FONTANA HALF MARATHON RACE RESULTS & RECAP

Here are the Fontana Days Run 2023 5K and Half Marathon Race Results and Recap. If you ran this race and are looking for your finish time – I’m linking to them below. It was a little hard to find as the race didn’t email or text results and they don’t have a dedicated race website.

You can find your results and finish line photos here – 68th Annual Fontana Days Run Results (Click on the race distance you ran and search from there.)

Now here’s my lil race recap of the Fontana Half Marathon in the form of a LOVE / Don’t Love list.

1. I woke up with the worst cramps at midnight the morning of the race, took ibuprofen, grabbed a heating pad and tried to go back to sleep. Cramps woke me up again around 3am so I decided to just get up and start getting ready for the race. —> Don’t Love (cramps or running a half marathon on your period)

2. The race offers race day packet pick-up. So, I was able to get my number, shirt and bag easy peasy before the race. —> LOVE (race day packet pick-up and well organized races)

3. Since I was on my cycle I came prepared with a tampon tucked away in my new running belt. (I use a cup a lot of the time, but sometimes have issues with it. So, this is the best option rn.) —> LOVE (tiny tampons) / Don’t Love (changing a tampon in a porta potty)

4. The race is a downhill course so runners must take a bus to the starting area. There was a representative from the race on the bus with us and she gave a lil info speech at the beginning of the ride. It’s a small race and overall seemed well organized. —> LOVE (and downhill race) and LOVE (that they have someone on each bus able to answer questions from runners. The bus driver’s job is to drive safely and most of the time they don’t have all the race information. All races with shuttles or buses should do this.)

5. The buses drop runners off near a campsite so there are porta potties and some camping restrooms available. I met a follower in line for the restroom and we chatted about upcoming races and training. —> LOVE (making new running friends and talking about running)

6. There is not an actual physical start line like the ones you see at most races. And there is no race announcer at the start. (I’m assuming this is due to the logistics of a point to point downhill course, campers and re-opening the street.) But there is a timing mat, so you can get an official time and I think that’s all that matters.

It was a little quiet without the usual music and race announcer yelling last minute directions and reminders at the start. So, the energy seemed a lil low considering we were all about to run 13.1 miles and shouldn’t been buzzing. —> Don’t love a quiet start line and will volunteer to bring my own microphone next year and be the start line race announcer.

7. There’s no service near the start line, which means you can’t stream music. I forgot about this last year until I tried to start my playlist and… nada. Luckily, I remembered this year and downloaded a good half marathon playlist to my phone. —> LOVE (a good running playlist, especially for a half and full marathon race)

8. Two miles into the race I started to get cramps again. I forgot to take any more ibuprofen after my midnight wake up and they were back in full force. —> Do Not Love.

9. My Aftershokz headphones suddenly disconnected during the race and I had to get out my phone to reconnect. This has never happened before?!!

I think it has something to do with my new running belt, because there have been a few other weird things like this recently. It’s waterproof and lined on the inside with a plastic material that’s a lil tacky. I think my phone rubs the plastic and reacts like it’s a finger. Even though it’s on a lock screen – you can still stop or change songs from that screen. I’m not sure why/how it would disconnect bluetooth, but that’s the only theory I have rn. —> Don’t Love (having to reconnect my headphones in the middle of a race)

10. Overall the Fontana Half Marathon has a great course and is well organized. I’ve run this race a few times in the past. Last year I remember feeling good on race day and pushing myself harder than I was able to this time (even though I’d just run another half marathon 5 days before). That speaks to how much outside factors can impact race day!

My finish time was: 1:48:49 / average pace 8:18 minutes/mile. —> LOVE (even though it wasn’t my best race and I had a hard day – I’m grateful for the day and the experience)