“Either you love Virginia Beach, or you are wrong”.
(Anonymous)
My first Virginia Beach adventure was to tackle the 2021 Rock N Roll Half Marathon.
I always heard how great Virginia Beach was and wanted to experience it for myself. I enjoyed the race, beach, board walk and the people. The plan was for the running tourist to make this an annual trip to tackle the Rock N Roll Half Marathon. Turns out the city of Virginia Beach did not enjoy the partnership with the Rock N Roll folks and decided to cancel the race—they didn’t want an outside organization shutting down the streets or boardwalk over a long holiday weekend.
I continued to research Virginia Beach races with an eye to return to the area at some point. Really enjoyed my initial experience and wanted to get back and explore a bit more. I signed up for the 2023 Shamrock Half Marathon in March but decided not to run since it was the same week as my Negril, Jamaica trip. That would have been too much travel for me in one week. I love to see different sights but that was a bit much for the running tourist. LOL.
The city of Virginia Beach and J&A Racing partnered up to host the Chartway Virginia Beach 10 Miler over the Labor Day weekend. Decided this would be a great race for my return to Virginia Beach especially since it was over a long weekend. Never ran a 10-mile race but viewed this as a great training run and an easy way to set a personal record (PR). This distance fit my training schedule and allowed me to see Virginia Beach from a different angle.
Flew out of Vero Beach on Breeze Airways for the first time. I normally drive over to Orlando for a Southwest flight, but Breeze is new to the area and had direct flights to Norfolk. No extra driving and airport parking is free in Vero.
Arrived in Norfolk without any delay and made my way to the Enterprise Holdings rental counter. Norfolk is a smaller airport so getting out of the terminal and then the parking garage was an easy journey. Made my way over to Virginia Beach and checked into my hotel. Decided to book my hotel early this time and stayed directly on the famed boardwalk and beach. Staying directly at the beach allowed me to just park my rental and walk everywhere I needed to go while in Virginia. The beach, restaurants, and live music were easily accessible from my hotel.
The race EXPO was held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center which was two miles from my hotel. Decided to walk over to the EXPO to get my race bib and gear. Used this walk to stretch my legs the day before the 10-mile race. Made a quick stop at a local farmer’s market to check out the goods—didn’t buy anything but got a good vibe for the Virginia Beach farmer’s market scene. Lots of vendors and friendly people out and about the day before the race.
The EXPO was small—just a few vendors available and only one spot to get my customary EXPO photo taken. Picked up my race bib and made my way to check out the vendors. Didn’t need anything but wanted to see if I could pick up another race shirt but the selection was not great. One of the vendors sold race bib magnets—some runners use magnets to hold their race bibs instead of safety pins. Decided it was time for me to step up my game and purchased a set of magnets to use during the 10-miler. Small investment but I will get a ton of use out of these magnets. Carb loaded a bit more after the EXPO and headed back to sit on the beach before going to bed early.
The race start line was only two blocks from my hotel and the finish line was directly below my hotel room on the boardwalk. Got up early on race day so I could stretch and mentally prepare for the race. I didn’t have a set finish time planned but wanted to run as fast as possible to test my fitness over a longer distance.
I was assigned to Corral #2 and made my way towards the front of the waiting runners. This was an opportunity for most of us to continue to warm up and get a few selfies of ourselves standing around in a race line. Made sure to give myself some room to maneuver in case runners around me were not paying attention—didn’t want to trip with so many people in the corral.
I wanted to run a clean race where I could ensure my pace was consistent and provide a good finish to the race. My last race in Virginia Beach was a struggle at the end because I didn’t pace it out correctly AND there was a bridge crossing at the 11-mile marker. NOTE: we crossed that same bridge during this race, but I was physically and mentally prepared for it this year.
My mile splits are below:
Mile 1: 8:56/ Mile 2: 8.58 / Mile 3: 9:13 / Mile 4: 9:28 / Mile 5: 9:39 / Mile 6: 9:58 / Mile 7: 9:56 / Mile 8: 10:24 / Mile 9: 10:01 / Mile 10: 9:40 /Mile .06: :33
The highlight of the race weekend for me was the post-race party. It was on the beach with live music, good pizza, and beer. The best part of this scene is the post-race party was across from my hotel. I got a chance to drink as much beer as I wanted without having to worry about how I was going to get back to my hotel. I simply walked off the beach, got on the elevator and went up to my room when the music stopped. A 3-hour nap awaited me!
There was a ton of live music available during the weekend and I made a point to get back out to check out the bands. Virginia Beach has a cool vibe, and the folks up there are super friendly. Made my way back to Catch 31 for great food and a nice view of the King Neptune statue. The sound stage had a ton of activity, so this was the spot for me to kick back and enjoy my time in Virginia Beach.
Looking forward to my next race weekend in Virginia Beach—just got to figure out which race I will tackle up there next.
Irie!
Walk Into the Future 