MO Wine, Please (with a Side of Running)

Saskia_Birthday_Cropped

Longtime KCE member Saskia Jacobse knows how to celebrate, especially when it comes to big birthdays. For her 50th, she packed up some KCE pals and headed to California for the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon. Since a few of us missed the plane, she agreed to share the highlights, plus tips for an awesome running vacation. Read on.

Take Your Pick: PR or Party?

First thing, Saskia says you should think about what you want to get out of your trip. If you have a big running goal in mind–maybe a fast finish or your first marathon–choose your destination based on the race itself. If you’re just running for fun, treat yourself to someplace great. Saskia loves San Francisco, and it provided lots of sightseeing options for a group with varied interests.

Get On It 

Saskia saw an ad for Napa to Sonoma a year before her birthday and jumped on it. Race registration is based on a lottery, so the KCE group entered as a team to improve their odds. Even if your race doesn’t sell out, planning ahead gives everyone a chance to get their schedules, budgets, and child care in order.  (And if it’s your birthday, your friends may even do the grunt work for you, like Saskia’s did.)

Go All In

As long as you’re going to the trouble of traveling, name your team, make race shirts, wear costumes, paint your nails crazy colors, or whatever makes you extra happy on race day. Saskia named her (mostly) Missouri crew of wine lovers “MO Wine, Please,” and Amy Medina roped her husband into making shirts.

Ditch the Guys (and Kids)

Traveling with your running friends–and only your running friends–means there are no kids dying of hunger and no SO’s with surprise itineraries. Saskia and friends loved the freedom of meeting each morning for a good breakfast and then taking off for Alcatraz or a baseball game, or whatever.

Expect the Unexpected

“MO Wine, Please” was happy to discover that Napa to Sonoma provides a shot-glass of wine at mile 10, a wine glass at the finish line, and 29 wineries offering samples after. They were less excited to learn that grapes like a lot more sun than runners do. In other words, be ready for surprises, and bring the sunscreen.

Know When to Say When

When traveling, sometimes less is more. Saskia’s crew spent two days in San Francisco, two in Napa, and one at Fisherman’s Wharf. Five days was just about perfect: long enough to see everything and come home happy, but not exhausted.

Ready for a Running Vacation?

KCE is coordinating a visit to the Route 66 Marathon the weekend of November 21. We’ll carpool to Tulsa for the 5K on Saturday or the half/full marathon on Sunday. Tulsa may not be quite as exciting as San Francisco, but this race weekend still has the makings of a great running trip! For more info, check out the Long Run Group events page on Facebook.

 

By Meredith Lai

Start typing and press Enter to search