Marathon #24: Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon, 2009

Luckily I found my race write up that I did shortly after running this marathon. Oh how we look back with rose colored glasses. I had forgotten about those miles of desolation and boredom! Still, even after reading my write up I look back with great fondness for this marathon.
So here it is, my write up from 2009...

I am going to try really hard to make this a short summary, I promise! 

The Va. Beach Shamrock marathon has been on "the list" because I went to high school in Virginia Beach and the course runs along where I used to live and "hang out" as a teenager.

Toby and I flew in on Friday and headed straight to the expo. The usual expo experience. Off to the hotel, nice, oceanfront, facing the finish line on the Boardwalk. Sweet. Later, dinner and a little too much wine. The next morning, so much for sleeping in, since that sweet oceanfront finish was busy with the Saturday 8K finishers...oops.. I warned Toby that there's not much to see and do in Va. Beach, so our tour didn't take very long! Saturday was pretty calm and uneventful, which is what you want the day before a marathon, right?

On race morning Toby left for the 7:00 am half marathon start a few blocks down the road, while I had to wait another full hour for mine. My start was right outside the hotel, so I paced around the hotel room, changing things like sunglasses, no sunglasses, hat, no hat, long sleeve, short sleeve, gloves, mittens, pee, and repeat. I looked out the balcony to the finish line and said "see you soon" and headed out.

The Finish awaits!

I got down to the start and lined myself up with the 3:50 pacer. Couldn't find a 3:51 pacer. (The joke here was that I was consistently running marathons right on the 3:51 mark back then).  The weather was perfect, cold, sunny, and no wind. Great day for a marathon!

And we're off! Before I knew it the 3:50 pace bunny and his little minions were pulling away into the horizon. Mile 1: 8:27 for me, so his split had to have been 8:00 or so. Bad bunny! He corrected himself though, because I caught them around 3-4 and stayed slightly ahead of them then. Around mile 7 we ran right by my old neighborhood.

So many Wadsworth stories...has its own FB page

We even ran along the street that we used to hitchhike to the strip-boardwalk! Yeah I know, we did that years ago...things were different then! We headed north, back to the strip, where I saw Toby, as we continued towards the 2nd half that he had just run. I told him a sub-4 is all I'm going to do. No time to chat about his amazing race, which was a 1:25!!!!

Running on the Strip!

At mile 16 we turned off the strip, which was lively, onto a quiet, tree lined road, heading into First Landing State Park. Strangely enough, 30 years ago this park was called Seaside State Park, and memories of being there came back to me. It was a peaceful and pleasant stretch, but it got old and started feeling endless after a couple of miles. Even with funny signs like, "Elevator smells are different for midgets".

At mile 19 I had to make a pee stop. When I came out my pace bunny friend came by, so I glommed on for about a mile. But then I got a side stitch, and lost my will to hold on. Off he went. Low point in the race. The scenery wasn't improving. Those were some really...ugly....miles...Ugh... I am ashamed to admit it, but a band playing music or even some simple bongo drums would have been awesome, heck, give me a little "Eye of the Tiger" out of a boom box, something! As we all shuffled along in silent agony I had that moment where you see the beauty of the marathon. (Not sure where I was going with this thought here, ha). Before too long we were back on the strip with the much needed stimulus of the community.

With less than a mile to go they put us onto the boardwalk for the finish, which was nothing short of spectacular. Truly one of my favorite finishes ever! Time: 3:53:20.

Neptune Statue in Background

Toby quickly found me and I rushed to get cleaned up and checked out of the room before we headed back down to the beer tent. They had a great finish area.

A bit more lively than in the morning!

People were out on the beach in the sun, enjoying the pretty day, telling their war stories. I wonder what I would have said back then, 30 years ago, if someone had said to me that I'd be running a marathon in this very place, 30 years from now. Probably something like, "what are you smoking?"

2016's Most Memorable Runs

With only a handful of days left of 2016 my only thought is God please don't let anyone else die! We just lost George Michael, Carrie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds in a span of a few days on the heels of so many others, including my father in law. No, 2016 hasn't been the greatest year, and most of us are quite eager to get on with 2017 in hopes of better things to come. Still, as far as running goes, at least for me, it was an awesome year of running, possibly one of my favorites, so I suppose the ending of 2016 is a tad bittersweet for me.

I used to try to lay out all my favorite runs in a top 10 list, but I think I'd like to summarize my runs to include not just my favorite races, but the most memorable runs as well. And so whatever the count ends up being, 10,12, who cares. Ok, here goes:

The 4 marathons. It's rare that I actually pull off 4 marathons in one year, in fact, I've only done it once before and it didn't end well. It's impossible to rank them in order because they were all so amazingly unique. I loved them all. The LA marathon, the Fargo marathon, the Kansas City marathon, and finally, the Rehoboth Beach marathon in Delaware. Still, of all my marathon photos this one probably captures my single most favorite marathon moment, running on Rodeo Drive in LA.

I love LA

And some other marathon highlights. Truly fun times with friends!

The Dallas Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I got a free entry from the cancelled 13.1 race in October, otherwise I would never have ran this race. I was surprised at how well organized the whole event was, but I was especially impressed with the course. I truly love the layout of this course, as it showcases a lot of what Dallas has to offer. If only our local marathon route could encompass some of this route, such as the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the Bishop Arts District, and Kessler Park.

The Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon: I went to this event with the objective of seeing hot air balloons, but that didn't happen. A major storm blew in shortly after I crossed the line, scattering all of us to our cars instead, so that part was disappointing, and truth be told, the pre-storm humidity made for a painful run, but it was one of those runs where you run with a friend and share stories like therapy, and I will never forget that. Oh, and the medal was a stunning spinner to boot.

Runs while away on vacation. Running in Boulder was predictably spectacular, but the one run that stood out was the one where we encountered the raccoon with a can on his head. Toby wrestled with it until he managed to loosen it off. The raccoon just stood there, stunned, looking at us (probably blinded by the light), until he wandered off the path. It wouldn't seem that memorable to most people, but for an animal lover like me it was pretty emotional, and I was once again reminded why I love Toby.

Running in New York City is always predictably spectacular too, but running in Central Park the day before the New York City marathon was probably one of my most favorite runs of the year. For those that don't know it, the finish line of the marathon is in the park. A lot of the marathoners were out doing their last shake out runs or getting together for team photos. We saw several running teams from different countries out and about. The energy in the park is amazing, and the park itself is gorgeous that time of year.

Another bonus was chasing this guy, along with several others, along the course on race day.

Toby's year for running

Running in Lubbock. Toby and I have gotten attached to running in an area around and including Mackenzie Park. We have a 7-8 mile loop that includes an amusement park, a windmill farm, a man made lake, and a cemetery. Back in August we had long runs on our schedule which conflicted with a family visit, so we decided to run 2 loops (and then some) of this route. It ended up being a much needed break from the heat in Dallas! We are thinking that this might be a yearly thing as a break from summer marathon training!

Training in the summer. The suffering we endure! Reduced to walking, feeling like death afterwards, the sweat, so much liquid leaving the body, it's just so so awful. And yet from these runs so many memories emerge. Like the "dead possum run". Ginna and I will never in a million years forget that run. It was a 22 mile run where Jean, Ginna, and I ran Laura (LSP) to the start of the TdF race, then ventured on for more. Even though it was mid September we were still enduring relentless heat and humidity. Ginna was off her game that day, battling a sickness of some sort, and for a long time ran about 100 feet behind us. Eventually, near the end, Ginna and I came across a dead possum (he really was dead) in the middle of the road, and both of us thought the exact same thing. We just wanted to do nothing more than to lie down in the middle of the road, just like that possum. We approached the car and the Garmin read 21 miles and some change. I hit stop and said "F it, I'm rounding up." After that run I knew I could handle anything! That run is what made me write "Tough Bitch" on my arm the morning of the Kansas City marathon, knowing it was going to be hot and humid marathon. Hey, we trained for it!

The fruits of our labor

Loop the Lake. As tradition, we all gathered at the lot to celebrate the end of the year in the best way I know how. I'm always honored that I am not sick or injured and can make the "loop" with my closest friends, i.e. my running "family".  Even though the picture was taken at sun up and is hard to see everyone clearly it is my favorite picture of 2016. Happy 2017 to everyone!

Last run of the year!