Race name: Hippie Chick
Date/time: Saturday, May 10, 2014
Registration/price: $99 ($20 discount codes were available)
Location: Gordon Faber Recreation Complex; Hillsboro, Oregon
Events offered: Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon, Kids Dash
Number of runners (capped?): 2,286
Beneficiary: N/A
Date/time: Saturday, May 10, 2014
Registration/price: $99 ($20 discount codes were available)
Location: Gordon Faber Recreation Complex; Hillsboro, Oregon
Events offered: Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon, Kids Dash
Number of runners (capped?): 2,286
Beneficiary: N/A
The Hippie Chick Half Quarter & Half Marathon is an all women’s event that is designed to celebrate women. This event is held on Mother’s Day weekend just for that reason, and we want to help make it all about you! Run or walk the half marathon or quarter marathon. We look forward to seeing you on Mother’s Day weekend!
Packet pickup: Two days at Portland Running Company. Race participants received 15% off their purchases, including Hippie Chick gear.
Swag: This year's swag included a purple women's cut tech tee, a necklace, a beer, pancakes, and Ghiradelli chocolate!
Parking: Plenty of parking was available at the stadium and nearby at Intel. It was a little bit of a walk, but not bad!
Bag check: TONS of awesome volunteers were helping with bag check, so the lines moved very quickly.
Course: The course was mostly flat, with very small rolling hills to keep things interesting. It was mostly on paved roads, with one lane closed to traffic
The race: I wasn't sure what my race "strategy" was. Should I try to PR? Should I just try to finish at a comfortable pace? Of course, I wanted another PR, but I felt greedy hoping for another half marathon PR this year, and my body was just tired (sleep deprived, stressed out, and I've been eating terribly). And then I was late getting to the starting line because of the long Porta Potty lines, which meant I was stuck behind a sea of people. :( In spite of that, I decided to attempt a PR and see how my body felt a few miles in. I felt tired at the beginning but felt alright during the middle part of the race. As I reached mile 9, I started to feel really pretty tired. I really struggled to maintain my pace for the rest of the race, but was happy to see that I'd PR'd as I crossed the finish line! The only issue on the course seemed to be that one water station was dry.
Post-race: After the race I wandered around and checked out the many vendors who were at the race, trying to keep my legs from stiffening up. Headed up to the bag check and got my stuff in no time at all. Then I got my free beer and pancakes and sat down for some BREAKFAST! YUM. Next, I decided I could really, really go for a massage, which was just alright. There were tons of people all about, hanging out and having a good time. The venue really lets people spread out, which is nice. I felt like the post-race party was pretty fun.
Photos: Not available at this time.
Results: There was a small issue where some runners who had signed up for the half ended up doing the quarter marathon instead, but appeared in the half marathon results. I was 4th out of 85 in my age group (but not that close, since the runner in 3rd place in my age group was 5 minutes faster than I was). I did PR, with a chip time of 1:50:13! My third half marathon PR this year :)
Overall: This is a fun all-women race and there is a lot of swag and perks. Unfortunately, the price had been pretty high, even with discount codes. I'm glad they offered a one day special for the 2015 race, but hopefully they'll also consider a lower price point for this event.
Swag: This year's swag included a purple women's cut tech tee, a necklace, a beer, pancakes, and Ghiradelli chocolate!
Parking: Plenty of parking was available at the stadium and nearby at Intel. It was a little bit of a walk, but not bad!
Bag check: TONS of awesome volunteers were helping with bag check, so the lines moved very quickly.
Course: The course was mostly flat, with very small rolling hills to keep things interesting. It was mostly on paved roads, with one lane closed to traffic
The race: I wasn't sure what my race "strategy" was. Should I try to PR? Should I just try to finish at a comfortable pace? Of course, I wanted another PR, but I felt greedy hoping for another half marathon PR this year, and my body was just tired (sleep deprived, stressed out, and I've been eating terribly). And then I was late getting to the starting line because of the long Porta Potty lines, which meant I was stuck behind a sea of people. :( In spite of that, I decided to attempt a PR and see how my body felt a few miles in. I felt tired at the beginning but felt alright during the middle part of the race. As I reached mile 9, I started to feel really pretty tired. I really struggled to maintain my pace for the rest of the race, but was happy to see that I'd PR'd as I crossed the finish line! The only issue on the course seemed to be that one water station was dry.
Post-race: After the race I wandered around and checked out the many vendors who were at the race, trying to keep my legs from stiffening up. Headed up to the bag check and got my stuff in no time at all. Then I got my free beer and pancakes and sat down for some BREAKFAST! YUM. Next, I decided I could really, really go for a massage, which was just alright. There were tons of people all about, hanging out and having a good time. The venue really lets people spread out, which is nice. I felt like the post-race party was pretty fun.
Photos: Not available at this time.
Results: There was a small issue where some runners who had signed up for the half ended up doing the quarter marathon instead, but appeared in the half marathon results. I was 4th out of 85 in my age group (but not that close, since the runner in 3rd place in my age group was 5 minutes faster than I was). I did PR, with a chip time of 1:50:13! My third half marathon PR this year :)
Overall: This is a fun all-women race and there is a lot of swag and perks. Unfortunately, the price had been pretty high, even with discount codes. I'm glad they offered a one day special for the 2015 race, but hopefully they'll also consider a lower price point for this event.