Mad Marathon - VT

So here I am….under 10 marathons to go and Vermont makes state number 42!! This is
marathon #3 and new state #2 for the year.

The weather wasn’t looking too well for this one as the summer weather has swept the
country. The goals were the same as it has been for years: #1. Finish the race #2.
Shoot for under 5 hours. But I’ve had a #3 for the last 2 years that I could not muster
to add to this race which was PR….NOT in the cards.

Flight out was late Friday night with a stay in Boston area then a drive on Saturday to
the race area. The drive was nothing that exciting. Drove through New Hampshire with
a couple stops along the way.

New Hampshire's View

Once I got into Vermont I headed for the Capitol for lunch. Great pub and eatery with
a wide selection of beers.

Welcome to Vermont

What a cute little building. LOL

Off to Waitsfield to pick up my bib and shirt.

 

The area was nice and they were in the process of setting up the finish line and having
the kids races so I snapped a few photos.

Kids Run

Finish line setup

The race had arranged for the Sugarbush Inn to be open for runners that wished to stay
just for the night in the area and I was grateful for that because most of the B&B’s in
the area required a 3 night stay. The Inn had a continental breakfast available for us at 5:30
on race day even!!! Thank you!! Additionally the Sugarbush Inn is part of the bigger
Sugarbush Resort and that allowed access to the clubhouse so that I could grab a shower
afterward!!

Sugarbush Resort

Morning of the race the temp was 55 (YES!!!) but the humidity was 85% (D’OH!!!). After a
small breakfast I made my way to the start line. I love the small town feel of this race and was
excited to see so many (but not too many) happy faces on race morning.

The gun went off at 7 am and it was on.

Okay -- So over the years when I pick my races I always check the course online to be sure
that there are no surprises and what I have come to realize is that the elevation charts are
ALWAYS off. Either the chart is flawed so that you don't realize just how hilly the course is or
the reverse they make it out to be so much worse than it really is. I decided to ignore their
elevation chart and go with the comments I read (rolling hills). I have to give this race credit --
their elevation chart IS NOT to be ignored, it was spot on!!

Not a misprint!!!

After the first hill at mile 1 I was already sweating my ass off with the humidity where it was.
Ugh!

By mile 2 I realized that goal #2 was going to be a stretch. So I just sat back and enjoyed the
scenery.

This course is gorgeous and I understand now why runners have rated it the most beautiful
course….because so many of them (myself included) walk the hills and look around unlike so
many other courses where you just run and not look.

1st out and back

Cows and a view

Look at that hill!!!

Little cow said hi to the runners

Other than the mountains in the background (which made the views amazing) I felt like I was
back home as I ran past many farms with cows and cattle at every turn. Surprisingly, even
though there were lots of signs for horses I only saw a few of them….I even counted them!!!
LOL! I saw 15 horses in the 26 miles...the last one was being ridden by a woman that was
obviously training...they were both “dressed up” rider with her riding crop and all!

Enjoying the shade

Horse and a view!

“The Dip” as the locals call it was no joke...quarter mile down, very steep, with a quarter mile
up….not as steep but taller. Lets not forget Had to do “the dip” twice as it also was at mile 21!!
Thankfully the aid station coming back had ice so the water bottle got filled with ice rather than
water!!!

Plenty of alone time on the course even with the marathon relay going on. Met a few nice people
out there and even got a recommendation for a Massachusetts marathon now.

By mile 13 the humidity had dropped, this is both good and bad...Good in the fact that the temps
were rising (mid 70’s) but bad in the fact that the sweat had now dried and signs of chafing had
begun...OUCH!!!

There was a beer stop -- officially sanctioned too!!! -- around mile 23-24. Decent local beer that
I of course can not remember the name of.

The last mile is slightly uphill (of course) but it ended at “the barn.” Drank about a quart of water
and then found some of the best tasting apple cider around. YUMMY!

DONE!!!!

Headed off to the clubhouse for a nice shower before the drive back to Boston.

Would I recommend this race? Yes!! But beware of the hills and come prepared for them!

Aid Stations? Plenty of them but some needed ICE for us back of the packers

Does this deserve “Most Beautiful” course in America? Don’t know, I’ve only done 42 of them….but it is in my top 3!!

Traffic to Boston was too much -- needed a treat!!

Post run dinner!!!

Dinner with my swag

Ocean Drive Marathon - New Jersey

At the urging of a friend who started reading my running blog recently I will attempt to put
my thoughts down on my marathons again (and try to recap the ones I have missed in
the past few years - no promises on those however!)

To start 2018 off we (the runracine crew) went back down to Disney to do the Dopey
Challenge. Since I already have Florida, the marathon didn’t count as a state but did
work well for training. I set my sights on New Jersey for a spring race. The race didn’t
look too big but would be celebrating its 20th running of the marathon so I thought that
combination alone was enough to consider it.

The combination of expensive flights and New Jersey in the spring time lead to me
traveling to this one alone. Even my friends had no interest in coming out to the Jersey
Shore in mid-April….at to be honest who could blame them. As it turns out the Jersey
Shore area reminds me a lot of Door County….meant for tourists and in the meantime
NOTHING that you might want to go too (including bakeries) are open until May when
people come to the Shore.

Lucky for me this didn’t impact me much (other than the bakery thing...ugh!) I was able to
find a brew pub that was open and a pizza joint for the night before the race. Both were
good and other than wishing for a bit of company I had no complaints. Okay thats not
completely true….what kind of pizza joint DOES NOT SERVE BEER!!!???? (or any
alcohol as it turned out)

I flew out Friday on what was supposed to be an early flight out...delays made it a midday
flight instead but I had some entertainment so I was fine and in no hurry. Once in NJ I
find that the rental car place sucked!!! Will NOT be using that one again ever!!

The 2 hour drive wasn’t that eventful….found a few radio stations and sang my heart
out while driving. Talked on the phone a bit during the drive as well - thank you Bluetooth
-- the time went by quickly and I was at the hotel. Nice little place within 2 blocks of the
beach.

I got my 2 mile run in before heading to dinner which was just a short walk from my hotel.
That night was nothing but a video chat with the family, some repeats on tv, and facebook
the entire night - lucky for me I was able to stay in contact with people back home.

Saturday - up early run and then look for bakery/coffee shop………NOTHING OPEN!!!!

Ended up at a local breakfast restaurant….good food!

Off to the ‘expo’ -- I get to the convention center and it is BUSY!! looking around I don’t
see any runners -- lots of cheerleaders?!? Walk into the convention center and was
greeted by someone asking what I was looking for…’um...the marathon expo’ ‘huh?
Marathon? This is a cheer-a-thon!’

WTF?!? No one knew about any marathon. So I walk around for a bit and I find a door to
the admin offices. I go in and then I see a handwritten sign pointing down the hall and into
a small conference room. There are 5 tables set up - number pick-up; bag pick up; a table
for registration; a table selling past marathon t-shirts; and a table with flyers for other local
races. WOW - big expo!! LMAO! So - number in hand…..back to the hotel.

NOW what?!? MASH and Rosanne repeats on TV, reading a book, calling a friend, texting
running partners, doing a little work, and looking for pizza for tonight's dinner. The day
dragged….

I drove to the start area to scope out parking options for race day -- found two pizza joints,
all good. Decided to grab dinner... the first joint was more of a take out place so I headed
to the one across the street. Order my meal and then find out that they do not serve beer
(or alcohol) and that it is BYOB! Damn!! Oh well. I order a salad and pizza -- looks like I
ended up with 2 salads!! LOL

Grabbed some ice cream for desert and headed back to the hotel.

Packed everything up and got out my running gear for race day -- ALL SET!!

RACE DAY!

Most marathons have an early start -- this one was a 9:00 am start -- HUH?!? That is like
LATE! Usually I’m halfway done by then...oh well. Ate breakfast, packed the car, and drove
to the start/finish area. Was there early enough that I was close and there was a bathroom
nearby. Took a 30-40 min nap in the car before heading to the start.

Marathon and 10 miler start at the same time and follow the same course (obviously the
10 miles turn MUCH earlier than us!) which with the exception of 3 bridges is flat as a
pancake! The weather was perfect for race day; light wind (8 mph) from the north, 45
degrees, and slightly overcast to sunny.

The out (13.1 miles) was fantastic! Was feeling really good and had to hold back a few
times from just running the tires off. Hit the halfway at 2:02 and decided it was time to start
picking people off. Slowly but surely I started catching one person at a time.Tried hard not
to push the pace and with it being as flat as it was it was pretty easy to see the next target.
Things were going well. The aid stations were well manned and stocked. There weren’t
many spectators (see my comments about being a vacation community above for the
obvious reason) on the course but the houses were nice to see.

Then I hit mile 18.5 or so...a wave of heat and nausea swept over me and nearly stopped
me in my tracks. Heat stroke? Really? It wasn't that warm!?! The feeling passed within a
minute or so but it was enough to knock me off my stride. I thought about my friend about
to run her first 5k and I sucked it up and continued….I’ve been here before and will be again.

As I approached mile 20 I decided that with the course being as flat as it was I would try to
push it - hell it is only a 10k! That mile was back to what I was doing at the beginning….but
it didn't last long….Mile 23 everything fell apart. The nausea hit me again and this time it
didn't leave quickly. I reviewed everything I had done and I wouldn’t change a thing. Kept
moving forward and about a ¾ to a mile later it passed and then I could sort of jog a bit.

I kept in the front of my mind:

The fact that completing this state would mean single digits!!!

Knowing that there are people that can't do this and I can so I shouldn't whine about a little
discomfort.

That Dianne would be doing her first 5k next week

That my family is proud of my accomplishment

My kids LOVE the bling!

Finished the my 42nd marathon (41st state) in 4:41:45 making it my 5th fastest marathon.

Drove back to the airport after the race….and well…..did not fly back until Monday afternoon
-- but that is a whole nother story! ;)

Next up: Mad Marathon in Vermont - July 8th!

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