, so I got a cool medal rack!
-The 2018 Hershey Half was my 10th half marathon, and my cheering crew (my mom) made a sign for the occasion!
-Unbeknownst to me, 2018 would be my last time facing my nemesis incline, the hill just after mile 12 (the course was altered in 2019 due to construction, so the hill and I didn’t encounter each other then). As I ran up the hill, I heard Mom cheering for me (she wasn’t running that year) and tried to put a bit more effort into it! But that didn’t stop me from gesturing toward the hill and exasperatedly exclaiming to her, “I hate this hill!” That drew some chuckles from my mom and other spectators. Fare thee well, hill. May we meet again someday.
-The theme of the 2019 race was RAIN. It rained pretty much the entire time, either a drizzle or a driving rain. And it was cold. At mile 10, I threw myself a little pity party and internally groaned that I was so tired of being wet and cold! Of course, the only thing I could do was keep running, and so I did. My finish time wasn’t pretty, but neither were the conditions…and, I must add, neither was I by the end! Totally not ashamed to admit that. Still, it was an epic race, running in the rain, running Hershey for what I didn’t yet know would be the last time.
CONVERSATIONS/REMARKS
-“Get out of your head and into your shoes!” – Honestly, this is the only entry I’m putting here because it really stuck with me, all the way from the 2013 Hershey Half. I overheard this coming from a woman to her struggling friend around mile 7, and it’s something I still tell myself from time to time when I’m in the middle of a tough run.
SIGNS
-“You’re running better than the government.”
-at Mile 3: “NOT EVEN CLOSE”
-“It’s only 13.1 miles. How hard can it be?”
-“If you think 13.1 miles is hard, try growing your bangs out.”
-“MOTIVATIONAL SIGN”
TOP SPECTATORS:
My parents! Are you kidding me? No contest whatsoever!
Dad cheered Mom and me on in 2013. 
And again in 2014! 
Dad giving me a huge hug after I got my PR in 2015 
Mom and Dad both cheered me on in 2015… 
…and in 2016! 
Mom withstood the cold to spectate in 2018, so we got burgers afterward to warm ourselves up!
FRIENDS WHO RAN IT TOO:
Jocelyn, Michele, Candace, Emily, Chelsea, and MOM. (And my buddy Ann ran the relay!)
Michele, Jocelyn, Mom, and yours truly in 2013 
Mom, Candace, and yours truly in 2014 
Yours truly with Chelsea and Emily in 2015 (Emily also ran it in 2016)
I’ll miss you forever, Hershey Half Marathon. October doesn’t seem complete without you.
Operation Life 