The Good Life Halfsy Recap!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to run the Good Life Halfsy in Lincoln Nebraska. This was a by far the largest race I personally have ever participated in with over 6.000 participants registered. I’m thrilled to report I did achieve a new personal record time at this event. While I didn’t run the race I was hoping to run (total bonk after 8 miles) I did have a great time hanging out with 605 Running Company store owner Logan Watley, his wonderful wife Jenna, 605 Racing team members Daniel Black and Jeremy Van Veen, and experiencing what road racing is like in Nebraska.
 
Things that I liked
I have to say that this event was very well organized. I enjoyed the packet pick-up process at the local Holiday Inn. They had two separate areas – one featured local business booths and the bib pick-up – the second was the t-shirt pick-up and booth for the title race sponsor. What I liked most about this was it spread folks out across multiple areas so it didn’t feel congested. I also liked that they had the t-shirt pick-up separate with a location to exchange if you didn’t get the right size or it didn’t fit right. Finally, I liked the extra race swag that you could purchase – I myself picked up a sweet hat and beer koozie.
 
The race was very well organized and featured lots of crowd support. The course was fast and very well protected. What I liked most was the extended finishing shoot; that kept runners moving away from the finish line and provided ample space to receive things like your medal, a Runza sandwich thing, and chocolate milk.
 
Things that I disliked
Honestly, this was the best race experience I’ve ever had in terms of organization and crowd support. That being said there were a few things I disliked. The course looped back on itself a few times and I did not think that was necessary for a town the size of Lincoln, especially in a point-to-point course. Lastly, I was able to run with some fantastic pacers; however, there was one pacer that would sprint ahead of his group, stop and wait, and then sprint off again. I found that to be highly discouraging and a poor pacing technique.
 
So there you have it – The Good Life Halfsy. 13.1 miles of pure joy! I had a wonderful time visiting great people in Lincoln. I would highly encourage this race to everyone out there looking for a fast fall half-marathon course with tons of crowd support. This is the perfect regional destination race to participate in as well. My wonderful bride joined me for my trip and we enjoyed excellent shopping destinations, good food, and a very accessible big city atmosphere in both Omaha & Lincoln NE.  
 
Cheers,
 
Greg “PEPSI” Koch  

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