As much as I love Best Damn Race Safety Harbor, the Orlando race comes in a pretty close second. My running bestie Jenn always comes down for the race, I get to sleep in my own bed the night before, and I get to see a bunch of my Orlando peeps. Its always a fun morning!
Jenn and I started the weekend with Happy Hour and dinner at Reel Fish Coastal Kitchen. I always try to take her to an Orlando restaurant that she hasn’t been to and Reel Fish was the perfect choice. We enjoyed their Sunset Sangria, a half dozen roasted oysters, and some shrimp tacos. It was a tasty meal and gave us a chance to catch up.
Race morning started off with picking up our race packets. I LOVE that BDR has race day packet pick up. With the race being near downtown Orlando it is really hard for me to get there on Friday after work for our packets. It is great being able to just skip that step on Friday and do it the next morning. After packet pick up we met up with some of our fellow BDR ambassadors for a quick photo. The schedule for the rest of the morning looked like this – 10k, medal photos, beer, 5k, more medal photos, more beer, and brunch. Sounds like a pretty great Saturday morning right?
The 10k course was new this year, so we were excited to check out the changes. I wasn’t entirely sure I was up for the challenge, but Jenn always keeps me moving. Unfortunately the combo of being under trained, 80+ degree temps, and insane humidity made this a really rough race for me. I wasn’t happy with myself or my time, but I still had a great time with Jenn.
After the race we had about 30 minutes for a bathroom break, a couple quick photos, and a beer before heading back to the corrals for race number 2. Weren’t we just here?? I got a bit of a second wind during out break but that was short lived. Neither of us was really feeling the second race and decided just to walk it. We always say that our goal for the second race is to finish, and that is exactly what we did.
One of the perks of the challenge is that you get a medal for each of the races and then a third challenge medal. The medals this year were pretty awesome so I was happy to walk away with three of them. After collecting our third medal we grabbed a snack and took some photos before heading back to the beer garden to meet up with friends and enjoy some well deserved beers. Let me tell you that those beers tasted AMAZING after such hot and humid races.
As always we had a great time at Best Damn Race Orlando. This is my last BDR race of the season and I’m all ready looking forward to next year. I’ve met some amazing people through this race series and the events are always one of the highlights of my year.
*Disclosure: I am a BDR ambassador and I do receive some perks throughout the year. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Best race weekend ever!!!!
I really do enjoy this one with you! It’s always fun and we always have a blast! Thanks for always being the best hostess!
We do always have fun 💜 I love having you here for the races.