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Florida > Lady Speed Stick® Half Marathon & Women's Running Magazine 5K
St. Petersburg, FL • Sunday, November 18, 2012 • Course Map
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Set for its fourth annual running on the weekend before Thanksgiving in the fall of 2012, the Women's Running Half Marathon & 5K race takes runners along the ultra-flat streets of St. Petersburg, with plenty of stretches during the race that offer views of the brilliant blue waters of Tampa Bay here on Florida's gulf coast. Thanks to its new title sponsor, the race also gets a new name for this year, and becomes the Lady Speed Stick Half Marathon & Women's Running Magazine 5K.
The magazine has partnered with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training to bring the race to the Tampa-St. Pete area, and participants will be able to take advantage of Team in Training's half-marathon coaching and group runs in the weeks and months leading up to the race, which also serves as a benefit to raise funds and awareness for those struggling with blood cancers. The race is open to walkers as well as runners, and participants will need to finish the half marathon within 4 1/2 hours (and the 5K within one hour).
Both the 5K and the 13.1-mile half marathon share the same starting line, at the famed Mahaffey Theatre on Bayshore Drive near Al Lang Stadium and St. Pete's Albert Whitted Airport. From there, runners and walkers will follow an out-and-back course that first heads northward along the water, past North Shore Park and Flora Wylie Park to the Renaissance Vinoy Golf Resort.
Runners cross the bridge at Snell Isle Boulevard and run all the way around Coffee Pot Bayou, through palm-tree-lined residential neighborhoods past the golf course all around the water, and then head back southward along Bayshore Drive toward the area where the race started. The field turns when the course hits the intersection with 1st Avenue, where runners and walkers then turn west and head out and around Tropicana Field, the hope of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.
Once around the baseball field, the course then heads back east along 1st Avenue (with a quick detour around Mirror Lake Park) to the finish line back at the Mahaffey Theater, where the post-race festivities and award ceremonies will be held. Just over 5,000 runners and walkers crossed the finish line in both races combined at the race's 2011 running, including more than 3,900 finishers in the half marathon alone. For 2012, the scheduled starting time for the race is 7:00 AM, followed by the 5K start at 7:15 AM.
Race
Weather & Climate
Located along Florida's Gulf coastline, overlooking the blue waters of Tampa Bay, the city of St. Petersburg typically experiences mild to moderately warm weather conditions in the mid-fall season, as well as some of its driest weather of the year on average. In November, the city's average monthly temperatures range between 77°F and 63°F, while rainfall totals average just over 2 inches for the month. On the day of the race (Nov. 18), the average high is 76°F and the average low is 62°F.
Course Map
View the race route map for the Lady Speed Stick Half Marathon
Fees
$85 for the half marathon, if registered by February 29, 2012
$90 between March 1 - May 31
$95 between June 1 - August 31
$100 between September 1 - November 14
Registration
To reserve your spot in the late fall 2012 running of St. Petersburg's Lady Speed Stick Half Marathon or Women's Running Magazine 5K race, register online at Active.com.
Official Race Website
www.womenshalfmarathon.com
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Ever run in Florida's annual Lady Speed Stick Half Marathon? Share your impressions, stories and tips from the event.
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