Race and Relax

I'm a little ashamed it's taken me this long to write this. RnR Savannah (not sure if that should mean Rock n Roll or Race and Relax!) was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I definitely want to share it with everyone.

I won a free Race and Relax weekend through a blog giveaway. Lorraine over at Run Wifey Run! organized the getaway with about 20 women, most of whom were from the Atlanta area. I got to meet women representing Black Girls Run (pick up the December issue of Runner's World) and the American Cancer Society. I've never met such a varied yet friendly group of women!



We were treated like royalty from the moment we all met. At the race expo we were supposed to meet in a private room for a shirt and sign decorating party. Unfortunately this was derailed by the poor race logistics which caused most of our group to arrive late. I met three ladies from the Race and Relax group as they were headed out to the pre-race dinner. We took the ferry across the river to the restaurant, the Chart House.



At the chart house we were treated to an amazing dinner. I chose salmon and rice with asparagus. For dessert we were treated to a creme brulee style dessert.



To top it off we received a pre-race pep talk from John 'the Penguin' Bingham! I've never been so excited in my life! I could barely contain my excitement as I tweeted and Facebooked pictures of him standing not 15 feet from me. I was even more excited when Brad Nelson over at Allied Medal Hangers posted back that he was making custom hangers for John and his wife! I really hope he loved them!



The next morning the Race and Relax ladies were welcomed into the Hyatt for a private breakfast. Food and coffee plus chairs and a warm room to hang out in! What more could a runner want?! I spent lots of time chatting with my fellow runners and generally getting pumped for the race. It was a ton of fun! The room was open to runners after the race too but I didn't have enough time to enjoy it again.

After the race we met at the Pirate House for a post-race lunch celebration. It was absolutely amazing! We were treated to goody bags that included an amazing array of swag! There were personalized trophies, four (yes, four) additional shirts from Run Wifey Run and ACS, wine with a bottle opener and cap from the Wine Sisterhood, a Chica Band, a GoSportID with our running mantras and ICE information engraved on them, cereal from Attune Foods, SofSole inserts, CasCal soda, Degree women's deoderant, a pedometer, and body wash! We were also treated to an alcoholic beverage of our choice. I chose a margherita of course!











A pirate even showed up to our private dining room and threatened to plunder us all! Gasp! Of course, women runners don't stand for all that and we took him for all his booty! (insert evil laugh now)



I was so sad to say goodbye to this wonderful group of women. The upside is that we're going to get most of the group back together in D.C. in March! I hope that anyone who has thought about a Race and Relax weekend or thinks it sounds interesting now will sign up ASAP. It was so worth it!So my thanks goes out to Run Wifey Run and the gang for being part of the best (racing) weekend of my life! I can't wait to do it again!