Grandma's Marathon: Post Race Party

The Grandma's fun doesn't stop when you cross the finish line!  They have a whole post race festival set up for you!

When you get your finisher's t-shirt, they also give you a drink ticket for the festival.  Upon getting my heat sheet, I made my way over to the baggage.  They had it well organized and it was easy to get my stuff.  I changed out of my sweaty top into the race shirt and started to head towards the festival.

However, it was still pretty chilly and as I walked, I started to get really cold.  The heat sheet helped, but not enough.  Since I wasn't prepared for the cold, I hadn't brought any post race gear.  I made my way to the merchandise tent and picked up some Grandma's branded yoga pants. 

Outside of the fact I needed the warmer pants, they are actually really comfortable!  I have been wearing them a lot since then.

Once I was warmer (and managed to change to without issue in a port-a-potty), I headed to the beer table.  They had several beers available and I choose a Goose Island 312 to drink and set off in search of chairs. 

 
They had a big tent set up and under it there were bands playing and chairs.  They also had chairs outside in the tent to sit at.  I managed to snag a chair and sat to listen to music and enjoy my beer.  It gave me some time to return texts and check in with everyone. 

After my first beer was empty, I needed a refill (post race hydration is important!), but it was getting much more crowded and I was afraid my chair would get stolen.  I asked the group behind me if they would watch it and they happily agreed!

I went and got my beer and came back to my chair.  The group had kept my chair for me and invited me to hang with them; I ended up staying with them for the rest of the afternoon.  They were so friendly and from the area.  They had done the half marathon. 

We all chatted about the race and life and the afternoon (and several beers) passed quickly.  After a bit, we all got up to go dancing!  My legs were definitely stiff, but believe it or not, the dancing helped.  It was so much fun!

Dancing fools (photo courtesy of my new friends Leah)

After a while, I did decide to make my way back to the hotel (which was about a 10 minute walk) to show and recover, but not before becoming Facebook friends with my new pals (who were so nice and even told me to come back next year to do the half and invited me to stay with them!).

Even though I was tired, sweaty and sore, I was so glad I stayed for the after party. It was a lot of fun and I made some new friends.  If you ever do Grandma's, I recommend you stay for the post race party!

The marathon's namesake!