Nebraska

THE GOOD LIFE HALFSY

Lincoln, NE

Halfsy the Distance, Double the Fun

Saturday, November 8, 2025

At the start of my journey to run a half marathon in all 50 states, the second state I ticked off officially was Nebraska in 2022. At that time, my chosen race was the Omahalf, primarily because Omaha was only a 2 hour drive from me and I'd picked the race out of convenience. It was unbearably cold and painfully windy during that race, not very scenic, and with the race slogan being "Run Simple," the simplicity was overwhelming in everything from pre-race communication to the swag. Simplicity is not necessarily a bad thing, and can be really positive if you're looking for a low-cost smaller event with no frills. It was only later in my research that I'd learned about The Good Life Halfsy, and that it was every 50-Stater's first choice for Nebraska.

The Halfsy seemed to be everything the Omahalf was not — a very large race field with thousands of runners that sells out each year, over-the-top energy and production, big expo with tons of vendors, abundant swag, and hundreds of volunteers. With my first experience in Nebraska culminating in a horrible episode of food poisoning after my race, solidifying my feelings about the trip being decidedly negative, I thought a redemption trip to Nebraska was in order so I could see what all the hype was about with the Halfsy. I made the drive up to Nebraska early on Saturday morning, one day before race day, with plenty of time for a few tourist activities and the opportunity to pick up my race packet. I had several hours to fill before I could check in to my hotel, so I planned a visit to the Nebraska State Capitol, the International Quilt Museum, and of course the Good Life Halfsy race expo at the Sandhills Global Event Center.

My first stop was the Capitol, which has been going strong for 101 years this coming April at the time of this writing (January 2026). In 1924, the Nebraska Capitol Commission made plans to demolish the old structure and build a new Capitol, with the intention of having the building finished and occupied by January 1925. The architecture of the building is beautiful, although initially confusing to visitors. After parking on the street and walking across the lawn, I learned the visitor entrance to the building is not up the steps to the front of the building, but on the side of the building where there is a sallyport underneath the staircase, which leads to a long, dark tunnel. After traversing the tunnel, the first display I came across was a celebration of Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

Heading up the stairs to the second floor, I was blown away by the detail and beauty of the rotunda. In the corridors surrounding it, there are murals all along the walls and on the ceiling, each artfully representing the historical significance at different points in time from the founding of our country, acknowledging Native American history and their original occupation of the land, to Nebraska's statehood. Along one brightly lit corridor are a set of busts of historical figures, which include (but are not limited to) author and writer Bess Streeter Aldrich, Indian Spokeswoman Susette LaFlesche Tibbles, and Ponca Chief Henry Standing Bear, who I learned a tremendous amount about during my trip to South Dakota. There is also a bust in a different corridor of General John J. Pershing, founder of Pershing rifles and U.S. Army Chief of Staff from 1921 - 1924. If you are interested even remotely in history, visiting the Capitol is worth the trip.

Following the Capitol, I headed to the Sandhills Global Event Center for the race expo. The expo itself was excellent and one of the best I've attended, however my only negative is parking and exiting the parking lot was chaotic. I managed to find a parking spot, but the parking lot became so congested by the time I was ready to leave that it took a lot of patience and Midwest niceness to get through the bottleneck. At the expo, there were plenty of cute photo opportunities, free samples, and vendors to connect with. There was a DJ, a vehicle that race participants could sign, and many other chances to interact with the different displays. Swag-wise, we were given a technical long sleeve moisture wicking shirt, a small terrycloth towel, and a beanie with a pom, which I thought was a really great departure from the typical race fare of regular T-shirt only. I ended up needing the beanie for race day and was super grateful for it.

After the expo I made a trip to Yia Yia's Pizza for lunch. Shortly after committing to my 50 states half marathon goal, I decided on a secondary goal, which is trying pizza in every state I visit. I didn't recall having a slice of pizza during my first trip to Nebraska for the Omahalf, so I went out of my way on this trip to ensure I checked the box. I selected Yia Yia's based on phenomenal reviews online, and came to the conclusion that this restaurant had established itself as a beloved Lincoln staple, especially for a college town. I ordered a side salad and the slice called "The Pacific," which was Hawaiian-adjacent with smoked ham, pineapple, green pepper, cream cheese, and mozzarella. It was a super busy lunch hour, so service was extremely slow, and initially I received the wrong slice of pizza and my order had to be corrected. Despite the overwhelmed staff, the pizza was worth the wait.

At around 5 P.M., the 50 States Half Marathon Club headed over to Lazlo's Brewery and Grill for a pre-race dinner and meet-up. One of my favorite things about being part of the running community and the club is seeing so many familiar faces and getting to connect with new people along the journey! Lazlo's could not have been a more perfect spot for us to have a delicious pre-race meal together. The restaurant, with a private dining area upstairs for reservations, is a known local favorite spot, offering craft beer and comfort food. After perusing the menu I decided I couldn't go wrong with the Greek wrap, which ended up being an excellent choice. It was the general consensus, especially from those of us who had visited Lazlo's before, that you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Before going our separate ways before the race, we made sure to get a photo together.

The Good Life Halfsy: It's All Downtown from Here

Race Day: Sunday, November 9, 2025

After alternating between lying awake with my eyes closed and staring at either the wall or the ceiling in the dark for 7 to 8 hours, I was unsurprised when my alarm went off at 5:30 A.M. as scheduled. My anxiety about having no sleep and race day being a cold one lessened when I reminded myself I'd traveled all this way to repeat Nebraska and run this race, and no matter how crappy and tired I felt, I knew if I decided to skip the race and not at least try, I would have a very hard time forgiving myself. We were instructed to arrive by 6:20 AM at the Pre-Race Shuttle Pickup at Lincoln Station, 277 Pinnacle Arena Drive, which was a bitterly cold half mile walk from the hotel. The 15 mph wind was bone-chilling, the temperature was 27°, and it wouldn't get any warmer than 32° later that afternoon.

Hundreds of runners lined up neatly beside the row of school buses parked behind Lincoln Station, as a volunteer counted us as we boarded. It was about a 20 minute ride from Lincoln Station to Lincoln East High School, where we would have an hour to hang out indoors in the warmth before the race started. For the first time since the inception of the Halfsy, due to record cold temperatures, the high school generously allowed us use of their gymnasium and facilities as our warming center. With over 9,000 registered participants for the 12th year of Nebraska's largest road race, every square inch of the hallways and spacious gymnasium were occupied, with runners either standing in line waiting for the bathrooms, or sitting on the floor.

I had absolutely no complaints, because although we were packed in pretty tight, we were all content to be out of the cold and just thankful we had real toilets to use before the race instead of porta-johns. I found a spot on the floor in the hallway near the gymnasium entrance, and ate my breakfast. After a bathroom break and trying not to fall asleep in the hallway, the time had finally come to make our way to the finish line. About 10 minutes prior to the race start, I reluctantly filed out and jogged across the street to the start corral. We all immediately packed in shoulder to shoulder, intentionally, to preserve warmth.

The shared instinct of thousands of complete strangers to huddle in the freezing temperatures and get outside our comfort zones was especially comical when a shark surfaced among the waves of people, and popped up just as I was taking a selfie. The shark looked less than thrilled, but I could be projecting, since his facial expression was masked by a row of droopy stuffed teeth. We were packed so close, that I had no idea if I was even starting with the right pace group. I stood on my tip toes and strained to see if I could spot the closest pacer, but I had no luck. Once we got going and crossed the timing mat, I found the 2:05 pacer, and knew I'd be dropping back a bit as the miles rolled along.

I think I speak for every participant when I say we were surprised to see Lincoln turn out with thousands of bundled up, cheering spectators all along the course, in spite of the below freezing temps. It was 13.1 miles of 28° and winds between 15 and 17 mph the whole way. It even flurried at one point. Huge kudos to the volunteers at every aid station, they braved the cold with us for hours and were truly amazing. Despite this being the coldest race I'd experienced in my 50 states journey thus far, I weathered the blistering freezing temperature and biting wind exceptionally well, and the first 9 miles of the race were a dream to run. I went out pretty fast, sticking with the 2:05 pacer for the first 3 miles before dropping down to the 2:10 pace group somewhere after the first aid station.

Being cold propelled me to perform better than I had my entire training cycle, and it was a stark reminder that I hate heat and humidity, and colder temperatures are my bread and butter. For the first 2 miles we headed down 70th street, and then turned onto Holmes Park Road through a quiet little residential neighborhood. Residents were parked on their front lawns with encouraging and funny signs, wrapped in blankets and shivering in their oversized boots, slippers, and flannel pajamas. They cheered us on and kept their cell phone cameras recording, anxiously looking for their loved ones in the rolling crowd of thousands of passing runners. Aid stations were plentiful, with water and Gatorade and tons of volunteers.

Eventually we looped back up 70th street, before turning up Holmes North Shore Road, which runs along Holmes Lake. I don't even remember the lake views to our left, because I was only focused on being cold and running fast, but you can see the water in the photo below. The course scenery was pretty serene and in some spots we had some nice foliage to look at, which broke up the more industrial sights of downtown later in the course. By mile 5, I was still chugging along with the 2:10 pace group ticking the miles off and making sure I was properly timing my hydration even if I didn't feel thirsty. Something else that was great was all of the music along the course, local bands came out to motivate us and provide entertainment.

Overall, the course was pretty hilly even though it was a very gentle net downhill, and the hills were small and extremely imperceptible for most of the race. I knew this going into it from the elevation chart, however what I didn't expect was the difficulty I would have past mile 10 with the head wind while navigating some of the longer incline hills. By mile 9, I'd slowed down significantly, fighting against the wind. Part of the course took us through tunnels and under overpasses, especially right after mile 12 on Charleston Street, and it was extremely windy beneath the overpasses. What took everyone out was the bridge at the end of the race, and we were all dropping F bombs.

The crowd lining the finish chute was nothing short of spectacular. Lincoln's energy rivaled some of the biggest races around the country, with supporters cheering our names as we sprinted past them to cross the timing mat. In keeping with race tradition, everyone tried to space out their finish to get the ideal finish photo. Of course every single one of my extremities were frozen, and I was starving, but I smiled for the photos anyway. After receiving my medal I found a volunteer to take this gem of a finisher's photo for me with some guy photobombing it with his face buried in a tissue. I thought it was hilarious and a true representation of the conditions we had been running in. Congratulations on your finish, nose-blowing guy. We did it.

The finisher's festival at the railyard was extremely chaotic, and too overwhelming for me to want to stick around in the cold. I grabbed a banana and a Gatorade and tried to figure out how to walk back to the hotel, feeling extremely disoriented in that moment with all of the people and generally desperate to get warm. I ducked into an open business to mess with Google maps and warm up, shoulder to shoulder with others who had the same idea. Before I knew it, I was back at the hotel taking one of the best scalding hot showers of my life. I was so thankful the hotel offered the late checkout option for runners (and IHG Silver Elite members!), and it gave me plenty of time to get myself together and pack up before heading out to get brunch.

Good Evans had excellent reviews, established as a great spot for elevated breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a Sunday brunch menu. I have to admit, what immediately grabbed my attention was their website, with the top banner zooming in to a fresh glass of orange juice beside a mouth-watering stack of pancakes made from scratch. "We're cooking up something new," it says, and I was sold. I needed to find out what the "something new" was. Good Evans is owned by PepperJax Development, which also owns the PepperJax restaurant chain, and has locations all across Nebraska, including Kearny, Omaha, and Elkhorn. The vibe encourages guests to slow down and enjoy feeling cozy in their spaces. I ordered a giant banana chocolate chip pancake and a latte, and it was exactly what I needed before heading home.

Compared to my experience with the Omahalf at the start of my 50 states journey, I can absolutely say the Good Life Halfsy made this Nebraska redemption trip worth it. It was exactly the reset I needed from reality, and the stress of the federal government being shut down (which impacted everyone differently, and without going into detail, it definitely impacted me directly). My favorite volunteer sign on the course said, "You run better than Congress." And we certainly did. Four days after earning my finisher's medal at the Good Life Halfsy, the government finally reopened, so I can say with utmost sincerity that I ran better than Congress that day. And this should come as no surprise to anyone — running another race in Nebraska paved the way for me to begin working towards a new challenge: 100 half marathons across 50 states. I may not repeat every state, but my bucket list for races gets longer every day!

LODGING RECOMMENDATION:

Holiday Inn Express Lincoln Downtown

905 O Street

Lincoln, NE 68508

Happy running and safe travels,

Stefanie