My top 10 Most Memorable Runs of 2019

Just a handful of my favorites!

I started the year immersed in injury recovery; deep tissue massage, back adjustments, dry needling, and eventually a cortisone shot in the butt cheek. Training for a March marathon in the middle of all this madness was not the smartest, but I managed to get past my injury eventually. I remained mostly injury free (except for ramming my toe into the bedpost 4 days before the Indianapolis marathon) for the remainder of the year and had a pretty decent year of running events and memorable runs. Here are my top 10 most memorable (not necessarily all good) in chronological order:

1. The HAIL run. Many local runners will never forget this Saturday morning in early March. The lake was packed with runners that morning, completely ignoring the ever increasing dark skies and thunder rumbling. In the middle of a 21 mile run, I was just ahead of the TB pack because they had stopped at Benny's Bench for water, which is typically a ridiculously long pause. First came the rain, then OW, hail started pinging on my head and face, getting larger and more fierce in a hurry. I ducked under a park awning to ride it out, but what's funny is the girls all circled around a large tree and each other until it passed. Talk about memorable!

2. The Skidaway Island marathon outside of Savannah Georgia. I didn't think I was going to make it to this one due to an injury, which makes the memory that much sweeter. I blogged about it here: https://tntlinder.blogspot.com/2019/03/marathon-52-skidaway-island-marathon.html

3. The Mt Charleston Half marathon just outside of Las Vegas. Not that the race itself was memorable (boring), but being at the finish line to watch my friends finish the full marathon certainly was!

4. The Missoula marathon in Montana. It was harder than I thought it would be, and overshadowed by the epic camping trip in Glacier National Park, but still an amazing experience. I blogged about it here: https://tntlinder.blogspot.com/2019/07/marathon-53-missoula-marathon-june-2019.html

5. We were only about 2 miles into the hill run when we encountered a kitten on the side of a somewhat busy road (only not so busy at 5:30 AM). Of all the runners he chose ME and would NOT leave my side, crying and purring and weaving in and out of my feet. That was it for me. I said goodbye to the others and headed back to the car with this guy running by my side. Finally I just scooped him up, held onto him really tight and ran back to my car with him in my arms. We ended up finding him a great home, but it did break my heart to say goodbye to him. I will never forget this little guy!

True love!

6. In August we took a break from the summer heat and spent a week-end in Monterey. We mapped out a 15 mile run along the bay and I said it then and it still holds true that this was hands down my favorite run of the year. To literally go to a near 30 degree drop in temperature on a training run in and of itself is an incredible running boost, but combined with stunning scenery, wow, just wow.  It was exactly what I needed to be able to come back and survive the relentless heat that plagued us throughout the entire month of September. There were many runs during this time frame that I would rather forget; some that ended in walking, some that ended on a treadmill, and one that I almost lied down on a park bench! My memory of how great running felt while in Monterey is what kept me going.

7. Indianapolis Marathon. Of the 3 marathons I ran this year I have to say I enjoyed running this one the most. The 26 degree temperature start made us nervous since obviously we didn't train for that, but it ended up being a non issue. I blogged about it here: https://tntlinder.blogspot.com/2019/11/marathon-54-indianapolis-monumental.html

8. The Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot always makes my list, as it is one of my favorite runs of all! This year was no different, even though it didn't go as planned. I was supposed to start with Laura (LSP), but because of the unexpected large number of runners in the chip timed corral we couldn't find each other, so I started alone. About halfway into the run I looked ahead and saw Lori Green! In the past Lori has pulled me through many many long runs. As life has gotten in the way I have missed running with her, so it was so great to finish the Turkey Trot together!

The only thing missing is LSP!

9. Sometimes I get bored with my regular routes and I tend to just go "wander", not really caring about the pace or miles, as was the case one day early December. I decided to head north on the White Rock Trail, which I used to run along many years ago. It's used mostly by cyclists as a way to head back and forth to the lake. It's kind of beat up in places and tends to get muddy when it rains, so it's not the greatest path, but hey, something different. So I found myself in that area near Walnut Hill that creeps the hell out of all of us local runners, and that's the place where a runner was running along the path on a pretty sunny morning and out of nowhere a lunatic charges him with a machete and hacks him to death right then and there on the path. Yeah that really happened. His wife killed herself 2 weeks later. I remembered that they did some kind of tribute, so I looked around and found this bench. I must say I'm not comfortable being reminded about this event, but I did think the tribute was nice, and I left the area with gratitude for being alive, because you just never know...

Tell me this isn't creepy though

10. Loop the Lake. Of course this run makes my top 10 list! The BEST way to end the year  is to loop the lake with my friends and then enjoy post run libations with the heavy handed bar tender who seems to remember me from last year because when making my mimosas he remembers that I don't like orange juice that much...

As always with the Festivus Pole to air those 2019 grievances!

So 2019, another lap around the sun has been completed. I'm grateful for every single run, memorable, forgettable, painful, sluggish, funny (singing Cher's "Half Breed" comes to mind),  those where mother nature dishes out her fury, and those where mother nature takes my breath away with her beauty. The 2020 lap has begun! Get out there and make some memories!

Marathon #54: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Nov 2019

Monument Circle

As it goes sometimes, most of my marathon drama occurred the week before the marathon. In addition to adjusting to a new job so to speak (my original job location was destroyed by a tornado), four days prior to the marathon I rammed my toe into the corner of the bed. I didn't think I broke it at first, but panicked about 24 hours later when it turned purple and hurt to walk on. Luckily I turned out to be right the first time, as an x-ray would show no fracture, and the toe continued to improve every day until it was a non issue come race day. What's funny is the x-ray tech/philosopher suggested that I ask myself why did this happen, indeed, is there some sort of subconscious plot to dislodge myself from the race, perhaps due to lack of confidence or fear of failure? I gave it some thought. It had been a terrible summer of training. On one long run I came perilously close to lying down on a park bench and calling it a day. I finished another long run on a treadmill after crying uncle from the heat outdoors.  A lot of walking was involved. Speed work was out of the question. Still, I concluded that I'm just a pretty clumsy person. I will admit though, that situations like these always leave me feeling ever more grateful at the opportunity to be able to toe the line and run yet another marathon.

So onward about the marathon! Although I love the more scenic and smaller marathons, it was nice to mix it up this year with an urban one. As far as urban marathons go, this one has been flying under the radar, but I think the word is getting out, as it had a record sell out in all three races for the first time, with about 5,000 full marathoners and twice that for the half marathon. Not only is it a flat and fast course, but logistically a really easy race as well. The start and finish are in the center of downtown, with several hotels just a couple of blocks away. Several restaurants and stores are within walking distance too.

Our only real concern was the weather. With a forecast of a 27 degree low, this was going to be the coldest marathon most of us have ever ran, so what to wear? Conversations went back and forth for days about vests vs two long sleeved tech tops, vs upper layer throwaways, etc etc. As Texans we rarely run in temperatures much below freezing, but in the end I think we all pretty much nailed it. Hand warmers in the gloves was HUGE! From now on I am using hand warmers on colder runs. They were still warm when I finally tossed them after about 3 hours.

Since the hotel was so close to the start we decided to forego checking a bag and just run straight into the starting corrals with less than 30 minutes to go. This saved us from having to deal with porta potties and having to drop off the bag and later retrieving the bag. So easy! The only bad part was that Laura (LSP) and I ditched our sweats and were ready to run, but our corral didn't head off until 15 minutes later and it was COLD COLD COLD! Before too long though, FINALLY, we were off!

With the half marathoners with us it was way too crowded at first. There was lots of dodging combined with a lot of turns and some uneven spots in the pavement. We rounded Monument circle, a scenic part I was looking forward to, but came to a near dead stop as we all funneled in and around. I wasn't able to settle into a pace until around mile 4 or 5. They need to rethink this going forward. At any rate, the half marathoners peeled off just past mile 7 and we were on our own for the rest of the race.

Just before mile 9 we passed under the Monon trail, which is where I ran when I came here a couple of years ago. We passed a lot of sights and through a lot of neighborhoods, all alive with spectators, even on such a cold morning! They had water stops at practically every mile and every single one of them had tons of volunteers! Lots and lots of kids were either handing out water or cheering for the runners. It was really great to see a city embrace their marathon!

There was also quite a few bands on the course, all varied from country to new wave to hip hop. There was even an all boys choir singing! There was a long dreary stretch with no buildings and no spectators on the second half of the course, so they had funny signs and trivia signs to entertain you. (But to be honest I was having a bad moment and didn't think anything was funny so I ignored most of them).  Yes, there were some bad stretches here and there. Sometimes we were on what I thought was too busy of a road or on a road that was a bit too beat up, but I'd use my music to pull me along and keep me out of a funk about it.

Museum Grounds

Passed this on mile 19...appropriate!

Around mile 19 we entered the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and ran along a beautiful tree lined path around to the front of the museum and then exited the park. I really enjoyed that! I had been holding a consistent pace until just past mile 20, then starting slowing down some, but never got to a point where I had to give in to walking. I just had those bad stretches, especially when the wind would kick up, as it was mostly head wind as we headed back into downtown. Doing the math I could tell I was going to come in under 4:30, which I guess is my new benchmark these days, so all was good. I did enjoy those last few miles, especially the long stretch on Meridian street into the heart of the city. You could hear the finish line echoing off the buildings and people were lined up behind barricades for quite a distance. I forgot how fun these large urban finishes are. It turns out that Toby was right there yelling at me as I rounded the corner to the finish, but I didn't even see or hear him.

I came in at 4:23. I'll take it. I got processed through the chute, grabbed a bag of chips, then headed back to the hotel before the shivering kicked in. Before the race we had said to each other to just finish and head back to the hotel and not wait for each other (because of the cold), but it turns out Toby and LSP were there and they couldn't find me in the finisher's area. I think this was the only real disappointment-finishing alone and not hanging around for beers or anything, but it really was just too cold for any of that. I did love the cold weather on the course though! I was never too cold while running! Everyone else had a great race too and had very positive things to say about this one.  Let's see, the expo was decent enough with race gear to buy, and if you're into posters they were handing them out for free. Our race shirts were decent short sleeved shirts. We received finisher's hats as well. The medal is interesting in that it's part of a 4-part series, which is great if you run the race four years in a row because they fit together like a puzzle. I wish I  had more to add about the finish line! I can't believe I missed out on free beer!

A marathon in tights! Quite rare

Also, if you decide to run this marathon please be sure to visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the grounds. It's well worth it!

A lovely day with great friends

50 State Quest: Time for an update

So far this year I've managed to color in a couple of the "bigger" states, which makes my map look a tad more impressive. Having 15 more to go may sound achievable, but sometimes I wonder! Oh well, for now the quest is still fun, so onward we go!

I'm excited about running marathons in most of the remaining states. I have some pretty decent ones lined up for Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Indiana, Michigan, and South Dakota. I have some ideas on races that will be ok enough for Nebraska, Kentucky, Kansas, Idaho, Alaska and Mississippi. And of course Hawaii will be the last one, so it will be what it will be!

The only states remaining that give me pause are New Mexico and Wyoming. My primary issue of course is altitude, which I don't handle well. The Merit Race Series has introduced a new downhill point to point course in New Mexico, but it includes a net elevation loss of 4500 feet! So another thing I have issues with is extreme downhill, so pick your poison! As for Wyoming, the only grand plan I have is to spend a week in Fort Collins then drive to Cheyenne and do the marathon that week-end, hoping enough acclimatization has kicked in by then...

Jamie is still moving forward with 17 to go, and for now we are still on course for the grand finale in 2025. We know that "life" happens, so the calendar is marked in pencil, but hey, it just might happen!

Marathon #53: Missoula Marathon, June 2019

It always amazes me when a seemingly crazy plan becomes a reality. Quite some time ago George pulled up a map of the United States, pointed to the inner states and asked if there was a marathon that I needed to run (for my 50 state quest) within the region. He wanted to combine a marathon with a camping trip that would allow him to drive to the area with his camper in tow, stopping at other places of interest along the way. So I said, yes, I'd like to run the Missoula marathon in Montana, which is pretty close to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. And I committed to camping as well...The plan was hatched. He would stop at Yellowstone on the way to Missoula, stop over in Missoula for the race, then we would all head north to Glacier National Park. The Saxtons decided to drive north with their camper van, bringing our camping gear in tow, and additionally two other couples signed up for the race/camping. Jamie, Jedonna, and Gigi (who I will refer to as the G-J girls), decided to glamp it at a nearby lodge.

In summary, the trip was truly epic, and Glacier National Park is just stunning. We had a blast with our group as usual, and a really hard time re-entering civilization back in Texas. As for the marathon itself, yes it was a good marathon, and that's why I'm here-to write about the marathon, which was in so many ways eclipsed by the rest of the trip! That's funny because usually it's the other way around! Here goes:

The Missoula marathon is a point to point race, starting in a tiny town called Frenchtown, just north of Missoula, and finishing in the heart of downtown Missoula, in Caras Park, along the Clark Fork river. It's a very early bus ride to catch the start at 6:00 AM!! But here's the thing, the sun is up at 6:00 AM! The shooting off of fireworks was pretty pointless in my opinion. Invested in the full marathon was me, Toby, the G-J girls, and Robert Haworth. We never saw him at the start and he would be the only one I had a shot at seeing along the course, as the others had crushed it during training. I haven't crushed anything in a very long time, ha ha. Robert has had to train in Florida, which makes Dallas seem cool, yikes! Mark, Amelie, Potter, and Lisa did the half marathon, which started further down the road.

That's what 5:30 ish looks like in Montana

We all positioned ourselves into the starting area accordingly. I found the 4:20 pacer and stayed close to him. The instant we started running I could tell that I was feeling the 3,000 ft altitude. It wasn't like running in Colorado, but enough to make me feel like I was working harder than normal. It kind of freaked me out at first, until I settled into a pace and said this is IT, whatever IT is, this is where you are at, so accept it and carry on, business as usual. Settling in was easier than when the half marathon starts with us, so that was nice, sorry half marathoners, but there's always at least twice as many of you and you always have way too much energy!

Our scenery started out as farmland, surrounded by hills on both sides, with full sun to our east, casting our shadows across the road. That's how high in the sky the sun was early on! But it was chilly, near perfect, around 50 degrees. I was both annoyed and distracted by the 4:20 group chatter, so I couldn't tell if I wanted to stick with them or leave them, as this stretch was pretty desolate. We didn't turn off this road until after 8 miles. Shortly after the turn I had to make a pit stop which took way too long. I came out to see the 4:20 pacer turning left in the distance. Right behind him were two guys with balloons which I could only assume were the 4:30 pacers. (Yes they were, but what I didn't know was Robert was with that group at that point). I would never see them again until mile 25 of the race!

The only hills of the course were from miles 13-17, with the first two being pretty steep. I walked those, taking in the beauty of the course during this stretch, as it had gone from farm land to pine forest. At this point I knew it was going to be a 4:30 day at best if all went OK from here on out. It just felt HARD and I really wondered, is it hard for just me, or it is hard for them too? I wanted to ask people, "is this hard for you too?", but thought the better of it.

I have no idea where this picture was taken because I never saw the photographer, but it totally captures the mood. I was trying to pay attention to my surroundings, but had to have my music on and focus more than I'd like to on trying to stay "in the game". Thank God for my music! It's funny what songs end up working for me and what songs get the FF. I have a lot of current music, like songs from Interpol, Vampire Weekend, and Mitski, but I throw in some old stuff from time to time. One such song was Devo's, "Beautiful World", and later, "Through Being Cool". Not sure why Devo worked, but hey. I didn't even care much for Devo back in the 80's, so go figure.

It's a beautiful world we live in...

Around mile 19 or so we started heading into the outskirts of Missoula, so finally, spectators and their antics! Everyone was out! There were all kinds of oddities of things presented to us, mostly in the form of alcoholic beverages! You name it they offered it! A Japanese runner (he was on his phone talking in Japanese while he was running, I'm not profiling) grabbed a cup of whiskey and I'm pretty sure he didn't know what it was! OMG, coughs and gags followed!! Yes, there were lots of turns heading into town, but oddly enough it seemed easier to handle than a long straight away, and like I said, it was pretty entertaining.

I found myself walking the water stops a bit, coming really close to 4:30, and sure enough at mile 25 out of nowhere were the 4:30 pacer balloon guys! No Robert, so we must have crossed paths and not seen each other. The mile 26 banner was sitting at the top of an overpass, and from there you could see and hear the finish line straight ahead. I stopped to walk at that point, saw a bunch of finishers standing on a bar patio, and when they saw me take off running again they started cheering like mad, telling me to go get it. Ha! So I did finish with a 4:30 and quickly rejoined the others, who, other than Toby the freak, said yes it was hard. But it was hard for them for various reasons, none of which appeared to be related to altitude. Whatever, as I ran the best I could, so I have to be at peace with it.

Again, missing Robert! 

I have no complaints about this race. Everything was well executed from beginning to end. No glitches, plenty of water stops, the finish area was great, and they had Big Sky beer! I highly recommend this marathon, but you must make your way to Glacier National Park as well.

Marathon #52: Skidaway Island Marathon, Savannah, GA, March 2019

I didn't think I was going to make it to this one. I pulled a hamstring about six weeks into training, which left me hobbling and rehabbing for another 5 weeks. My only goal was to get well, which is what a normal person's goal should be, but then I saw that damn Nike commercial with a message that spoke to me. "It's only crazy until you do it". I guess it was in the back of my mind that if  I could ramp back up and get a few long runs in I could actually run the thing,so when I saw the commercial I found myself saying, "f*ck yeah!!". Well, folks, it's only crazy until you do it...then it's just plain stupid....

Ok so onward to the race blog. In summary it wasn't the worst marathon experience ever, far from it, and I did manage to run an ok race in spite of myself, but I wouldn't recommend cramming for a marathon. Just don't do it. (you see what I did there?)

I've always wanted to travel to Savannah, so this marathon was one of my top choices for the state of Georgia. The marathon runs entirely on Skidaway Island, 20 minutes outside of town. In addition to a state park, there's a gated residential community with six golf courses, over 40 miles of trails and walking paths winding along the marshlands and lagoons of the island. Many of the streets are lined with mansions and moss covered trees. Other than the pine tree lined stretch in and out of the Ocean Science Center we would be doing a sort of clockwise loop along the island with the exception of a few out and backs here and there. The full marathon count was around 200, with twice that for the half marathon. We would all start together until the split at roughly 8 miles. There is only one hill on the entire course!

My only recruits for this trip were my trusty husband Toby and sister wife Jamie. Toby would run the half and spend the rest of his energy taking care of us, ha! We got into town with just enough time to eat a big (and late) lunch, head to Dick's Sporting Goods to get our "packets" (bib and cotton shirt only), load up on Gatorade and other "necessary items", and hit up DQ (some rituals never die) before retiring for the evening. 

don't ask

Long before sunrise we were up and  on our way to the 7:00 AM race start. We really lucked out with the weather. It was going to be a relatively cool day, with unseasonably DRY air, YES! The sun would come out in full force, but it would never get out of the 60's by race end. We were warned there wouldn't be many water stops on the course, so I carried my water bottle. As the sun began to rise we were off without a lot of fanfare down along the tree lined road.

Right away I could feel the "not quite fresh and rested" feeling in my legs. The pace I found myself settling into was slower than I had hoped. Sigh...So the initial goal was set; just try to finish under 4:30. At least now I had my answer as to what effect the lack of training would have on the race and accepted my fate.

After the tree lined road we entered "The Landings" and began our ever changing twists and turns from road to path to road again, along a residential street, out onto a wide open path with a lagoon view, back onto a residential street, onto a path along a golf course, this way, that way, on and on. I was trying to focus on the beauty of the course (It really was pretty and the houses were amazing), but was annoyed by some things. After 51 marathons you start getting picky. First of all, at what few water stops they had they were using PLASTIC cups. Noooooo!!! Why? Every stop had them. Additionally, they handed out plastic water bottles to runners, which of course littered the roads and trails along the course. If I lived at "The Landings" I would not be happy to see that. Also, restrooms...quite scarce! Occasionally I'd come across one porta potty, but they'd always have a group waiting, so I fended off stopping until I came across a somewhat hidden park restroom around mile 12 that was unoccupied. Standing in front of the mirror at the sink, messing around, I'm like "get out of here and run already"! I used to be so fast at these things!

I guess the thing that ate at me most was the lack of people once the half marathoners split off. Not only were there few runners, but there were few people AT ALL. I did see residents out walking their dogs, but other than that very few of them were outside cheering on the runners. Some of the turns were manned, and the people there were always nice, but a lot of times there would simply be an arrow. More than once I freaked out, thinking I had missed a turn because I'd find myself running quite awhile without seeing anyone else. I was very grateful to have my music with me!

Mile 16. Hey look a photographer!

I was SO happy to see Toby around mile 19! I was asking him a lot of questions about his race, how's Jamie doing, etc etc, taking every opportunity to pretend I wasn't in a race myself while I strolled beside him, until he finally prodded me to get moving again. I was still able to do math and determine I was cutting the 4:30 mark really close, so I didn't fight him on this.

There was an out and back from around miles 20-23 or so, which I welcomed. Finally, people! Right away I saw Jamie! She said she was having stomach "issues", and I knew what that meant. Ugh. She still looked strong though. Along this stretch I saw some of the "pacers" with their pace signs, and every single one of them were running alone! What's the point? Around mile 22 the 4:30 pacer flew past me at a pace I couldn't even think of matching, which really confused me and made me question my ability to add. In no time she became a speck in the horizon. At this point my spirits were good anyhow. I wasn't feeling the urge to walk at all and my music was really helping me. Especially a song I added to my playlist and doubted, "Road to Nowhere" by the Talking Heads. It ended up being so fitting!

I thought I would dread the return to the long straight tree lined road to the finish, but at this point I was sick of the paths and growing interactions with golf carts. Toby joined me near the end and asked if he could take my water bottle and I said "no, I may need it later", which made him laugh because I was literally less than a minute away from the finish line. He said it seemed like I was going to finish around 4:31, to which I argued that I had at least 5 more minutes to go.  The mind is a funny thing on mile 26...or during the .2...wherever I was...Indeed I finished at 4:31.

...just 5 more minutes to go...100 yards...

Jamie ran a 4:03 and got 4th in her age group (by 18 seconds)! Yes, that was at least one visit to the woods!!

Toby ran a 1:30 half and came in second in his age group!

I managed to get 3rd in my age group. We were awarded pins to place on the race lanyards, which was nice, and all marathon finishers got really nice towels.

There was not a lot going on at the finish line (ie no beer), so before too long we headed back to Savannah to enjoy the rest of the week-end! Savannah was a blast! So much to see and do! Would I recommend this marathon? If it had been a typically warm and humid day it would have been brutal. We haven't had time to acclimate to that kind of weather by March. Even so, the trip to Savannah was so worth it, so yes, knowing that it's a small race with very few water stops, I say yes. Just do it!

Yet another great race with these two!!

Marathon #51: Philadelphia Marathon, Pennsylvania, November 2018

FREE blanket!

I had never been to Philadelphia, in fact I never even considered it, except for the desire to run the marathon someday. I'm so glad I finally got around to it, because I discovered that Philadelphia is a wonderful city with tons of things to see and do! Of course the marathon was great, as expected. It really showcases most of the sights of the city and surrounding neighborhoods. Not only that, but the people of the city come out in mass to celebrate the event, or should I say events because the half marathon and other races are ran on Saturday, with the full marathon on Sunday.

The half marathoners had warned us of their long lines going through security at the starting area, so Toby and I walked over to the area to scope it out, since the map showed an additional entrance north of where they had entered. It was right next to the bag drop off and porta potties. That's what we would do in the morning for sure.

On Sunday morning the four of us (me, Toby, Laura aka LSP, and Mark) made our way to the start. When we got off the bus they were directing everybody to enter the already way too long security lines, and we said nope! They were yelling at us to come get in line and we ignored them and headed north. We entered the checkpoint with NO LINE! Hilarious! We huddled in the warming tent until it was time to get it together for the race. Toby left us before too long, then the 3 of us headed to the drop off. As with these larger races I always forget the cluster and long lines associated with them and sure enough the lines were long at bag check. After that we had 15 minutes to somehow pee and get into the starting corrals, oops. We split and didn't see each other again!

Pre race..yet again the 4 of us getting after it!

I entered the corral without a pit stop and was already regretting it. When I realized the corral starts were going off about 5 minutes apart I made a mad dash across the street to a porta potty then got back in the corral with 15 seconds to spare. What a way to start a race!

The first half of the marathon circled through the city via Chinatown, near the Ben Franklin Bridge, a long lively stretch along Chestnut street, Farmount Park, Drexel University, and near the "Rocky steps" as we ran by the finish line to head out for the second half. I normally hate running past the finish line during a race, but I was able to see the first female finisher!

I was running a pretty steady pace through the entire first half, even through the hillier section in the park, roughly miles 7-11. It was hillier than I thought, but nothing like the last marathon, and of course, this would be all the hills we would encounter, except for a few inclines here and there. I really enjoyed the first half of the race and felt really really good, which is something I haven't felt in any of the marathons I've ran this year! Of course there was no gravel, roots, rocks, spiral staircases, excessive humidity or even heat! Not even a kidney stone! We had perfect weather conditions, and other than dealing with my cold hands and thick gloves everything was pretty effortless.

Boat house row

The entire second half of the race was an out and back along Kelly Drive, where the boat houses are along the river. The race turns around at mile 20 in the community of Manayuk. I love out and backs, especially when other friends are running the race too.  I knew I'd see Toby (and I did and we both said we were doing good), but would have trouble seeing Mark or LSP, because the road narrowed and got really crazy with spectators as we entered Manayuk. You had to watch your footing and not look over for very long and too, there were a lot of us! Mark had passed me early on after his porta potty stop so I knew for sure he was in front, but I never saw LSP.  After a while I just had to tell myself that she's out in front of me and she's crushing it (and she was!)

I hit the 20 mile mark at the same steady pace but mentally thought ok this last 10K is gonna suck, but every time I hit a mile marker I was still on pace! I started slowing at mile 24, so I walked the water stop and took in one last gel to make sure I didn't crash on the way in. That would be my only walk break during the entire race, and I finished strong. Wow, I sure wish they could all end like that!

It didn't take long to regroup and share what seemed to be a very similar experience to mine. (Yes we all had ran the Freedom's run 6 weeks ago so maybe that's why).

Our times:
Toby: 3:23
Mark: 4:03
LSP: 4:06
Me: 4:13

The course records were broken for both the men and women's race, in what was most likely the most perfect race conditions ever.

Our finishers medals have Liberty bells that jingle--one of my favorite medals so far.

I highly recommend this marathon and I highly recommend traveling to Philadelphia! We have to come back since there's so much we didn't get a chance to see or do. Fun town!

Oh and yes you have to run up the rocky steps post marathon. We did that, but it wasn't pretty, wasn't pretty at all! And going down the steps was pure torture! It was great traveling with the best buds in the world, including the entire Patterson family--priceless!

LOVE

Marathon #50: Freedom's Run, Sheperdstown West Virginia, October 2018

I'm drawn to unique marathon courses-courses that offer a bit of tourism of the area-a showcase of the character of the people and the land. For that reason I don't shy away from them if they are challenging. This course, summed up in one word, is a BEAST.  The course starts in Harper's Ferry West Virginia, does a small loop through Murphy Farm, then crosses the Potomac River into Maryland, descending onto the C&O Canal via a spiral staircase around mile 5. Miles 5-15 are flat miles along a gravel trail until the runners depart up and onto the undulating terrain of the Antietam Battlefield. Miles 15-21 contain the steepest of hills, but offer stunning views of the battle fields, littered with old artifacts and memorials of the Civil War's bloodiest battle. The final miles, heading back into West Virginia via Sharpsburg, contain rolling hills with a finish on the 50 yard line of the University's stadium.

We had an unusually humid summer that left me with little confidence in pulling off a decent marathon time, and combined with my Iowa meltdown in June, I was flat out scared of this one. The forecast was proving to be typical; unseasonably warm and humid, and there were so few water stops that I'd have to factor in multiple stops to refill my water bottle, so my only goal was to try to break 4:30 (four and a half hours).  In fact, we're all running marathons in 4-6 weeks, so we used the term "training run" to explain what our goals were, but in reality I was and always will give it all I got come race day. I just knew I didn't have a lot to give!

We had yet another HUGE group for this event, including Karen and Candy coming in from PA, but only 5 of us in for the full:

Toby, Mark, LSP, and Jamie (on the ground)

The temperature was right around 60 degrees and foggy-cooler than what we trained in, so that was good. And no sun! Without any of the big race fan fare or stress (except for Jamie's watch freezing up) we were off! Finally, starting this race felt like a great relief after freaking out over it.

Right away things got interesting. We went from asphalt (my precious favorite) to rocky gravel and then grass terrain. At one point we were traipsing across a grass field around cones as if we were in a cross country event. We looped back to the starting area then (whew) back onto asphalt as we made our way towards the canal. This was a beautiful stretch of road that allowed me to finally settle in for the ride. I was still seeing glimpses of LSP and Jamie in front of me, and sometimes I could see Mark ahead of them, so all was good. (Toby was nowhere to be seen of course).

The bridge across the Potomac River was pretty, although tiny with fencing on one side only, and I'm pretty sure the spiral staircase is the most unique thing I've ever "ran" on, but it all seemed a bit precarious, so I didn't exactly run any of this with ease.

We were led onto the C&O canal, and at first it reminded me of Iowa's course with finely crushed limestone, but as we continued it narrowed and became more shaded with stretches covered in leaves, sometimes hiding roots and rocks. I could feel the muscles in my back tightening up as I nervously watched the ground in front of me with every step. I've never been much of a trail runner, and after I broke my foot by rolling it on a rock I have been paranoid of trails ever since. Before too long I found myself in a very bad place mentally. 10 miles of this agony! My head hurt! Yes it was pretty, but because we were so spread out I also found it a bit creepy. And it was so stifling and humid in there I felt like I was running in a terrarium. I had a drained water bottle and hadn't come across water for several miles as well. I had anticipating building a buffer for my 4:30 quest, but couldn't run as fast as I wanted--just had to accept that and everything else and remember my mantra of the day: Gratitude and Attitude. It really helped to center me and allow me to make it through this stretch.

Mark popped out of a porta potta at one of our rare water stops, and we ran together briefly, which helped, but you couldn't really run side by side because of the trail tracks. At one point they were so narrow I tried running on the grass mound between them (fail), until FINALLY we were led off the trail back onto asphalt!  (People did trip and fall, including my friend Richard).

Yes, we were led straight up one of the steepest hills of the course, but it felt so refreshing to be out in the open air with cool breezes for a change. I saw Mark refilling at a water stop as I started up, and I put my music on and said time to get to work. The hardest part of the course was before us.

I can't adequately describe the profound "epic-ness" of what we ran through. Every hill summit afforded a more majestic view, cannons in the distance, monuments lining the roads, the wooden fences, the historical markers. It almost felt wrong to be running through such a somber place.

 I tried to run as much of the hills as I could, but some were just so ridiculously steep I had to walk. Still, I was within my sub 4:30 goal and was feeling surprisingly ok for most of the battlefield portion. Somewhere around miles 21 or 22, after leaving the battlefield I started struggling with the urge to walk. My legs were feeling it, that all too familiar wobbly feeling. Every walk break chipped away at my way too tiny time buffer. I would desperately get myself moving again because of it. Luckily there was an older guy in the same boat, and as silent partners we carried on down the road together. He walked faster and I ran faster. so back and forth it went. That helped.  The back of his shirt said 50 sub 4. This wasn't his first rodeo. On the last mile he smelled the barn and off he went. I looked at my watch and saw that it was getting close to noon, 4:30!! I was close, but not quite close enough. I entered the campus as the church bells were ringing over head. I was circling through the buildings as they clanged!  I swear I felt like Cinderella! So close!

Before I rounded into the stadium I took one last walk break and as I turned the corner to my surprise all my peeps were there screaming and cheering for me! They shamed me into running again. Haley decided to run along beside me, telling me to move my arms like this (because for 26 miles I've been doing it wrong), and I couldn't help but laugh. It was a great finish for sure!

Right away people were asking me about Mark, so I reassured them that he was ok. To be honest I never saw him again after mile 15 but the thing is this: when I had my Iowa meltdown and realized I was going to be coming in a lot later than normal the thought that Toby and Jamie were worrying about me really ate at me. Odds are Mark was not dying somewhere on the course and was simply having a bad day. Please don't worry about us! And sure enough he came in not too long after I did.
I had to lie down for what seemed like an eternity until my head stopped spinning, but it passed and I was able to rejoin the masses and share war stories with everyone.

My official time was 4:34. I'll take it.
Toby ran a 3:27, 2nd in his age group.
Jamie and LSP actually ran together until around mile 23, finishing in 4:19 and 4:23, respectively.
LSP got 3rd and I got 5th in our age group.
Mark's time was 4:40.
All the half marathoners had their own crazy stories to tell. Even Haley's 10K was a beast.

The Bavarian Inn had a great post race party across the street from the campus. I have to say that was one of my favorite post race parties, especially since the weather was at least pleasant enough for hanging around outside. Our entire gang was reunited at last!

Would I recommend this marathon? Hmmm...It's tough! There's lots of trickery; the slick grass, bridges, a spiral staircase, a narrow rocky little ledge, 10 miles of trail, hills with grades of 4-5 %, and only 7 water stops, but the Antietam Battlefield is worth seeing. Also, there's a lot to see and do in the area. We had a blast!