Famous Potato Half Marathon, Idaho-42nd state

This is part of a series of posts from my quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states. Idaho was my 42nd state.

Woo hoo! I was able to squeak out a sub-2 hour finish for this race, but I’m getting way ahead of myself. Several years ago when I was driving from the Spokane airport to Missoula, Montana for a half marathon there, I was in awe of the scenery in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho along the way and I always thought that’s where I would run my half marathon in Idaho.

As I’ve found out many times over in this journey, things often don’t turn out as I thought they would. About a year ago, I asked other runners where I should run my remaining half marathons, including the one in Idaho. Several people mentioned Boise, so I took them up on their suggestions and chose a half marathon in Boise, The Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon.

The races consisted of a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon on May 17, 2018. The start for the half marathon and marathon was Lucky Peak State Park- Sandy Point. The 13.1 mile course was point-to-point and finished at Albertsons Headquarters in Boise.

Race start of Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon

Packet pickup was about as simple as they come. I got my bib, a potato-shaped pin that said Idaho on it, a couple of Honey Stinger energy bars, and grabbed a map of the course. I like to physically see the course where I’ll be running so usually we’ll drive the course the day before. Since so much of this course was along greenways, it was difficult to see much other than to see that it was going to be a flat course.

Giant potato photo op at packet pickup

It was 53 degrees at the start but it felt colder than that because it was extremely windy and overcast. We were in a canyon for the first few miles and once we got out of the canyon, the wind died down. The race start was delayed by about 10 minutes because two of the buses shuttling runners to the start had gotten pulled off by a volunteer who had mistakenly told the driver he couldn’t be on the road at 7 am because the race was starting. Finally it was straightened out and the runners came hurrying off the buses to the start.

The race start was extremely crowded and it didn’t thin out for a few miles. I was a bit concerned because I knew a considerable portion of the race was going to be on greenways. Luckily that wasn’t an issue by the time we got on the greenways and they weren’t usually too congested to be a problem.

There were several water views and we crossed over the Boise River at least a couple of times. There were also nice neighborhoods that we ran past for some portions of the race. I felt like the race was pretty scenic for the most part. This race was also flat with only small inclines to go up, but it didn’t feel so pancake flat that my legs were too tired.

Along the way, I was passed by a man trying to break his 50th Guinness world record, this one for running the fastest half marathon while balancing a pool cue on one finger. I don’t think I could have managed to do that for one mile, let alone 13.1! There were also some other 50-staters running this race for their marathon or half marathon for Idaho and I briefly chatted with a couple of them before I ran ahead.

The volunteer stations were sufficiently scattered every couple of miles and there were port-o-johns every few miles along the course in addition to the start and finish. One thing that was pretty scarce was spectators along the course but that’s the nature of it when a good portion of a race is on greenways.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I finished just under 2 hours, at 1:59:51. My GPS watch also had me running 13.32 miles, but I understand GPS times don’t always agree 100% with course distance. My time was good enough for 7th out of 59 in my age group, overall 253rd out of 897, and 105th female out of 535, and I was happy with all that. Not since my race in New Hampshire- 35th state, was I able to finish under 2 hours.

Post-race food was bagels, fruit, water, Chobani yogurt, and of course the famous potato bar with a bunch of different toppings to choose from. There were several bounce houses for kids and some business booths. One thing that I thought was a nice touch and I wish other races would have is tables and chairs were set up in the grassy area. It was nice to not have to sit in the grass after the race.

Enjoying the potato bar at the finish!

We got our finisher t-shirts at the finish. They were cute and of good quality athletic material. The medals were different for each distance but the t-shirts were the same for all runners.

Overall I really enjoyed this race and would recommend it. So if you’re looking for a flat, fast race in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, consider running the Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon!

Happy Running!

Donna