So, do people even do race recaps anymore? Or do they actually READ them?! Hello…blog reader, are you out there? Well, that is okay, I am an only child and used to talking to myself. So much so, it is quite scary actually. Anyway – let’s do a quick review and recap of the Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon. I actually REALLY enjoyed this race! Much more than I thought I would. It literally was a last minute, impromptu decision on my part to run it. Mostly because it was FREE, and you know how runners like those words. So when Brooks Running granted me the opportunity I jumped at the idea. Even though, I’m still really running high-ish mileage and loving my 70-80 mile weeks. I figured, what the heck, let’s go out of town to run a destination race. Kind of love when that happens.
For this race I also had zero expectations, especially after my marathon PR just a few short weeks ago. I knew sub 4 would be ideal though, and to just go rock it out. So I arrived early Saturday morning, checked into my AirBnB and ventured on over to the Rock n Roll Arizona expo. The sunrise flight was absolutely beautiful. And I got to watch Bridesmaids for free. Sorry folks that were sitting next to me for my obnoxious laughter, that movie never gets old.
Of course I had to do a little photoshoot at the expo. Hello Brooks Running photo booth.
I grabbed my race number and was ready to go. I actually ate dinner super early in downtown Pheonix, laid out my race clothes and was in bed by like 8 pm. I’m an old lady at heart.
Race morning! The race started a tad late for my taste, but it was good because it allowed me to take my time, eat my Honey Stinger waffle for breakfast and ride up to the start. The COOL thing about this race is that the HALF and FULL marathoners started in a completely different location. I thought that was badass especially for a Rock n Roll race. All of the RnRs I have done (Las Vegas, Dallas, San Diego, New Orleans) seem to all just be kind of a cluster in terms of the race start. So to me this felt very organized. I lined up in my corral, corral 2, and we took off.
The race starts in Phoenix, winds around to beautiful Scottsdale and then ends up in Tempe. The whole time you get a killer view of the mountains and palm trees which I loved. HEY, we do not have cool landscape like that in Dallas! So I was in absolute heaven. At the start, temps were fairly cool, 50s and then climbing fast. The high was 80 for the day so you can imagine, the back half of this race was in the straight up SUN with zero shade. It was cool, again with low expectations I was okay with running with the sun. I ended up having to strip down to my sports bra around mile 23 or so on. The race was also mostly flat and fast with a few rollers towards the end. The rolling hills did not bug me at all. There was a LONNNGG stretch of bridge though at about mile 25 (again with the sun) that got me a bit. So it turned into a bit of a shuffle at the end which made me doubtful I would run under 4 hours. But my fairly even splits in the beginning saved me towards the end. I managed to slide in at a smooth 3:53:35, one of my fastest races out of 28 marathons. HEY, for running a last minute marathon with zero tapering involved, yeah buddy – I’ll take it.
After the race, I grabbed my bag from gear check, threw on my flip flops and did some more exploring before jumping on a plane that night. Super fun, super random, and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
Thank you, Pheonix. You know how to have a good time.
Anyone ever done Rock n Roll Arizona? How did you like it?
thedancingrunner 
Love it!!!
Thank you!! Hope all is well lady!
I love your race recaps. The views sounds so beautiful which I’m sure helps make the run even better.
Free is always great, right?
Oh gosh! So beautiful!! All the locals talk about how crazy hot it is there in summer so 80 degrees to them is like heaven. They have the most ideal winter hands down!!
Love your race recaps! I am trying to do 50 states; the Sedona and Phoenix marathons are competing for Arizona. Glad to hear your perspective on Rock n Roll Arizona
Yay!! Get after it mama!! I should probably do 50 states, if I end up doing it, it will probably be on accident 😂
These RnR races sound fun. We don’t have one here though so I’ll have to go looking for a close one:)
I read every word of your recap🤣
They are so fun!
Nice. Free is a really good price.
Right?! 🙂
I haven’t don’t Arizona yet but it is on my list, I have family near by so one day there will definitely be a racecation there for me
Excellent!! Glad to hear it!!
Wow – I am jealous of you and how spontaneous you can be lol .With a wife and kids, I definitely could not just jump on a plane and go run a marathon lol . May I ask how you were able to run this race for free? Once I get past the NYC Marathon in November, I would like to try some out of town races. Partly to travel, partly for the running and partly for some new medals lol . For spontaneous, that was indeed a great time! Congrats!
I’m sponsored by Brooks Running and have been for about a year now. I don’t mind the questions at all!! It’s definitely an amazing opportunity that as a blogger I am absolutely blessed to be a part of.
That is awesome! good for you – you definitely have earned it! Enjoy all of the perks that comes with that – must be fun!!
Yay!!! Glad you liked it but bummed we couldn’t meet up!!! Had I known you were coming, I would’ve loved to! xoxo
For sure!! Next time!! So many races we should run into one another at some point. LOL
I love the desert landscape! I have to travel to Phoenix for work sometimes and have family in New Mexico, I just love seeing mountains in the distance and watching a storm roll in is really spectacular.
Congrats on a great race!
Love it! Yeah I really enjoyed PHX more than I thought I would!!
Woohoo! I mean honestly though, are you ever out of shape? 😛
Thank you!!
Awesome race!! Arizona is on my list of places I want to race in. And one that’s feasible… but not this year. This year, I hoping for Texas.
YES!! Texas would love to have ya mama!!!
First, I love race recaps! I’m always excited when someone I follow writes one. This sounds so cool – I love the last minute, low expectations of it all. I also love the idea of doing a destination race like this – hopefully I can do one of these soon. And great pace! I’d love to run that pace in November when I do NYC but I won’t be upset if I can’t. 🙂
Thanks lady!! Cheers!
I loved the RnR half in NOLA!
Awesome! I ran Nola back in 2011, the full was amazing!!