Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon Recap & Review

Obviously, this recap is going to be a bit different than usual considering you already heard the crux of the race if you read yesterday’s post. However, I don’t want my idiot knee to be the lasting impression the GTIS half marathon makes on y’all– because I actually really enjoyed the race!

Mom and I headed up early Friday afternoon so I could grab my packet at The Buffalo Bar in Idaho Springs.  After doing that, we headed to our hotel in Georgetown that we had reserved for the night. Granted, Georgetown is just around 70 minutes away from home, but neither of us wanted to deal with the hassle of an early morning start. Cindy agreed, so the three of us got a room!

Downtown Georgetown.

I love Georgetown y’all. You see, both Georgetown and Idaho Springs are old Colorado mining towns that literally sprang up as a direct result of all of the silver mining that used to take place up there. Idaho Springs gets far more tourist action so it has a lot of bars and restaurants, but there is something appealing to me about G-town. I love the old homes, the tiny, fenced yards, and the fact that the lady in the ice cream shop made my mom eat some ice cream, regardless of her cholesterol. You know, the important things! (Apparently a lot of y’all thought my pic of Georgetown on Instagram resembled the Wild West! I got lots of “where’s the buggy?” type comments!)

We got settled into our hotel for the evening around 10-11pm. The race didn’t start until 8am (thank you, high elevation temperatures!) so it was just like a regular day for us. However, we did run into a bit of a snag as we were getting ready to head out to the race on Saturday morning: we momentarily got locked in our room!

Because Georgetown is such an old mining town, all of the hotels are pretty old, too. Our door locks were all kinds of screwy, and the interior handle fell off in my hand when we tried to leave! I started to contemplate busting out the window and climbing out that way, but luckily, Cindy is far more rational than me 🙂 She fixed the door, and we headed out!

Not sure anywhere in Georgetown necessitates 3 locks on a door… but whatever!

The race was slated to start right at 8am, and it was pretty accurate. We arrived around 7:50, and that left us with just enough time to use the bathrooms, shed our layers, and get moving! I did appreciate that this race had pacers running the half mary– it’s been awhile since I’ve seen that!

The first two miles of the course loops around Georgetown Lake on a slightly ghetto paved road (or maybe I’m biased because that road ruined my knee. Hard to tell!) It has a few moments where it switches to dirt, but it turns back into pavement as the course heads east towards Idaho Springs.

After mile two, the course continues downhill at a gradual grade. I really actually thought the downhill aspect was perfect– it wasn’t too much so it didn’t wreck my legs, but it was enough that you could really get moving! A bunch of local high school sports teams chalked the road as well, and I got a kick out of reading all of the messages.

My fave part of the course happened around the “town” of Lawson. I think this was between 6-7.5 miles-ish, and it was gorgeous! Lawson is really just a few houses grouped together, and the course turns off the road and onto a dirt trail that runs through these houses. It then turns and sidles along next to Clear Creek for awhile. Literally, it was so pretty that I almost didn’t mind the fact that my knee was on fire!

Other than the beautiful section at Lawson, the remainder of the race was fairly blurry– essentially, if you’re looking for a fast, downhill course, this one is perfect! As I entered the final stretch into Idaho Springs, there was one final hill that climbed out from underneath the overpass. However, it was tiny in comparison to most hills, and I was able to enjoy the last straightaway through Idaho Springs. GTIS did a great job of placing the finish line right in the middle of town where most spectators would hang out and watch. They even put a few bleachers by the timing clock to provide spectators with seats!

The one, major downside of the GTIS half is the after-race setup. All of the booths congregated in the Idaho Springs high school’s football field, which is a great location. However, the only after race food they had were slices of watermelon and a few stale bagel pieces. Not sure about y’all, but I usually am looking for a bit more after I run! Additionally, I needed some serious liquids to replenish my cried-out eyeballs, and the only offered water was in those little Dixie cups. Granted, they had plenty of Dixie cups waiting on tables for runners, but I really didn’t want to stand by the table for 35 minutes, drinking multiple Dixie cups worth of fluids. Is it too much to ask for bottles of water? (Seriously, that was a real question. Or am I being a jerk?!)

However, overall, I really enjoyed this half and I am dying to do it again, sans knee problems. They have a similar event in June called The Slacker Half Marathon, and I think I’m already eye balling it. I am kind of liking this whole “downhill race = PR” logic!