getting there

Some of us had a more difficult time getting down to Bethlehem PA than others. Luckily I went down with Chris who happens to get up at 3am everyday.  We got there with minimal traffic and it ended up taking around 4.5 hours. Others hit a bit more traffic heading down, so pro-tip wake up at 3am if you’re going to drive through NYC...wait did I say 3am...maybe not...

fun with the crew

This trip was an absolute blast. I got to hang out with some of our awesome teammates and we ate some delicious food and had fun. Chris and I hit breakfast when we got in (maybe cause we had like 5 hours to kill before Hotel check in). The People’s Kitchen made some delicious eggs, bacon etc...although the ambience left a bit to be desired. I do prefer not watching the dude wash my dishes. Anyhow we hit up the expo and managed to kill a few hours at the Steel Stacks. The next day we met up as a crew for Breakfast the next day before hitting a few pubs for lunch, then got a few miles in. We met up for dinner at an awesome brewery/restaurant and ate some delicious food before an early night to rest up for the big race. 

race amenities

This was one of the coolest backdrops for an event that I’ve been too. Taking place at the Steel Stacks creates a cool atmosphere and the expo center was pretty sweet. The race was sponsored by Altra so the swag wasn’t all that great as they've only recently started making apparel (though Katherine would disagree...the trucker hat is pretty sweet). The expo was cool and I may have been a little spoiled in Chicago as it didn’t seem all that big.  They did give you a pretty sweet long sleeve T-shirt and if you did the hat-trick or grand slam you got some extra goodies. Which included a pretty sweet race medal! 

the race itself

HILLS BABY. Thats all I can say. The first half of this race was nothing but up or down with it being mostly...up! I remember looking at the elevation chart going "boy I wish I had actually run those hill workouts we did instead of just standing around..." It was challenging to say the least. What was great though was that the race organizers didn't beat around the bush there was no "oh its flat and fast" or "oh its challenging but..." no they gave it to you straight and let you know its hilly...deal with it. You could tell they were proud of the fact it was hilly when they had a large picture of the Elevation chart printed up at the bib pickup! The race was fantastic even with the hills and very well organized. I really enjoyed all the crowd support and I'm sure our teammates felt the same way! The course was well marked and had a ton of volunteers and there were a bunch of water stations along the way. I went down there with the intention of not running, but when Chris started talking me into it and I saw everyone all excited to take part and the set up I just had to get in there! Boy am I glad I did! My favorite part of the race was watching all our awesome teammates crush it!

coming home

Getting home went pretty smoothly. Chris and I decided to leave after the race. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Steel Stacks and hit the rhode. We managed to hit only a few rough spots of traffic in NY and CT. Overall I was glad we decided to leave when we did as we got home around dinner time and Christine made a delicious meal! 

This event was such a great time and I truly am grateful to be a part of such an awesome Running Club. There were a few years after college where I was searching for a team to be a part of again and I think I've found it!

Cheers,

Eric