Mighty Niagara Half Marathon Recap
The Mighty Niagara Half Marathon is an annual running event in what is known as New York’s Niagara River Region. On Saturday,
September 16, 2017, runners began the half marathon at the Earl Brydges Artpark in Lewiston, New York. Among the many
participants was an avid runner named Victoria, who writes about her Mighty Niagara experience. By Victoria Niedzielski
I ran my third Mighty Niagara Half Marathon on Saturday, September 16, 2017. I always say that Buffalo could use more longer races–
but I guess we can always wander to Rochester for this fix so I consider the Mighty Niagara ~the~ Fall race for Buffalo.
It supports Niagara Hospice and encourages finishers to donate money at the finish line. There is also a 5K that goes on at the same time as the
half. It would be cool if there could be a 5K/Half challenge, but that’s just one woman’s opinion.
ANYWAY. I’ve ran 24 half marathons and this is one of the best. Everything is high quality, the course, the shirts, the medals, the post-race.
I cannot sing its praises enough. This race means a lot to me. It was my second half marathon ever and my first race where I was alone. I’m fairly
certain that this will be my last longer distance race for a while, so I wanted to have a lot of fun.
The course is flat and fast. The first 3 miles are largely downhill. It’s point-to-point from Artpark in Lewiston to Porter-on-the lake in Youngstown.
I tend to dislike races that don’t start and end at the same area. I once had a very bad experience with a race shuttle, so I think I’m
traumatized. But I’ve never had an issue with the Mighty Niagara shuttles. You can park at the start or the finish. I park at the start
parking is plentiful. I think there’s also a shuttle from the race hotel.
While I ran, I thought about how the point-to-point split is actually really cool. We used our legs alone to travel from one place to another.
It looks awesome to see this on a map. Like, I did that, with my legs. I traveled this great distance.The course runs along its namesake: the Niagara River.
It’s largely through suburban streets and offers nice views of the water. There’s also live music throughout the course–even at the start and the finish!
There is clearly a lot of thought put into this race; I love little details that make my run so much more enjoyable.
Since I was familiar with this race, I couldn’t wait for it to go through Fort Niagara State Park. That’s where there’s shade. There are also beautiful
views of Lake Ontario. You can see the Toronto skyline on a clear day. This was a very hot race. I was hot at the start. Since this race is later in the
year, it starts at 9:15AM. I always liked this because I got to sleep in for a bit and still have time to travel up to Artpark, which is about 45 minutes
from my house. But if the climate keeps changing and the temperatures keep rising, they may have to up the start time. Getting to mile 10 around 11
AM in the hard sun was not fun. I know a lot of people felt the same way. But the race director made sure there was ample water, bike patrols, and
emergency services available. They were very well-prepared!
I didn’t have a goal for this race. To be honest, I kind of half-assed my training. I’ve had a very busy summer. I made sure to get a couple of
10 mile runs in before this race, but they were hard and slow. My Montana trip/food poisoning also interrupted my training attempts. I knew I’d finish,
I just wasn’t sure how enjoyable it would be.
I surprisingly ran with the 2:10 pacer for over half of it. Then the heat got to me and I started to take some walk breaks. But I didn’t take as many as I
expected! I was so happy and grateful to be running this race that I think the adrenaline helped push me along.
The amazing post-race party is on Lake Ontario and I started to picture myself jumping in the water.
A lot of the second half of the race is right in the sun. This was hard. I trudged along. I finally saw the final turn to the finish. I wasn’t sure if I had
it in me to sprint to the finish. I started to, and another woman started to race me to the finish. I’m not sure who “won,” but we talked
afterwards and thanked each other for the push.
My chip time was 2:14:39–not bad at all for all things considered. Now for my favorite part of this race: the
post-race party! It’s lit. I usually don’t linger around after a race, but I take my sweet time at Mighty Niagara. First, I grabbed a water, then I
headed right into Lake Ontario. It felt so good, the water wasn’t this warm the past two times I ran, so this was the first time I got to enjoy a
post-race swim. Amazing.
Then I headed into the party. There’s SO much food! Hot dogs, bagels, fruit, cookies, chips, apples, bananas, chocolate milk, FREE
STARBUCKS, beer, wine.I waited for some people I knew to finish. We all agreed it was hot, but so good. When my friends tell me they want to
start running, I tell them to sign up for the Mighty Niagara Half Marathon as their goal race. It’s an excellent first-race experience that’s sure to
get anyone hooked on running. I love it and I hope I can do it for years to come.