MESA HALF MARATHON
Mesa, AZ
There's No Place Like Home During Super Bowl Weekend
Thursday, February 6, 2025
The weekend I checked off State #20 at the Mesa Half Marathon fell on Super Bowl weekend, when the Philadelphia Eagles would (unfortunately) defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans during Super Bowl LIX. I was hoping for a Chiefs Three-peat, as a Chiefs fan of the past 13 years. Nonetheless, congratulations to the Eagles, who played an amazing game and deserved the win. My layover from Kansas City to Phoenix happened to be in Las Vegas, so it was a pretty cool experience stopping in Vegas — however briefly — during Super Bowl weekend.
Sporting my Chiefs jersey, I met some fellow Chiefs fans along the way at the airport and on my flights, in addition to some friendly and not-so-friendly rivals, who gave me the side-eye while sitting at the gate or shouted aggressive affirmations of loyalty towards their own team when passing by me on an opposite moving walkway. On one of my flights, I sat in the same aisle as a gentleman who introduced himself to me as a close friend of Travis Kelce. Before parting ways, Travis's Friend had an ominous premonition to share with me, and it was he believed the Chiefs would lose since there are millions of dollars worth of bets in Vegas favoring the Chiefs to win — and the house always wins. When the Eagles solidified their victory that Sunday, his words came back to haunt me.
The party actually began on my first Southwest flight that morning from Kansas City to Las Vegas, when flight attendants invited us to join them in singing Happy Birthday to a passenger. We were asked to lower our window shades and press our call buttons to illuminate the cabin, and after singing Happy Birthday, the flight attendant leading the celebration "extinguished" the illuminated lights and the passenger made a wish as we rolled our window shades back up. Flight attendants then constructed a tiara out of bags of Maui Monk Mini Pretzel Braids by Stellar Snacks, and crowned the lucky birthday girl as we were treated to stunning views of Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park out of our windows.
I have been waiting my whole life to be on a Southwest flight where something special happens, like a wedding or a birthday, and I was not disappointed! Late that afternoon when I arrived in Phoenix, I saw a Waymo autonomous vehicle for the first time, and watched in awe as people entered the passenger side and the vehicle departed on its own with no one in the driver's seat. Waymo, formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, allows cars to be ordered through the Uber app and Waymo One app by customers in select cities, Phoenix being one of them, and the service is also available in Austin and San Francisco.
Although the opportunity was there, I was too nervous to try the service out while by myself, but would have done it with someone else with me... a literal ride or die, if you will. The company prides itself on the safety of their vehicles, and while I wholeheartedly believe they're safe, I had some anxiety around the idea after a Phoenix local shared with me that somehow the door locks wouldn't release after the car's battery died, leaving him trapped in the vehicle until the fire department showed up to extract him. That being said, if my husband is ever in Phoenix, Austin or San Francisco with me someday, then absolutely, I will give one of these a try and we can be nervous together.
My first meal in Mesa was an early dinner at Worth Takeaway, a sweet little welcoming sandwich shop that is all about community and making your visit worth your time and money (hence their name). The staff was super friendly and made an excellent recommendation to me, which was the crispy chicken sandwich. In all honesty it was one of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever eaten, with a savory sauce that has a very noticeable desert heat finishing kick. I absolutely loved it, and ended the meal with a chocolate chip cookie with sea salt. If I lived in Mesa, this would be my regular spot.
I stayed at the Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West for the weekend, which happened to the be the host hotel for the race and would also be the site of the 50 States Half Marathon Club banquet and awards ceremony on the evening of the race. When we think of "location, location, location," this could not have been a better hotel to stay at considering I could see the finish line and finish festival right outside my second floor window. Every hotel in the surrounding area was completely booked for the weekend, not just because of the Mesa Marathon, but also because it turned out to be the weekend of the Phoenix Open as well, which was described to me by one of my Uber drivers as the biggest weekend of the year for this area. Being able to score a room at the Mesa Marathon host hotel was as close as I was going to get to "oceanfront property in Arizona."
Desert Dessert, Prickly Pears, and Pizza
Friday, February 7, 2025
The most difficult decision I had to make on Friday morning was between the Apple Jack Pancakes and the O'Pear Grenache Omelette at T.C. Eggington's. The omelette jumped out at me immediately, consisting of fresh pear slices, bacon, Havarti cheese, and almonds — all things I love. The pancakes also were something I was unwilling to forgo, because anything with apples and cinnamon is an immediate yes from me. My waitress understood my predicament and let me substitute the side that would have normally come with my omelette for an Apple Jack Pancake. I got the best of both worlds, and an adequate carb and protein ratio as I was fueling for race day. The service and food were both egg-ceptional.
After breakfast, I walked down the street from the hotel along Dobson Road to pick up pre-race breakfast at Starbucks for the next morning's early bus ride, which was my customary bagel with cream cheese and a bottled orange juice. As with any occasion that involves traveling for a race, I remained militant about my nutrition, and it paid off. My husband makes fun of me for always thinking about my next meal, and he's not wrong... it's all I think about 24/7.
I had a reservation at 10:00 A.M. for the Desert Botanical Garden, which would fulfill my need to see cacti in the wild — with the added bonus of completing my 10,000 steps for the day, as I was in the middle of a Garmin challenge and really close to earning a new badge. Runners and fitness enthusiasts, you understand. The Desert Botanical Garden was an incredible way for me to enjoy the beauty of the desert as a tourist, without the concern about getting lost in the middle of the actual desert (yes, that is an intrusive thought I often have). The garden features 140 acres worth of exhibits of 4,482 plant species, and me being the nerd I am, I set out to view as many breeds of cactus as possible on my self-guided tour.
The outdoor exhibits were gorgeous, and I could have spent the entire day there. I walked each of the garden's five thematic trails, visited the Berlin Agave Yucca Forest and saw endangered agave and yucca, stopped by the succulent gallery, and the Kitchell Family Heritage Garden. I took photos with cacti that easily exceeded 15 feet tall, and got plenty of photos of threatened species, saguaro, and some of the giant agave (my favorites). There is a pollinator garden and a hummingbird garden, however I wasn't fortunate enough to see any butterflies or hummingbirds during my visit as it wasn't the season for either them. There were plenty of bees, though, which I have a healthy respect for and kept my distance.
Before having lunch at Gertrude's, the garden's on-site restaurant, I checked out the gift shop, which was full of adorable cactus and desert-themed gifts and intriguing botanical books, such as Marta McDowell's Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers. My trip was made complete with a Dragonfruit Limeade Slushie, a large bowl of rice noodles, and lemon cookies with guava sorbet for dessert.
Everything on Gertrude's menu was obviously desert-themed, and everything I tried was spectacular. I loved that the restaurant offered a choice of indoor and outdoor seating, and it was a no-brainer choosing to eat outside in the beautiful weather, surrounded by the prickly foliage. After lunch, I headed to the Health and Lifestyle Expo at the Mesa Convention Center to pick up my packet.
The expo was both indoors and outdoors, and it was crowded everywhere, we were almost shoulder to shoulder no matter which section of the expo we were exploring. It was definitely one of the more packed expo events I have been to, with plenty of vendors and sponsors to check out. Swag-wise this wasn't the most abundant event when it came to the free stuff — we did get a pair of gloves, a Biofreeze packet, a packet of Coach's Oats, and our long sleeve technical shirts — but there was more than enough official race merchandise available for purchase once runners finished the packet pick-up process.
Picking up my packet in the designated lines, which were sorted by bib number, went extremely smoothly. There was a timing mat to step on after packet retrieval, which displayed our names on a large television screen, and then we were admitted to a separate line to pick up our shirts. When I returned to the hotel, race volunteers were putting the finishing touches on setting up the finish line and finish festival tents. I was starting to get excited, though with a small dose of anxiety, considering it would be my first race following my surgery I'd had back in October after running the Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon.
Before long, it was time for dinner, and in keeping with my pre-race tradition of pizza the night before a race, I headed over to Goat and Ram and met up with my friend Anna who I hadn't seen in about 10 years. It was a wonderful reunion over awesome pizza with some of the best crust I've had thus far in my quest to try a pizza in all 50 states. Goat and Ram has a core menu of regular pizzas, with rotating specialty pizzas every 2 weeks. I wanted something southwestern-themed, and settled on a spicy Chile Verde creation with black beans, mushrooms, corn, and cheese. My one-bite pizza review of Arizona pizza is a 10/10.
Runner's High: Still Legal in All 50 States
Race Day: Saturday, February 8, 2025
I am going to preface this recap by acknowledging there are mixed reviews about the Mesa Half Marathon overall, especially when it came to the logistics and parking situation this year. There were no buses to the start offered for half marathon participants — only marathoners — however, those of us who are members of the 50 States Half Marathon Club were fortunate that our Club President and fearless leader, Nicole, chartered buses for us and took all the stress out of the equation. Aside from the less than ideal logistics for many participants who had to endure the bumper-to-bumper morning traffic and a nightmare parking situation, many 50 Staters disliked the course as it was not scenic at all and was advertised as flat and downhill, but it was not entirely. Net downhill, yes, but not pancake-flat.
These complaints, while extremely valid, are not necessarily my own, as I personally was not affected by the parking debacle — nor did the gradual inclines throughout the course really impact my finish time. My chief complaint was I did not like running alongside traffic for most of the race, and it got quite claustrophobic at times with vehicles barreling past us on the right and the elite marathoners stampeding past on the left when the marathoners (who were bussed farther out to start) caught up to us as the courses converged. Now for the positives: the crowd support, post-race festivities, and aid stations didn't disappoint!
Race morning began with a 4:00 A.M. wakeup, which wasn't so bad, considering my body was still on central time and I typically wake up between 4:00 A.M. and 5:00 A.M. every day at home anyway. Our charter bus was scheduled to pick us up near the entrance of the hotel, and those of us who elected to be on the second departing bus (there were a total of 2 buses to choose from) were due to check in with Nicole at 4:50 A.M. to ensure we made it to the start on time with anticipated traffic.
We made our way downstairs to the hotel lobby, and we all walked together as a group to the bus and loaded up. On the ride, I ate my bagel and cream cheese and drank the orange juice I'd picked up the day before from Starbucks. Our bus driver was phenomenal, navigating tight spaces in the residential areas devoid of street lights in the complete darkness, gliding past aggressive and impatient drivers in the thick of the nightmarish traffic on the highway, and even though things got very hairy as we merged onto the exit ramp of Highway 202 — our driver got us safely to the starting line around 5:45 A.M.
While on the exit ramp, we watched in surprise as runners exited vehicles in droves and started walking up the ramp as traffic was at a complete standstill. We, the fortunate cushy bus passengers, commented amongst ourselves that we would not have gotten out and started walking, because all of us were from out of state and none of us would have had any idea where we were going. Several impatient vehicles drove onto the grass median and attempted to squeeze onto the ramp to cut others off, and police motorcycles with lights flashing quickly did their best to put a stop to the exit ramp bogarts.
We applauded our bus driver and cheered when we pulled up on East McDowell Road in the area of the Mesa Ridge Business Park, near the start line arch. We joined up with the rest of the 50 State Half Marathon Club members who had arrived on the first bus, and took a photo together. We then scattered off to stretch and use the porta-potties, intending to line up in the start chute around 6:00 A.M. for a 6:30 A.M. race start.
The race announcer made the call to delay the race start by 15 minutes, acknowledging how terrible the parking situation was and that Highway 202 was still backed up. Once we finally crossed the timing mat, two enormous cold sparklers were lit off on either side, and they were an impressive way to start us off. The weather for this race couldn't have been more perfect at a balmy 51° F with 58% humidity and 4 mph wind. By mid-afternoon as finishers crossed the finish line and made their way to the finish festival, it was around 73° F. I'd brought a sweatshirt with me as a throw-away layer and discarded it after the first mile.
The first 3 miles felt a bit challenging to me in the sense that it took some time to get my calves adequately warmed up after standing around at the start for over an hour, and I began to feel the start of shin splints, something that hadn't happened at all during this training cycle. I kept wondering when my vitamins and training would kick in, and decided to stop for a porta-potty break around mile 4. The porta-potty situation at the aid stations was super efficient, probably the most efficient out of any larger race I've participated in so far. I was literally in and out of the bathroom in 30 seconds, and my break did not negatively impact my finish time. By mile 5, I got a second wind, and felt great for the rest of the race.
As mentioned before, the scenery was rather bland and residential, and the only cacti in sight were a single row of smaller ones planted in front of someone's fence as we ran past a house. I was pleased with myself for getting my wild cactus sighting fix the previous afternoon, because I otherwise would have been extremely disappointed if I didn't see a single cactus the entire trip. Favorite signs along the course included "Run like the cops are chasing you!" and "Runner's high, still legal in all 50 states." Both signs were presented by Grand Canyon Law Group, a local team of criminal defense attorneys handing out donuts to runners while the Mesa Police hung out at their tent with them. Grand Canyon Law Group wins for funniest race course motivation.
My finish time was 12 minutes faster than my Detroit finish time, which I was very happy about, considering I ran the Detroit Free Press before my surgery and then took 6 weeks off to recover before beginning training again for Mesa. All thanks goes to my amazing coach Emily, The Dietitian Runner, who prepared me for this comeback race after having major surgery 3 months prior. After collecting my medal, a banana, and a can of water in the finish chute, I made my way to the finisher's festival on the lawn of the Sheraton. I milled about for a while, collecting a popsicle, taking photos, and enjoying the music before heading into the hotel for a shower. Once I got upstairs, I thanked myself again for booking a room right above the finish line, and gleefully opened my curtains to watch finishers cross the finish line directly under my window two stories below.
I hailed a Lyft in my quest for food, and was treated to a spotless Tesla whose quirky, friendly driver loved the Tesla but unabashedly despised the automaker's CEO, and included a hilarious laminated Tesla FAQ packet in the seat back pocket for passengers to read. The FAQ packet covered everything from how long a Tesla can go in between battery charges, to the driver's colorful opinion of Tesla's founder. On my ride, we had plenty of time to discuss everything from geopolitics and economics to Arizona's climate to travel destinations and entertainment. After braving nearly 40 minutes of absolutely horrific traffic reminiscent of California traffic on I-5 during rush hour, I treated myself to lemon-stuffed French toast for post-race brunch at Wildberries.
The host that seated me kept asking me why I was by myself, and that I should invite friends, and I kept trying to explain to him how horrible traffic was and that I would be finished by the time they arrived. Several more comments were made about me eating by myself before I decided he made it weird, but the food was decent nonetheless and the intent of my visit to the restaurant was met: I was properly caffeinated and fed. If you've been following my blog for a while now, you may recall how I had an even weirder experience in Pennsylvania, when a complete stranger decided he didn't like that I was traveling solo and had the audacity to attempt to sit across from me in my booth.
I paid for my food and hurried outside to catch a Lyft back to my hotel, and traffic on the way back was not nearly as bad, but several roads were still blocked off as the last full marathoners were finishing up their race. My last order of business for this trip was to get ready for the 50 States Half Marathon Club Member Party & Awards Night Banquet, which took place at the hotel's ballroom. I'd just run a half marathon that afternoon, so I knew I wouldn't have the energy to dress for the Oscars that night, but I did at the very least run a brush through my hair, put on a pair of nice slacks and heels, and my club T-shirt.
Dinner began at 6:00 P.M., and I loaded my plate with chicken, vegetables, wild rice, and dinner rolls. Yes, rolls, plural. During the awards ceremony, I was so inspired by so many of the stories of runners who received awards, and now I feel like I need to get motivated to set my goal to 100 or even 200 half marathons! There are some truly wonderful people I had the chance to meet throughout the weekend, and one of my new friends invited me to join her at her table. We were a table of Floridians with only a couple of exceptions, me included, and we went around the table introducing ourselves and shared where our next race was going to be.
I got out of my comfort zone that evening and sat at a table with complete strangers, something my husband knows I prefer not to do when we have dinner on a cruise because of my social anxiety (I am an extrovert at work but introvert in real life), but I remembered my word for 2025, "Connection," and made the leap! As human beings, we are hardwired for connection, whether it's professionally, in friendship, with family, or connecting with strangers who become friends. I decided at the beginning of the year that 2025 would be my year of appreciating all of the connections I have with people in my life, and building new ones. In the end, that's really what my travels and experiences have been teaching me: connection = compassion, care, hope, safety, and happiness.
🌵🌺🌴
LODGING RECOMMENDATION:
Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West
860 N Riverview
Mesa, AZ 852016
Happy running and safe travels,
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