ZOOMA Atlanta Women's Half Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Elizabeth K.
Atlanta, GA

  (03-23-2010)

"I signed up for this race with a friend of mine. I was excited for a womens only race but didn't realize how new the race was to Atlanta. I loved that ZOOMA partnered with New Balance and Big Peach Running Co. for thursday night ladies training runs. Just by going and running with a group of girls I earned free stuff and a $25 Big Peach gift card. They even had a kickoff meeting with all of the sponsers and the event founder. However, all of that being said, I still didn't love the race. I guess it was the course-it was harder than the ING and because its such a new race had very few spectators (which you really need when you are climbing hills). They did have clif chews on the race and plenty of water/gatorade stops. The finish line didn't have many spectators either. I did enjoy my massage and the panara breakfast at the end. But not a fan of the necklace at all. I am a bling girl. I like my medals-not a necklace from a leather string. I recently learned they are moving the race up to Chateau Elan which made it even easier to decide that I won't do this race again. Not sure what that course will be like, but at least its by a winery and nice resort. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Allison B.
Atlanta, GA

  (08-05-2009)

"We were officially six weeks out from race day the day we signed up. I printed out my training schedule and out of 6 weeks, only 'missed' one day of the training. The night before our big race, my friend spent the night at my house, we had our pasta, laid out our clothes, tagged our shirts with our bib, and got everything ready. We were literally like kids the night before the first day of kindergarden. We didnt know what to expect, we didn't know if we'd finish, we just knew we were excited to see what it would be like. The next morning, it was 16 degrees at the start, with 30mph wind gusts. My family was out of town, but she had her husband, kids, and family coming to the finish, as well as a couple of our other friends that planned on being there. In the car she mentioned she thought she might cry when she finished, and I made fun of her, thinking she was nuts-"ITS JUST A RACE!" Who gets emotional over a race?? We parked the car and stayed in to keep warm as long as possible, but eventually worked our way over to the other runners. We got into the corral and froze our butts off and everyone was stretching, using the port-o-potties one last time, and listening to the music trying to get pumped up. You could hear all the little groups of women talking about how it was their first "half", etc. All of a sudden the announcer said to line up, and just as quickly he sent us on our way...we ended up pretty far back in at the start, and it was such an amazing sight to look ahead and see thousands of people all running in one giant pack (this was at the VERY start), all setting out to acheive their own individual goals. Much to my own surprise, as I took that moment in I got A LITTLE teary eyed, but only for a split second, and nobody saw. We had a great race, and when we finished we both looked at each other, and burst into tears. I am pretty sure I lost it more than she did. I don't think I have ever felt that sense of accomplishment before...and if so, not in a long time. We worked hard for 6 weeks, (which isnt that long, I realize), and we ran a great race and finished very well for it being our first one. Her family and our friends were there cheering us on, and the feeling at the finish line of everyone so excited, so proud of themselves and each other, was something I don't think I'll ever forget.
Race details: It was freezing cold and blustering winds. For atlanta, the course was not as hilly as most races, but there was a couple good sized hills and then a massive hill very close to the end, which sucked. Because of the cold weather, there were very few spectators out cheering. The water stations were spaced pretty evenly and they had gatorade, which is huge in my book. There was no prerace expo, and the post race expo had to be cancelled due to the high winds and low temperatures. When we finished we got a very cute silver necklace with a runner girl on it instead of a metal, which I thought was a great idea since it was a women-only event. The photographer got our pictures on the back stretch just before the finish, which was odd because it looks like it is just a picture of us running down a random road. No "finish line" or "starting line" or anything in the pictures, yet we were about 10 feet from the finish line when he snapped it-all he had to do was change his angle. The race shirts were very small, and when we picked them up the day before we all had to change ours out for a bigger size. Traffic control was pretty good, but there were some intersections we did get stuck on because the traffic cops let too many cars go through and wouldn't let us cross until they were clear. It sounds like I am pretty negative about this race, but I think it was really just a lot of "First time" kinks. It was the very first race in a brand new series, and I think Brae has worked through many of the glitches for this year. I think the women-only aspect was very neat, and finishing a race (it was my first half) in those weather conditions, with all the hills, and still feeling great was nothing short of euphoric. I loved it!"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008