Statue to Statue 15K

April 19 and Statue to Statue is here again! It is billed as the South's toughest 15K, but it is also one of the nicest races around (just ignore the hills!). Since I ran the Knoxville Marathon on March 30 and the Bridge Street Half on Apri 13 I set off to just enjoy this run. The race runs from Vulcan to the Liberty park. Runners park their cars at Liberty Park, then they are bussed to Vulcan. The race starts at the foot of Vulcan, and takes off through some of the most beautiful nighborhoods in Birmingham. The race winds down Country Club Road and Mountain Brook providing beautiful scenery with well manicured lawns and amazing homes. My first goal as the race started was to find a bathroom stop! As usual I had not allowed enough time for the bathroom line at Vulcan and the race started before I could make a potty stop! Luckily around mile 2 there was a home with construction going on and I borrowed their porta-potty. Thank you homeowner for remodeling! The course is known for its hills but the most impressive one is Stone River Road around mile 6-7. It is neverending! I am usually a 10-10:30 pace for this race and the majority of people around me walk this hill. The faster crowd probably runs it, but I don't know how! After "THE HILL" the race has a few climbs on the way to Mountain Brook High School, but after that it is downhill to the finish. Seriously the last mile or more is downhill and I love it! The post race party is excellent with plenty of food and drinks (including the adult kind!). I was afraid of this race last year because of its hilly course but it is now one of my favorites! The really nice thing is hills don't scare me now. One of my mantras on others courses when faced with a hill now is, "Hill?, that's not a hill!" My time this year was 1:36:22 and I finished 13 out of 29 in my age group, not bad since I set out to just enjoy!