This is a new section written by our very own SLR friends to benefit anyone considering any of these marathons. We will be building this section as reviews are submitted to us.  If you have one to submit, please send it to slrcoogan@yahoo.com.

Scott Boggess' Marathon Rankings

1st review by Matt Pyle

On race morning I was able to park within about three blocks of the start.  The
race had a nice number of competitors (~2600 finishers), enough to give it a big
race feel, but not so many that it was overrun.  The race got started a few
minutes late on a pleasant morning, and within a couple of miles the course
headed up scenic Monument Avenue.  Here there were the first batch of abortion
protestors, with photos of aborted fetuses.  Regardless of one's views on
abortion, this protest was inappropriate.

The course was pretty mellow until a significant downhill around mile 7 or 8 to
the first crossing of the James River.  Right after the river crossing the
course dropped onto my favorite part of the race.  For a mile or two the course
was shady and parklike as it paralleled the river.  Eventually there was some
climbing toward the half marathon point, but I was feeling good enough that
these hills didn't bother me.  Certainly nothing was overly steep or long.

After the half the course turned north back toward downtown Richmond, and there
was a sweet gradual downhill toward the river.  The bridge itself might have
been the loneliest part of the entire course.  Next three or four miles were
kind of boring through more urban/industrial parts of town.

Gripe interlude:  The Gu station/water stop coordination was lacking.  At the
first Gu stop at mile 14 they handed out Gu and water nearly simultaneously.  At
the second Gu stop somewhere near mile 20, they must have passed out Gu a mile
before the next water stop.  Neither setup worked well for me.  But on the plus
side, they did have 2 or 3 flavors of Gu at each stop.

Between the second Gu stop and the water were more abortion protestors (or had
the same ones relocated?).  They really aggravated me the second time, so I
yelled out "Go proselytize somewhere else".  I was amazed that I could use such
a grown-up word 20 miles into a marathon.  I took it as a positive sign.

At around mile 21 the race entered a leafy, suburb-like neighborhood.
I had convinced myself there would be no bad uphills in the last six miles
or so.  However, there were some definite ups in miles 24 and 25.  They might
not have been any worse than hills in the first half, but in this case I was
suffering, and we were heading straight into a 10-15 MPH breeze.  At about
mile 25 the course entered the more developed downtown part, and got out of the
wind.  The course also started heading downhill (finally...thank God!)  The last
stretch was uneventful, but due to the steep downhills, the finish line wasn't
visible until the very end.

Post-race refreshments had some variety.  Twinkies and pizza in addition to the
normal bagels and bananas type stuff.  Overall I give the race a big thumbs up.
The course had some varied scenery, the volunteer support was good, and I ran an
8 minute PR.  What else is there?

----------

2nd review by Ted Cochran

    The Course

    The course is not flat, but not "hilly" either.  There are some long, flat parts and a few long "shallow" uphills (15-16 on a bridge, then a little more after the bridge, and 23-24 heading back into the city).  There are several sharper, short climbs too, especially at 7, 10, and  12.  There's a long downhill just after 6 and the last mile or so is down, including a couple of short, sharp downhills in the last half mile.  A good finish if you have anything left.

    I was surprised by the length of the first long downhill at 6, and worried about quad problems on the downhill in the final mile.  This turned out all right, as I could hold back a little on the first part (steep) let it even out a little, then start down (steep) again, and pick it up for the last few hundred yards. This end section is basically straight, so you can see the finish off in front of you as you start down the last sharp downhill, and the crowds are naturally larger here, so that helps, too.

    The length of the long, gradual uphills also surprised me. The bridge wasn't too bad and we had a tail wind, but the one going back into the downtown area, with no shade, no spectators, and a head wind wasn't fun.  This probably looks like nothing in a car.
 

    The Race

    Start at 8 AM, clear, breezy, 50 degrees F (low of 45 F overnight).  The sun came over the buildings just before the start and you could feel the temperature difference from one side of the street to the other.  Not good.  Flat, straight first 2 miles plus.  You could see everyone in front of you, stretched out for 100s of yards.  Great scene.  Got some shade in the residential area from 2.2 to 7.  The trees there were starting to get a lot of color, so it was very scenic.  There's a shopping center that had a "spectator party" at 7, so "lot's" of people.       Right after that was a climb up to a bridge over the James River, then a quick down to the 8 mile mark.  Here there's 2 miles in the trees right next to the river.  So far, so good, as it was still
cool under the trees by the water.  But then there are some "rolling hills" from about 10 to 15, much of it in the sun.  And the temperature was 62 F at 10 AM (I checked later).  It was hotter in the sun and the wind was picking up.  With the low humidity, the breeze dried you off, so sweat didn't help cool the skin as much.  There is water and sports drink every 2 miles to 20, then every mile.  They gave gels at 14 and 20, but at 14 they ran out fast, and it wasn't a well-marked stop.  I went right by it thinking it was some helpful person giving out a few gels in her front yard.  I kept looking for the "real" gel station.  Thus, I got nothing.  It was also too close to the water, so you would have had to stop to eat the gel and get a drink.  The one near 20 was good, a fairly long way from the water stop.

    At 15, the run over the bridge has great views of the city, but was devoid of spectators.  After being somewhat packed in one lane from around 4 to the bridge, they opened up another lane so it was "roomy".  There were basically two lanes to run in from here on.  So 2-6 seemed "crowded", the downhill was fine, the road by the river fine (it's not that wide anyway), then "crowded" from about 12 to the bridge.  This wasn't a bad crowding situation, but several early water stops were not good - basically people had to stop.  I grabbed water off the tables faster than someone could give it too me with all the confusion.

    After the bridge, there are several turns through neighborhoods, a very gradual uphill.  Here I really was thinking I needed more water.  After 18, you turn on a main street and it's flat to 21, with one fairly sharp up and down on a bridge over train tracks around 19.  Then into neighborhoods.  Lots of people out - they couldn't go anywhere, so they might as well watch!  A “junk food” stop at 22 miles, including an informally set up beer table.  There were a couple of high school cheerleading teams out, which helped.  But the temperature climbed to 70 F by noon, and it had to be hotter in the sun with no clouds, so the last few miles were hard. Also, there was a lot of car traffic around.

Getting Personal

    I ran 8:55 pace for the first half, about as planned.  But I slowed a lot after 22 (actually, I walked a lot near water stops, probably ran 9:40 pace when I was running).  4:08:05 overall.  Two days later I felt fine, with very little soreness.  I really feel I can go faster.  But looking back, I've not done as well in long races that were warm, even 20 years ago, even when training in warm weather.  And I think the older one gets, the harder it is to adjust in mid-race.  You just have to finish it without too much damage.  And get'um next time.

    The Good and the Bad

    This was the 25th running, so a little extra hoopla.  They count the “old” race, but that was a different course and time.  This is a Saturday race.

    During almost the entire race, one lane of traffic is open next to you.  Sometimes (early on), there are no vehicles.  But downtown and after 11 AM (3 hours in), it's bumper-to-bumper, for miles.  Lots of exhaust.  The winds helped here (while hurting performance :-(  At 25 you cross over the main street that you started on - six lanes of not very happy campers as far as you can see.  Great support from the police throughout the race.

    The Richmond Road Runners provided pacers - fairly informal, but helpful.  Just follow the person with a time tag of your choice.  I talked to several during and after the race.  They seemed to hit their times well.

   They had bands, duos, and single performers all along the course - eclectic music but fun and entertaining.

    Pretty good drink support, but they could have been spaced out the tables better (too crowded between water and sports drink - which is which?)

    Good volunteer support.  There were medical people "on the course" but I didn't see them marked.  Heard several comments about that afterwards.  Saw several working ambulances, hoped it wasn't for any of us runners.

    The Web site for the race is good, with lots of info.  An interesting (sometimes) "message board".

    A small expo, efficient for getting your number, but only a few vendors to buy last minute stuff.  Pretty typical of a 3000-5000 person race.

    If staying in a "downtown" hotel, expect to pay $100 and up.  I stayed just past the 2-mile mark for $70.  Probably could have stayed further out, as the access to the downtown area after 6 PM is good, and parking is $1 an hour after 5 PM in most garages and lots.  I parked at the expo hotel with no problem.  There are fairly pricey restaurants downtown.  I got the feeling most places were closed around the expo hotel, as it's mostly office buildings.  On my drive in (on Broad Street, by the way) there was just about anything.  I didn't eat in Richmond, so I wasn't really looking closely.  Note lots of one-way streets in the downtown area.

    The Ultima drink they had took a pre-race beating for its bad taste, low carbs, low sodium, but I thought it worked well.  However, cups for both drink and water were too small, and only half-full, so even two-three cups gave only about 8-10 oz. of fluid.  The half-full makes sense to prevent spilling, but there just wasn't enough liquid per cup.

    There could have been several more liquid tables earlier – every mile after 20 is fine, but I was cooked by then.  I needed more at 11, 13, and 15.  Others said the same afterwards.  The weather certainly didn't help and the number of water stops probably would be fine if it had been 50-55 degrees all race.

    I mentioned the GU at 14 (bad) and the several cheerleader squads (good).

    Nice system at the finish where the food area was for runners only - and lots of it.  The Coca-Cola lady was most welcome.  They had a lot of pizza, but I couldn't eat it just then.  Nice plaza area at the finish
to meet family and rest up a little.

    I had no trouble parking on a side street at the 26-mile mark at 7 AM.  Many downtown garages had "$5 for the day" parking.

    All and all, a good race with a few small glitches, and an unseasonably warm day to run.

Racing the Cow Through Concrete City

On October 6 I ran the Inaugural Des Moines Iowa Marathon.  I used the race
as a long training run in preparation for yet another sub-3:30 attempt in
December (probably at Memphis).  I ended up running 3:53 (out=1:59,
back=1:54) and felt really comfortable the whole way except for some IT
band pain between 15 and 22.

Weather forecast for raceday:  temps falling from the upper to lower 50s,
rain early, 35 mph winds.
Actual weather:  temps falling from upper to lower 50s, no rain (passed
just south of Des Moines), heavy winds beginning about 1:30 after the
start.

10 Reaons Why You Should Run Des Moines
1.  Near perfect temps, start = 58 degrees, finish = 50 degrees with plenty
of clouds/shade
2.  Nice course.  Flat first few miles, hills in the middle (many more than
are indicated by course profile, no killer hills), flat last few miles.
Starts and finishes downtown, runs through some really nice neighborhoods,
through a large park, and around a lake.
3.  Great course support.  Plenty of well manned aid stations with both
water and Powerade.  1 GU Station.  Course was well marked and marshaled
and there were plenty of police officers to direct/stop traffic.
4.  Good size.  1100 marathoners.
5.  Plenty of colorful characters to run with (Note: because I tend to
start slow and then run faster over the course of a marathon it is very
unusual for me to find anyone to run with).  I ran the first half of the
race with a 25 y.o. F-16 pilot from Oklahoma (where I went to high school
and college) and miles 16-20 with a guy dressed as a Holstein cow (complete
with horns, tail, and face paint).  He carried a large udder filled with
gum which he passed out to kids along the course.  I lost him at 20 when we
hit a particulary large group of kids.  I also passed a guy running
barefoot, a guy dressed in a kilt and carrying a sword and shield, and a
guy with a prosthetic leg (who ran 3:59+ to achieve his goal of a sub-4:00
marathon).
6.  Nonstop flight from National to Des Moines on Midwest Express (big
leather seats and hot chocolate chip cookies) for only $250.
7.  Affordable (and nice) race hotel.  $69/night including free shuttle
service to/from airport.
8.  Linguine w/ chunky tomato sauce, salad, soup, bread, and iced tea for
only $10 (including tax and tip) at Trattoria, 2 blocks from race hotel.
9.  Terrific crowd support, particularly for a mid-size marathon.  There
were folks out along the entire course with big groups in the park, around
the lake, and over the last 4 miles.
10.  Early start (7am).  I prefer not to be done by lunch time.

10 Reasons Why You Should NOT Run Des Moines
1.  Concrete.  Many of Des Moines' streets are paved with concrete, very
tough on the joints and the quads.
2.  Not a PR course, the hills see to that.
3.  $12 pasta dinner (I've never heard of a pasta dinner costing that much.
Maybe if they had Joan Samuelson speaking, otherwise forget it)
4.  Expo was a bust (2 running stores with very limited merchandise, 1
triathlon store, and a local gay and lesbian organization passion out
condoms and lube)
5.  Crummy race shirt (thin cotton, boring logo).
6.  Unless you count Kinko's and a small handful of restaurants there are
absolutely no retail establishments within walking distance of the downtown
hotels (no bookstores, no drug stores, no convenience stores, no movie
theaters, nothing).  Luckily there was a lot of good college football on
TV.
7.  $10 race posters (most marathons give their posters away and those that
do sell them usually only charge a nominal fee) and they weren't even nice
posters.
8.  Most of the downtown restaurants are closed for lunch on Sundays.  I
really wanted to go throw down some greasy, salty food at the Brew Pub but
it didn't open until 1pm.  Your two options were a spaghetti place and a
cajun place.
9.  Nothing special about postrace food.  I put out a better spread at this
year's Belle Haven 8K.
10.  Poorly mixed Powerade at the aid stations (about 1/2 strength).

Overall, I give their inaugural effort a 6 on a scale of 1-10.  The actual
race was great but most of the pre-race and post-race stuff was sub-par.

Yesterday I ran in the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA, about 4 hours outside of DC.  Kevin, my running partner Dawn, and I drove up Saturday morning.  Dawn, also a member of DC Roadrunners with the same number of marathons (4) under her belt, and I started training together in May with the goal of qualifying for Boston.  For my age group, I needed a time of 3:40:59 or less.  Dawn, who will enter the next age group before Boston in April, needed a time of 3:45:59 or less.  The Steamtown marathon is billed as a Boston Qualifier and is ranked one of the top ten marathons by Runner's World.  Sunday morning we were bussed out to the start.  The race was point to point so we ran back into Scranton.  The start was great.  We could stay warm in the high school gym, there was an abundance of port-o-johns (all racers know how much this was appreciated), and the start was very organized.  There were only 1354 participants so it wasn't too crowded and it was pretty much thinned out by the second mile.  The course was beautiful.
We went through some very quaint little towns and many houses were decorated for Halloween.  People were out on their front porches cheering us on.  The water/Gatorade stops were staffed with enthusiastic volunteers and they were also VERY well-organized.  There were quite a few hills with the race being a net downhill. This is murderous on the quadriceps muscles.  At the halfway point, we were still on track.  we had a couple of short sections on a dirt trail and then a wood chip trail.  The leaves were turning so it was good scenery.  At mile 18 we realized  that we had two minutes to make up.  I felt as if the last 8 miles I was running for my life.  I could not have pushed myself any harder.  My quads were in agony.  At mile 23.7, there is a hill called Reality Ridge.  It is an incline of 5 blocks that even "cars sometimes labor getting through" (SCRANTON TIMES).  It killed me.  I was pushing so hard but I knew I wasn't going to make it.  Not far from the finish, a volunteer said half a mile.  I asked if he was sure and he said yes.  Well, for a brief moment, I thought I was going to make it.  You guessed it, it was not a half mile.  For anyone ever watching a race - NEVER SAY HOW FAR UNLESS YOU KNOW FOR A FACT!  I wanted to find him after the race but that is another story.  With a real half mile to go I started uncontrollably sobbing because I knew my race was over.  I started to hyper-ventilate but wanted to finish running.  The last .20 miles, Dawn was a little ahead, she could hear people yelling my name at the finish (I always wear it on my shirt) so she knew I was right behind her.  I know people were yelling because they felt bad for me, I was crying horribly.  Dawn, my most compassionate friend, slowed down the last few steps so she could grab my hand and we could cross the line together in 3:44:51.  Four short minutes from my qualifying time and a little over a minute left in hers.  I was devastated.  Even though I had set a personal record of 24 minutes, it was still hard.  I think I cried for 15 straight minutes.  I stayed away from Dawn so she could celebrate with her parents without seeing me being miserable and then we went back to the hotel, took showers and went for lunch.  It was about 2 hours before I could talk about the race.  I was okay until this morning, when I read an E-card from Stacey that had Chariots of Fire playing in the background and a very loving message from her.  I was crying again (I swear that is why I am dehydrated!) so hard that I woke Kevin up even over the sound of the fan in our room.

I am determined to qualify for Boston and knowing that 10 seconds per mile was all that I missed it by, I am trying again.  I don't think I could have ran any faster yesterday.  I pushed the whole way.  I am trying again, I think the Hops Marathon in Tampa Bay, on January 5th. Please send good vibes for a speedy recovery! I have two short weeks before I start up again!

Total runners 1354
My placing 529
19th out of my age group of 52 females
8:35 pace

Last Sunday I ran the Detroit Marathon.  Last year I ran this race as a relay with my cousin and we were planning on doing the same this year.  Two weeks before the race she called and said she couldn't run due to a knee injury.  I was thinking of skipping the race all together, but the race course goes across the bridge into Canada and comes back out the tunnel.  I really just wanted to run into Canada for the experience and then dump out at mile 9 as I came out the tunnel near my hotel.

This year the Detroit Marathon started at Comerica Park, the new Tigers Stadium.  This was a switch from last year when the race started a block away from the race hotel.  The stadium is beautiful and I'm sure they had tons of bathrooms inside, none of which we were able to access.  My only complaint about this race is they had as many port-o-johns as they did last year (which were too few last year), but they had about twice the runners.  45 minutes before the race the lines were nearly 50 people deep, I gave up waiting after 15 minutes and figured there would be places on the course... which was fine for me since I wasn't running for time, or to finish for that matter.

I lined up in the 9-10 minute pace area of the start even though I knew I'd be running faster than that.  I guess they assumed most people were running 10+ minute miles because from the 9-10 minute sign on forward you could only fit 800-1000 runners and there had to be at least 2500 people at the start.  They were very efficient about starting the races (wheelchair/race walker/runners) on time.  The weather was about as perfect as you could get at the start of the race, very low humidity, no wind, and cool enough where an extra t-shirt was all that was need to stay warm.

The race started and I went out at a comfortable training run pace, around 8:30ish.  It was fun just to sit back and people watch for the first few miles.  The Detroit Marathon gives a different color bib# (green) to first time runners, so I had a chance to observe people making some of the first-timer mistakes I made.  People were sprinting, bobbing-and-weaving through runners, jumping around and waving their arms.  I was running along and was coming up on one person who was breathing heavy and sweating pretty hard at mile 2, as I approached they picked up the pace.

The scenery heading up to the Windsor bridge was fairly bland, but I really enjoyed running across the Windsor Bridge.  It was somewhat steep, but provided a killer view of both Windsor and Detroit.  After we got off the bridge there was about a half-mile of cement road, that led up to a very wide (about 50% wider than W&OD), flat, and well maintained running trail that went along the water.  There were little pockets of very friendly spectators and several restroom buildings... hooray!  The run back to Detroit wasn't quite as pleasant since we came through the tunnel.  It didn't smell bad, but there was very little air flow which made me a little warm.  I was planning on dumping out at the end of the tunnel, but my legs weren't feeling dead like I thought they  would so I decided to keep going.  Since there was a relay I knew there would be buses at 13, 15, and 20.

The course continued to lack any notable scenery and hills leading up to Belle Isle.  Belle Isle is basically a big park on an island, a relaxing place to log 6 miles.  I hit the half at a comfortable 1:50:08.  We passed  mile 19 before we approach the bridge to leave the island.  The stretch of road after the bridge is a slight downhill section that goes for at least a mile.  After passing some more inner-city areas, the course goes into an older neighborhood with really big houses around mile 23.  This is also the time that wind started to kick up, a steady head wind of about 15mph.  The crowds are notably larger with several pockets of "yutes" cheering, high-5ing, and making noise... that pumped me up.

The  race finishes by going down about 3 semi-steep ramps into Ford Field, the new Lion's Stadium, and finishing on the football field. My finish time was 3:48:11, about a 7% fade.  The jumbo-tron, which is at your back when you enter the stadium, is focused on the finish line. They hand you a finisher medal instead of putting it on you... then again, most races do which kinda bums me out a little. To keep crowds down, they kept all the families out of the finish area.  To get to your family, you need to walk up a large flight of steps to the concession area. Since I had to checkout of my hotel in an hour and 15 minutes, I grabbed 5 cups of water and made my way up the stairs.  I didn't stop for any food, but it seemed like they had a plentiful supply of the basics.  There may have been ice cream or yogurt, I'm not sure.  I fought my way through the hordes of family members at the end of the food line (which I truly appreciated, too many times the areas around food and water after a race are packed with people who don't need to be there) and found cab.  I was driven back to my hotel by a guy that looked like a 50 year old Gabe Kaplin (sp?) from Welcome Back Carter, a very amusing local guy.

Pros:
25 water stops (I used every one)
Flat course except for the bridge and the tunnel, but they aren't that terrible
nice pockets of crowds cheering, and about 4 music stations and 1 live band

... read the sign outside Dave's Jubilee Foods, the only grocery store in
tiny (pop < 1,500) Ashton, ID.  Dave is Dave "Jake" Jacobson, the race
director for the 6th Annual Mesa Falls Marathon.

This year's marathon drew a record 62 participants (55 in the accompanying
half marathon) making it the smallest marathon I've run to date, just ahead
of Taos, NM.  While most of the runners were Idahoans there were runners
there from 17 states (4 Virginians) and Canada.  Many, like myself, trying
to run a marathon in all 50 states.

I ran the race as a long training run (goal=run between 4:00 and 4:10 and
negative split) and followed it up with a week of hiking and camping in
Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs.

Short Review:  Very nice small marathon.  Its amazing what you can get for
$25 in Idaho.

Because the race is so small and because there isn't a running store within
a 50 mile radius of Ashton there was no prerace expo only packet pickup in
the Community Center gym.  Race shirts are short sleeve polo shirts with
the race name/logo embroidered on the chest--finally a race shirt I can
wear to the office.

Due to a shortage of good restaurants Jen, Cam and I attended the prerace
pasta dinner (I usually skip these).  For $5 we got all the pasta and
marinara we could eat, excellent baked potatoes (its Idaho remember),
iceberg lettuce salad with one of those crummy fat-free Italian dressings
(cherry tomatoes were great though), and chocolate-iced, peanut butter rice
crispy treats (I had 2--it was a training run afterall).

Raceday dawned early.  All the runners had to catch a 5:15 bus to the race
start--this was a point-to-point course that began on a dirt/gravel road
deep in the Targhee National Forest.  I was expecting school buses but they
had actually chartered two real buses with heat and BATHROOMS--they've got
Grandma's beat there.

We arrived at the starting line at 6:05 (for a 6:30 start)--only light was
from the bus headlights and full moon.  Watched in amusement as the two
buses tried to make U-turns on the two lane forest service roads.

At 6:20 they sent a pickup down the road ahead of the runners with folks in
the back banging on the truck bed to scare away any bears that might be on
or near the course--really.  It didn't work.  A black bear ran across the
course and up a hill just in front of one of the slower runners.  Aside:
there was a serious mauling that morning about 40 miles away--grizzly bit
off a guy's nose and part of his leg when he surprised her and her two
cubs.

Starting elevation 6140'.  First 9.6 miles are on a very gently rolling
dirt/gravel forest service road (either you like running on dirt/gravel or
you don't--I'm a don't).  While I saw no bears I was paced for awhile by a
couple of large black cows.  Next 2 miles are on flat pavement.  At mile 11
you turn off the road and run to the Lower Mesa Falls overlook before
returning to the road.

Miles 12-13.5 are very steep downhill (the course loses nearly 900' in
elevation from start to finish, at least half of that elevation loss occurs
over this 1.5 mile stretch).  Hit halfway in 2:04:20 (still feeling a
little tight, not another runner in sight).

At 13.4 the course turns off the road for 3+ miles on mostly flat dirt
hiking trail throught the Warm River Valley.  Beautiful views of the Warm
River about 200' below the trail.

At mile 15 you pass the carcass of large elk and a sign reading "Grizzly
Bear Aid Station.  Runners Do Not Stop."  The carcass looks pretty old so
I'm guessing the sign was a joke.  Speaking of, there were aid stations
every 2 miles with water, Gatorade, and Powerade (apparently noone paid to
be the exclusive sports drink of the Mesa Falls Marathon).  From mile 16 on
the aid stations also had bananas and oranges.

At 16+ the course runs downhill into the Warm River Campground where you
are heartily greeted by a "throng" of spectators (maybe 20).  Jake has
managed to convince the state park service to reserve two of the four
toilets at the campground for the runners.

At 17 you hit the Mormon aid station (4 young Mormon missionaries in short
sleeve white dress shirts, dark slacks, ties, and nametags) and the course
begins a 2.3 mile uphill climb (1.3 miles steep followed by 1 mile gentle).
I don't know whether it was the uphill or the altitude loss but my legs now
feel great.

While the first 20 miles are well shaded the last 6 roll gently downhill
through Ashton's wheat and potato fields.  I run a 7-minute mile from 21-22
and another sub-8 from 22-23.  I back off at 23 (I promised Jen I wouldn't
run sub-4, we have an 8 mile hike scheduled for the next day and I've got
to carry Cam) and finish in 4:02:09 (second half in 1:57:49).  I'm 30th
overall--I know this because each of the finisher's medals has your place
carved on the back.

Finishers medals are wood with the race logo laser engraved on the front
and overall place laser engraved on the back--unique and quite lovely.

Post race refreshments include tons of fruit (grapes, oranges, apples,
watermelon), chocolate milk, and a 64oz bottle of Gatorade for each
finisher.

Two final notes:

The City Drug soda fountain in Ashton, ID has the best chocolate malts I
have ever had--not even close.

While its a much smaller park (no real backcounty unless you're there to
climb one of the mountains) and has none of the thermal features of
Yellowstone, Jen and I found Grand Teton NP to be much more beautiful than
Yellowstone and, if we go back, we'll allocate our time to spend much more
time there.  Neither park, however, can hold a candle to Glacier NP.

25 states and DC down, 25 states to go.  I'm on the internet now trying to
decide on my next race.

From John Warden:

-Duluth, MN in general
Grandma's Marathon is a major event in Duluth.  I've never been to
a city that embraces a race like Duluth does.  The local paper and
the "city" paper carried large sections regarding the race, local
radio stations talked about the race constantly, and elementary school
children drew pictures wishing the runners good luck... these pictures
were darn near everywhere, in our dorm room, hotels, etc.  Overall,
a great town with a neat aquarium and a cool casino (I won $23).
 

-The race in general
The race is a point-to-point course that runs along Lake Superior
primarily on Old Highway 61, starting in Two Harbors and finishing
in Downtown Duluth next to Grandma's Bar/Restaurant.  The course
is described as "flat", but I recall several very long slightly downhill
sections with a few uphill sections.  The first 23 miles are on asphalt
with the last 3 miles either being concrete or brick, neither of
which are friendly to the legs.  Spectators can be found in small
pockets between 1 and 18 miles with a big group around 5 miles, the
majority of the spectators are between 19-Finish.  23 to the finish
is packed with people.

-My race
I, as always, fell short of my expectations.  Regardless, I still
managed to improve on my last marathon time by about 5 minutes and
finished in 3:22:08 (7:45/mile).
The start was wacky.  About 2 minutes before the start of the race
the organizers announced a rain delay of 30 minutes.  Apparently
an extremely heavy storm passed over the race course and the half-
marathoners who started an hour before us got soaked.  In those thirty
minutes, I'd say the temperature dropped from the upper 50's to the
low 50's and it started to rain on us.  Just enough to get the shoes
and socks wet.
At 8am the race finally started and I hit my first mile in 7:30,
just like I wanted.  From there I picked up the pace and crossed
the half at 1:35:11, about a 7:15 pace.   Between 16 and 17 my quads
started to ache a bit so I backed off.  Passed 20 miles in a little
over 2:28 which is over 3 minutes behind my goal time, finished the
last 10km in about 54 minutes.
Crossed the finish line, got a finsher medal and a hug from a nice
lady, grabbed my free beer ticket (free beer after a race, how cool
is that?), and walked over to the medical tent to have my blisters
popped.  Exciting, eh?

I didn't take many pictures, but here is what I got:
http://www.dcroadrunners.org/grandmas

Hope all is well with all of you.  I'm hobbling along nicely :o)
 

Here are additions from Scott:

1.  If you plan to run Grandma's and you want to stay somewhere other than
the local college dorms (this is where John and I stayed the night before
the race) then you need to make your reservations VERY VERY early.  I
called for hotel rooms the day I found out my check cleared and I was in
the race (mid January).  All hotels in Duluth and all but 1 in Superior, WI
were already booked.   Be prepared for "special" hotel rates.

2.  No one in Duluth over the age of 40 has a sense of humor.  Do not try
to joke with them they'll just look at you funny.

3.  Army worms are harmless and they won't stain your clothing.

4.  Not everyone wins at the casino.

5.  If you fly into the Twin Cities then you must stop for
breakfast/lunch/dinner at Tobies on the way up.  You can't miss it.

6.  Good place for a prerace carbo load = Bulldog Cafe near UM-Duluth.  All
you can eat spaghetti $5.99 (tasty sauce and salty breadsticks)

Let's just say I didn't run quite as fast as John and leave it at that.

Another day another marathon......only this wasn't the typical marathon, but a sadistic joke put on by someone who has never run a step in their life!!!
Last Thursday I flew from BWI to Nashville.  I started out a little nervous because my dinner was airport Pizza Hut breadsticks with straight-from-the-can cold sauce (which I wouldn't eat even if I weren't running a marathon).  My mom and sister drove down from Indiana to run/walk the half marathon (13.1 miles).
Friday we went to the expo which was pretty typical as expos go and attempted to drive the course.  They did not have a good map so we missed and backtracked quite a bit of it.  Mom was feeling sick (from fear, not from the Thai we had for lunch) from all the hills we were driving up and down.  There were a lot of them.  I kept telling her to quit worring about it, but inside I was asking myself why I would choose this marathon, of all marathons, to try to break 4:00).
Saturday morning at 4:40 we all got up, downed some oatmeal and got dropped off at the park.  The race start was great.  The corrals were big enough for lots of runners so no one was crowding or bumping into people waiting for the gun.  After the gun went off we ascended our first of many long, ardous hills.  The marathon was a little crowded but for the most part thinned out at mile 4.  The race was well supported with volunteers passing out water, Ultima and Powergel at two stops.  There also seemed to be enough porta-johns and only the first two stops had lines.  There weren't a lot of spectators because it was overcast and looked like rain.  From the lack of sounds coming from the spectators, I think they all just crawled out of bed.  Being that it is the Nashville Country Music Marathon, there were bands about every mile playing music.  Ironically, most of them weren't even country!From the start to mile 15 I was running an 8:15 pace and was hoping to come in around 3:52.  At mile 15 I had a 3-minute detour for stomach problems.  Now my goal was a 3:58.  At mile 20, the time when most people tend to hit the wall, I hit it - HARD.  I have never hit the wall in a race but I did.  Big Time.  There had been so many hills, long, short, steep.  They never ended. I don't think there is a 100 yards in Nashville that is flat.  My left knee was starting to hurt from all the up and down (down is worse than up) and I don't even normally have knee problems.  I have never seen so many people walk in a marathon.  And I have never heard so many people cursing.  At the hills of course, or to anyone who would listen.  I had to walk probably a total of 4 minutes and was slowed down tremendously.  There were big hills all the way to mile 24.5 with the worst ones being between Mile 20-24.  Definitely the hardest marathon I have every done.  I finished the last mile running and crying, more out of frustration then anything.  I was no longer going to hit either goal.  I crossed the finish in 4:08:55 which was a 9:32 pace.!
  This is a two-minute improvement but not what I had envisioned.  There were 4,427 Marathoners and I placed 1084.  I was the 229th female and was 48 out of 282 in my division.
Aahhhh....the Country Music Marathon, someday I will look back on it with fond memories.....of my temporary lapse of sanity!

I have already signed up for the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pennsylvania in October.  I am taking two weeks off of running to bike, practice yoga, and lift more.  Maybe by then, I will have forgotten the Country Music Marathon and its Horrible, Horrendous HILLS!!!

Marcey
aka: gomarceygo

Scott's 2002 Review

I ran the second OKC Memorial Marathon on Sunday.  Since I reviewed the
race last year I'll just give a quick review/update.

I ran the race with my youngest brother (Chris, 31) who was running his
first marathon.  His goal was to break the family marathon debut record of
3:54 set by my wife Jen at Cleveland in '94.  We were right on pace through
19 miles but IT band tendonitis in both his knees (probably brought on by
the early hills and cool temps) reduced us to walking much of the final 4
miles.  In the end we finished in 4:14 (just under Mom's PR).  He's already
talking about running #2.  Mom (recovering from foot surgery) and Jen
(recovering from childbirth) ran in the 5-person relay.

Grades (with last year's grades in parens)

Course: B- (B-)  Mostly the same as last year.  You'd expect OKC to be flat
but the course is full of small hills.

Weather: B (C)  They started the race 30 minutes earlier this year (6:30am)
to try to achieve better weather.  50 at the start with 10-20 mph headwinds
for the first half.  High 50s/low 60s at the finish with 10-15 mph
tailwinds on the way home.  Always felt relatively cool and I'm rather
battle the wind on the way out than the way back.

Size: A- (A-)  Slightly smaller than last year (they were hoping to attract
more runners), still a good size race.

Expo: B (B+)  Not as much free stuff as last year (no Jamba Juice!) but I
did get to spend several minutes talking with Bill Rodgers (nice guy), Dick
Beardsley (really nice guy), Joe Henderson (really really nice guy), and
Frank Shorter (not as nice as the other guys).  Got them all to sign my
race poster.

Shirts: A+ (A)  Two nice shirts again.  Better design this year and the
finisher's shirt was green to distinguish it from the race shirt (white).

Medal: A+ (A+)  Slightly smaller than last year but a more distinctive
cutout design

Support: A (A)  Gallons and gallons of cold water, cold Powerade (yum) and
hundreds of packets of GU (all flavors).  There had to have been at least
30 aid stations, all well staffed.  Volunteers were not as enthusiastic as
last year (perhaps due to the earlier start).

Finish Line/Post-Race Party: B (A-) Biggest fall off from last year.  Not
as much stuff (no Jamba Juice!) and they were already running low on water
and Powerade with hundreds of runners still to finish.  YMCA again opened
their doors to runners and Quiznos again provided free lunches to all
runners at the awards ceremony.

Overall A- (A-)  Still a very nice race (definitely not a PR course).

Note:  They're still trying to figure out how to get runners to and from
the relay exchange points (there's a 5-person and 2-person relay) and they
still don't have enough water/porta potties at the exchanges.

That wasn't as quick as I had intended.
 

Scott's 2001 Review

Report from OKC Memorial Marathon (Sunday, April 29), dedicated to the
victims, survivors, and families of the bombing of the Murrah Federal
Building.

I used the race as a long training run for this month's Vermont City
Marathon.  I ran along with a 4-person relay composed of my wife (Jen, now
5+ months pregnant), two brothers, and sister-in-law.  My mother also ran
the full marathon.

Here are my grades:

Course: B-, While the organizers did a good job of routing the course
through all the scenic sections of OKC (Bricktown, Nichols Hills, Lake
Hefner), there just aren't that many scenic sections.  The course was
relatively flat with only a few hills.  Unfortunately, nearly all of the
notable elevation gain occurs between miles 21 and 25--making this a
difficult course for a PR.  The race started at 7am and the first hour was
almost completely in the shade.  The amount of shade then proceeded to
decrease as the race went on (and the temperature began to rise).  While
all but about 1 mile of the course was run on asphalt, the road surface was
frequently not smooth (which can take its toll if you're out there for a
while).  I had no problems with road camber.

Weather: C, High 50s and shady at the start, near 70 and mostly sunny at
the half, high 70s/low 80s and sunny at the finish.  These temps were 5-10
degrees above normal.  Fortunately, the humidity was very low (my clothes,
which were soaked when I crossed the finish, were dry 30 minutes after the
race).

Size:  A-, 2000 marathoners, 600 relay teams (split between 2- and 4-
person relays).  I like marathons with 1000 to 2000 runners (enough so that
there's always someone to run with but not so many that you can't run your
own race).  I lined up midpack and it took me 1 minute to get to the start
(they used chips).  I was running my intended pace by mile 1 and, other
than the start, the only time I felt crowded was between miles 21 and 23
when we were reduced to a single lane of traffic and I was moving up in the
field.  Eventually, I think they're hoping to attract about 5,000
marathoners.

Pre-race Expo: B+, Small but contained everything you'd need and, best of
all, there were no lines anywhere.  All of the large area running stores
were there with displays (about 4 stores, I saved $20 on a new pair of
running shoes), Bill Rodgers, Hal Higdon, Joe Henderson, Tawni Gomes (I'd
never heard of her but apparently she's a big deal), Jamba Juice (free
fruit smoothies--I got 2), free coffee and iced tea (the peach-ginger tea
was delicious), free mini flashlights, ...

T-shirts: A, If you ran the marathon you got TWO SHIRTS, one at the expo
and a separate finishers shirt at the end of the race.  Both shirts are
high quality and have nice logos (I like the finisher's shirt better).

Finisher's Medal: A+, You know you've got a good finisher's medal when
airport security feels the need to hand search your bag.  This baby is HUGE
and cast on both sides.  Very nice.  All relay participants got a smaller
version.  Another nice touch.

Support: A, Tons of volunteers (all well trained in how to hand cups of
water to runners--this isn't always the case) and a fair amount of crowd
support.  Plenty of water, Ultima (tastes like crap even when cold), and
food (oranges, bananas, gummi bears, pretzels, jolly ranchers).  Six bands
(no, they were not country bands).

The most notable difference between this race and the other marathons I've
run is how appreciated I felt as a runner.  Dozens of volunteers thanked me
for running as I went by.  Many of the other runners, when they saw my
DCRRC singlet, seemed genuinely moved that I would travel all the way to
OKC to run in their race.  Great people those Okies. This must be what it
feels like to be an elite runner.  The only criticisms I heard revolved
around the relays (too few porta potties at the exchange points and too
much confusion at the second exchange point).

Finish Line/Post Race Party:  A-, The Downtown YMCA (located 1/2 block from
the finish) hosted the awards ceremony and opened its doors to all runners
to shower and change (great facilities, not your local high school or
college locker rooms).  Lots of COLD water at the finish (its usually all
warm by the time I get there), more fruit smoothies, bagels from Panera
bread, juice, lots of fruit, sandwiches, ...  Alas, no band.

Afterwards, we all walked 3 blocks to Bricktown and consumed mucho Mexican
food.

This year's race also coincided with the OKC Festival of the Arts, located
in the Myriad Gardens next to the Convention Center (where the expo was
held) and only a few blocks from the finish.  I don't know if they will be
scheduled on the same weekend in the future.

OVERALL: A-, If you're looking for a well-run race where the volunteers go
out of their way to make you feel appreciated I highly recommend OKC--just
don't go expecting gorgeous scenery or a PR.

I ran the Mississippi Marathon in January and the Ocean Drive Marathon (NJ)
in March.  Since I never got around to reviewing Mississippi I'll review
them together.

Course
MS: All on Natchez Trace Parkway (imagine the GW Parkway with fewer trees,
no median, a rougher road surface, and no man-made structures)--never
hilly, never flat, only one turn, pretty on the way out, pretty boring on
the way back.  Road not closed to traffic.
OD: Point-to-point from Cape May to Sea Isle City along the NJ barrier
islands.  The only hills are the 5-6 drawbridges you cross otherwise this
one is FLAT.  You run the full length of the boardwalk in Wildwood/N.
Wildwood (only sounds fun).  Scenic in a deserted beach community sort of
way.  No Shade.  None. Most roads were completely closed to traffic.
ADVANTAGE = OD

Weather
MS: Cool and comfortable at the start.  Warm and sunny at the finish.
OD: 40s at the start, 50s at finish, sunny, 10 MPH TAILWIND for much of the
race (CAUTION: they usually have 10-20 mph HEADWINDS)
ADVANTAGE = OD

Organization
Both races has aid stations every 2-2.5 miles and both could have used more
frequent aid stations over the last 10K.  Plenty of course marshalls,
properly placed mile markers, splits every 5 miles.  OD race director had
arranged with the Coast Guard for no ship traffic during the race but a
couple of fishing boats decided to go out anyway and 20-30 runners got
stuck for up to 5 minutes at the mile 5 drawbrige.  Apparently fishing
boats have the right of way.
ADVANTAGE = Push

Size
MS: Approx. 300 marathoners and a small number of 10K runners who turn
around after 3.1 miles.
OD: 350-400 marathoners and 100-200 10 mile runners who are with you for
the entire first 10.
A little small, at both races I ran significant stretches by myself.
ADVANTAGE = Push

Expo
MS: None.  Packet pick-up was race morning.
OD: Promised dozens of free health screenings and health info booths.  When
I got there at 2pm all that was there was packet pickup, 1 local running
store, and some really bored high school kids selling warm Snapple.
ADVANTAGE = MS

Shirts
MS: Beige, Long-sleeve, very comfortable, 1" x 2" logo on front (also got a
pair of cotton gloves, no logo)
OD: Gray, Long-sleeve, race logo on front, large course map on back,
sponsors on sleeve
ADVANTAGE = OD

Medal
MS: I don't remember
OD: Big, heavy, seagull on front
ADVANTAGE = OD

Post-Race Party
MS: Pizza, Cookies, Water, Gatorade, local radio station playing classic
rock
OD: Plain bagels, fruit, water, teeny tiny samples of Nantucket Nectar,
massages
ADVANTAGE = MS

Crowd Support
MS: None, Nobody.
OD: Small crowd at 7 mile mark, 10 mile mark, and at finish
ADVANTAGE = slight advantage to OD

Vacation Destination?
MS:  Uh, No.
OD: Everything's closed and its too cold to swim
ADVANTAGE = OD

Result
MS: Ran as hard training run in 3:42, was actually on 3:36 pace through 20
miles but the sun and rolling course finally got to me.
OD: Although untapered I managed a personal best of 3:33 (not really a PR
since it was wind-aided).
ADVANTAGE = OD

Overall
MS: Although a perfectly nice local race, there is no reason to travel for
this one.
OD: Relatively scenic, 20-25% chance for VERY friendly tailwinds
ADVANTAGE = OD
 

See the PICTURES ...

Wish you were here for this one...    We had a perfect race day today!  The weather was clear and cold  before sunrise with steam coming off Lake Kawaguchi.  There were over 10,000 starters of the race... all Japanese.  The race started at 8:30 and the weather had warmed to a perfect marathon temp in the low 50's.  The  roads around the lake are narrow so there was a lot of congestion and it took  me more than 7 minutes just to cross the start.  The Japanese are very  serious runners and pretty subdued.  There were a couple costumes out on the  course but not like in the U.S. and there was none of the normal banter  between runners.  Not as many spectators for such a large race but there were a  few enthusiastic bystanders.  They shout:  "Gambatte Kudasai" which can be roughly translated as "looking good, keep it up!"  We brought our own support crew that helped myself and the three first time marathoners  with me from Camp Fuji.   They were the most enthusiastic cheering section on  the course setting up a generator powered sound system with American music classics.  The Japanese really loved it!  "Crazy Americans." The course  had a 6K diversion before starting the first of two 18K loops around the  lake. The water stops were not as frequent as we're used to in the USA and  very congested.  They provided water, sports drink and "energy tabs" that  tasted like sweet tarts.  Japanese really like using Ben Gay and that was  readily available everywhere.  Typical finish line accept no space blankets, no  race medals and you have to take off your own sports chip.  For your  efforts, we got a cheap finisher's Tee shirt; an instant, computer generated  finishers certificate; a massage if you wanted one (I did), and a bowl of hot  sorba noodles. Bananas and water were the only other refreshments available.   I guess I've been spoiled in the U.S.A.  The race was well organized, the scenery was breathtaking and the course was fun and forgiving.

This was my eighth run of marathon distance or greater since Oct '00.   I have not put in the miles this Fall but I have enough experience to  shuffle through and not suffer. Therefore, I was happy with my time, but won't  brag about it.  My first time marathoners did fine... they finished.  One  hit the wall pretty bad...  only replenished with a power bar at the 20 mile point... too late.      Here are the unusual things I'll remember most about this race:

-- The heated toilet seat in the hotel I snuck into before the start of  the race!  What an indulgence when the weather outside is 30 degrees!

-- The marathoner who put on his race number and then had a last  cigarette before moving to the starting line...

-- The helicopter that did sky writing above the starting lineup in  colored smoke... and the reaction of those around me when I shouted  "ANTHRAX!!!"

-- The designer manhole covers in Kawaguchi village.

After the race, we went to a lake front park, unloaded a propane  grill, sound equipment, speakers and generator and started to party.  Sort of  a tailgate party in the park... something the Japanese have never seen  before. I think we did our best to expose our Japanese friends to American  culture.

Race started at Sparks Elementary School a little north of exit 20 from I83 north of Baltimore. Parking was at a remote site a few miles away with school buses ferrying the runners. Since I had not picked up my packet the day before, I was there early (7:30) and had no trouble with parking or registration. At registration I got a number, pins, long sleeve T-shirt, plastic bag, and a map of the course. The gym/lunch room was open for the runners to meet in. Bagels and bananas were available. Clothes could be left here or put in bags which would carried to the finish. In addition to the school bathrooms there were 4 porto potties in the parking lot. Seemed to be enough since the lines never got to long. I thought there were over 400 entered in the race but that may have included the relay also. In addition to the marathon there was a also a two person relay. They had numbers of a different color on front and back so they could be easily distinguished during the race.

The first 1.8 miles were on country roads and had the only hills on the course. Since they were down hills most people went out a little faster than intended but because the course finished on the trail we did not have to run back up them at the end. After 1.8 miles we turned north on the North Central trail, ran until 14 miles into the race, then turned around a ran back. Every mile was well marked and water and gatorade were available at approximately 2-2 1/2 mile intervals. At registration they did not know the locations of rest rooms along the course, only that there were some and that there were lots of trees in any case. I recall seeing single bathrooms at around 9,11,13 miles and of course the same locations on the way back. They may have been standard features along the trail and not there just for the race.

There were no mobs of cheering spectators, only small groups at the road crossings and water stops. The drizzle may have keep many people away however. Most of the time was a peaceful run through the woods with no one near you but a few other runners. The area near the turnaround (miles 12-16) were the most crowded because of runners going in both directions but it never got congested enough to be a problem.

The trail was in excellent condition. It was wide, flat and mostly packed smooth similar to the C&O canal towpath. Only a few sections had enough gravel to be noticeable on the soles of the feet. Although it had rained the night before and drizzled during the race, the trail stayed puddle free.

At the finish we received space blankets, finisher medals and there was the same water and gatorade which had been available on the course. The clothes bags dropped off at the start had been transported to the finish and were available in a large clear tent. No private changing facilities but there were chairs to sit on. School buses carried us back to the start.

At the school there were bananas, bagels, donuts, and several kinds of juice. Awards were given out around 1:30 (except for a most of the women's age groups which had not been determined yet) and were plaques for the top 3 in 5 year age groups and the top 5 overall.

The People's Marathon. This is the only marathon I have run, so I am a little biased. This is an extremely popular marathon, and for good reason. It is scenic: you start at the Iwo Jima, pass the Pentagon, go through Georgetown, past Watergate, Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, Union Station, the Capitol, the Mall, the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, Haines Point, the Tidal Basin, the Potomac River and go over two bridges. It is unique: the race is marshalled, very well I might add, by our USMC. It is at the perfect time of the year for marathons, late October. This marathon showcases Washington D.C. as a real good "running town". One of the features I like about this city that you don't see in any other major city, is a 14-floor building height limitation, which results in a slyline timelessly marked by the our historical city memorials and monuments.

Cecily:
The hot air  balloons were spectacular! As were the people running the race.
This was a rather unique race we received ceramic finishers medals with
bison carved into them. Very "New Mexico".  And our age group awards are
these had crafted ceramic watering jugs with the date and marathon title on
them. They are very nice!  I must admit the air did get me good.  Around mile 17 I was really
feeling it, having a hard time getting my breath!  SO the last 9 miles
needles to say were spent more walking then running.  The view was great as
were the people! If you are looking to run a scenic marathon for the fun of
it I would recommend it!
 

Peter:
The point-to-point course started us off at 6:00 a.m. on a plateau overlooking Albuquerque,
elevation: ~7,500 feet.  Have you ever noticed a runner during the first few
miles of a marathon who is gasping for breath and felt sorry for them because
they are obviously starting at an inappropriately fast pace ... well people
must have been feeling sorry for me because I was gasping in the thin air
even at an easy jog.  Anyway, the first 7 miles were rolling hills on the
shoulder of a highway with the city lights to our left and a range of purple
mountains to our right that hid the sun well into the morning.  Mile 8 was
the beginning of an insane downhill, orders of magnitude long than any hill
I've run before, that literally sloped unabated until mile 12.  At this point
we were coming off the plateau and down into the city where the base
elevation of ~4,000 made breathing a bit easier.  Cecily was treated to a
view of a dozen hot-air balloons just taking off at sunrise as she ran down
into the valley -- I wasn't wearing my glasses and mistook them for odd
clouds.  My loss.
     The second half of the marathon began well for both of us; we were
motivated by that giant downhill and glad to be gulping relatively thicker
air.  The course was an  unremarkable blend of gently rolling suburban and
industrial side-streets all the way to the finish line, although there were
still some beautiful mountains to look at off in the distance.  Through 16
miles, Cecily was feeling strong and I was psyched to be on pace for a 3:16
finish.  It's a funny thing though -- even though I've run a score of
different marathon courses, mile 18 always looks exactly the same to me.
It's when the optimism of mile 16 -- "I've only got a ten-miler left, nothing
to worry about" -- turns into "Crap -- I have to do this for another Eight
miles, it's going to be a long hour".   We were both reduced to walking for a
couple of minutes at a time to recharge.  At mile 21, I was fired up when
someone told me I was in the top 10 (there were less than 200 runners so this
wasn't a deal, but still ...) and I picked myself up for a motivated jog to
the finish line.  Turns out I was 12th with a time of 3:20:59 -- a PR by
about a minute.  Cecily finished strong with a time a little over four hours.
 Ces and I added to the things we have in common with each other by both
finishing 2nd in our age groups.  We're both counting this as a good training
run towards the goal of qualifying for Boston later in the Fall.
     After finishing I decided the free bananas and oatmeal cookies were not
reward enough for my effort so I brought a liter bottle of Pepsi and a pint
of Cherry Garcia ice-cream.  Lesson learned -- don't consume a liter bottle
of Pepsi and a pint of Cherry Garcia ice-cream immediately after running a
marathon.  After heaving it all up I felt much better.
     We'd recommend this race to anyone interested in seeing a very different
part of the country, but the elevation and heat offset any benefits gained
from the downhill section and I wouldn't necessarily call it a fast course.

By Ken Pulkkinen:
"I ran this marathon in 1998 & 1999. It is a great flat course that produces
fast times. The world marathon record of 2:05:42 was set there in 1999. It
offers great views of the city and the crowds are great. There was an
estimated 850,000 watching the 1999 race. It starts and ends in Grant Park
which is a beautiful park in the downtown area near Lake Michigan. Chicago
is known for having the best restaurants in the U.S. I can vouch for that
fact. I have hit quite a few there. I am running in the 2001 edition of the race.
For the first time ever, the host hotel (Chicago Hilton) was sold out in
February for Oct. 7 weekend. Although there were 29,000 runners in 1999,
the streets seem to be able to accommodate the crowd."

Tim Troha:
"Boston loomed so large even before I ran my first marathon, most of my Marine Corp Marathon experience was spent worrying about qualifying for Boston.  The splits inked on my arm last October 22 were designed to get me to the start in Hopkinton.  I had never seen the race, not in person, not even on TV, but it dominated my training.  For some reason, running in Boston consumed my first marathon.  When I completed the race yesterday, it felt like the culmination not of a few months of training, but in fact the last 14 months.  It was in February of last year, when I registered for the MCM, that I began training for yesterday's race.  And moments after I finished, I immediately began thinking that I would surely be back.

By Saturday, the entire downtown city of Boston was devoted to the marathon.  Signs in every window, trinkets in every shop, and runners flooding the sidewalks.  It only intensified as the weekend progressed.  By Monday, it was ridiculous.  At the start in rural Hopkinton, a fair 50 degrees or so, sun-burning many runners, there were half a dozen helicopters, a blimp, several planes trailing ads, and the requisite fighter jet flyover.  Since the weather was so nice, the crowds seemed to me endless.  I have no other Patriot's Day to compare it to, but it was hard to imagine the crowds being any louder, any more ubiquitous.

The course was incredibly punishing.  Maddeningly, the crowds egged you on, breaking your calm, forcing your pace.  How could you not speed up through the screaming Wellesley girls?  How could you slow down on the hills when you realized how long it had taken to get here?  My quadriceps were shredded by the halfway mark, even before Newton.  But I realized I was hardly breathing.  The lungs were there, but the legs were being beaten.  I almost prayed for more uphill sections, just for a respite from the pounding on my quads.  Clearly, my hill training was far from sufficient.  Although I was able to pull strongly up hills, passing many runners and gaining time, on the downhills the pain slowed me down.  I realized my strong legs gained through thousands of miles of cycling and weight-training could not compare to legs accustomed to simply running downhill.  Such a  simple, painful lesson.

Heartbreak Hill was welcomed, finally, a chance to climb.  At the top, my dread of the downhill miles eased when I saw my mom, my two sisters, and more extended family.  My uncle, a Boston College grad, needed to watch from 21.5.

The last 5 miles were purely a race against the total ruination of my legs.  When asked in the days preceding, I think I told just about everyone a different time I was shooting for.  While I knew I wanted to qualify again for 2002, my only hard-and-fast goal beyond that was beating my MCM time of 3:09:20.  Slightly more than halfway through the race, or about I realized that 3:05 was a good goal to shoot for.  I think it was then I started eating GU or PowerGel or whatever people were handing me... I just wanted more in the tank.  I was having trouble doing the math in my head, wasn't keeping track of my mile splits anymore, and by mile 23 was just running like hell.  I had decided just to focus on my form, to shake off as much as possible the weight in my legs.  I stopped looking at the crowds; I didn't need to look to know that there were thousands of people screaming at me, at the marathoning idiots in general.  I tried to pick a point ahead and focus on that until I got there, and so on, just gauging when I should start really kicking.

Before the race, everyone had advice, but they all said "Just enjoy the run."  Interpretations of enjoyment beside, I knew my enjoyment of the race would be mostly in retrospect.  While I did think at times in college that they were the best days of my life, I think of that a lot more now.  I can say running fast, even through pain, if more "enjoyable" than just cruising along.  By mile 25, seeing the famous CITGO sign in the distance, I was passing other runners at an alarming rate.  Some obviously slowed because they were in distinct pain, others just seemed to be cruising along content to cross before 3:10:59 and requalify for next year.  My speed kept increasing, which seemed strange.  I definitely have had a kick for most races I've been in, but not like this.  I didn't second guess myself, I just kept chasing other runners, picking off more and more, slipping through gaps in between chatty old hands who were jogging and relishing the last mile.  Me, I was wildly sprinting.  I couldn't imagine why you wouldn't.  What if I died tomorrow?  What if I got a 3:05:01?  One tall runner all in black joined me.  As we crossed just under 3:05, he came up to me and commented on my great kick.  What kick?  I said.  I just wanted to cross before I died.

Tim

Thanks to SLR and specifically Coogan (and his bullhorn), Adam, Yow, Duncan, Ben, Duke, Eric, Rob, and others I ran with, hung out with before or after the race, or heard cheering for me on Monday... the support meant an awful lot."
 

Eric Zander:
"Thanks to everyone (again - didn't I just say this 6 weeks ago?)
for helping me have the GREATEST experience of my life - the
view one has when they turn the corner onto Boylston Street.

Special thanks to John (proprietor of Hotel Yow, a nice, cheap,
no-frills, low-low-service place in Newport, RI), Peter (who got
me into this), Cecily (navigator extraodinaire), Adam
(logistical master), Leilani (inspiration), Coogan and Sharon
(and the bullhorn), Siew Peng (with that scream, sure you didn't
go to Wellesley?), F102 and the women of Wellesley...."

It really was super-super:  Plenty of goodies at  the EXPO in the Javitz Center:  no waiting lines.  If you wanted to use the shuttle buses to get to the Start you'd have to get up early -- last  bus left at 7am from mid-Manhattan.  I had a ride to the start, but still  had to cross the Verazzano Bridge before 8am  (That an hour earlier than usual because of security, which was visible, but never intrusive.  Great  work from NYPD and the various federal agencies who would have been  involved). Good entertaintment in the start area made the time fly past.  Weather  was ideal:  60-ish, sunny, little wind.  Entertainment at the Start  included an ecumenical service, various bands, Mayor Rudy Giuliani-speech,  delicious coffee, bagels, Gatorade.  Everything smooth,  orderly line-up and  start. The course was fantastic from Staten Island over the Bridge to  Brooklyn, through Brooklyn, into Queens, cross over to Manhattan, a breathtaking  run up 1 Avenue, crossing into Bronx for a brief stretch, and then back  into Manhattan to an unforgettable finish in Central Park.  The abundance of Poland Spring, Gatorade and Powerbar Gel (which I hadn't seen/tried  before) was an excellent mix.  I finished in 4:26:XY, but ran the whole time,  and could walk 3 miles back to our car from the Finish without problems,  and hasn't experienced any major damage.  I cannot fathom people who do two Marathons literally back-to-back--that's just unbelievable, but the  week between MCM and NYC did give the body a chance to recuperate reasonably well.  So, in other words, everybody should try NYC Marathon at least  once in their lifetime.  That's what comes to mind.

By Eric Zander:
"Low key, relaxed start area. Fun, good weather, flat. Lots of room to yourself. I wondered what happened when my split for 18 was 8:53 (with splits of 6:2x for both 17 and 19). Well, after the race was
over my suspicion was confirmed by numerous other runners - 'mile' 18 was more like 1.3 mile 18."

By Siew Peng Wong:
"Prior to the start, the runners were treated to observing two Blue Angels fly overhead, signaling the start of what would be a 26.2 mile journey that was a quarter of  a mile longer thanm had been anticipated. Race in on the base then out into town. Runners had to cross two bridges, one of which had a huge
incline on either side.  It goes without saying that the bridges were windy. Those who came out to watch and cheer us on made wonderful supporters and spectators. The volunteers were awesome. All in all, I had a blast, and would do it again next year if able."

     Alabama is our lucky state -- Cecily and I both qualified for Boston on
Saturday at the Huntsville "Rocket City" Marathon.   Ces finished in 3:38:59
and I finished in 3:09:29.
     The race was started at 8:00 am by a local guy wearing orange-neon
hunter's camouflage who stood in a cherry picker and fired a rifle into the
air.  Not as glamorous as the cannon that begins the Marine Corps Marathon,
but every bit as appropriate.  The temperature was about right --
uncomfortably cold until we started running -- and everything else
environmental was perfect ... hardly any wind and nicely overcast.
     There wasn't anything remarkable about the course, just lots of
residential streets with some old houses and people standing in their front
lawns with morning cups of coffee, cheering us on.  A cool thing about this
marathon: everyone had their first name printed in big letters on their race
number so folks could cheer you on by name.  Most of the people who tried to
yell for Cecily mispronounced her name so she decided that next time she will
have them write "Ces".
     Neither of us had made any deep personal commitments to qualify for
Boston in this one, but good race strategies and a relaxed attitude made it
our day to run.  For me, the decisive moment was at mile 8 ... I had taken
off my favorite running gloves because it was warming up and I was debating
throwing them away. I figured, 'if this is just going to be a good training
run, I can carry the gloves with me, but if I'm going to take a shot at 3:10,
I shouldn't have the distraction'.  I threw them into a trash can and mile 9
was my fastest of the race.
    Cecily ran her first 20 miles well ahead of the pace she needed for a
3:40 finish, and then wisely eased off and ran/walked a couple 10:00 minute
miles because she had begun to feel bad.  By mile 23 the slowdown paid off as
she felt recharged and, knowing that there were only 3  8:30 miles left
between her and Boston, she was able to pick it up and finish strong.  My
pace per mile stayed consistently around 7:10, but I was actually varying
quite a bit with some bursts of speed and 20 second walking breaks
throughout.
     This was my 27th marathon and my fastest by far which leads to me to
wonder what I've done recently to allow for this improvement.  Two things I
can think of: 1) Hank's advice to crosstrain after long runs led me to spend
more time on the bike and elliptical trainer than I ever have before and that
has definitely made me stronger. 2) I found out a couple marathons ago that
the Galloway method of walking every so often during the marathon really does
extended running endurance, but now I realize that the occasional walk breaks
need to be offset by aggressive running in between in order to take full
advantage of the recharge the walking provides.
     Anyway, although the course was unremarkable, Huntsville was a nice
enough place.  On Sunday we toured the NASA facilities (hence the name
"Rocket City Marathon") in Huntsville and got to see some big chunks of the
International Space Station being put together.  It was definitely a successful trip for us.

"I felt like my butt was on fire" (Maine Marathon runner-up Hamcha Moatacim).

Goal:  out in 2:00 + back in 1:45 = 3:45 (yes, there is a perfectly good
explanation for this race plan and I'd be happy to share it with you some
Saturday morning).
Weather:  High 40s and sunny at the start (nice), upper 60s and sunny at the
finish (a little warm).
Celebrity Report:  Joan Samuelson, two-time defending half marathon champ was
not in the field this year.
Course: Hilly Hilly Hilly.  Flat for the first 2 miles, rolling hills from 2-8,
HILLY from 8-11, rolling hills from 11-15, HILLY from 15-24 (the Portland paper
described the hills on this part of the course as "crushing".  There ain't
nothin' like these hills on the Custis or Capital Crescent trails.  Mainers
would describe those trails as rolling.), flat for the final 2 miles.  Aside
from the hills the course was beautiful.  The first 5 and last 2 miles had great
views of Casco Bay and the Atlantic.  Lots of shade from 5-11.  Great fall
colors.  For those familiar with the area the course ran north along the coast
from Portland to Falmouth to Yarmouth, turned inland for a couple miles and then
ran back south through the same towns.
Result:  out in 1:58 (perfect pace through 9 but I got a little eager from 9-13)
+ back in 1:51 (did I mention the "crushing" hills and flaming butt?) = 3:49.  A
very good time for me given the course, the weather, and my race plan.  Place =
165 out of 476 finishers.

After lunch my wife and I drove north to Bradbury Mountain State Park and
"summited" Bradbury Mountain (the sign says the elevation at the summit is 485'
but I'm sure this was a misprint because it felt like it was at least 4,850').
After that it was off to Freeport and a trek through the LL Bean store (yes, I
know there's one in Tysons), open 24/7.  We then went across the street to a pub
and ate chowdah while watching the men's Olympic marathon.

About as close as you can get to the perfect day (except for the butt part).

Follow-up from May 2001: I just got my application for this year's Maine Marathon and included in
the envelope were two 4x6 photos of me during last year's race running down
the finish chute.

Aloha, I just got back to Oahu (and to e-mail) from the Big Island of Hawaii. Along with a group of friends from the Honolulu Marathon Clinic (with which I trained before coming to DC and becoming an SLR-er myself) and about 160 others of the certifiably insane, last Saturday morning I completed the Kilaueau Volcano Wilderness Marathon.  What a glorious place!  What perfect weather for racing ... the temperature at the start was in the mid-to-upper 60s or so, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, affording an uninterrupted view of Mauna Loa glowing in the rising sun, steam venting from the Kilauea lava craters, vast expanses of black, glassy lava (where one must be careful with every step to avoid twisting an ankle or taking a fall), and tropical rain forests.

I did the course in a personal-best time of 4:20:58, which was 17:46 faster than last year.  (Complete race results are at http://www.jtltiming.com/results/00vol.html .)  The first half, most of which is over the Ka'u Desert lava fields, seemed to fly (2:07 at the halfway mark), but once again I underestimated the difficulty of the second half (which includes about six miles of paved roads and seven of dirt trails, not to mention a 900 foot elevation increase).

    If you're going to run only one marathon in Hawaii, the Maui Marathon has to be that one .  It's scenic, fairly flat, medium-sized (2,300 entrants), and very well-supported.  Oh, sure, there's the Honolulu Marathon in December, which gets most of the glory, but that's a "marathon of the masses," with over 22,000 people running, an ocean of humanity in which to get lost.  I haven't done the Kona Marathon (late June), which is run on the same course as the marathon portion of the Ironman Triathlon, but friends who've done it have told me it's very hot.  The Kilauea Volcano Trails Marathon in late July has the most unusual and varied scenery ... the first half is over lava fields, kind of like running a marathon on the moon ... but it's also got major elevation changes (over a thousand feet, and you gain back 900 feet between miles 20 and 23).

    You get your first feel for the depth of the race support at the start line area, at Ka'ahumanu Shopping Center in Kahului. My friend and former training partner, Beate Neher, spent the night at a hotel right across the street from the mall, so the start line was just a five minute walk.  (Most people stay near the finish area at the Ka'anapali resort; there are buses that take the runners to the start.)  If you came hungry, they feed you well: in addition to the usual carbo stuff (bagels, muffins), they've got sushi!  They've also got jazzercise-style aerobics to help you loosen up.  The start line is wide and not all that crowded; I crossed the line within a few seconds of the starter's pistol.  The Maui Marathon did not use chip timing this year.

    The first portion of the run takes the runners westbound, about 8 miles across the central valley to Ma'alaea, along a highway through sugar cane fields.  The sky was clear and littered with stars and a crescent moon, but twilight was breaking and soon runners could see on their left the cloudless outline of 10,000-foot Haleakala, a dormant volcano.  The course then turned onto Honoapi'ilani Highway (a.k.a. "Route 30") for almost all of the last 18 miles.

    There are rolling hills between about mile 8 and mile 12.  They're not very difficult.  The maximum elevation is about 150 feet, and runners are rewarded with a panoramic view of the ocean, including the coral atoll Molokini (a great tourist trap snorkelling attraction) and the nearby island of Kaho'olawe.  This part of the course offers the best chance to see whales blowing water spouts.  The hills end after the 12 mile marker, and the rest of the course is very flat, just above sea level.  In fact, a good portion of the course runs within ten to fifteen feet of the water's edge.  This is probably the toughest part of the course to handle psychologically; the scenery is gorgeous but it gets a bit monotonous.  Well, actually, you get to see different islands to your left: as Kaho'olawe vanishes behind you, Lanai and then Molokai come into view.  But there are mid-race photos taken at mile 13 (and ready for viewing and purchase by the time you've finished), aid stations almost every mile, and enthusiastic spectators cheering you on.

    It got interesting again after mile 21, after making a left turn (one of only five distinct turns on the entire course) into the old whaling town of Lahaina and run along Front Street, which is now overrun with high-end restaurants and galleries.  Again, people were out in droves cheering us on.  And there was a Navy submarine (no, not the Greeneville) anchored out beyond Lahaina Harbor for a port visit.  From Lahaina, you can see Ka'anapali resort, and you know that's where the finish area is!

    The finish is at Whaler's Village, a shopping area within the resort.  The finish was well supported.  The food was a bit disappointing, but great post-race massages made up for that.  There are showers, time cards, and finish-line photographs.  For those of us whose hotels were near the start, there was bus transportation back to Kahului.

    There were absolutely no shortcomings in the food supply at the finishers' party that evening.  You want carbos to help recover from the marathon?  They had free, all-you-can-eat pizza and all-you-can-drink beer.  The party and award ceremony took place from 4:30 to 6:00 pm along the beach at the Maui Marriott in Ka'anapali.  It was really a perfect way to conclude a perfect race.

    Miscellany and a couple of hints.  They've got a bag check at the start line, with pickup at the finish line.  As the sun rises over the West Maui Mountains, the course gets pretty warm by about 8:30 and really hot by 10.  Drinking to keep hydrated is critical ... just as it is here in DC in July and August.  Also, if you're going to be on the course after 10 (i.e., running a 4:30 or slower marathon), you really need to use sunscreen.  This is the last year the Maui Marathon is going to be in March; starting in 2002, it will be run in September.  The web site, http://www.mauimarathon.com, already includes a neat photo album from this year's course and complete race results.

    Oh, yes, the results.  I finished in 3:18:42, with a 1:35:11 first half.  This was my fastest marathon time in Hawaii's warm climate.

Aloha
 

By Erin Eckert:
"Hi all,
I just wanted to let you know that Sheila Murray and I completed the
Paris Marathon last Sunday. It was a great race - cool weather and
great scenery, and little shot glasses of Burgundy at the 38km marker!
 Its a big one too - 30,000+ participants, a good number of them from
the US. I highly recommend this race to anyone looking for a spring
marathon next year (esp. those who don't get into Boston) or who just
want an excuse to go to Paris!  I also brought back some flyers on
other European marathons in case anyone is planning on travelling this
summer."

By Sheila Murray:
"Dear SLR,

Thank you so much for your support throughout the winter!  Congratulations
to the Boston finishers--those were fantastic performances and reports.  My
experiences at the Paris Marathon pale in comparison, but it was a PR for me
so here it goes:
 

After work on Wednesday took a seven hour flight to Paris.   My
seven-year-old nephew joined me at the Hotel Jardin d'Eiffel.  If ever you
get a chance for a child to show you the sights of a city--JUMP AT IT.  And
I thought I was exposing him to Paris (he lives with my sister and his
family in a suburb and is afraid of the city) and Picasso.   It was Steven
who pointed out we should wait a moment--the Eiffel Tower will light up--a
picturesque site at the end of the narrow, winding streets.   If I haven't
told you before, my nephew Steven is a genius (o.k., so I think all my
nieces and nephews are geniuses--but Steven is a gifted artist).  He has a
love of music and art; when he draws he is absorbed by his work.  One of his
favorite, if not only, themes is the Titanic; he has created this image in
pen, crayon, paint, paper, and in performance art.  At the museum, he
discovered a name for his work--"it's a study" after the many sketches in a
special exhibit about a play and theatre designed by Picasso and after the
variations on the guitar and the bull.  Steven came up with these
comparisons solely on his own.  What a genius!

The next day my sister, Maura, the leader of my personal rabbit team, pulled
off another successful marathon festival.  She and my niece Laura and nephew
Julien, composed a song and choreographed a dance that the rabbit team
performed at the pasta party and the post-marathon party.  Don't you know
the French love to entertain?  This year's fashionable rabbit team added
coordinated t-shirts to their multi-colored beanies complete with
propellers.  Again the French do things with such flare.

On Sunday, we all went to the start at the Arc de Triomphe.  The rabbit team
went down the Champs Elysees so that they could see the mass of runners.  It
was by all reports a spectacular sight.  I waited 7 minutes to get to the
start, but afterwards since the avenue is wide and long I was able to get to
my pace very quickly.

The weather was cold, about 45 degrees and it was raining off and on (mostly
on) for the first twelve miles.   Rain was a big concern for me.   I
purposely decided not to train in the rain--I had run a long training run in
a strong rain last year and decided then to avoid the rain whenever I could.
Snow is o.k., rain--well yuck!  So, I put on the hat I bought at the
Expo--it was the last one--and hoped for the best.

This year the most notable costumes were worn by a group of men dressed as
angels with faux "exposed behinds".  Again, the Medoc clowns were at the 30K
mark at the Place d'Alma serving the new beaujelais and then at 35K with
rum.  At the Porte de Doree (10K) I didn't see "the big Golden Lady" (a
landmark that our friend Denis uses for directions) because of the "golden
boys" dressed as cheerleaders.

After two miles, I met up with Erin from the Saturday Long Run training
group.  She helped me keep a steady pace around 10:20 minutes per mile.  I
lost her after a bathroom break, one of three that I had to make.

The rabbit team was everywhere.  I first spotted my niece Laura and the rest
of the rabbits at the Porte de Doree.   I couldn't miss them--although many
more people in the crowds had posters--none were as colorful. I met them
again at the half-marathon.  Alas, I missed my nephew Julien at the 30K.

After the Bastille, my brother-in-law, Didier, paced me for the next 11
miles.  I don't think I would have been able to have finished so close to my
goal without him.  He carried water and five miles later I had enough of the
fanny back around my waist--he carried that, too.

In the previous week, the quais along the Seine flooded.  The current in the
Seine was stronger than I had ever seen it before.  Littered along the river
banks were boats stranded by the flood--the river was too high to allow them
to pass under the bridges.

After the final hill at 35K I was feeling pretty strong.  My stride was
good, but I was so pessimistic about about my time because of the bathroom
breaks that I stopped checking my watch after 30K.  At 36K, I thought
"o.k.--just about four miles to go.  No problem just an afternoon run".  A
bit later I got confused between kilometers and miles; I started to despaire
at 38K because I thought I still had four miles to go.   I felt much better
about my performance and math ability when I had realized my mistake at 39K.
 

With 2.2K left, Didier said "I think you can make it in under five hours."
I took off like a mad woman.  I just barely waved to the rabbit team as I
left the Bois de Bologne to the Avenue Foche.  In the last kilometer I
started to sprint and I had to dodge in and out of runners.   When I passed
the finished line I just started to laugh--I really only though I had a few
minutes to spare instead of twenty-five.  Next time, I will have to get more
specific info.

I didn't think that I could have topped the feeling of accomplishment I had
after the first marathon, but having finished under my goal (it took me
4h35min) comes very close.   When I hugged my sister and bragged to her that
I had cut 35 minutes from last year, I felt like a little kid.  It was a
joy.

Thanks again to the SLR group.  I wouldn't have made it through the winter
with out you.  Hope to see you soon."

I ran the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT on May 27.
Important
note:  I went to Vermont with the expressed goal of running a PR
(hopefully
sub 3:30).  Of the 20 marathons I've run I have attempted to PR only 6
times (I've been successful in 5 of these attempts).  The rest I either
ran
with family/friends, used as long training runs, or were on courses or
in
weather where a PR attempt would have been suicidal (once I tried
anyway--dumb, very dumb).  So what, you say.  Well, when I'm trying to
run
hard I'm much less likely to notice the good things about a race and
much
more likely to get annoyed by relatively small things.  Thus, VT is
probably a much nicer race than you're likely to surmise from my
report.

COURSE: B, VT is known for its scenic course.  I vaguely recall lots of
leaves and an occasional view of Lake Champlain interspersed with runs
through downtown Burlington.  Most of the course is on the roads (they
had
a pretty brutal winter so there were lots of repaired potholes) with
about
5 miles on bike paths (including the final 4), and a short run over
woodchips (not wheelchair friendly).  The course has several hilly
sections
(you lose about 150' of elevation from start to finish, with the
lowpoint
at halfway) but there are really only two hills of consequence, a long
gradual climb at mile 8 and a very steep hill at mile 15 (they had
Taiko
drummers to drum you up this one--nice little adrenaline rush).  Note:
the
elevation map on this year's website was for the OLD course--annoying.
What really made me nutty were all the TURNS--I counted over 60. This
would have been less problematic had the course not been wet (see
weather).
Course is very spectator friendly.  If you locate yourself at the Start
you
can see runners at miles 0, 3, 9, and 15 and then walk a few blocks to
catch them at the finish.  Alternatively, you can park yourself at a
sidewalk cafe on Church St and see runners at 2 and 10, finish your
breakfast and then walk 5 blocks to the finish.

WEATHER: B, Heavy rain the night before coupled with off-and-on light
rain
during the race made for lots of standing water on the course and very
heavy shoes by mile 20.  Temps in the mid to upper 50s, cloudy
(naturally),
and muggy when not raining.  Many of the runners pronounced these
conditions "ideal".  Huh?  I'd much prefer temps in the 40s (or even
30s)
and low humidity.  In recent years the weather at VT has been pretty
crappy.  All I can guess is that the weather this year was much better
than
in the past.

SIZE: B+, About the same size as OKC  2,000 marathoners, 600 relays.
Always plenty of people to run with and I never felt crowded.  Although
this could be due to the fact that I lined up relatively close to the
start
(no Championchips).

SUPPORT: A-, Tons of volunteers (many of them kids--but experienced
kids).
Plenty of water and Gatorade (finally a race that uses a palatable
sportsdrink) at each water stop--bigger cups would have been nice
though
and evenly spaced (rather than conveniently spaced) aid stations.  I
vaguely recall some food on the course (oranges, cut up Gatorbars, hard
candy).  Vaseline stops.  Plenty of porta potties (and trees).  Great
spectator turnout--especially given the weather and VT's small
population
(I can only imagine how many people there would have been if the
weather
had been nice).  Several bands and the Taiko drummers.

EXPO:  B-.  All the necessities, none of the luxuries.  The only talent
they were able to attract was Christine Clark (and every time she
appeared
they announced her as Christina).  They did have a virtual course tour
but
the photography was so bad that it was all but worthless.  This is an
in
and out expo.

POSTRACE PARTY: A-.  Ben & Jerry's. Duncan Donuts. Wet Grass.

MEDAL: A-.  Very nice medal (did not set off metal detector though),
crappy
ribbon.

T-SHIRT: A+.  My new favorite marathon shirt.  Weathered yellow (I'm
not a
fan of white), short sleve, great design, ads on sleeves rather than on
back.

RESULT:  No 3:29 but I did manage to PR (by 2 minutes) in 3:34.  About
400th out of 2000+ marathon finishers.  That Boston qualifying time
still
seems way too fast.

By John Coogan:
"Location: Great, tons of stuff to do.
Route: Scenic palm-tree-start, went through downtown/Gas Lamp district, on scenic highway, around Mission Bay. Lots of good music and cheerleaders. Only one significant hill, from mile 6 to mile 8. We had a cool cloudy day, but potential is there for a real burner.
Hydration stations: Many well-manned stations, but had water and ... Ultima! Ptooey!
Expo: Great, had Suzuki motorcycles to sit on.
Finishers medals: Heavy, uniquely shaped and colorful. Like it!
T-shirts: Simple white, but a cool colorful Rock & Roll design.
Med tents: Good capacity and private bathrooms, tons of helpful attendants in the tents and wandering around the grounds. No real doctors in there, though so they couldn't hook you up to an IV. They had sufficient ambulances to haul your sorry ass away though.
Start area: Balboa Park, very scenic, tons of porta-potties and good foliage.
Finish area: Too crowded and only one way out of the military base: shuttle buses. Lots of palm trees, a concert and a beer garden. Stands were assembled so a neat gallery cheers you through the last hundred yards.
Overall: Thumbs way up, due to great city and the bands on the course. But bring your own Gatorade."

By Aaron Cheskis:
"Course: Overall I liked the route. More