Wineglass Half Marathon in Corning, New York

-

I adore the unique glass medal!

I completed the Wineglass Half Marathon in Corning, New York on October 5th, 2025. I always hear such positive things about this race, so I'd been looking forward to it for a very long time! October is also one of the best times of year to run a race, in my opinion.


Beautiful fall colors


The weekend ended up being a bit of a whirlwind, because it turned out to also be my daughter's first high school homecoming weekend! I definitely wanted to be home for all of the fun getting ready, pictures, etc., so I almost deferred in the hopes that the weekends would line up differently in the future. However, at the last minute, I decided I still really wanted to try to make this trip happen. The weather was perfect, and the girls made plans for an early dinner so I hopped in the car around 5:00 PM and headed north. I stayed in a Hampton Inn in Mansfield, PA, which worked out very well. It was an easy 25 minute drive to Corning. NY in the morning. Parking and logistics were easy. A very kind race director took pity on me and allowed me to pick my packet up in the morning, they typically do not offer race-morning bib pick up. I was disappointed to miss the Expo and hope to be back some day to visit the Corning Museum of Glass for the full experience!


Waiting to start

The buses were very smooth, we were able to wait inside the school at the start to stay warm. It was a cool morning, but beautiful! It warmed up quickly, and was a very sunny race. I appreciated a few small stretches with shade. Between being undertrained and the heat, I realized very quickly that I was going to need to temper my expectations. I managed to stick to my 30:30 intervals and felt pretty strong through mile 8 or so, then I ran out of steam. I ended up putting on my audio book (Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan) and walking for a while, just running here and there when I felt so inspired. Luckily, this race is extremely back-of-the-pack and walker friendly with a long (6-hour?) time limit!


I took this picture for Jack, he loves Nerds Gummy Clusters
I figured he would think it was fun that an aid station handed them out around mile 8



Finished!


I got emotional as I crossed the finish line and received that incredibly beautiful and unique glass medal. It was one of the best finish line atmospheres I've ever experienced. I love when a race provides bags for collecting all of the goodies. They had cold drinks, chocolate milk, bananas, apples, string cheese, pizza, and cookies!




6 down, lots to go!

I've been excited to add this gorgeous medal to my display for a long time!

New York complete! State #6, Half #11

Date: 10/5/2025
Bib: 4293
Time: 3:27:04
Pace: 15:49

 

Next up is the Atlantic City Half in Atlantic City, New Jersey!



Location: Corning, NY

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marshall University Half Marathon in Huntington, West Virginia

-
Image
Very fun finish inside the stadium! I just returned from a fun weekend adventure in Huntington, West Virginia for the Marshall University Half Marathon. I'd heard great things about this race from many people, so it seemed like a "must do" for the state of West Virginia. We did our homework and watched the 2006 "We Are Marshall" movie to learn the story of the tragic plane crash which killed most of the football team, coaches, and others and the rebuilding and recovery following. Memorial Fountain for the 75 lives lost in the November 14, 1970 plane crash West Virginia was one of the last states in my comfortable driving range, so sneaking it in this fall seemed like a great idea. I'd actually planned on it before I decided to join Elana for the Atlantic City Half Marathon two weeks ago, so perhaps it didn't end up being such a great idea to have three half marathons in four weeks, but considering the Marshall University Half Marathon has a generous 6-ho...
Read more

Mississippi Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Biloxi, Mississippi

-
Image
Beautiful beaches of Biloxi! Is it even possible to type Mississippi without singing the spelling in your brain? The Mississippi Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Biloxi, Mississippi on 12/14/2025 did not disappoint! It is a great option for Mississippi, and I am so glad I decided to make this trip.  I was not initially planning on working this race into my schedule. Long story short, I had planned on running St. Jude's Memphis Half Marathon, but the logistics did not come together. I couldn't get away early enough on Friday (no race day packet pick-up offered for St. Jude's), expensive hotels, concern over government shut down affecting flights... so I decided to cancel that trip. Then I got sad thinking about waiting until January for my next race. I realized that Mississippi Gulf Coast and Louisiana are related and offer a "Beach 2 Bayou Challenge" with a bonus medal for completing both. Did you say bonus medal? It's a Sunday race, too, which helps me for logisti...
Read more

Louisiana Half Marathon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

-
Image
Laissez les bons temps rouler! The plans for this race trip came together so quickly and easily. It was one of those trips that just felt meant to be. I saw several people recommend the race on the 50 States Half Marathon Club Facebook page, so I investigated it for myself. The timing worked well over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. Often we have a family trip planned, but this year we did not have other plans. The race website was really user-friendly and provided codes for easy booking with official host hotels. I chose the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center because the rate was reasonable and they included late check out. I have visited Louisiana several times before as a tourist and for professional meetings, so I opted to make this a quick turnaround to focus on running the race and getting back home to my family. It was my first time to Baton Rouge, though, and I really enjoyed staying right downtown near the capitol building! The race provided a perfect scenic tour of downtown a...
Read more

Lost Dutchman Half Marathon in Apache Junction, Arizona

-
Image
Awesome Arizona! This is a special race! It's the first destination race that piqued my interest after officially joining the 50 States Half Marathon Club. The 2025 Lost Dutchman Half Marathon had just happened, so people were sharing their experiences and pictures. Everybody raved about it and the medal was beautiful. They do an interesting thing where they introduce a new medal for the full marathon each year, and shift the previous year's medals down to the next distance. This meant I had a pretty good idea that the awesome, state-shaped (!!!) with a cactus, full marathon medal from 2025 would be headed to the half distance in 2026... I wanted it! My first state-shaped medal! Fast forward a year, and I was pretty close to bailing on this trip. We'd squeezed in a family Disney Cruise vacation the first week of February, and it hadn't quite been enough time for me to feel excited about heading back to the airport yet. Plus, we’ve been passing around a cold since Christ...
Read more