RACE RECAP: The 2026 500 Festival Indianapolis Mini-Marathon

RACE RECAP: The 2026 500 Festival Indianapolis Mini-Marathon

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I ran my 70th half marathon at the 50th running of the 500 Festival Indy Mini. Life has been a little nuts lately, but I'm trying my best to soak in this accomplishment before moving onto the next.

My first half marathon was at the Indy Mini in 2007. I ran with my dad. Since then, I've only missed 2011 and 2021 (wish I could remember why I didn't run in 2011). My last three (counting this year) have been with Ainsley's Angels.

This weekend was unforgettable.

I met my Angel Rider by chance at the expo. I did a shakeout run with an Olympic medalist. I co-hosted my third live show with Lindsey Hein at The Bottleworks Hotel. I went to the Ainsley's Angels pre-race dinner in Indy for the first time. And last but not least, I ran the race with Team Lanie, their third EVER Angel Rider.

THE EXPO

Thankfully, I didn't have a booth at the expo this year. I did last year while also hosting an event and running and it was A LOT.

My partner in crime, Lindsey Hein, got in town on Thursday afternoon, so I went down to the expo so I wouldn't have to go on Friday. I picked her up from Bottleworks Hotel to head over together.

I also really wanted to meet Mike Vollmer, a member of the Alumni Club - meaning he's run every single Indy Mini since 1977. He ran this year in 4:15. But sadly I completely forgot to look for him once I got there.

The expo is usually at the Indiana Convention Center (last year they had to do the basement of Lucas Oil). It was buzzing when we arrived. Almost as soon as we walked in we were next to the Ainsley's Angels booth. I told them I'd come right back after grabbing my packet, but Kristy High, their VP of Education and our local leader, yelled out, "This is Lanie!" And pointed to a young woman in a chair with a woman standing next to her.

I couldn't believe my luck! We quickly turned around and I started chatting with Lanie and her mom, Tara. They were in town from Louisiana (close to Houston, not New Orleans, they made sure to let me know). Lanie has been racing with Ainsley's Angels since 2012 and has done over 130 races. These races consisted of everything from marathon to a half Ironman to Spartan races and everything in between.

When I told them I felt so lucky the timing worked out, Kristy's sister, Misty asked me, "You know what that's called, right?" "A God wink," I replied.

Lindsey invited them to our event at Bottleworks and Lanie and I exchanged numbers. I didn't think there was any way they'd come since it was right before the Ainsley's dinner and on the other side of downtown.

We took a few pictures and I promised to see them at the dinner on Friday.

Next on our way to get my packet we passed the Athletic Annex booth and saw Gareth Wilford and Larry Coblentz. And then Logan Turner showed up with one of his daughters, Wren.

I grabbed four packets - my own and some for my sister, Morgan. Since I worked with the 500 Festival this year as a content creator, they upgraded me to a Mini Maniac bib which I tell you because usually my bib number is under 2,000. I always register as soon as I can for the following year. I don't know why but I like having a low bib number. This year, however, with my upgraded bib I was over 30,000.

Lindsey went back to chat with Athletic Annex and I went to find the St. Jude booth to see my friend and previous podcast guest, Caroline Barlow. She's about to have her first baby!

Then back to Ainsley's Angels for me where I chatted with Kristy and Misty and handed out a couple business cards promoting the live podcast. Kristy and I talked about having her come on my podcast to talk about her daughter, Kendall Jade's, finish lines and milestones. Can't wait for you to meet Kristy.

Another amazing thing happened while I was standing at the AA booth. A guy came up to me and asked if I was Ally. After I told him I was he proceeded to tell me he listens to my podcast. Guys, this is such a wild thing to experience and I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to know that people I don't know (yet) listen to Finish Lines & Milestones. Thank you, Charlie!

And before we knew it, the lights were dimming to kick us out.

We walked out of the convention center with a father and son. The son was a collegiate runner and his dad was quick to brag about him. I hope they had a great race.

I dropped Lindsey off at Bottleworks and headed home.

THE SHAKEOUT

I was so happy when I found out that Hallie and Suketu Patel of Half Past Chai were hosting a shakeout run in Carmel. I couldn't go to the Official Athletic Annex shakeout run this year because it was one daughter's birthday and the other's first communion rehearsal.

So, an 8am Friday run in my neck of the woods was just what I needed! Not only that, but Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson was invited to join because Fleet Feet was co-hosting the run. (Jenny is now their Chief Running Officer and if you don't know much about Jenny you should Google her).

When I arrived at 8, MOTW (the host coffee shop) was buzzing. The first person I saw was actually not a runner but someone I used to work with (and liked working with!). And then I saw the familiar faces of my friends, Carly, Becky, and Gabby. I promised Lindsey I'd hand out our event cards so one of the first things I did was ask Hallie if it was cool and I quickly made my way around the room telling everyone about it (our events are amazing and everyone should come but I hate doing stuff like this).

We all hung out for a while and then Hallie and Suketu welcomed us and led us outside to stretch before the run. I'm such a cliche runner when it comes to stretching - I don't do much if any. But Jenny Simpson led our warmup, so I was happy to do whatever she said.

A quick group pic and it was time to run.

We headed out towards City Center to make our way to the Monon Trail. I did my best to chat with several people I didn't know - Hailey, a collegiate runner who was about to take on her first half marathon at the mini. Johan, a guy from Sweden who lives in Carmel and his brother whose name I cannot remember. The brother was in town from Sweden, so we chatted about the races he does across the pond.

Gabby and I caught up a bit about her recent Boston race. I loved listening to Jenny chat with everyone. I was lucky enough to have a chance to run with her when she was in Indiana last year on her tour of the US. She is one of the nicest people.

There was a part of the run I'll never forget and that was when we were running on the sidewalk and a truck was getting ready to turn onto the road. The driver of the truck was looking to his left to see if any traffic was coming. He was not looking to his right, where all of us were coming up on him. Without so much as a glance in our direction, he turned onto the road and damn near took out the front third of our group - including Jenny. After we'd recovered from the shock, I made a joke about "did that guy realize he almost ran over Jenny Simpson?!"

We made it to the Monon for a couple minutes before turning back to make it a 3 mile run. And, naturally, I pointed out the "Carmel cop slide" to the group. If you don't know what I'm talking about, head to my Instagram and if you don't know what I mean by "cop slide", Google "Boston cop slide".

When we got back, we milled around snacking on fruit, bagels, electrolytes and of course there was chai in honor of Half Past Chai. Jeffrey from Fleet Feet and I chatted for a while. He'd just run Boston. I got to chat with Jenny a little bit and get a picture. I told her about the live podcast event Lindsey and I were hosting and she said she'd be there. She was recently a guest on Lindsey's podcast, I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein, and I resisted the urge to tell her they'd talked about me during the episode. I still can't believe any of this is real life.

I hung around long enough for Hobby Lobby to be open, so when I left I went straight there to get some last minute stuff for our event. I'd decided we needed a running shoe decorating bar as a fun addition to our live event. I grabbed some more beads and a couple of checkered flag shoelaces and put my blinders on to get out of there without buying anything else.

At home, I got ready, loaded up everything for the event and my race, and prayed I didn't leave behind anything too important.

THE EVENT

This is the third live event Lindsey Hein and I have done at the Bottleworks Hotel. It all started when my friend, Josh Rodgers, the General Manager, said "you should host a live podcast here sometime". And to say it's been life changing isn't being dramatic.

The first one had Olympian Kim Conley and Ultrarunner Cameron Balser (who ran the perimeter of the USA). The second was with Olympian Emily Infeld. And this year we had National Champion and American record holder, Emma Grace Hurley, National Champion, Drew Hunter and Olympian, Courtney Frerichs.

But it's not about the Olympians. It's about bringing the running community together. It took me a while to figure it out, but community building is my super power. And I don't mean that to sound like I'm tooting my own horn - there's a pattern throughout my life where I've loved bringing people together. I love connecting others.

Whether it was Linking Indy Women, a women's group that used to meet once a month. Ride & Raise, a group that started during COVID to raise money for charity through virtual group Peloton rides via Zoom. Or introducing people through my podcast. Hell, I've even brought together friend groups into a big group of people I love.

So, the highlight was seeing all of the familiar and new faces come together this year. Lindsey and I started promoting the event about a month later than we did last year, despite our efforts to plan earlier. We also had to change the timing of the event to be earlier due to the elite athlete technical meeting with USATF.

But we still got 70 people into a room for some pre-race inspiration. The room and my heart were full. A few people brought their running shoes to decorate at the shoe decorating bar. Jeanette Ray and her husband, Leonard, from SWTHZ sponsored the event to spread the word about contrast therapy (if you're like me, you've waited too long to try it!). 

And of course, all photos were captured by the amazing Timmy Hotdog Howard, who also helped with setup and teardown like the great friend he is. 

Also, Lanie (my angel rider) and her family showed up. It was a surprise because somehow our texts to each other weren't working. I can't tell you how happy it made me to bring Lanie in and introduce her to Jenny Simpson and the others.

When it was go time, Lindsey asked Jenny Simpson to do the honors and kick us off. So Jenny Simpson... THE Jenny Simpson... introduced me and Lindsey. Hearing Jenny say my name and nice things about me was surreal. By the time I had the mic in my hand, I wasn't quite sure what to say. My friend, Chase, said he was surprised I looked nervous. What's weird is I can talk to strangers one on one in an interview but being live in front of people and unable to edit makes me break out in hives (no joke).

I managed to introduce myself and share some of Lanie's story without crying. I regret not expressing enough gratitude to Lindsey Hein for bringing me into her orbit. It was a relief to pass the mic and get to enjoy the conversation as a spectator.

The interview itself wasn't all that long because we had to get the athletes in an Uber and back over to their meeting on time. But what it lacked in length it made up for in quality (that's what she said?). You can listen to the full interview on Lindsey's podcast here.

People hung out for a little while after the podcast. I got to chat briefly with my new friend, Wilson, who dressed as a banana for all of the miler series races and would also be dressed up for the Mini. My friend, Kali, who listens to my podcast was there with her sweet girl.

I begged the remaining people to eat all of the food (Emma Grace's boyfriend, Chandler, happily helped), my friend Becky Riley had made cookies and those were gone, but we still had some Athletic Brewing and Floral we had been given for the event. I could finally exhale.

Events like this are so much work. I'm so grateful for my friends who showed up and my friends who helped lend a hand. I'm afraid to name names because I'll forget someone, but you know who you are and I hope you know how much I appreciate you.

I counted 16 previous guests in the room...

And perhaps future guests like, Abby, Bryan, Rachel, Jeanette, Madeline, Becky, Suketu, Lauren, Leslie... the list goes on.

DINNER THEN BEDTIME 

Since Lanie and her family had made the effort to come to the event, I was determined to return the favor and make it over to the Ainsley's Angels pre-race dinner. First, Lauren and I grabbed some pizza from my go-to pre-race dinner spot, Abbiocco Pizzeria in The Garage Food Hall. Then, we Ubered over to the JW Marriott on the other side of downtown and made it with about 30 minutes left in the dinner.

Lanie had anxiously been awaiting our arrival and had saved us a couple spots at her table. My friend Matt May who I met at Marine Corps Marathon last year, was also at our table. I got to say hi to his Angel Rider, Annie, who he'd also pushed at MCM. I also got to meet his dad, Oren, who is super sweet.

We created a shared Spotify playlist to prepare for the race. Lanie ended up adding over eight hours of music. Her primary request was no rap music.

It was so nice to get to know Lanie and her family better before raceday. I'd never been to the pre-race dinner for Ainsley's Angels before and now it's something I don't want to miss. Getting to know this community has been such an honor.

After dinner, we made our way out of the hotel, saying goodbye to Lanie and wishing her a good night of sleep. It was now about 7:30pm. Lauren and I decided that instead of an Uber, we'd adventure back to Bottleworks on electric scooters. It was so cold, but so fun.

Our other teammates, Ashley and Lindsay (who I also pushed with last year) were making their way downtown. They still needed to go to the expo to get their bibs and then to dinner. Lauren and I made ourselves comfortable and laid out all of our raceday stuff. This is when I realized I'd forgotten my Pen & Paces bib kit to put Lanie's name on my back. Considering my tank top said TEAM HOPE, I knew I needed to find a way to fix it.

And wouldn't you know I could order Walmart delivery to arrive before 10pm. So, I spent too much money ordering sticker paper, a poster marker, and packing tape so we could ensure everyone knew who to cheer for during the race. It was worth every penny.

Finally around 10pm Ashley and Lindsay made it to the hotel. They'd lost their car in the parking garage at the expo, so it took them a lot longer to arrive than they'd hoped. It was past my bedtime, but I wanted to see them, so we caught up for a bit and filled them in on Lanie before calling it a night.

RACE MORNING

We needed to be at the NCAA Hall of Champions by 6:30am, so I scheduled an Uber just before 6am to give ourselves plenty of time to get there. I set an alarm for 5am so I could go through my race morning routine. The first thing I always do after brushing my teeth is make a cup of coffee. Going to the bathroom is key before a race. Then, I made some peanut butter and honey toast thanks to Lauren who brought the bread I'd forgotten. No, the hotel room didn't have its own toaster, and, yes, I brought one from home.

We got dressed and all glittered up and headed down to catch our Uber. For whatever reason, every time I schedule an Uber they want to show up early. Our driver showed up at 5:30! I felt bad that he had to wait, but if I wanted a ride at 5:30 I would have scheduled a ride at 5:30. Silly Uber.

Lindsey Hein shared our ride over and we got as close to the Hall of Champions as we could. We then walked the rest of the way to where we needed to be and got there around 6:15 with plenty of time to spare.

Walking up on the sea of pink is always inspiring for me. There were 55 chariots lined up in a huge arc while people were finding their riders and getting situated. We went inside to check in where, thankfully, it was warm. A few seconds later we found Lanie and her mom and checked in as a team. She finally got to meet Ashley and Lindsay too.

I got to see a ton of familiar faces. Emmalyn, my Angel Rider from last year, Katie and Chris Polivick, who were pushing for the first time, my coach Rachel and my friend Christi, and Shannon Spencer who had recently been a guest on my podcast. So what came next was a surprise to me. As we were waiting inside and chatting with Lanie, my chest started to tighten and I felt hot. Unfortunately, this is a feeling I've had before and it felt as though I was about to have a panic attack.

Why? I thought. This is my element, these are my people, this race is for fun.

Without telling anyone what I was going through (because that would have made it more of a thing) I said I was warm and wanted to go outside. I took three deep breaths in and out. I told myself there was no stress here, no pressure. And slowly but surely, I started to calm down before it got any worse. If you struggle with anxiety, you are not alone.

I found Lanie's chair and posted up there waiting for the rest of the team to make their way outside. We were a couple chairs down from team Annie, so I wished her good morning and got her and Matt some pink glitter. I made Ashley do some of it because I was still not feeling completely normal.

We got Lanie all situated into her chair. Her poppy got her speaker all hooked up and situated. Seeing the tiny speaker I wished I would have brought mine as a backup. A bonus when rolling with Ainsley's Angels, is you have somewhere to put your stuff, but with four of us on the team I wasn't sure how much space we would have.

A guy came up behind us and said his rider wasn't able to make it and could he be on our team. Not knowing what to say the girls replied, "Sure." Now, part of rolling with Ainsley's Angels is also about rolling with whatever comes your way. But, since we already had a team of four, I suggested that he partner up with Matt and Team Annie, since Matt was running solo and they were about the same pace. This ended up working out great, thankfully.

The 5K started early - at 6:45am. I'd mistakenly thought we would get to see the USATF elite wave start. I'd even told Drew Hunter to look for a sea of pink to his right. Oh well. Shortly after, Kristy High gave her pre-race speech that I wish I would have recorded. It was so inspiring and got me fired up. "Let's show Indianapolis what inclusion looks like!"

And then it was time to roll over to the start. We said goodbye to Lanie's family and told them we'd take great care of her and send pictures during the race. We tried to line up by pace with the slower paces in the front and faster in the back. Not long after we'd started, Ashley noticed our front wheel was pulling the chariot to the left. Not ideal. Thankfully, Matt was able to provide a quick fix with some tough love on the wheel that seems to put it in its place.

Near where we wait to enter the starting corral, the elite athletes for the half marathon warm up and wait for the 5K runners to clear out. I got to see my friend, Mark Guyer, who had just lost his dad to pancreatic cancer. His celebration of life was being held later that day. I hugged him and told him how I wished I could be there - and that I looked forward to seeing him fly by me soon.

Once it was time, we started to roll towards the start line. We do this backwards to fill in at the very front of all the participants. Another bonus is that we get to start off the race for everyone else. We backed into the corral and waited for go time. I was back to feeling excited and danced and sang along to the music to entertain Lanie, who was now the anxious one.

Lanie doesn't like unexpected loud noises. So, she was worried that the start would have a horn or something else to signal the start of the race. We'd told her we were fairly certain it didn't, but I also didn't want to be wrong.

I'd made it a point to say hi to a couple other teams - one that was also in D.C. at Marine Corps - Amy and Jamie Shinneman from Team Humbly Courageous. And very quickly it was time for the National Anthem and final countdown. Of course I should have remembered that it was the waving of the green flag that starts the race. An homage to the Indy 500. Kristy from Ainsley's Angels got to wave it this year. Last year, Ainsley's dad, Rooster, did it.

Lanie could now rest easy knowing there would be no loud noises, and then we were off.

THE RACE

We decided I would push first. Then Lauren, then Ashley and then Lindsay. Our plan, similar to past years, was to switch off every mile. Shortly after the start, we saw Lanie's grandparents. During the first mile, we got to run alongside Team Cailyn, Team Annie, Team Nora (my friend Logan Turner and his daughter) and Team Kody (my friend Bryan Stoffel).

Lanie had used the Rally app to have family members record messages for her to hear during the race. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten to start it when we started the race, so it was probably going to be behind. I assured her it would still work (hoping I was right).

The elite wave started 5 minutes after ours. So, they'll catch us within the first mile. As we turn the corner around the Indianapolis Zoo, so does the lead car with my friend, Nathan, from Beyond Monumental behind the wheel. The leaders whiz by going so fast. I start looking for familiar faces.

Mile 1 (I pushed): 8:56

Mark Guyer was the first one I got to see and I quickly whipped out my phone to catch a video and tried running to keep pace with him for a few seconds. I yell to him to make his dad proud. Hopefully the right thing to say, but good intentions nonetheless.

Right after seeing Mark, I see my friend, Carly Stewart, spectating with her boys. One held a sign that said something about poop. I was so excited I veered a little to the right (the side of the street she was on). I quickly was scolded by an elite runner who said, "Run in a straight line." Or something like that. "I'm so sorry!" I replied, feeling like an idiot. I always preach that runners need to be aware of their surroundings and here I was causing trouble.

Speaking of trouble, I also really had to pee. This was so annoying because I'd gone plenty of times that morning. Outside of Emmalyn locking herself in a port-a-potty last year, I've very rarely stopped to use the bathroom for myself during a race. But I decided I didn't want to be miserable and told the girls I needed to veer off and that I'd catch up. It was during this time I think I missed my friends Suketu and Hallie Patel coming by. But I felt so much better. The girls had stopped so I ran quickly to catch up and get us rolling again.

Lanie got to hear her first Rally message about 1.5 miles into the race. It made her (and me) tear up.

Mile 2 (Lauren pushed): 8:56

I have a terrible memory, so trying to remember who I saw when in the race is impossible. Some others I saw earlier on in the race were, Zach Engle, Kelby, Rachel Patzer, Dennis Mullen, Wil Adams, Waldo (who I later found out was TJ Dailey's brother Todd), pro runner Stephanie Sherman (who I'd gotten to interview at the Monumental marathon the year before).

Our name signs on our backs were working and runners cheered for Team Lanie as they passed by. This meant a lot to Lanie to hear her name throughout the race. I was so glad I went through the effort to make sure this was the case.

Mile 3 (Ashley pushed): 8:49

The weather was simply perfection. I was wearing shorts and a tank top with arm sleeves, gloves, and an Ainsley's Angels pom hat I'd gotten at the expo. The sun was out, we had our music going. A majority of the playlist was Christian artists and I got to hear a lot of new-to-me songs I really liked.

Lanie didn't drink anything out on the course so she wouldn't have to pee, but I made sure to grab water or Gatorade at every aid station. Even with the cool weather I wanted to be hydrated. I was also taking a Gu or Pure Fuel or Neversecond every 3 miles.

Mile 4 (Lindsay pushed): 9:02

There's a slight uphill around mile 4 as we make our way towards downtown Speedway. I tell Lanie that Speedway will have tons of spectators. I also make sure she sees the famous Circle City Cloggers who dance for us every year and are an Indy Mini staple.

Shortly after the cloggers, my friend, Becky Riley, passes us. 

At first, there don't appear to be many people out and I thought it had to be the cool weather. But as we made our way through downtown there were more and more people gathered to cheer. I remember seeing my favorite sign of the day that said something like, "You have a toddler this is easy."

I loved yelling at the crowd to yell for Lanie.

Mile 5 (I pushed): 8:44

Now, we're feeling the energy from the spectators as the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway starts to come into view. As we make the turn onto the street we'll enter from, I spot my friend, Alex Baker, dressed as a ketchup bottle for Ketchup to Cancer, a nonprofit he founded in his wife's honor - because he hates ketchup, but he hates cancer even more. I gave him a big hug and thanked him for cheering. He was fresh off the London marathon and decided not to run the Mini.

At this point in the race, the song, YMCA, is always blaring. I ask Lanie if she's going to do it with me and she obliged.

Then, we see Team Annie again and enter the Speedway together. There's a steep downhill going in and Lauren and Lindsay position themselves as a team to make sure we have control of the chariot going down the incline. Then, they both pushed like hell to get her up the incline that carried us up into the track.

At the top, we're greeted by my friend and race photographer, Timmy Howard. We scream with excitement and pose for photos. His wife, Stephanie, comes up behind us shortly after. I quickly took my second gel before we headed out onto the track.

Mile 6 (Lauren pushed): 9:09

Right after you enter the track you can see the faster runners leaving on your right. "We'll be there soon," I tell Lanie. Although the track usually feels like the longest part of the race.

Lanie had been talking about how much she liked the Blue Mile during the Marine Corps Marathon that honored fallen service members, so I was happy to tell her that the Indy Mini has The Gold Mile at mile 6 of the race.

You run under an arch that says The Gold Mile and on the left hand side of the track there are pictures of the men and women from Indiana who have given their lives for our freedom. Alongside many of the flags and pictures stood groups of family members cheering for us.

This part of the race always gets me emotional. I squeaked out, "Thank you for your sacrifice." to as many of the families as I could between suppressed sobs. It always makes me think about how lucky we are to be able to run.

Mile 7 (Ashley pushed): 9:13

Somewhere between miles 6 and 7 I hear "ALLY BRETTNACHER!" from behind me and turn to see my friend Johanna Kitchell leading one of the pace groups. I grabbed my phone and got a quick video of us together as they made their way past us.

And then just after the mile 7 marker, we see the main straightaway on the track and the looming pagoda. It's such an incredible view. Around this time, I heard a voice behind me ask, "What pace do you think you guys are running, Ally?" I turn to see my friend, Jason Noel (a brain cancer survivor and marathoner) running up behind us. "About a 9 minute mile or so," I answer.

Jason tells me he lost his team when he stopped to go to the bathroom and hadn't been able to catch up to them. He was pushing with our friend Jennifer Conner and I was pretty certain they hadn't passed us and must be somewhere behind us. But then again, maybe I could have missed them? Jason stayed with us for about a half a mile before telling me he needed to ease off the pace. I wished him a good race wondering if I should have insisted we slow down and stay with him. Come to find out, he'd passed Jennifer without realizing it.

I did a bad job of telling people new to the Indy Mini that there are always donuts around the yard of bricks. Side note: The yard of bricks is all that's left of the original track from 1903. It's tradition to kiss them, so some people do and there are signs for you to move to the right if you'd like to partake. But I'd promised Lanie a donut, so we were focused on finding her one.

As we're running alongside the wall, I'm looking for a box of donuts on the ledge and I see nothing. But then sitting on a table behind a few people I see some. "Can I get a donut please? I need a donut for this young lady! I promised her a donut!" The people seemed surprised at my request but quickly grabbed a donut for Lanie. She was thrilled.

Mile 8 (Lindsay pushed): 9:11

The number 8 mile marker signals that you're about to leave the track. With the cool weather and the donut, I actually enjoyed this part of the race this year. Usually it's super hot and miserably long (2.5 miles). We see runners on the other side entering the track. I said to Lanie, "See? I told you we'd be over here before you knew it."

Right after leaving the track we saw Ryan, a wheelchair athlete, and said hello. He was working hard to win his division.

Then, we see the Untapped fuel station and I run over to grab one. I asked the volunteers where the plain flavor was but no one seemed to understand what I wanted. Thankfully, the one I grabbed ended up being plain. They have all kinds of flavors, but I prefer the plain old maple syrup.

Mile 9 (I pushed): 9:02

Time for another gel. I downed one of my Pure Fuel maple syrups.

There were a decent number of spectators on the curve we make heading out of the speedway. Up ahead we could see a truck and some bubbles. I asked Lanie if she liked bubbles and she said something like, "meh". There was a man dressed as, well, I don't know who exactly he was dressed as so let's call him a founding father. White curly wig and soldier uniform.

We make our way onto the final straightaway where we also see runners who are just past mile 4 heading towards the track. While we were on the track we saw that the last wave was just starting. I wondered where my sister, Morgan, was on the course.

Mile 10 (Lauren pushed): 9:07

I always love hitting double digits in a race, but for this one, I wanted time to slow down. We were having so much fun. Lanie was having so much fun. Listening to music, taking in the cheers from the other runners and spectators, and hearing the voice messages from her family. There were quite a few from her dad which made her tear up with happiness.

I'd been sending a video every so often to Tara, Lanie's mom. So, I sent her another of this milestone mile marker. She also updated us on the race results from the USATF 5K championships. Drew had won, Emma Grace had placed second and Courtney finished fourth. Pretty cool to have spent the day before listening to them talk about their race.

Tara also told me there was an 11-year-old boy who broke the half marathon world record for his age group. Talk about motivation.

I can't remember if I spotted them or if they spotted me, but I got to see one of Indy's running power couples, The Roudebushes. Trena has run nearly 100 marathons and seems to pace all of them in Indy. Bob is an ultrarunner extraordinaire having done races like Leadville in Colorado and Prairie on Fire, one of our local backyard ultras where he completed 33 yards for 137 miles. He was gearing up for Grind on the Grid, the other local backyard ultra where he had hoped to run 200 miles (I'm not sure of his exact distance - it was at least 100 miles - but I know he'll get to 200 at some point).

As they passed, I snapped some pictures and joked that I was capturing the photo for their Christmas card.

We also got to see Team Emmalyn on the course around this time and I loved getting the chance to see her smile.

Mile 11 (Ashley pushed): 8:55

There was a guy behind us cheering for everyone and hyping himself up. At this part of the race, this kind of encouragement is always welcome. I also remember a song, Lazarus, playing around this point and I'd never heard it before but it hyped me up.

We made our second to last turn to run alongside the White River. We passed the corner where my friend, Carly, had been earlier. She'd warned me that she had to leave early and probably wouldn't see us on our way back.

Up ahead we spot the 12 mile marker which we'd passed early in the race.

Mile 12 (Lindsay pushed): 8:58

One more to go. My turn to push again. I didn't think about it when I started out the race - that I'd also be pushing for the final mile. This made me happy.

We turned onto the New York Street bridge, a straight shot now to the finish line. There were spectators on both sides of the bridge and as we made our way to the finish there were more and more people out cheering.

There are flags that line the street and you can start to spot runners with medals who had already completed their race but had come back to cheer other runners into the finish.

Mile 13 (I pushed): 8:28

There are grandstands on our right where spectators can watch their runners finish. The roar of the crowd is at a maximum as we get closer. I spot my photographer friend, Mike Lee, and pose for what ended up being some of my favorite pictures of the day.

Lanie had coached us on how to do her finish line pose. Each runner has one hand on the chariot and the other hand raised in the air.

The best surprise was hearing Lindsey Hein's voice on the microphone, "And here comes my friend Ally Brettnacher. Way to go Ainsley's Angels!"

We cross the line, I stop my watch while trying not to run into anyone.

Official Finish Time: 1:53:21 

Side note: While our official finish time is 1:53, we actually ran closer to two hours. My watch showed 1:58. Our bibs must have started with the elite wave a few minutes after we started. This also happened last year.

I see Larry Coblentz from Athletic Annex. Lindsey came over too and I got another finish line hug from my friend.

"What's all this confetti for?" Lanie asks. "Because you're a champion!" Lindsey replied.

AFTER THE RACE

Shortly after crossing, my friend, Gordon Strain, who has been on my podcast and was also at the live event, came up to me. He'd almost caught us! I was happy for him because he wasn't sure how the race would go after coming back from an injury. And if he nearly caught us, it must not have been too bad.

We're taking up a lot of space in the finish area with the chariot and us four runners. I hug Lindsey goodbye and tell her I'll see her in November for Monumental.

We get our medals. I help put Lanie's medal around her neck as she beams. My friend and fellow Team Rachel Michelle Running athlete, Lisa, said hi to me and we hugged. She PR'd her race.

Then, we get some official finish line photos. One in front of the official backdrop. Lanie's mom, Tara, loves pictures like I do, so we had to be sure to participate in as many photo ops as we could.

As we walked through the chute and gathered snacks (the chocolate chip cookies were back!) Lanie told us she wanted to get out of her chariot as soon as possible. I could see the anxiety on her face and wanted to make that happen.

We exit the chute and weave our way through the spectators and finishers to get to the Ainsley's Angels tent in the Infield. Before we make it there, we find Tara and another photo op.

Then we get to the Infield and see a bunch of other friends. My friend, Ashley Haynes, was there and I was so happy to see her. She told me Rachel Pantzer had finished a few seconds off her PR which I heard as "she took a few seconds off her PR". So, when I congratulated Rachel I quickly put my foot in my mouth.

We see so many others celebrating at the Athletic Annex tent: Gabby, Todd, Ryan to name a few. We see a lot of Ainsley's Angels teams lined up to return chariots and riders. We're reunited with Lanie's grandparents.

Her family helps get her back into her chair so she's comfortable. We check in with Misty to tell her we brought Lanie back and we get a nice bag as our runner gift for the year (we've gotten blankets and towels in years past - all so nice).

I see Matt and Team Annie and was glad to hear their race went well (especially since he was paired with a random guy right before we started the race). They seemed to have hit it off and Matt promised to come back to Indy at some point.

Team Lanie gathers for one final medal photo and we say our goodbyes. I hated to, but I had to rush out of there to get ready for my daughter Sydney's first communion. Lindsay's dad had come to spectate and was able to give us a ride back to the hotel.

On our walk to the car, I spotted my favorite shirt of the day. On the back it said "Urinary Track Team" and was for a urologist's office.

When we got back, we got one last group pic in front of the hotel and I went up to shower while the team went to The Garage for post race beers and food. Ashley got me my favorite post race meal - a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke from Clancy's.

And just as soon as it had started, it was done. A whirlwind of yet another incredible weekend spent downtown for the Indy Mini. My 18th! I'm already signed up for next year and will be rolling again with Ainsley's Angels.

My hope is that you're inspired to roll with us. Go to Ainsleysangels.org and click the JOIN NOW button to sign up to get information about upcoming race opportunities. Central Indiana is part of the North Central Indiana region.

And if you've made it this far, thank you for listening or reading and HAPPY RUNNING! See you at the next one.

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