I ran the Virginia Wine Half Marathon

Destination Races is known for putting on 1/2 marathons in beautiful places, and this year their Wine Country 1/2 Marathon series came to Loudoun, joining other locations including Sonoma Valley, Oregon and Santa Barbara. Loudoun's version of the race started at Breaux Vineyard in Purcellville and ended at Doukenie Winery.

The 13.1 mile race was run by 1903 people, which is actually a small number for an event like this, but keeping the number of entrants limited allowed for less environmental impact on the course. Many of the nearly 2,000 runners were on teams. Some teams, like the Bordeaux Babes, were casual groups of friends, while other teams were running for businesses. My team was Team Zephaniah, which was sponsored by Zephaniah Farm Vineyards. There were also teams who were running for charity, best evidenced by the large number of orange jerseys emblazoned with "Team Challenge."

Team Challenge is the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s endurance training and fundraising program, and they were out in full-force yesterday, many coming from other states to run the race. Their coaches and supporters were also out, making noise and cheering everyone on, which went a long way toward boosting morale for everyone on the race course.

Friends and family of the racers were also out cheering their loved ones on. My personal favorites (besides my own family who graciously woke up at 5 am to come out with me) were the folks who took the time out to make some inspirational and funny signs. Neon poster boards saying things like, "Run like you stole something," "In our minds, you're all Kenyans," and "Toenails are overrated," gave us a much-needed chuckle and definitely helped remind me that we were out to have fun.

My absolute favorite sign came after mile 11, when the course actually took us through a cemetery. It said, "There's a Mortuary ahead: look alive!" The last two miles of this race were killer, so that was more than appreciated, not to mention all-too appropriate.

Despite some hiccups, including starting the race 30 minutes late, the 1/2 marathon was a great success. When we arrived at Breaux at around 6 am, the weather was perfect: crisp, clear, and chilly at 53 degrees. Although it warmed up as the morning went on, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to run through the country.

On our 13.1 mile journey, we passed by rolling hills, pastures full of horses and ponds full of geese. The scenery was breathtaking and gave a unique view of Loudoun that you don't really appreciate when you're just driving by. As beautiful as those rolling hills were to look at, however, they were decidedly less pleasant to run on.

The biggest lesson I learned from the inaugural Virginia Wine 1/2 Marathon is this: "Hill" really is a four-letter word. The last mile had two giant hills and although much of the end of the race is kind of a blur for me, I distinctly remember feeling a change in everyone around me as we mentally prepared ourselves to tackle those last few hills. You could see them squaring their bodies, taking a deep breath, and just going for it, knowing that after these obstacles, the end was near.

Of course, the end came much quicker for some of us than others. Tesfaye Dube of New York and Ethopia finished in first place with a blazingly fast time of 1:05:38. Brenda Schrank of Winchester, VA was the top female finisher, with an impressive time of 1:25:27.

My time of 2:23:44 may have been less impressive, but considering that it was my first 1/2 marathon and up until Saturday 11 miles was the furthest I had ever run, it was certainly a personal record. Team Zephaniah, however, did make an impressive showing as team member Tremain Hatch came in 46th place overall with a time of 1:36:43.

In the end, it wasn't the time that was important to me. It was being a part of the first event of its kind while surrounded by friends and family. It was the feeling of camaraderie and accomplishment that every single racer had as we crossed the finish line and were handed our finishing medals. In this way above all others, it was a beautiful day.