Top 10 running events for women

Today's episode is a special one-I'm sharing running events that women will love. These aren't just races, they're transformational experiences. Some of them I've run myself and carry in my heart forever and others made the list through deep research and stories from women in the running community.

I also give you the scoop on which races to skip because it's just a 'shrink & pink' ploy.

Whether you're looking for a race that's fun and empowering, soul-stirring and scenic, or simply something that reignites your passion for running, this podcast is for you! 

Let's connect!

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https://milemarkermatriarchpodcast.com

Email the show at stacycac@milemarkerspodcast.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Hey there, welcome back to the My Own Market Matriarch podcast. It's me, your running buddy, Stacey Cacciatore. You are going to love today's episode, whether you've run a ton of running events or whether you're planning your first one, I am going to give you the breakdown on the top 10 running events that I think you should consider. When I originally set out to record this podcast episode, I was going to do a breakdown of the top 10 women's running events. But I have to say, I was really scrounging to find 10 altogether, much less 10 that I recommend that you try. So instead I shifted gears a little bit and I'm going to share with you the top 10 races. Some of them are for women exclusively. Some of them I think are great for women and some I just think are really great races. I also threw in a few that I think are not great races for women, even though they're marketed as such, just to help give you a wide range of things to consider when planning your next road race. This is a topic I am passionate about. I love running events. I've run about 150 road races over the course of my running career. Some of them great, some of them terrible, and a lot of them in between. I researched a ton of running events as part of my doctoral research, and I even wrote my dissertation on women's running events. The is because I think it's an area that is not explored enough and running has traditionally been a male sport. The first woman to ever run an official running event was Catherine Switzer. She ran the Boston Marathon in 1967 and much to the chagrin of the Boston Marathon race organizer, she was able to finish, but there was a catch to that. She registered under Kay Switzer. The race director mistakenly thought that she was a male and she was able to get on the course. However, halfway through running the race, the race director discovered that she was a woman when he saw her flowing locks, I suppose, and he tried to literally push her off the course. Luckily, Catherine was running with two male friends of hers who ran by her side and acted as her running bodyguards, essentially, to protect her from the race director and allow her to finish the race. But how crazy is that that that wasn't really that long ago? But can you believe it took another five years and it was until 1972 that women were allowed to officially run in the Boston Marathon and any road race in America. The AAU finally lifted the ban for women runners and they were allowed to begin competing. In 1972, the first year that women can run the Boston Marathon, eight women registered for the race. In 2025, over 10,000 women ran the Boston Marathon. How incredible! Let's just take a moment to applaud all the women throughout the years who have been brave enough to get to the start line. That's why I tell every runner, getting there is such a huge piece. Be so proud of yourself for training, for showing up, for getting to the race. Forget about your time. Forget about everything else. You are there. And we should be celebrating the fact that we're able to be there because for so long, women weren't allowed. We still don't have equity for all women runners though. In 2015, the Boston Athletic Association updated its policy on transgender runners and it did allow transgender women to compete in the women's division under certain conditions. In 2023, a non-binary category was added to the Boston Marathon. Overall, the current focus of the Boston Athletic Association is to focus more on self-identified gender and take people's word when registering for a race. The inclusion of transgender women in sports is complex and evolving, and there's varying policies across different levels and organizations. While some sports have implemented inclusive policies, others have adopted more restrictive I am a strong advocate for inclusivity, fairness, and non-discrimination, and therefore I strongly believe that transgender women should be allowed to compete in any sport they want, including running. I hope that we continue to see forward progress in this area and move towards a more inclusive environment. One of the reasons I wanted to open our discussion about running events for women with the topic of inclusivity and making sure that all women feel included in running events is because safety and security is a big component of why I'm such an advocate for road races and running events. When we think about safe spaces, running for women isn't necessarily a safe space. Running outdoors can pose a lot of safety and security concerns for women. Anecdotally, I could share a lot of stories about me being followed on runs, being shouted at from cars, being chased, even having a man verbally attack me on a run on a trail that was supposed to be a safe place. But let's just look at the statistics out outside of my own personal experience. A 2023 study found that 92% of women were concerned for their safety while running. 51% were afraid of being physically attacked. Unfortunately, this fear is not unfounded. A recent survey found that 68% of women runners have experienced some type of abusive behavior while on a run. 58% report that they've experienced verbal abuse, 19% have been followed, 7% have been flashed, and 13% have received abuse from men in vehicles. Despite the high prevalence of abuse, 95% of women said they did not report it to the police. I wish that I could say I found this surprising, but I don't. Given my personal experience and those of my friends and other runners who I've coached, this is a pretty common experience for women runners. Even just the fear and the worry of being attacked is enough to keep many women at home. When we're fearful of something happening, our fight or flight system is activated, which of course means rapid breathing, our heart rate is high, we're already in this activated mode. When you're trying to run and you're already activated and your heart rate is already high and you're already having a hard time breathing, it makes for a very difficult ride. The topic that I researched and wrote about in my dissertation that I don't hear talked about enough is that there is a level of safety involved in road races. When there's a coordinated running event, there's police presence, there's race officials, roads are closed, there are witnesses and others around. All of this helps prevent that harassment that women receive on runs. With the police on every corner, it helps reduce violent attacks. There's a lot of people running the course as well, so there's safety in numbers. Oftentimes, roads are closed and the roads are only for runners during a race, which offers another level of safety. Women don't have to worry about shoutings from cars driving by. They don't have to worry about being followed or driven off the road. It offers that level of safety that this space is for runners. Another component of safety for women is that road races allow them to explore areas they normally couldn't explore as a woman alone, whether it's a city space or mountains or something secluded. Each of these spaces can offer a level of danger for women if they're alone, but within a race structure and again, with police presence, race officials, closed roads, lots of crowds. It allows women to explore these places and be able to see things in a view that they normally wouldn't be able to see. Possibly this is one of the reasons why we're seeing more women run road races than ever. The latest stats show that 56% of road race finishers are women. I mentioned at the beginning that I originally was going to do this podcast on women's only races, but found that there weren't even really 10 that I could find, much less 10 that I would recommend to women. I also want to add that there are some differing views on women's races. Some people are strongly opposed to having women's only races because they believe it sends the wrong message that women need special races and we're losing out on the great positives of running, which is that regardless of gender, age, pace, background, we're all in this together. I don't necessarily hold that same view. I think that women's races can offer a safe space for women who feel comfortable running with other women. I think that it does send the wrong message. I think that inclusivity can mean a lot of different things. And inclusivity could mean a women's only race to get them into the sport, to get them comfortable, to run with others who they feel comfortable with. I think that some of the women's only races can offer a sense of camaraderie, shared purpose, and they cater to women's running needs, which may be different from men's. On the contrary, I do think that some running events that are marketed to women use the pink it and shrink it strategy. If you haven't heard of pink it and shrink it before, it's basically where a marketer or takes a product, and they market it towards women by making it pink and making it smaller. More on that in a little bit, but for now, drum roll please. Here are my top 10 road race recommendations that I think women will love. The top women's running event that I'm gonna recommend is the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Of course I would recommend this one first. The Disney Princess Half Marathon is my favorite race I have ever done. I have done it, I believe I mentioned last time, 10 years in a row. It's always held my birthday weekend and it is my birthday treat to myself. It is one of the most fun races I've ever done. Let me give you a little bit of a breakdown. The Disney Princess Half Marathon for next year, so for 2026, is going to be held the weekend of February 26th through March 2nd. I'll start by giving you a breakdown of what race weekend consists of. There's a 5k, a 10k, a half marathon, and the fairy tale challenge, which is if you do the 10k and the half marathon. Now for the prices, the 5k was$101 fourteen dollars this past year they have not released the prices yet for next year but we can use this as a guide the 10k was 161 the half was 246 and if you do the fairy tale challenge it's 412 so it is priced pretty steep that's one of the downsides of the disney races there are other cost considerations when running disney you will also have to consider what the resort costs are the park admission all the souvenirs all the gear there's a ton of costs associated with running a Run Disney race. According to the Run Disney website, what's included in the race registration price is your t-shirt, your finisher medal, a personalized bib, and a virtual goodie bag. What I'm going to tell you is that the virtual goodie bag really is not great. In previous years, they actually used to give you an actual goodie bag filled with like coupons and snacks and like fun little giveaways. Over the years, they've moved to virtual and at this point, it's really just coupons for stuff around Disney. And the coupons aren't that great. As runners, we always joke around that we do it for the medal and the t-shirt and the banana. And that's pretty much what is included in the registration price. However, Disney has one of the best post-race snacks that any race has ever had. They give you a little Run Disney snack box. The aesthetic is adorable. It's a little box that you can open up and inside they usually have one pack of tortilla chips, a yummy thing of cheese to dip your chips into, usually some goldfish and maybe something random like sunflower kernels now the best thing about the run disney races is the environment the characters on course the on course entertainment it would be the perfect race for a girls weekend get a resort share a room do the disney race hit the parks have a blast the course is also really great for beginners you can run or you can walk there is a 16 minute pace requirement but as i had mentioned in my other podcast really that is for the last person to cross the start line in the very last corral, which gives everyone else in a higher corral a lot of wiggle room. The Walt Disney World races are the absolute best place to have a girls weekend. You can partner running with hanging out with your friends and hitting the parks and going out to eat. It is a blast. I mentioned in a previous podcast that I am a member of Plan Disney. And when I joined me and three of the other girls who were all runners, we decided to go down for one of the Disney races and have a girls weekend. It was an absolute blast. It was so much fun. So if you're looking for a good girls weekend, running getaway, any of the Disney races are great. Race Reviews is a great site where runners go in and give a review on the races that they've run and they come out with an overall score. The overall score for the Disney Princess Race Weekend is 4.2 out of 5. So that's pretty high. There was one comment on there that really bothered me and that was someone said, this is not a runner's race. I do not like it when people say that the is not for real runners because i think that is such a dividing type of comment it makes me want to ask someone what do you think it's a real runner if you run you're a runner that's it i don't know what these other categories or qualifications that people have but it really bothers me i would reframe that and say if you are running a race and looking to qualify if you want to get a pr if you are looking to run your fastest race the disney princess half marathon weekend would not be the place to do that and the reason i say you're proud not going to qualify for Boston running the Disney Princess Half Marathon is because the course is crowded. There are folks who pull over for character pictures. There are times in the course you may have to walk because it's narrow and there are a lot of people. So realistically, it's probably not the best race to run if you're looking to go really fast, but that doesn't mean it's a non-runners race. As runners, we have different goals in our running every day, every race, every weekend. We're allowed to have different approaches that we take to races based on what we want to get out of it. For a Disney princess half marathon, you can be a hardcore runner. You can run Boston and you can run the Disney princess half marathon and have just as good of a time. It just depends on what your goals are for that day. And if you want to have a race where you are running your fastest time ever, it's just probably not the race for you, but it doesn't mean it's a non-runners race. Okay. I'll get off my soapbox on that. The second race I'm going to recommend for women runners is the hot chocolate run series. The swag is amazing in this race. You You get an exclusive hot chocolate run jacket. Okay. They call it exclusive. It's not that cute. I'm going to be totally honest with you, but it is really cool to get a jacket. Most races give t-shirts. So to have a jacket is a really nice thing. It can be okay. Like if it's cold on race day, go ahead and throw it on. It'd be a great jacket to wear to a different race where it might be cold in the morning and you just need like an initial layer. They have a very fun finishers medal. I've done this race probably three or four times and the race medal is always a chocolate bar with a bite taken out of it super super cute to add to your collection at the finish line they will hand you a chocolate fondue finishers mug now the first time i did this race i got this really cute plastic bowl it was blue and it was branded hot chocolate 15k and it was filled with warm chocolate and i had banana and i had cookies and i was able to dip that into the warm chocolate absolutely incredible was able to walk around that have this chocolate snack while listening to live music and they had a huge after party with selling merchandise and they had vendors out there and they had an opportunity for you to take photos it was a really fun post-race experience and adding chocolate just made it even sweeter now I will say in this economy just like everything else just like those baked lays that you're getting and the bag seems to be about half full and you're wondering what happened is this inflation who knows but I will tell you that they changed to a recipe recyclable bowl that is actually just a paper bowl that looks like it was made from recycled newspaper not cute not aesthetically pleasing at all throw it away when you're done and what a bummer what a downgrade from the blue bowl not a huge deal you still get your chocolate but not the cutest bowl the other thing I'll add about this race is that the merch is great the merch that you purchase they have hot chocolate 15k blankets and they are some of the softest blankets I own I am a sucker for a good blanket and this one is really really cozy and there's nothing better than finishing a race when it's slightly cold outside so I did this race in Charlotte in February it was a little bit cold I bought that blanket I had it wrapped around me while eating my hot chocolate and banana the registration fee is also extremely reasonable it ranges from 44 to 64 depending upon what time of year you register but that's a quarter of the price of the Disney Princess half marathon and a lot of other races so it's a great deal and you really get a lot of bang for your buck from the downside perspective the only one I can think of is that I did the race in Charlotte and I know there was no crowd support along the course that's fine Charlotte doesn't have a lot of crowd support no matter what the event is I don't know if the hot chocolate series is that way in other cities but I'll say you do kind of lose some of that fun the hot chocolate series got a rating of three out of five on race reviews so that's a pretty solid rating number three Thelma and Louise marathon and hatchery I have always wanted to do this one, but in full transparency, I have not done this personally. So this race review is going to be based on what I've seen online. I do have to say this race looks incredible and the race reviews are out of this world. The overall rating on race race was 4.7 out of 5, which is absolutely incredible. The race is held in Moab, Utah, and all the race reviews say the course is absolutely gorgeous. Runners have a choice of signing up for the$15 the half marathon, the marathon, or a 50K, which can be done as a relay race. The 15K is$139, the half marathon's$162, the marathon's$196, and the 50K is$213. Relatively not that bad considering everything that's included, which runners will receive a race-specific shirt, a custom Thelma and Louise shot glass, a unique belt buckle finisher medal, a post-race refreshments, free camping, and the opportunity to run through some of the most beautiful scenery Moab has to offer, according to their website. This race is actually being held next weekend on Saturday, April 26th. And it looks incredible. I wish I was having the opportunity to run this race. Everyone on the race site says it's a great girls trip, really fun girls weekend race. The sites are just absolutely incredible. And it is only women who are allowed to register. So this is truly a women's race. The only downsides runners seem to mention was that the course is pretty difficult. There's a variety of textures like sand and rocks, and it's pretty hot on the course as well. Some runners notated it took an additional two hours for them to finish this than their normal race time. So just know that going in. It's to relax and have fun with your friends. It's a tough course, but you can get through it. The fourth race I'm going to recommend is called the USA Women's Race Series. They hold this race in four different locations, the Florida Keys Nashville, Dallas, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. This event is touted as the luxury race experience. The reason why this is a luxury race is because you get a race shirt from Lululemon, you get a finisher jacket, mimosas at the race finish, yoga, massages, and a special piece of jewelry instead of a race medal. This is what sold me on the race back in 2020 when I signed up to do the USA Women's Race Series in the Hamptons, New York. I was really excited about the race, but unfortunately due to COVID, it was moved virtual. Back in 2020, the piece of jewelry was made by Tiffany, and I had a custom USA Women's Half Marathon 13.1 Tiffany necklace. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I wish that they still used Tiffany because it really would make it worth it, but unfortunately something must have fallen through with their partnership because they no longer use Tiffany as the jeweler of choice. The cost of the race is$179, which is It isn't bad if you consider you're getting a Lululemon shirt, jewelry, and all the swag at the finish line. The mimosas, the massages, yoga, sounds wonderful. However, as I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, execution is everything. And from what I've heard, the execution on this race is absolutely terrible. While the race has good swag, they do not do well in executing a race, which is the top priority when running a road race. The runners gave this a 2.9 overall rating on racing. reviews and they cited not having enough bathrooms having poor signage it being a poorly managed event bad policy for late cancellations no food and a terrible Expo they said that they ran out of mimosas there were long lines for massages that they ended up just leaving because it was going to be an hour or longer before they even got around to getting to them so that means some of the benefits that they're touting you don't even get to receive my recommendation for this race is if they offer offer a virtual option, it might be worth signing up for the swag alone. The cool necklace, the t-shirt, getting an opportunity to participate that way is great. But for the in-person event, I really highly do not recommend because this event has had bad reviews for years in a row. This is an example of what I was talking about at the beginning. They really advertise a lot of great benefits of what they think women want, but unfortunately, the execution is off. Coming in at number five is Mud Girl. Now Mud Girl is more of an obstacle course than a run. It's around a 5k when you add in all the mileage, but really the fun is in the obstacles and the different games you get to play along the course. It's held in 24 different cities and the cost of registration is very reasonable at$30. You get to have mud, obstacles, inflatables. It's all women who are signed up, all ages, all different fitness levels, because it's really about fun, high energy, women empowerment, obstacle course, combining strength and running together. It's a really fun experience. You get very dirty. So if you don't like getting dirty, do not recommend, but it's a really fun thing to do with your girlfriends, especially if you're a beginner runner and maybe don't want to go a longer distance, but you do want to just have fun and do different obstacles while getting some running in. I think it's a very empowering event and it's very reasonable. The sixth race on the list is the National Women's Half Marathon held in D.C. This event has a half marathon and an 8K, and you get to run through all the great historic sites in DC. The price is pretty reasonable. If you sign up early, you can pay$45 for the half or$30 for the 8K, and the late registration ends up being$105 for the half or$75 for the 8K. You get a t-shirt, you get a race photo, which is great. A lot of races don't include the photo, so this is a great benefit, and you get to finish your medal. There's post-event food and refreshments and an entertainment party, which they always advertise these and I don't stay at them very often. So if that's something that you'd like to do, great. Otherwise, I don't know how much of a benefit quote unquote that is. Greatest benefit of this race is the scenery and the sites that you get to see while running around DC. You get to go past the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. You'll have a great experience being able to see all the different sites in a way that you couldn't see otherwise. This is another great example of how you can have a safe space and running and be able to see things in a way that you wouldn't be able to normally see. The course is fairly flat. It's an out and back and there's some pretty good crowd support along the race path. This is a fairly small race and it's mostly women. Men are definitely allowed to register, but you'll see mostly women on the course. I have run this race and I do have a few criticisms. I do think that DC is extraordinarily difficult to navigate. On race morning, it was very difficult to get to the race start line. Some races do have host hotels that are right across from the start line, so it's easy to get there. I did not notice that with this race. I did not notice that there were any host hotels listed, nor do I believe there were any within walkable distance to the start line, which meant there were a lot of people taking the transportation in the city and those got clogged pretty quickly. It was extremely humid and pretty hot on race day. Of race officials can't control the weather but they can't offer things like cold sponges or extra water along the race during those conditions and neither of those were offered they had your typical water stops but they didn't offer cold sponges or anything in particular to help with the heat and humidity overall on the race raves website the rating is 3.7 i think this would be a great race to go to with your family that's what i did is when i ran this race i brought the kids and we got to explore dc and make a nice weekend out it. If you want to visit DC and want to have a running race alongside of it, I think this is a great option for you. The seventh race series on my list is on my personal bucket list. I have to do these. Those are vacation races. And no, I'm not speaking generally. There is a site called Vacation Races, and you can explore the national parks while running a race. This is an absolute dream to me. I cannot wait to sign up for the Great Smoky Mountains Half and 5K. They're having one on September 6, 2025. It's going to be held in Townsend, Tennessee. They offer a black bear double, which is so exciting for me. I love a race that offers a double feature. So the black bear double means that you're going to do the half marathon and the 5k and it's$234, which is pretty pricey. I have to say the half marathon is$186 and the 5k is 72. So the prices are pretty steep, but you do get to explore a national park while you're running, so I'm willing to pay the fee. This race received a 4.6 on race race, which is an excellent score. All the reviewers said that the scenery was absolutely beautiful. The metal was amazing. They really enjoyed the race. They said it is a must do. Another great thing about this race is they have a host hotel, which I had mentioned during the last race review. That was one of the problems with the DC race is there was no host hotel. Tally Ho Inn is the race hotel and it's less than one mile from the Smoky Mountains so it has a great location. Another great thing about staying at the Host Hotel is that they offer shuttles to the race starting line which is such a huge relief on race morning. Race morning begins around 4 30 a.m for this race because the shuttles for the start line begin loading at 5 15 a.m. The last shuttle goes at 6 a.m so you want to make sure you're on one of the earlier shuttles. That part may be one of the downsides is that it's a very early wake-up time. The only other downside that race reviewers mentioned is that the course is very hilly, but that is to be expected. So just make sure you train for hills and you'll be good on this course. Vacation Races also has a ton of other races at other national parks, which they all sound incredible. They have a Zion half marathon, which ranges from$135 to$185. And there's a Mount Rushmore half marathon ranging from$150 to$200. And it begins on September 13th. It really sounds like it'd be a lot of fun to do some running adventures, destination races, get to see some really unique places and run the world. You get to run some trails, get to run hills, really offers a wide variety. And I'm really excited to start running some of these races. Races number eight and number nine, I'm going to talk about collectively because these are a little bit different. What I'm recommending here are races that benefit organizations that help women. There's a race called She Slays, which is in Hendersonville, North Carolina, that is local to me. And I know I probably have listeners from all over. So I didn't want to recommend traveling all the way to Henderson, North Carolina for a 5k. But what I will say is that I strongly recommend that you look for races that benefit women's organizations in your local area and run those to support women. Another great benefit of running local events that benefit women's charities is that often women in your local community will get to benefit. For example, with She Slays helps women who are battling cancer, but all the proceeds from this particular race are will benefit the Party Cancer Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Another way to benefit women and girls in your community is to look for a local Girls on the Run 5K. Girls on the Run is an amazing nonprofit that helps girls by helping them develop life skills blended with physical activity. They help them learn various skills, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy, and building their self-confidence by blending physical activity with these skills. It's an absolutely incredible organization. Girls on the Run is having a 5K here local to me in Fort Mill, South Carolina on May 18th. So I am very excited to support that organization and have fun running at the same time. Coming in at number 10 on my list is the Asheville Marathon and Half. Save the date for March 21st, 2026. And that is when the next race will be held. They just held it here in 2025. Now I do have to say I have run this race in both forms. Let me explain what I mean by both forms. So this race previously was two different races. races. They had the Asheville marathon and half, which was held in the city of Asheville. And then they had the Biltmore marathon and half, which was held exclusively on the Biltmore property. My favorite half marathon used to be the Biltmore half marathon. This race was held every March and it was held exclusively on the Biltmore property. I definitely think this would have been a great girls weekend trip because they have a winery on the property. You can explore the beautiful Biltmore estate. There's wonderful shopping in the area. area. Asheville is absolutely a gorgeous city with a lot of great sights. The Biltmore Half Marathon was considered a boutique race because it was very small registration, but you got to run on the Biltmore property, which meant you had no cars, no worry of any race traffic. It was very simple to get to. It had great parking. It was extremely well run. The expo was well run. The on-course attrition and hydration was well done. And the after course party was the ab absolute best. They had RC Cola and Moon Pies. Does it get any better than that? Best part was that all finishers received a fleece blanket embroidered with Asheville Marathon on it at the finish line and a freshly branded wood metal made from trees on the property. Absolutely incredible special experience with really special mementos. The Grove Park Inn is a hotel on the site, which is extremely expensive, but I always stayed at the Double Tree, which was just right across the street and a fraction of the price, so it made it fairly reasonable. Considering all you got for the race, it wasn't that expensive of a race at under$200. Another unique component of this race is that you could go to the winery on the property and they would offer wine bottle souvenirs for the race. They would actually take the wine from the Biltmore Winery and they would melt down the bottle and they would brand it with an Asheville half marathon on it. It was really cool and a very unique souvenir to get from the race. The race itself was gorgeous, absolutely incredible. impeccable the first six miles are uphill which may sound difficult but the last six miles are all downhill so actually the first six miles you know it's going to get better so you have a smile on your face the entire time and it really doesn't feel that bad especially because you know as you crest the sixth mile you're going to see the Biltmore estate in all its glory absolutely gorgeous you get to run past it you'll get your picture taken such a fun experience and then you go downhill you'll run past horse pasture and the winery and then you end up on a nice dirt road a soft landing for your finish and you get your blanket and your medal it's a beautiful race absolutely incredible highly recommend unfortunately though they've combined it with the Asheville marathon in half which is held in the city of Asheville now I love Asheville I used to go there every three months as my kids were growing up because my sister lived there so I really do love the area I love the arts district and the French Broad River. They really have some beautiful sights. While Asheville is a beautiful city rich in art and culture and has gorgeous nature and beautiful sights, unfortunately, the marathon course does not give you a taste of that. The marathon course is held on very hilly roads in the back roads of Asheville. There were barely any sites. There was zero on course support. I don't think I counted one person cheering us on in the entire city. We ran through a lot of back alleyways. Like for example, when we ran through the arts district, we actually ran on a street behind the arts district that held some of the studios of the artists. It's wonderful that the artists have studios, but we didn't get to see any of their work it was just like a storage building when we ran through the hills of the city we were running through back roads and there were just a bunch of houses and people who looked kind of irritated that they couldn't back out of their driveway because all of us runners were blocking the hill the course wasn't crowded which is a good thing but also I felt very alone and at times lost there was not great signage on the course and because there were so few runners it was really confusing to figure out where to go Most races I've done have had race officials on the corner, really direct signage, road closures, and usually enough runners on the course that I'm not alone. This race had none of those. There was a point where I was standing on the corner looking around trying to figure out which way I was supposed to turn or go straight. It was very frightening actually and created a pretty stressful experience. The race was also held in June at that time and it was really hot and they definitely didn't think of anything to give runners to help with the heat, probably because it's Asheville and it's usually cold there, but they didn't have cold sponges or extra water. In fact, the on course nutrition and hydration was severely lacking. I think there may have been two water stations, so I'm glad I brought my own water. Overall, what I'll say about the Asheville race is it's really up in the air, whether this race is going to be good or bad. I do encourage you to go out there and run it if you have not been to Asheville before, because Asheville is a gorgeous city. If you haven't explored Biltmore, Highly encourage you to go. If you're looking for a girls weekend, Asheville in general is so much fun. I recommend staying at Grove Park Inn, booking a spa treatment and enjoying the amazing day spa services. They even have a grotto. They have an indoor pool. Absolutely incredible. So check it out. It's certainly worth checking it out. I'm curious if they're going to leverage the race resources that the Asheville Marathon had or leverage what they used in Biltmore because those were two very different experiences. So it's up in the air whether this one will be well run or not. But either way, I do think you'll have a good time with your girlfriends in the city of Asheville. Now that I've shared the top 10 women's running events, I have a bonus number 11 for you. As a bonus number 11, I'm going to share with you my dream race, which actually does not exist. But I should create a race like this. I would love to see a shop and run event. I think the distance should be between a 5k and the 10k and what I envision are little shops that are set up along the race course where you can stop by and it's like a table so you can run and just like quickly look over see if you want to stop if you like what they have you can stop by I'm thinking like jewelry books maybe clothing maybe running stuff wide variety of stuff I would love to see local vendors so similar to when you go to a spring festival and they have all the arts and crafts vendors out there that are local in your community where they make handcrafted candles and all that fun stuff I would love to see that set up along the race course you can stop by the table if you decide to buy something like you can buy things so quickly on your phone now like when I first started talking about this 10 years ago I was like how do you pay on the go people would have to bring a credit card or cash nowadays it's super easy as long as every vendor accepted apple pay you could quickly do apple pay on it and then the best part would be buying stuff along the race course at the end of the race all your purchases are there waiting for you in a gear check situation. So like in a normal race, you check your gear at the beginning and then go pick it up at the end and you give them your number. And that's like the stuff that you bring to the race with you. But what I would see is that as you're shopping throughout the race, there's someone who's going to coordinate getting all those purchases, putting them in a little bag for you, and then you give them your race number, your bib number, and you get your purchases at the end. So you don't have to carry them along your run. I would love that. It would combine two of my favorite things which is shopping and running the closest I've ever got to that is when they have a yard sale in my neighborhood and I go for a run and I will buy things along the way and ask the sellers if I can pick up the item after my run and they're always very accommodating so it's super fun I think it would add just a layer of fun to an event and combining some things together so let me know what you think would you like to see a race like that should I try to coordinate one I'd love to hear from you If you have run any of these races and you want to give me the scoop on if you loved it or hated it, if you agree with my review or disagree, please let me know. I cannot wait to hear from my listeners. The quickest way to reach me is send me a DM through Instagram. Again, milemarkermatriarch and let me know what's on your mind. Make sure to visit milemarkermatriarchpodcast.com for all of our previous episodes and you can also reach out and find me there. Until we talk again, I hope you have a great run. Thank you.