Marathon #45: Rehoboth Beach Delaware Marathon, December 2016

Race starting area

I love running marathons with a big group of friends. Not only did Karen and Candy make it to cheer us on (third year in a row!), but we rented a big house this time, which made it all even more fun. This was an excellent choice destination marathon! The house was within walking distance to the start and 2 blocks down from the finish. Even though it was off season, plenty of shops and restaurants were open. Everything was within walking distance to the house. Perfect. Ok, onward to marathon details...

After three hot marathons this year I was praying for cold, but I think I prayed too much! It was really really cold! Probably one of the coldest marathons I've ran, but this time I dressed appropriately, so the cold wasn't much of an issue. The only real bear was gusty cold wind, which we only had to battle in parts.

Race morning. Ready for whatever lies before us!

Even though there were less than a thousand marathoners, there was probably twice that for the half, so when we arrived at the start we quickly lost each other in the crowd. I started with Jamie and Robin, but didn't get to wish the others good luck. I never saw the half marathoners, Zelda and Kathy again until the end.  The marathoners were: Toby, Kelly, Mark, Laura (LSP), Robin, Jamie, and myself. Toby and Jamie had just ran the NYC marathon a month ago, so their goals were iffy, especially Jamie's since she had just been to the doctor,was diagnosed with bronchitis, given antibiotics and an inhaler, and told not to run...Since the course ran back behind the house around mile 18 I wasn't sure if those 2 would simply stop at the house and call it a day. Had the half marathon runners been there with beers in their hands, well...you just never know.

The course is largely remote, with the first half running through Cape Henlopen State Park, and the second half, after coming back through downtown, running along a dirt path with a turn around at mile 22 back into town. Roughly about one third of the course is on dirt paths (there is a stretch along the first half too), which concerned me until I actually saw and ran on it. It is largely packed dirt and sand with virtually no rocks, roots, or things that could trip you up.

Some of the path was asphalt in the state park

Sadly it's true that somehow most of us missed seeing this!

Glimpses of the ocean

Right from the start, as happens sometimes, I felt like I had to pee. Add to that the inability to get into a groove. There were a lot of twists and turns getting out of town, and then at mile 3 the half marathoners split off. If anyone missed that turn they need to have their hearing checked! Then we hit the dirt, which wasn't bad, but just hard to settle in. Also, I started desperately searching for a porta potty. We did a brief out and back at a lookout point, where I saw LSP and Kelly for the first time! I finally came across a porta potty around mile 9, but had to stop and wait for it to free up, ugh! No doubt I over hydrated, thanks to my past history! Shortly after that we had a brutally long headwind stretch! The good thing is I could look across the street and see the runners heading back. Saw Toby right away! Then I saw Mark and Kelly (I think), before making the turn to see the ocean before turning around. I looked out at the ocean and tried to take it in, even though the wind was whipping me around like a rag doll. The turnaround was awesome, with that gusty wind hitting my back. Somewhere along this stretch I came across pink Ironman girl. We both had our music on and never spoke, but stayed together like a little train, sometimes picking up runners we passed along the way. She had a rock solid never changing pace. I stayed with her until we came back into town and lost her somewhere. Candy and Karen were on the course with the Texas flag! So great to see them!

We headed out of town back into a headwind stretch, which was even gustier than before. A real struggle! About a mile into it we hit the woods, which would help shield us from the wind. I was excited about this stretch, because it was an out and back and I would get to see everyone. It was narrow enough that we could high five each other. Right away I saw Toby and I swear the guy was flying! Also, pink Ironman girl was back! I tried really hard to stay with her again, but I felt myself slowing down. She was gapping me as we approached the mile 22 turn around. At this point I had seen everyone but Jamie, so I started feeling really down about her having to drop out, but then there she was at the turn around! Bad news is she was having major "issues", and I'll leave it at that. I was really worried about her, asked her if she should go to medical, but she said no way and ran off into the bushes. I saw pink Ironman girl up ahead, running that same solid pace. I really wanted to thank her, but I never saw her again.

Around mile 24 I was sick of the dirt trail. Even though it was packed, I felt like the balls of my feet were tired and cramping up from trying to grip the ground. Afterwards others complained about their calves being really sore. We train exclusively on asphalt and concrete, so it makes sense. When we exited the trail it felt so good to be back on asphalt, and combine that with the gusty wind on my back, I ran my fastest mile yet! We made a sharp right into the finish and everyone else was right there cheering for me! One of my favorite marathon finishes ever! I quickly finished and headed over to join the others to wait for Jamie. I warned them that things were ugly at mile 22, so needless to say we were really concerned.

Around the corner Jamie came, and we all screamed like crazy, but she was not fully aware of us. She was just gritting it out to the line, and when Toby got to her past the finish she broke down crying. Zelda and I started crying too, and I told Zelda, "I need to find wimpier friends".

This marathon has one of the best post race parties I have ever seen! They had a full spread of food and free beer (which never ran out), and in the big tent they had live music. LSP's son Tommy, who's going to the University of Delaware, joined us! Later we had our own after after party, which is usual for this crowd! Run hard and party hard!

Jamie didn't make the after party, but did rally for the after after party

Running stats for our Crew:

Half Marathoners:
Kathy: 1:57
Zelda: 2:25 PR!

Marathoners:
Toby: 3:21, 3rd place in AG! 4 weeks after NYC marathon, AMAZING
Mark: 3:44
Kelly: 3:51 3rd place in AG!
Robin: 3:51 seconds apart!
LSP: 4:02
Me: 4:04  2 minutes between us and we didn't run a single step together
Jamie: 4:14 Amazing

In summary, I highly recommend this marathon and/or a visit to the Rehoboth Beach area. No, I wouldn't say this is a PR course, even though it's pretty darn flat, but it is a great course, very scenic, and overall a well ran race. My only real complaint would be their terrible website. This one will go down as one of my fondest memories for sure.

Marathon #23: Eugene Oregon, 2008

The Eugene marathon is one of my bottom feeders, i.e., one of my least favorite marathons, which is why it is taking me so long to write about it. 2008 was my year of living with plantar fasciitis as well. Most, if not all distance runners encounter PF at least once during their running lives, I know this from selling running shoes at Luke's Locker. Every single day I had at least one customer afflicted with it, looking for a cure. If I knew the cure I would be very very rich. But I digress. The PF impeded me from doing Napa in March, then I waited too long to register for Bayshore in Michigan before it filled up, so I looked into Eugene in May as an alternative. My foot allowed me to train well enough, so I was good to go. Toby decided to run the half.

I can blame a lot of my disappointment on expectations. We would be running in the footsteps of legends, such as Prefontaine himself. I imagined narrow roads or dirt trails lined with evergreens and ferns, heavily shaded and peaceful. I imagined morning fog or mist. The race map indicated that at least half of the course would run along the Willamette river, which I held high expectations for as well.

Locked out

This marathon was pretty new. I think it was their second year. We would be starting outside of famous Hayward field, but not allowed inside, which has changed since then, in fact now this is the location of the finish line as well. Our finish line was in the parking lot of the Autzen stadium. The course zig zagged about these two buildings along with the river stretch.

Although Eugene was fun to visit, I was taken aback by the lack of scenery. Eugene is your typical run down little college town. Also, standing at the start, I felt like I was attending some local 10K race, and that we were the only two that had traveled from out of town. I used to tell people that it felt like I was running a Thruston race, which means nothing to most people now. (Thruston used to put on very low cost no frills local races here in Dallas).

I couldn't complain about the weather, 40 degrees and dry. What little cloud cover we had (no mist or fog) was long gone about an hour into it, so we had full sunshine for the majority of the race. Not bad, but not what I expected, and too, the roads were largely residential with little to shade. The park areas were wide open with not much shade either. I remember feeling beat down mentally about halfway through the race. We were on this little black asphalt bike path going nowhere really, just in a large circle out in this field and I thought to myself to just hold on because we would hit the river at mile 14 and it would be great. Well the river route was along yet another boring bike path, and this one was concrete. It was pure torture for my foot! There was a lot of fanfare on this part of the course, which helped, and a man was playing the bagpipes at the river turnaround (mile 20). Luckily, the bike path on the other side of the river was asphalt, and did have more trees for shade, as it was more residential. Still, those final miles involved dodging people walking their dogs, no fan fare, and was really quiet and boring until the end, where we crossed a bridge into the stadium parking lot.

I ran a 3:52, which I was happy with. I do have a disturbing memory though, that preventing me from enjoying the finish line food or festivities. There was a narrow passage way to get from one point to another and this girl decided this was where she would stand and projectile vomit. That did it for me. We were out of there!

An idea of scenery on roads

Onward to finish line

Eugene was my only marathon in 2008, due to my PF. I spent a lot of time that year with my foot in an ice bucket! I am glad I ran Eugene though. It taught me not to build up high expectations for a race, even if the race reads well. It also taught me how to mentally fight to get out of "the ugly place" in my head and focus on moving forward.

Here are some pictures from the coast! We drove there after the race and yes, it was beautiful!

Marathon#44: Kansas City Missouri, October 2016

Race morning

...well you just keep on using me....until you use me up. (Bill Withers)

It was early in the race. A female singer was really belting this song out. It struck a nerve. This course was going to use and abuse me with the heat, humidity, wind, and hills! I had written "Tough Bitch" on my arm and went for it, knowing that yes, I was going to get used up. I just wasn't sure where. Hopefully close enough to the finish line to crawl it in....

Three years ago I watched my friends run this race as I was sidelined with a hamstring pull. I love Kansas City, so returning to run the marathon was always a plan of mine. I wasn't sure I could or should squeeze it in this year, since I already had three marathons planned, but when Ginna and Laura (LSP) said they were in I had to do it. The training sucked, as summer marathon training does, with the never ending heat, but it was with the promise of a cool, fall marathon. Yeah, well, there are no promises.

Comfortable in tank tops...not good

Our forecast was dire. Sigh, yet another hot one. There was a lot of negative energy to fend off. A lot of pep talking. A lot of ridiculous rationalizations. And yes, that final prayer in the porta potty. I was just so glad when the race started because frankly, I was tired of complaining about it.

From the beginning, as I was trying to access how I was feeling I was a bit surprised to find myself really really enjoying the run. I was skeptical of how good I felt, as it was early in the race, but I found myself really taking it all in; the historic buildings, the stretch along the World War I memorial, the plaza, the quietness of Ward Parkway along the water, the beautiful homes, the historic Craftsman style homes in renovation, and the people, all the wonderful people of the city. Not to mention hints of autumn, with the fall colors emerging from the trees. It was truly a beautiful course, and I really loved everything about it. There was not a single organizational glitch pertaining to the race. I could not pinpoint a single thing that needed to be addressed. It's funny because when I was a spectator three years ago I had popped out on a few different places on the course and thought to myself that the course looked a little blah, so the beauty of the course did take me by surprise.

We didn't plan on staying together, but LSP and I found ourselves that way for most of the first half, which shouldn't be too shocking since duh we train together, but she wasn't having a good day. Things just weren't right with her stomach. And thus another facet of the mystery of the marathon--you just never know what you're going to have to deal with, either mentally or physically until it comes to you and says HERE. DEAL WITH THIS.

As I pulled away I thought to myself, well let's see down the road what lies ahead for me. I have a pretty good feeling this isn't going to end well. Well you just keep on using me...until you use me up...

...At mile 20 I found myself anxiously looking for the chip mat. I knew why I was doing this. I had been running steady, running strong, and dammit I wanted to cross the mat and have it relay back to Toby how well I was running before the anchor came out. And the anchor was near. The mat wasn't until past mile 21 and yep, as soon as I crossed the mat, BOOM. I found myself walking a hill. My quads were saying, "nope nope nope". Ugh. And so it went. I walked some on the uphills, ran all the downhills, hung out way too long at the water stops (people can be so friendly and inviting), but finally made my way to the finish line. There was even a hill on the last stretch to the finish!

Once we were reunited we shared war stories over our chicken sandwiches and beer at the finish. Even though we had harsh conditions we had prevailed, in fact, we had conquered. With a 4:11 finish I came in 2nd in the 55-59 age group, and Ginna came in 4th! LSP ran a 4:17 and came in 6th in the 50-54 age group.

We rounded out our visit of Kansas City with Ginna as our tour guide! It was a blast! I'm so grateful to have finally made it back to run the marathon. Such a great one, and great memories to boot.

Marathon #22: Kiawah Island, South Carolina 2007

If you play golf you've probably heard of Kiawah Island, as it is a premier golf destination on the east coast. If not, Kiawah Island is a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina, just south of Charleston. The marathon and half marathon were held entirely within the gated community of the island. In 2007 the marathon consisted of 2 loops. To date, this is the only "double looper" I have ever ran. It is no longer a double looper, but looking at the map it looks confusing, as it twists and turns and snakes about upon itself. There simply isn't a lot of room on the island for a full marathon, that is, unless they'd let the marathoners run on the golf courses, which makes me bust out laughing. In case you don't know, runners are known for getting chased off of golf courses!

We had a pretty large group for this one; Kathy, Laura Harvey, Bill Baxley, Toby, Jamie and I signed up for the full, with Mike and Ken Troupe signed up for the half, but it didn't end up that way. Two weeks out Kathy had elbow surgery from a bike wreck. People were contemplating about how she was going to miss the run and I had to laugh. There was no way Kathy was going to miss this run. Toby was too injured for the full, so he and Mike swapped bibs. Mike would run alongside Kathy and assist her, as she would be running with her arm in a sling! Even though this was my first marathon with Jamie, she ended up dropping out due to injury.

I don't have an old write up to help me with my memory of this one, but I think we all liked it well enough. The route was shaded with large trees and Spanish moss hanging from the branches. There were marsh ponds, glimpses of pristine golf courses and gigantic southern homes. It was beautiful. It was a little humid, and when the sun came out the second loop got a little warm, but the shade helped. Oh, and the course was completely flat! Not a single hill! I remember not liking the stretch on the road where we were relegated to a tiny chalked off portion of a lane, and the teenagers manning most of the water stops had clearly lost focus on the second loop, but all in all it was a pleasant run.

I don't remember what everyone's times were, but I did get 3rd in my age group and was awarded a really nice wooden plaque. Kathy finished her marathon with only one functioning arm! I think that deserves an award.

Overall, it was a great marathon and a great trip overall. At the time Charlie and Ruth were living in North Carolina, so they came down to visit with us. Here are some pictures of the trip:

I believe this is the very first pic of Jamie and I

Toby, Bill, Jamie, and me, pre-race

Laura Harvey--notice our narrow path to stay in

scenery of island

Nice bike path

Marathon #20: Big Sur Marathon, 2007

The Bixby bridge

I'm pretty certain that the Big Sur marathon will always be remembered as my favorite marathon. I can't imagine what it would take to surpass the beauty and magic of this course. Don't get me wrong, it's one of the hilliest marathons I have ever ran as well.

2007 was the chosen year to run Big Sur. For one thing, it was going to be on Kristen Smith's 50th birthday. Somehow we managed to rally up enough people for the 5 person relay that coincided with the marathon. I think our total head count was around 12 people or so. We took over a B&B in Monterey and made it our own!

Fast forward to race day "morning". The bus ride to the start actually went along the marathon route backwards, and even though it was mercifully dark, every time the bus went flying downhill I would get a sick feeling in my stomach, knowing there was yet another climb waiting for us.

We were dropped off in a parking lot where we waited for over an hour with no real place to sit. I remember sitting on a concrete curb for an eternity. This was my only complaint and real low moment of the day. Luckily it wasn't raining or too cold. At dawn we gathered for an unusually peaceful start, as 26 white doves were released into the air. Finally, the race was underway!

Laura Harvey and I started off with Kathy, who was running the first leg of the relay. We ran through Pfeiffer state park for about 5-6 miles or so, through giant redwoods and campgrounds. It wasn't until we left the park that the scenery opened up to views of the ocean on our left. It was so stunning that Laura and I kept bumping into each other from staring off at the scenery. We just kept repeating, "wow", "awesome", as if we had too few words to describe what we were seeing.

In the distance we heard the steady beating of drums, but it wasn't until we rounded a corner that we actually saw the Taiko drummers situated in a horse shoe bend in the canyon, with their sounds echoing up the canyon walls. To the left was the start of the 2 mile climb to Hurricane Point. As we headed up the climb the fog grew thicker and thicker. Laura went ahead and I was on my own for the rest of the race. I could hear the drums beating below me was I continued the climb into the fog. It was surreal! The approach to the summit was equally surreal. At this point the beating of the drums behind me changed to the sound of a piano coming from above. Sure enough, there was a man in a tuxedo playing classical music on a grand piano! With ridiculous swirling wind and thick fog at the summit I thought I might be dreaming it all. From the summit we plunged downward, reaching the iconic Bixby bridge at the halfway point of the race. I actually stopped running to go look over the edge and take it all in. It was amazing! A runner yelled out to me, "Don't jump!"

Back when clunky white shoes were cool

The second half of the course was more of the same, stunning scenery and relentlessly rolling hills. At one point I passed by a narrow glass casing, a little bit wider than a phone booth, and a woman was inside of it, playing a harp! Again I had to ask myself if I was part of some weird dream.  There were too many weird encounters for me to remember now, but it was part of what made this race magical.

As we approached Carmel there were more spectators on the course and a lot more crowd energy, which was much needed at this point. One rest stop had the biggest strawberries I've ever seen. Still, I remember cresting the final hill and was very relieved to see the finish line in the distance.

Phyllis is running to the left of me! She ran me in after her relay leg!

I was happy running a 4:05, and Toby ran a 3:11! I think Laura ran 3:57. All good times for such a hard course. Kristen, on her 50th birthday, won her age group! I can't remember her time, but it was pretty darn fast! I'm sorry, I don't remember the relay finish time or Dena and Richard's times.

The post race festivities were a bit blah, but we had a lot on our plate to do anyhow. Toby and I spent nearly an hour trying to find the rental car in the parking garage. It's funny now. We would be in one garage, lift the fob up to engage the horn and think we were hearing it in the other garage. I think we did this three times, with marathon legs, until we finally found it.

The magic continued for the rest of the trip with many great friends. I will treasure these memories forever.

Nepenthe at Big Sur the night after the marathon

Monterey

Awesome group of people!

Marathon #19: Steamtown Marathon, Scranton PA, October 2006

Texas women at Steamtown USA

I'll never forget the summer we trained for this one. The heat was relentless, which unnerved us. How could we run a marathon when we were barely getting through our long runs? This is the year I actually finished up the last 10 miles of a 22 mile run on a treadmill because I just couldn't take it anymore. I had cracked! When we stepped off the school bus in Forest City Pennsylvania race day morning into the sharp cold air we were elated. It was going to be a great great day!

It surprises me that I never hear of any locals heading up to do this race, because it is one of the best marathons I have ran to this day. The course appears to be about the same--a point to point course with a net downhill, and with a reputation as being a great Boston qualifier. According to their website, Runner's World did an online survey which showed Steamtown as the 6th most favorite marathon. We chose to do it because Ginna had met people from Scranton when she was in Boston and they raved about how great their local marathon was. We knew a little about it already, and were interested, so their testimony sealed the deal.

The 5 of us ran close together the entire way; Laura Harvey and Kathy ran together ahead of Ginna and I, who ran together, with Elaine behind us. In fact, all of us ended up together in the finisher's chute, finishing within five minutes of one another! Ginna and I stayed together until around  mile 22-23 or so, talking the entire time, which was a first for me. The miles went by so quickly! At one point the course looped back on itself, so we saw Kathy and Laura together and waved to each other. It was good to see that we were all having a great day.

The course ran through several small towns, each lined with spectators and American flags. Autumn was in full force with the changing of the leaves. A good portion of the course ran along the Lakawanna River, and at one point we crossed the river on an old wooden bridge. Around mile 14 we entered a bike path, which was at times dirt or wooden chips, but easy to run on. It was a beautiful tree-lined path. We were on it for about 5 miles. The last 5K had some difficult hills, but we were rewarded with a screaming downhill finish into Scranton. It was funny because Kathy sped up as Ginna sped up and caught Laura, so those 2 actually finished together instead of Kathy and Laura.

Notice fall colors and American flags

The path

The amazing downhill stretch to finish

Love this shot: Ginna and Laura together

Official finisher photo--this was a fun finish line!

In the chute together!

So pretty!

Indeed, looking back I have nothing but good memories of this trip, but my most precious memory of all was meeting Mike Murgas Sr and watching the Talladega NASCAR race with the great and former NASCAR game points champion. Priceless...

The Murgas family: Our favorite spectators

Marathon #19: Steamtown Marathon, Scranton PA, October 2006

Texas women at Steamtown USA

I'll never forget the summer we trained for this one. The heat was relentless, which unnerved us. How could we run a marathon when we were barely getting through our long runs? This is the year I actually finished up the last 10 miles of a 22 mile run on a treadmill because I just couldn't take it anymore. I had cracked! When we stepped off the school bus in Forest City Pennsylvania race day morning into the sharp cold air we were elated. It was going to be a great great day!

It surprises me that I never hear of any locals heading up to do this race, because it is one of the best marathons I have ran to this day. The course appears to be about the same--a point to point course with a net downhill, and with a reputation as being a great Boston qualifier. According to their website, Runner's World did an online survey which showed Steamtown as the 6th most favorite marathon. We chose to do it because Ginna had met people from Scranton when she was in Boston and they raved about how great their local marathon was. We knew a little about it already, and were interested, so their testimony sealed the deal.

The 5 of us ran close together the entire way; Laura Harvey and Kathy ran together ahead of Ginna and I, who ran together, with Elaine behind us. In fact, all of us ended up together in the finisher's chute, finishing within five minutes of one another! Ginna and I stayed together until around  mile 22-23 or so, talking the entire time, which was a first for me. The miles went by so quickly! At one point the course looped back on itself, so we saw Kathy and Laura together and waved to each other. It was good to see that we were all having a great day.

The course ran through several small towns, each lined with spectators and American flags. Autumn was in full force with the changing of the leaves. A good portion of the course ran along the Lakawanna River, and at one point we crossed the river on an old wooden bridge. Around mile 14 we entered a bike path, which was at times dirt or wooden chips, but easy to run on. It was a beautiful tree-lined path. We were on it for about 5 miles. The last 5K had some difficult hills, but we were rewarded with a screaming downhill finish into Scranton. It was funny because Kathy sped up as Ginna sped up and caught Laura, so those 2 actually finished together instead of Kathy and Laura.

Notice fall colors and American flags

The path

The amazing downhill stretch to finish

Love this shot: Ginna and Laura together

Official finisher photo--this was a fun finish line!

In the chute together!

So pretty!

Indeed, looking back I have nothing but good memories of this trip, but my most precious memory of all was meeting Mike Murgas Sr and watching the Talladega NASCAR race with the great and former NASCAR game points champion. Priceless...

The Murgas family: Our favorite spectators