Post by brucedenton on Dec 13, 2010 23:15:19 GMT -5
We had a bit of a rough trip down Friday, the interstate was so icy that it took over seven hours to get there and we counted over 30 cars wrecked en route. This was the first of several marathons we plan to run over the next year as we try to attain the goal of doing a marathon in all 50 states. Some of these 'marathons' may actually be ultras, this is acceptable according to the rules.
Packet pickup was easy, the Hotel Rehoboth was next door to the race HQ. Wristbands were required for admission to the post-race bash, and these had to be applied by race personnel at packet pickup, which seemed a bit odd, to wear the wristband that night and through the race, but was no big deal. The pasta dinner was excellent, and we met Merle, a 66 year old woman who was completing her own 50 State marathon quest and told us some neat stories. We met a few other 50 staters this weekend too with their own tales.
Marathon morning dawned a little chilly, 35 degrees but no wind or rain. A beautiful sunrise over the beach got us off to a good start. There were about 1300 runners combined in the marathon and half. My goal was to basically run a glorified long run, finish in the 3:20 range, but I didn't wear a watch and wasn't really sure how fast I was running since there were no clocks on the course. I had a feeling I was running a little faster than planned, and at 10 miles asked a guy who confirmed that we were 72:20. My achilles was a little sore from 5 to 10, but felt good at this point and I was in with a group of about five other guys running smoothly, so just kept going. The course is very flat and scenic, with a few miles of limestone similar to the towpath and a 5 mile loop in a state park from 13 to 18 miles. Our group started to fragment during this stretch, and I had to make a pit stop around 16. From there on, I ran pretty much solo, slowly picking off runners who were fading. There were also quite a few of the slower half marathoners heading back in towards the finish. I still had no certainty about my pace, it felt good, but a little faster than I had planned, and at mile 22, for whatever reason, was the only clock I saw on the course, reading 2:38:25. 'Great' I thought, 'now I kind of feel like I need to go for the 3:10.' The last few miles four different dudes ahead of me began struggling and started walking, then tried to go with me when I caught them, so I did wind up picking up the pace just slightly and finishing in 3:08:34, 27th overall but only 5th in my age group. Second half was about 20 seconds faster than the first. It was faster than planned but a few minutes slower than max effort...therefore I felt WAY better than after MMM. My stomach was growling, no puking, I was ready to celebrate the run.
I had passed a couple enterprising young ladies at the 25 mile mark who had their own aid station consisting of beer and wine, so I thought I would run back to there and grab one, then wait for MJ and run in with her. Little did I know that I wouldn't even make it back to that point, I ran into her just before that and ran the last mile with her. She was finishing strong and powered through to a 3:34:56, new PR!, 132 overall and won 3rd in her age group. She really wanted another BQ to prove to herself that MMM was no fluke, and she sure did that! She was hurting a little but bounced back quickly. The post race bash was terrific, all the beer you could enjoy from a local brewer (16 mile brewing), great choice of both breakfast and lunch foods, timely awards. The winner was Michael Wardian (2:28), an ultra beast, and I really regretted not asking for a photo with him later. We had a nice walk on the beach, did some Christmas shopping, and enjoyed some good rehydration/refueling at Stoney Lonen's Pub and Dogfish Head Brewery.
The course is flat and fast and I would definitely recommend this race and the Hotel Rehoboth. It is a smaller type marathon where you find yourself running alone sometimes, which I prefer to the big ones. The plan is to knock off several more states this year, which will put us into the teens, so still a long way to go. It was nice to feel so good after a marathon and recover so quickly...my legs feel great already (except for a very tight and sore right achilles), but I do feel just a tad guilty about holding back in the marathon. However, with all my PRs behind me and the goal of hitting all the states, I think I will get hurt if I try to run all out and do a bunch of speedwork. The achilles inury is limiting me to 3-4 days a week of running, (two days of lifting/elliptical), so if I can still run solid times like this and stay healthy, while seeing the country, meeting new people, it will be a lot of fun and a new challenge. Sorry for being so long-winded, thanks for reading.
www.lin-mark.com/results/resrb2010.htm
Packet pickup was easy, the Hotel Rehoboth was next door to the race HQ. Wristbands were required for admission to the post-race bash, and these had to be applied by race personnel at packet pickup, which seemed a bit odd, to wear the wristband that night and through the race, but was no big deal. The pasta dinner was excellent, and we met Merle, a 66 year old woman who was completing her own 50 State marathon quest and told us some neat stories. We met a few other 50 staters this weekend too with their own tales.
Marathon morning dawned a little chilly, 35 degrees but no wind or rain. A beautiful sunrise over the beach got us off to a good start. There were about 1300 runners combined in the marathon and half. My goal was to basically run a glorified long run, finish in the 3:20 range, but I didn't wear a watch and wasn't really sure how fast I was running since there were no clocks on the course. I had a feeling I was running a little faster than planned, and at 10 miles asked a guy who confirmed that we were 72:20. My achilles was a little sore from 5 to 10, but felt good at this point and I was in with a group of about five other guys running smoothly, so just kept going. The course is very flat and scenic, with a few miles of limestone similar to the towpath and a 5 mile loop in a state park from 13 to 18 miles. Our group started to fragment during this stretch, and I had to make a pit stop around 16. From there on, I ran pretty much solo, slowly picking off runners who were fading. There were also quite a few of the slower half marathoners heading back in towards the finish. I still had no certainty about my pace, it felt good, but a little faster than I had planned, and at mile 22, for whatever reason, was the only clock I saw on the course, reading 2:38:25. 'Great' I thought, 'now I kind of feel like I need to go for the 3:10.' The last few miles four different dudes ahead of me began struggling and started walking, then tried to go with me when I caught them, so I did wind up picking up the pace just slightly and finishing in 3:08:34, 27th overall but only 5th in my age group. Second half was about 20 seconds faster than the first. It was faster than planned but a few minutes slower than max effort...therefore I felt WAY better than after MMM. My stomach was growling, no puking, I was ready to celebrate the run.
I had passed a couple enterprising young ladies at the 25 mile mark who had their own aid station consisting of beer and wine, so I thought I would run back to there and grab one, then wait for MJ and run in with her. Little did I know that I wouldn't even make it back to that point, I ran into her just before that and ran the last mile with her. She was finishing strong and powered through to a 3:34:56, new PR!, 132 overall and won 3rd in her age group. She really wanted another BQ to prove to herself that MMM was no fluke, and she sure did that! She was hurting a little but bounced back quickly. The post race bash was terrific, all the beer you could enjoy from a local brewer (16 mile brewing), great choice of both breakfast and lunch foods, timely awards. The winner was Michael Wardian (2:28), an ultra beast, and I really regretted not asking for a photo with him later. We had a nice walk on the beach, did some Christmas shopping, and enjoyed some good rehydration/refueling at Stoney Lonen's Pub and Dogfish Head Brewery.
The course is flat and fast and I would definitely recommend this race and the Hotel Rehoboth. It is a smaller type marathon where you find yourself running alone sometimes, which I prefer to the big ones. The plan is to knock off several more states this year, which will put us into the teens, so still a long way to go. It was nice to feel so good after a marathon and recover so quickly...my legs feel great already (except for a very tight and sore right achilles), but I do feel just a tad guilty about holding back in the marathon. However, with all my PRs behind me and the goal of hitting all the states, I think I will get hurt if I try to run all out and do a bunch of speedwork. The achilles inury is limiting me to 3-4 days a week of running, (two days of lifting/elliptical), so if I can still run solid times like this and stay healthy, while seeing the country, meeting new people, it will be a lot of fun and a new challenge. Sorry for being so long-winded, thanks for reading.
www.lin-mark.com/results/resrb2010.htm