Newport News One City Marathon. 3:45 pace leader. This was the inaugural year for the event.
Distance: 26.69 miles
Total Time: 3:44:38
Pace: 8:25
First half: 1:52:10, 13.35 miles
Second half: 1:52:28, 13.34 miles
Weather: Low 40's at the start. Low 60's at the finish.
Course Difficulty: A few small hills in the beginning and around miles 15-16. Not much shade the second half, and some wind in the more exposed places. Overall, a pretty flat and fast point to point course.
Course Scenery: Quiet and pleasant roads the first half and then opening up to a more city like feel with some scenic stretches by the water.
Crowd Support: Honestly, better than expected. The first 10 miles are fairly quiet, but the final half felt pretty energized with schools, clubs, and bands cheering along the course.
Logistics: Not bad, though there was some confusion with shuttle buses in the morning, especially for relay teams. Some volunteers seemed inexperienced to handle typical marathon related questions. A couple finish line volunteers came across a bit snappy to tired runners. Otherwise, 99.99% of the volunteers were amazing.
Pre-race: Chilly wait in a parking lot with no place to stay warm. Some people waited 90 minutes due to the time gap between getting dropped off by shuttles and the marathon start.
Post-race: Very windy and chilly by the waterfront. Not fun if you are cold and sweaty. Free beer and pizza hit the spot. Layout was good, but very muddy due to rain the day before. Live entertainment was good, but far too loud.
Bling: The medal was fairly nice. It's a runner going through the victory arch, which is exactly how the finish looked. A nice nod to the city of Newport News.
Highlights: Giving a high five to Elvis, helping a 63 year old man named James qualify for the Boston Marathon, and being a part of an inaugural local event.
Shamrock Marathon. 3:45 pace leader.
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Distance: 26.46 miles
Total Time: 3:44:18
Pace: 8:28
First half: 1:52:01, 13.30 miles
Second half: 1:52:17, 13.16 miles
Elevation gain: 102 feet
Weather: High 40's to mid 50's. Winds 7-15 mph.
Course Difficulty: Flat and fast, with the exception of sometimes heavy wind. However, this year, the wind was a non factor for most runners. The only hills are the short climbs over the Rudee Inlet bridge at miles 2.5 and 9 and some slight inclines in Fort Story. The final 10k of the marathon is a net downhill with a fast finish on the boardwalk.
Course Scenery: A nice mix of oceanfront board walk, open road, military bases, and downtown Virginia Beach. Good variety, though some will find places like Fort Story a bit mentally draining.
Crowd Support: Pretty good, aside from the quiet six mile stretch on Shore Drive and Fort Story. Even without spectators there are enough fellow runners, soldiers, and volunteers to keep you energized all day.
Logistics: Good. Parking is still a bit rough, and expo parking can be an adventure, but still better than what you'd see at a race with 30k runners. The mile from 4 to 5 is still long at 1.20 miles and the mile from 5 to 6 is short at 0.90 miles.
Pre-race: It can be a cold and windy wait for folks, though many people huddle inside hotels and around a few fire pits to stay warm.
Post-race: Fantastic. Free beer, good food, and awesome live music inside a huge beachfront tent. Honestly, it's one of the best finish line parties I've experienced.
Bling: The medals were unique this year, but still nice, and plenty big. The black and glittered green looked better in person than in photos. The challenge medals were simply beautiful, especially the King Neptune.
Highlights: Shamrock, aka J&A Racing, treat their pace leaders extremely well and granted us access to the VIP tent all weekend. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the rock star pace team from Minnesota, which included talented runners Dan LaPlante, Jim Winkels, Don Sullivan, and Ben Drexler. I also got to hang out with running luminary Bart Yasso, US Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray, and one of the owners of Yuengling.
Emerald Isle Marathon. 4:00 pace leader.
Distance: 26.50 miles
Total Time: 4:00:03 (Had to stop for cars a mile from the finish, otherwise I would have been under 4 hours)
Pace: 9:05
First half: 1:59:53, 13.22 miles
Second half: 2:00:10, 13.28 miles
Weather: Hi 30's to low 50's. Wind 10-25 mph.
Course Difficulty: Surprisingly hilly, especially through the neighborhoods from miles 2-7. The out and back final 10 miles are mostly flat, but still lots of undulations where the running path overlaps entrances to stores and shopping centers. Strong head wind the final 8 miles, and the last mile is a rather hilly and windy bike path. Far hillier than you'd expect so close to the ocean and lots of turns the first half.
Course Scenery: A bit disappointing considering how beautiful Emerald Isle is. The most pleasant parts were watching the sunrise over the huge houses in the beginning and the few miles along the oceanfront road from miles 12-18. However, running the bike paths and main roads was fairly uninteresting, and you never actually see the ocean or beaches from the course because they are always obstructed by houses.
Crowd Support: Non existent, other than the friendly volunteers. The marathon only had 200 runners, which meant we were extremely spread out. We did merge with the half for six miles, which was the only time we ran with a substantial crowd, but after they turned back we were alone again. Other than some locals, runner's friends and family, and curious people who came out to their yards, there wasn't much crowd support. If you run the full, just plan for a fairly quiet day.
Logistics: 6:30am start meant we ran the first few miles in the dark. Not super safe on an unlit bike path, and several runners tripped on bumps and/or ran into dividers on the path. Parts of course were not closed to traffic and you have to be mindful of turning cars and traffic lights the final 5-6 miles. Other busy intersections and crossings were, however, managed well by volunteers and police officers. Mile markers were spray painted on the ground and sometimes easy to miss, though there were a handful that were marked with small signs. Lots of turns on the course, but volunteers were at all of them, and the combination of color coded arrows and signs made the course easy to follow.
Pre-race: They had a tent with heaters to stay warm which was nice. Parking was close to the start/finish, which meant a nice short walk.
Post-race: No food at the finish, other than water, bananas and mini Cliff bars. The only "real" food was a burrito truck you had to pay for. Granted the burritos were good, but it didn't thrill runners that their only option for food was buying something from a vendor. There was a post-race banquet, but it was at 5pm, which was a good 5-7 hours after most people finished their events. Unless you were staying the entire weekend, and staying nearby, it was not feasible to stick around and come back at 5pm. They should have just had the reception going as runners were finishing so we could have access to food and entertainment right then. Hopefully they didn't waste a lot of food on no shows, because it didn't seem like many people went.
Bling: A fairly traditional medal featuring runners and a colorful beach theme. Not small, but small compared to what medals look like nowadays.
Highlights: Running with a steadfast pack of 8 runners for 16 miles. Of that group only one, Catherine doing her first marathon, was able to stay with me. We ran the final 8 miles together until I urged her to run ahad at mile 24. Her goal was to finish her first marathon under 4 hours, and she did so by finishing 30 seconds ahead of me. Well done! I also loved the guy with the hand crank bike. Despite all the hills and half dozen speed bumps he was always grinning.
Charlottesville Marathon. 3:45 pace leader.
Total Time: 3:44:22
Distance: 26.72 (actual 26.2 mile split was just under 3:40)
Pace: 8:23
First Half: 1:51:10
Second Half: 1:53:12
Weather: Low 50's to low 60's. Very windy, with gusts of 35mph.
Elevation gain: 1,210
*Thanks to my co-pacer Scott Adams for managing the pacing after my gps died one mile in. I also worried we went out to fast after we split 1:51 for the first half, but he assured me the second half hills would catch up and the pace was good. Sure enough, between the hills and wind, we came in right on target pace. It also helps that Scott is a speedy veteran of numerous marathons and also knew the course well.
Course Difficulty: It's a tough course. Compared to courses like Richmond, Shamrock, and Marine Corps, people should be aware this course significantly more challenging. Total elevation gain is 1,210 feet for the current course, compared to Richmond with 550 feet of gain, 845 for Marine Corps, and a little over 100 feet for the pancake flat, but often windy Shamrock course. Some of the hills are short and steep, or as long as half a mile. With all the out and back sections, just remember that what goes up, must go down, and vice versa. The race starts with a steep downhill followed by long uphill, which is basically a prelude to the rest of the course. There is a climb with switchbacks around mile 15, a half mile uphill at 16, another short steep grunt near 18, the notorious hill at mile 24, and a few more smaller hills just before the finish. There aren't many true flat sections, so you are either going up, or down most of the race. The heavy wind on race day made the 2015 event harder than usual. Expect the course to run at least 5 minutes slower than your typical marathon time, unless you excel at hills, and possibly more if you have windy conditions like today. Also, with all the twists and turns, expect to factor in an extra 0.3-0.5 miles.
Course Scenery: It's a pretty course and provides a good tour of Charlottesville. You pass through local parks, the Rivanna River, and some of the more popular areas of downtown. The time of year also means you get a glimpse of the first blooms of spring, and the dogwoods and flowers were gorgeous along the course. The course has three distinct out and backs, so you get to see fellow runners and front runners most of the day.
Crowd Support: Not a ton, but there were enough clusters of enthusiastic volunteers, students, and locals to keep you feeling good. Don't expect live music or marching bands on the course and the town can be a little quiet earlier in the morning.
Logistics: Very easy, and race day packet pickup was a breeze. Parking, the start, and the finish were all within a block of each other, which meant very minimal walking. Access to and from was very easy. Traffic support by police at intersections was amazing and as well managed as a big city race. However, despite numerous markings and volunteers, we saw at least 3 half marathon runners miss their turns and accidentally join the marathoners.
Pre-race: Very easy access with parking close to the start. The only downside is that parking is expensive at $2.50 an hour with a max of $20 for the day. Richmond Marathon parking was only $5, and all other races this spring were free. Grabbing packet pickup items was very fast if you showed up earler, like before 6:15am, and there were no porta potty lines if you showed up 30-45 minutes before the start. You could easily wait in your car to stay warm and only be a 5 minute walk from the start.
Post-race: A pleasant and cozy atmosphere in court square. They had a small band playing which was nice, not too loud, and fitting for Charlottesville. The free beer and pizza tasted good, and I enjoyed some ice cream from the ice cream truck. Getting to relax, catch up with runners, and enjoy the spring sun was quite pleasant.
Bling: Charlottesville has been notorious for its small finisher medals, but this year was different. The medal this year was much bigger with a solid brass design. It was a nice tribute to UVA, with orange being used for the full medals and blue for the half. The UVA Rotunda building, or something that very much resembles it, is featured on both the medals and shirt design. The back of the medal is also a bottle opener. Shirts were a blue short sleeved technical with a similar logo as the medals.
Highlights: Running with a fun group and joking about UCan, Eye of the Tiger, and tackling the tough course with some humor. We got to reel in a few runners towards the end and got them into the finish looking strong.
Anyway, I had a fun 20 days. I realized my body is definitely capable of running marathons at easier efforts every weekend if it wanted to. But, that's not my goal. My only objective was to help other runners reach their objectives and I hope to continue that by pace leading many more marathons and halves to come.
1 comment:
Mike,
Can you contact me briansrunningadventures.com
Brian
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