Tag: marathon

[691] Marine Corps Marathon (2025)

My first Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) was 2017. I had a big goal that year, that I would improve my time from my last race, and maybe even would run fast enough qualify for the Boston Marathon. Little did I know how hard that would be. To this day, BQ is still some distance dream. MCM reminds me of my once foolish attempt.

My focus since has slowly shifted away from running fast to running long. Some of my ultra friends have made it to Boston. So it is not totally impossible for me to try. Maybe one day. But whenever I run the MCM, there is a nagging thought, I must make the Boston. My friend Charlie ran a BQ time at the MCM this year!

I don’t run the MCM every year. My last time I ran was in 2023 (report). I generally prefer a longer distance, like a 50k. This year 50k was not an option due to the record number of runners signing up for its 50th anniversary, and they need all the resources for the normal event. I was not going to sign up but a few friends hyped me up for a chance to run with them. In the end due to the big crowd, I did not get a chance to see any of them either.

I was slower and still was recovering from a lot of hard races I did, the Eastern States from August, Grindstone 100 in mid September, and most recent the Virginia 100 a few weeks back during October. My legs were still stiff. The pain was gone unlike when I ran the Bluff in Connecticut. So I knew I was healing. Yet legs were still a bit sore. I was not expecting to run a fast time. Why am I even running you ask me? I’m dead. Fomo maybe.

MCM is Caroline’s special race. She has done it 100 times, she claimed it was her 25th, but she has couple of those she did that she did not count. 25th or 26th all the same to me. I used her time of last year to base off my pace chart for this year. I ran a 5 hour in 2017 and 2023 would still put me at around 5 hours. My feeling was I likely would get 6 hours.

Coming off from an ultra, where I generally set my pace at 16-17 min mile pace, checking the time required for the marathon was a shocker. It says minimal pace is 14 min. That is a 6 hour finishing time. A sub 24 in a Hundo. A very fast time. Wait, this is a marathon. I was thinking if could I pull that off.

My previous marathon race pace chart was made for a 4:30 finishing time. I am not going use that. So at the very last minute, in early morning hours before it was time to get up (we set our alarm at 4 am) and there I was at 3 am in bed furiously remaking my race pace chart on my phone to a 5:30:00 finishing time. Caroline ran a 5:30 last year, so it was good to base the time off that. They still had her splits on their webpage. It helped a lot. I felt better once that was done. Alarmed went off and up we went getting dress and to the race. I kind of hinted how much sleep I was getting. Near none because I was always too hyper before a race. Generally, I don’t sleep well.

We were fortunate to be able to park close to the start near Pentagon City Mall. I read later on the news that Metro was packed. More than packed, they called it crush load. I have seen photos and videos. Nowhere would I want to be near the crowd.

We walked to the Pentagon with thousands other people. Note, we knew we had to get there two hours before the start. Even then there were a ton of people already.  We did wait around at a Starbucks earlier when it was not crowded. Caroline had to use the rest room. Yes, best advice is to hang out in a Starbucks, have breakfast before joining the crowd.

The walk to the Pentagon was not too far. I did not know the way, but Caroline was familiar with area. So she led the way. I don’t remember which way we went. Maybe went down the Army Navy Drive. Somehow eventually Pentagon came into view. It was still dark. None of us brought headlamps. Once we in the Pentagon’s parking lot, it was just a big wave people all going to the same direction. We joined those who were exiting from the Metro. We arrived at the race entrance for security check to enter the runner village. Security check was brief. I had a hydration vest on and thought it might cause delay like at the Philly marathon. Nope, a soldier took a look at it and my drop bag and waved us through.

So glad to get through that and we were off to UPS trucks location to stove away my drop bag. The trucks were numbered 1-40. My truck was 35, which was the first two digits of the bib number. I did not know it at the time and went to the nearnest truck to me, thinking truck 14 was an easy number to remember. Glad I did not have remember my truck number. I would have forgotten it by end of the race. There I was redirected to end of the field where the truck 35 was parked.

After that it was a walk to the start. In total I believed we walked 2 miles already. I suspect from our wave to the start line was another mile. Not that it matter to me but be warn, that is a lot of walking before we even started running if anyone is planning to run the MCM in the future.

People were everywhere. Many were sitting and stretching in the parking lot. Of course long lines at the potty.

I was glad I did not need to use the potty. Caroline did and she held it until we were about to start, thinking she was going to duck under a tree or bush to do her business. Oh there were a lot of people going to the brushes in the dark. Gross, yes. There were enough toilets I think for everyone, but still some people prefer the tree of scrubs for their business. Unfortunately or fortunately, a female soldier caught her as she was stepping away from the crowd and pointed her to use the real potty not too far ahead. She agreed. So I waited for her, since we were not moving too fast, since the crowd was just too big, to get to the real start line (arch). We were still in our corral at the time.

I was told the race in time past started officially at 8 am. This year the time was moved up to 7:20. I hope no one was late. Some will always be late.

We lined up in our corral. There were three waves, one for the red bibs, the yellow bibs and the green bibs. I had the green bib. Caroline has some grayish olive gold color different from mine since she was going the challenge run, that is the series of doing the half marathon plus the full marathon (not on the same weekend), and I was not sure what corral she was to be in. She said blue or something. There was no blue wave. I think she has the privilege to be in any corral. We lined up with the 5:00-5:30 group.

At 7:20, the howitzer fired, signaling the start. The race was officially underway. Note, there are roads or walkways on either side for people to get to their corrals. So we saw runners running on either side to rush up to the front either to get to their corral or to look friends, while we stood with the mass in the middle waiting for our turn to get to move up. There were no movement or very slowly were we moving. A few runners decided not to wait and left the crowd to go out onto the road to move ahead. I waited along with many others. No point to start early. It was like 40 minutes later, at 8:03 when I officially crossed the start line.

Not writing out of frustration, but for those who wanted to start earlier, they could move to the either side of the road.

There was no rush for me, since I knew it would be chip timed anyway, there would be no rush to get to the front. From experience of my first MCM, I knew I would run into a walk of people even if I rush. The best strategy was to trust that the race organizer would space out different wave groups so as not bunch together too much. Indeed, this year experience was much better than my former years. Maybe my pace is slower and there were not that many of us in the back since many have rushed on ahead.

I joined the 5:30 pace group. They were doing walk-run, 1 min walk and 2 min run. Their run was like 10 min pace and the walk was brisk fast walk. Still the first few miles, they were slightly behind pace, according to my pace chart. We should be doing around a 13 min pace, but we were moving at a 14 min pace. I was a bit impatient. Caroline already ran off by herself. I could hear her somewhere over the noise of the crowd, hoohoo-ing as she ran.

Slowly but surely I got ahead of the 5:30 group as we crossed on the Key Bridge into Georgetown. The sun was beautiful over the Potomac. I remember during the 50k, the instructions were 50k goes left and marathon course goes to the right. Today, everyone would be turning right into Georgetown. The crowd was cheering as we reached Georgetown.

I carried my hydration pack so I did not need to stop for water. From Georgetown to Rock Creek. Seeing the 5k marker and then 10k. I did a bit of course study the night before so I knew the course, at least the important junctions, though I wish I knew every mile of it. The turn around at Rock Creek was at mile 7.5. That was a long way. My feet started get tired by mile 8. We saw the slack wagons (buses) that marked the tail end of the marathon, and they would pick up runners who decided to drop or who could not make the pace. We cheered runners who were at the very back.

I was happy once we got to the Kennedy Center and on our way to Haynes Point. Soon we reached the Blue mile where the halfway point is. Caroline just so happened to pop right up from behind. I passed her somewhere and did realize. It reminded me I caught up to her there in 2023 when I was running the 50k.

Another thing I looked toward at Haynes Point was someone set a table with adult beverages. I was hoping they would be there this year. And they were. Oh so lovely. They had OJ, Whiskey shot, and Miller Lite. I chose the W. That got me going and off I went.

We reached mile 15 and arrived at the DC gauntlet. A runner was struggling so hard. This was where people started bonking, aka, hitting the walk in marathon speak. I reassured him he will beat the Bridge, the checkpoint at mile 20 we need cross by 1:33. He has two hours and half, plenty of time. People around started asking how many more miles and such. I felt like an experienced runner on this course, and started giving out this and that stats.

At couple miles later an ultra friend called out. Wow who could find me in this sea of faces? It was Keith!  Then David at mile 19, and Mike at mile 20. My wheel came off at mile 20. I was out of water and I finished all my gummies. I have beat the Bridge, the 14 street bridge crossing over the Potomac into Crystal City. I have plenty of time to beat the Crystal City Gaunlet. But I was not running any more.

I had to start walking. Just like in ultras, when you can’t run any more, you fall back to trusty walking pace. There were sea of people. It was a joy to see so many runners. On the other bridge, I395, was bumper to bumper traffic, some cars would toot their horns at us and we waved back at them. What a long bridge! A mile! Good thing it was not very hot this year.

Once arrived on the other side, we ran around a big parking lot and entered into Crystal City. The crowd and the energy their was off the chart. People were crowding into the running lanes. Whole street was filled with people shouting and all. Note, we were not fast any more. I could hardly keep a foot in front of another as we stumbled down Crystal City Drive. It was a mile out and turn around. We had a few miles left.

I reached 40k at 5 hours.   Less than 2 miles to go. My legs failed me the second time at mile 25. I knew the last mile is always the longest. We just had to walk it out. Many were walking and some were pushing hard to finish it. It was humbling, as fast as I wanted to go, I had to walk it. Highway 110, there were no crowd here. Just a long road. We knew a hill at the end waiting for us. And soon enough the hill came into sight. Mustering all I had, we ran up and into the finishing chute. Time of 5:19.

It was a great finish. The time was way better than I had hoped for. This was a similar time as the Virginia Marathon I did in spring, but that one had way more hills. I felt I ran fast and I ran hard.

We slowly made our way out the finisher village. People were everywhere. I gathered my drop bag, changed my clothes, and had my meal. For those not from the area, there are plenty reataurants right in Rosslyn as runners exited out. I went to a Korean Carryout, Seoul Spice and had two bowls of bulgogi rice. Caroline finished 20 minutes after me. She met me up outside. All said and done it was 5 pm by the time we left. We went out for a real dinner to Yechong (in Annadale) to mark our successful run. I could always eat some more.

We did not use metro but had to walk couple miles back to Pentagon City. I later read Metro had serious issues that day. Many took a long time to get to where needed to get to and some couldn’t get to where needed since they closed Rosslyn station for couple hours due to crowding. The line for Metro was wrapping around the block. I was happy I did not have to rely on Metro like in did in other years.

Any take away from this race? It was a fun run to test truly what my recent speed is. I like it being short enough and hard enough, yes right at the tip between a hard ultra and a short run. Marathon is a good balance for me. I like hard long race, and a marathon just hits the spot. I know, a lot of friend would not consider a marathon as an easy run. I have done enough (on my personal tracking page, I reached 100 races of marathon or longer distances). Wohoo.

2025-11-04
[669] Virginia Marathon

Things are getting busy for me, so I won’t be able to do a long post like I always want.

It has been a long time since I ran a marathon. Back in the days, I did like 4-5 every years. Last year, I only ran twice. This year, this was my first. I have been running a lot, and mostly ultras the past year. The marathon distance I love was but had to put away to focus on the 100 mile distance. Now finally, got to do it again.

Some stats: I ran a total 14 one-hundred-mile races up to now and last year, I did eight of them. In about the same time frame, I ran 15 (states) marathons. It showed a transition from going from marathons to ultras. (I haven’t counted up exactly how many marathons I have done, maybe guessing around 30).

In between, I ran 50k and other distances like recently a 40 mile, or a timed event such as 6 hours or 12 hours. In total I have done about 90 marathons and ultras combined (with a few dnfs, so the exact number of races finished is not certain). Yes, I likely with reach 100th race this year.

I love doing a marathon as much as running a 5k. I felt marathon is my thing. 50k, 50 mile, or a 100 mile, those distances are fun, but nothing is like running a marathon. I can get really fast at some early portion, then settling in a good pace, and then struggling to reach the finish line, and the relief once stepping across it.

We had an excellent spring weather. It was cool and chill in the morning. We arrived at a little after 6:30 in the morning (set 4 am alarm clock, with hitting the snooze button once, but finally got up at 4:30). It was about an hour drive for us.

I packed a can of chicken noodle soup. It was not enough and my friend shared with me her peanut butter banana sandwiches and apple slices. Still they were not enough, but oh well, I got to run with what was in me. I had a heavy dinner the night before too, but I also ran a half marathon (Annapolis Half, no write-up posted yet, and might not get around to it), so maybe, I was lacking some calories.

The course was beautiful but hilly. It had a total 3000 ft of elevation gain, a small mountain (Buck Hollow Trail, we did a week earlier, has a climb has 2600 ft, from parking to Summit, note for international audience, meter conversion ft, is about 1/3 of it), which is about 1000 meters.

early first mile

Our start time was 8 am. The sun just rose for not too long. The first mile was not easy. We immediately got some rolling hills. I just took it slow.

One hour in, we reached mile 4. I got into my pace. We had a segment of 6 miles (about 3 miles out and then 3 miles back). It was still rolling hills. I love the out and back because you get to see the runners that are ahead as they loop back and then we get to see the runners from behind.

They had sweepers! Often sweepers for marathons are done in a van or truck, but this race, they had couple volunterts at the last runner following.

I saw a few of my friends. Christine and Chris. We ran Stone Mill two years ago with her husband and she volunteered the last one. Caroline’s friend took a picture of me. I made new friends.

My other friend David was running in the 20 mile distance called a merikos. I have never heard of a merikos. He started half hour later. My goal was to catch up to him. It was likely impossible but I was like shooting the moon to try it anyway. David actually ran a minute per mile pace faster than me, so really no chance in that for me to catch up.

At mile 11 after the first out and back, we saw the half marathon people joined in. They took the righthand branch and we were heading for a left turn for another out and back with the merikos runners. Merikos runners were actually coming back so I saw David, thinking, I was maybe 30 minutes behind. In reality, I was closer to an hour behind by then. The going out portion was mostly uphill. It was another nearly 6 miles (3 miles out and 3 miles back). I reached the top around 10:45 at maybe mile 14-15.

On this portion, I met new friends, Joseph and MaryJane. They were like couple minutes behind me. I was able to chat with Joseph a bit. He came down from NYC and this was his second marathon and he will tackle a 50 miler in May. Quite a feat. It was like looking at my young self. He was so enthusiastic. MaryJane and I were ones who hooted loudly at every runner we saw, shouting “Good Job, your doing great!” and such. It was fun for me.

We got to mile 17. We joined back into the main crowd now with runners having red bibs (half marathoners), light blue bibs (merikos), and dark blue/black bibs (marathons). It was still another out and back but the climbing was less severe so felt fast for me. I think the out portion was mostly downhill. By noon, I reached the turn around point around mile19.5. Now only six miles to the finish. It was mostly uphill now. I was hoping to get back by one pm. Feet were heavy. I walked ocassionally. Then there were 3 miles left. Wanting to use the rest room, I stopped to do it, thinking, hey it might take me another hour to get back to the finish, better to stop now. After my brief break, I decided to try finishing before 1:30 pm. The time was 12:55. So I busted out running near a 10 minute pace. It felt fast. I crossed the mat at 1:25. My official net time was 05:25:50. It is one of my slower marathons, when in the past, my acceptable time was around 4:30.

Still, I think I had fun. It was a beautiful course. I met wonderful people and ran with my friends. We stayed around for chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk, and to see other people finishing. Anna and Yana came in. They were from the Virginia Happy Trail and said we will see each other again at the Bull Run in two weeks. I don’t remember seeing them before until at this race. We met some other 50 states people. A family/friends came down from NY and did the Annapolis Half the day before and then ran the Virginia half marathon. I said me too, I did that. They took our photos at the finish for us.

We waited for our last friend to come in. She did it. It was a waiting game because we don’t know if she had dropped but the course official said the sweepers were a mile away, so we knew it would not be too long. Then our friend showed up. Happy to see the appreciation. David probably waited for a long time for me too, so in the same way we waited for others.

That is the conclusion of my 2025 first marathon (and might be the only one). A look back at 2024 first marathon (in taipei, here). The Virginia Marathon also reminded me of Lake Hayden Marathon I did in 2023. It also reminds me the Gettysburg Marathon (2020). People asked me, which marathon is the best, I said all of them. This one is the best so far for this year 🙂

2025-03-24
[652] Richmond Marathon

I had a good experience at America’s Friendliest Marathon, in Richmond Virginia.

This is my home state and I have wanted to run it since I started running marathons 7-8 years ago.

Richmond Marathon being in the fall, means the race date usually conflicts with my other races.

I aim to do all 50 states and Virginia was the first state I completed (Charlottesville Marathon in 2017). So, it was never a do-or-die for me. I just was bidding me time to find the right opportunity to do it.

Richmond would have been my first marathon, but I was not ready in 2016. By Spring 2017, I did the Charlottesville one because I could not wait till November. Then I did the Marine Corps, so Richmond was put off. 2018, 2019, not sure why I did not sign up, but each year was busier than the year before.

In 2020, I signed up, but it was canceled due to Ro’na and deferred for next three years since for various reasons. In the end, I ran it as a virtual marathon in 2022, because it could not be deferred for another year.

I did not get to run on the actual course until now.

2023, I did not sign up since it was conflict with Stone Mill 50, a race I have been doing for four years in a row since 2020.

2024, this year was my 5th time at Stone Mill. I thought I would not be able to run in the Richmond Marathon again. But the way calendar works, Stone Mill was a week ahead or the Richmond Marathon was a week later, so when I checked my schedule, I found I could run it.

It was just a week after Stone Mill 50. It was fine. I ran plenty of back to back week of long runs. This is no different. My pace at Stone Mill was not too fast, so I saved my legs. My body and legs were ready.

We had a lovely weekend. By now I know plenty of people, so every I go, I would run into people I know.

We went down the night before to save the early morning trip. I still woke up at 4. The race was set to start at 7. It was not my first time in Richmond, so I know, how to battle against 30,000+ cars seeking a parking spot, by going in two hours before everyone. By the way, if one is willing to afford staying at a hotel near the start, then theres no need to worry about parking. We stayed at Ashland, which was about 20-30 minutes away, so we did not pay a lot for our hotel.

We arrived at 5:30. My friend needed to pick up her bib. They already closed some of the roads. Lucky for us, we found a street parking on 7th and Cary. This was near the finish. It was very convenience for us. Note, the start and finish is not the same, but is maybe a mile apart. I think most parking places, were closer to the start. They do have shuttles at the end of the race to bus people back to the start.

So after we got our bibs, we went back to the car to wait. I had to use the potty. They had plenty at the start. But I headed to the finish line, thinking there wouldn’t be a line there for the potty. Lucky for me, I found one from a construction place, but that probably not a good idea, because most potty were locked.

Traffic filled Richmond roads as last minute runners arriving trying to find a parking garage.

The sun rose. It was magnificent. Temperature warmed up. I wore a long sleeve, plus a T-shirt inside. The temperature high was 65F (15C). Many people wore extra jackets, and you could ditch your outer layers at the start on the side of the road. They would donate them afterward. I love all my shirts, so that never would be my way. I just tied my shirt around my waist when it got warmer.

A runner, spotted my friend, we took a picture together. By 6:45, we sang the anthem.

Wheel chair division started first. Soon they let the first wave out. We stood in the middle on the sidewalk watching runners ran by. Soon, we saw the 3:30 pacer, then 4:00 hr pacer. We joined in somewhere before the 4:30 pacer passed. Note, we did not bib mule! We just did not get into the coral until it was time to set off. They did not block the sidewalk with fences.

We set off at a brisk pace. I normally could run a 4:30 marathon, but I knew early on this one was not it.

Many people passed us by. This marathon, they had a special design on the bib (a bib 1st, sticker)  to indicate a runner is a first time running a marathon. So, I and the crowd started cheering for all the 1st time runner passing us.

The course boasted about being the friendliest marathon. Indeed there were people cheering us, almost every where. It was very lively. They had live bands. Even first mile, the adult beverages were laid out, and were labeled as “H20”. This was from private citizens. However, virginia still has some older laws that prohibit serving alcohol in public. There was one stand that labeled as “Roullete”. I think every drink is alcoholic. Maybe one is water to make it interesting.

We had aid stations almost every couple miles. Near the finish, it was an aid station at every mile. I never felt crowded. They spaced them on either side of the road. Each station table was spaced out. The sport drinks tables were placed farther down. So, as least for me, the mid-to back of the pack, it was never where we would run into a wall of runners. And most importantly, they were never out of water.

Some aid stations, had towels, and some stations had gels for us.

For me, I carried a hydration pack. As an ultra runner, I feel naked without my water pack while out running. I know I could probably run with just the aid station water. I carried about 1 L on me. I still stopped at the aid tables for gels and Nuun, their sport drinks of choice for the day.

I got candies at many places from the crowd. I had a shot of fireball. Most of the good stuffs were on the left side of the road or in the median. I ran usually toward the right side, so I missed out a lot of stops offerred by private citizens. Also, I did not run to the tangent in this race as I have done in many marathons. It might be half a mile different!

It might be I made too many stops, my time was slower than my average.

By halfway, my pace degraded significantly. I left my friend to fight for herself. One had to manage his own race.

Course. Richmond is not a flat course. I don’t think it was as hilly as Baltimore, but we had constant ups and downs. All hills were runnable. I rarely saw anyone walk on the hills.

The course was scenic. We ran along side the river somewhere. We ran through Richmond, then to suburb then back to downtown. My friend likes the older buildings and platation shutters. It is a historic place. We ran through VCU, Virginia Commowealth University.

Traffic was not an issue for us as it was at Baltimore. They had police at every intersection and we had whole road to run on most of the time. There was milage sign for every mile.

Marathon started before the half. I did not have to merge back with the half, since they were (mostly) finished before I got to back to the merge point. I don’t know if the front runners would be running into a wall of half marathon runners. I saw they do have direction signs to let the half marathon runners know to stay to left side of the road and I guess marathoners run on the right side. I did not get to see this in action since everyone around me were marathoners with maybe one or two half marathoners. Half marathon started a bit later but not too late, so it was almost instantaneous. They also have an 8k event.

The rest of the miles were not interesting. Maybe at mile 14-15 I met a lady, Kelly. I was trying to pick up a discarded gel pack, thinking someone had dropped it, then found it was opened. So I threw it away. Kelly saw me, and offered hers to me showing she has three or four she just picked up at the aid station. I thanked her but did not take any since I did just use a gel at the aid station. We talked. She was a much faster runner than me so she was off. Few miles later, I saw a sign held up by some family member, with the name Kellie, I shouted, go Kelly. Kelly replied back, go Antin. Wow, it was the same Kelly, because, who would know my name? I was laughing because by then I had forgotten her and then found her again.

Mile 20 onward was hard. We crossed a bridge to be back to the city. The city does not seem to be near. We directed to run north on Arthur Ashe. I was wondering when will we every turned back south. Then aid station came at every mile. A lady who was pacing her friends (note pacing is not allowed), but here two women were pacing her friend on each side. She turned to me, giving me some encouraging words, so I had the kick again. I knew them, from since mile 13. I passed them earlier and now they were passing me back.

I ran on to the finish. It was downhill. I turned to my left. It was another woman. She looked older than me but very happy. She smiled back. We said something, none of us remember, but the crowd was cheering. I said, lets race to the finish. All out. We all ran full stides down hill and finished, side by side.

I was very happy to got in before 5 hour was up.

We had a lot of swags. We were offerred our medals and water. My friends from the Happy Trails were serving at the towel and hat stations. I love my towel.

Then my friend Caroline finished. There were others too but we did not get to see them. We went for the pizza tent and then the beer tent. It was a good day. So good, I could not remember where I left my phone. So we spent the next couple hours retracing our steps and stopping by the info and merchandise booths. In the end, using where-my-phone website, we found it to be in the car. Haha! It was there the whole time. The day ended well. It was then a long drive home (kind of, we went camping, but that’s another story).

2024-11-18
[624] – I’m feeling it

My excitement is bubling up as we step closer to May!

Wait, April is not even over.

To other people, I always have a bunch of races. True, so many, even I can’t keep track of them.

We just finish the BRR 50, which was a big race for me.

Before then, I ran the New Taipei WJS Marathon, kind of big.

And before then, it was the Clearwater Marathon.

I tried to cover up my excitement. It is just the first one. A izzy bitzy race. Nothing to it.

All them is setting up for this month! My first true 100 mile for this year (coming in two weeks).

I will be running with a friend, Lynne, in two weeks and I am getting her excited too. (Trying to persuade her to sign up another 100 mile, Forgotten Florida, before we dive into this monster, aka, C&O100). I tried to hide it, like you not suppose to name it before the race start, otherwise bad thing will happen. Think of Burning River. I told my mom don’t get too excited before the race because you don’t know if there will be a finish at the end. Runners (me) are superstitious. Don’t jinx it.

Actually, I will be running with many friends. It is near where I am so a lot local runners will be doing it. Which race? The C&O Canal! I have been waiting for this race since the begining. A very long time ago. I will write more in my race report when it is done.

But for now, here for this week, I will be doing the Roanoke Double Marathon (last year event). This is also a marathon I wanted to do for very long time ago. I can’t remember when I did the first time, in 2019 maybe? It is billed as America’s hardest road marathon with 7000 ft of climbing (I think they lie, because they might of included the down elevation with the up, maybe only half of that is real), but yes it is very hard compare to a normal marathon, where usually you see 100-200 ft change with the exception of Lake Hayden in Idaho. Most people want to run on a flat course, but for those into bruishing themselves with hill workouts, come to run the Roanoke Marathon. It’s actual name is something like Blue Ridge Bluecross Anthem Marathon or something. I always call it the Roanoke Marathon.

Here is the kicker, I want to do a doubler, that is to run it twice. Run one at night before anyone show up and run it again with everyone in the morning. It is actually a thing.

Huhuhuhu. I am puffing myself up. Actually for trail runner, the elevation is not that much. It ia a lot but compares to trail, it is quite normal. A lot of my friends actually are heading to the Promise Land to do real mountain running. So I can’t really brag that mine is the baddest. Where for them, they would say what are you crying about.

Why I am doing it? I needed a bit of road running for my up and coming 100 milers. This is a good fit.

A bit of bad news, my one and only marathon in a new state this year, Providence Marathon in Rhode Island, has been canceled. That state is messed up. I should have run the New Port Marathon last weekend if I knew earlier it was going to be like this. There is another Newport Marathon in the fall. Yes, the state is messed up, trying to confuse out-of-state runners. How many new ports are there? (3)

I am a bit heart broken. Yet it is also an opportunity. I quickly signed up for a 100K in Atlanta, the Great Southern Endurance Run. I have been also longing to do this one since I started my 100 mile journey in 2020. Those who have been followed my post for long would remember couple summer ago, I took two trips to Atlanta but came back with nothing. This year is it! I am doing it. (GSER first attempt, second attempt). Granted those two times were a 100 mile attempt, this time it is just a 100k (62 miles). Also this time, we no longer need to climb up to Kennesaw Mountain to start the run. That was a wicked climb. We will start at the foot and no need to climb up. Park service would not allow us to go in. Oh well. I wish I could stay an extra day to snap a photo up there. Please let me finish this big project. GSER.

Why am I doing this? Last heat training session and last long run before everything goes crazy. (MMT and OD100). Yes everything. And Western States. Saying it 10 times fast. I am going crazy and hyberventilating. I will talk more about it in my race report.

Anyway, there are just too many races to keep track of. I will take one race at a time. If I am to die today, I am dying happy, but I always want to do just one more race! Just one more time.

2024-04-18
[Day594] Space Coast

Little did I know there is a bigger excitement (or plan) for me for next year. The news of me getting selected to run the Western States next year put a different light on everything, including the things I originally planned to write like this Space Coast Marathon. The year is not over yet for me. I also lost for words and my memory from Space Coast seems a little too distanced away for me to recall.

Why is that? I will try as best to remember about this race not too long ago over the Thanksgiving weekend and then will move on to the next post. Because I have still a lot to say, because a lot had happened this few days.

Space Coast crossed my mind as a race to run from time to time. First I wanted to see rockets. Second I wanted to see Cocoa Beach. Actually, I don’t really want to see the rocket itself. What I wanted to see was the launching of the rocket. I like to see the monent when force pushing the rocket upward exceeds the force of gravity. As a little delusion myself think I could see a space launch there every day, like fireworks at night, right?

As for Cocoa Beach, it is because of Mario Kart, and it probably has nothing to do with reality. I was glad when I found out Cocoa Beach actually exists though it might not be like in the game. Space Coast Marathon actually takes place near it. It seems silly to pick a race because of a childhood’s memory of a video game. But anyway, those were my reasons. Finally, of course to cross one of my 50 states races.

I did not plan to go down to Florida to run Space Coast this year because, I thought my schedule was too full already. In the beginning of the year, one of my friends wanted to go. So I started making plans, like checking for airfare, researching the race, the race cost, the registration, the pre-race instructions and so forth. Then I found it takes place during Thanksgiving. I was then reluctant to sign up because airfare would be higher and traveling would be hectics with so many other people flying during the holiday.

As the day of the race approached, the airfare lowered a bit and I bit my tongue to commit, even after my friend backed out from going. I was able to find a time where I did not have to fly a red-eye flight for cheap ticket. I also decided instead of flying out Thurday or Friday, I flew on Saturday to save some money and also to spend the holiday at home. I could come back immediately Sunday night. The schedule just worked out. I saved a night or two on hotel too.

Car rental was cheaper than I expected. There were offers of $5-$15 car rental. It was too good to be true. Indeed. I won’t call it a scam but it was close to one. If it is really a scam, the government would have shut it down. The reason for the low prices was because they were located off airport. The company I picked, while promised free shuttle pick up at the airport once I arrived, did not show after an hour of waiting. There was a phone number to call but it connected to an auto prompt system. I then checked on the company’s reviews (yes, should have done that first), everyone said it is a scam and the wait for a car is very long and they would nickle and dime you. The moment I saw that, I understood, I have been fooled. Instead of waiting more time to connect to a teller, I walked back into the airport where they had counters for the national brand car rental companies. I randomly chose one on the spot I know should be cheap. Went online to make an immediate reservation. I got my car in less than 5-10 minutes. Easy. The car was immediately ready for pickup without a hassle. I lost money with my first rental, but I figured I do not have an energy to fight for my back. The second rental was not too expensive either, maybe few times more, but the total was still way below the national average. I had car rentals that were more expensive than my hotel bills. This here was still relatively cheap, I think between $15-20. Much cheaper than hailing for an Uber ride.

I stayed at a cheaper hotel as usual instead of the race’s host hotel. The same afternoon, I went to pick up my race package. I believe mailing the race bib ahead of time was not an option. We had to pick it up in person.

I stayed a bit. The package pick up was the same location as the start and finish line. Not exactly the same but they were in the vicinity. I also learned that parking spots would be hard to come by at the Cocoa Water Front Park.

For race day, we had several different options where to park. I parked at the public library which was about maybe half a mile away. I did not mind the walk. There were closer parking lots maybe within a quarter mile from the start, but I felt I might not be that lucky person to get spot and also after the race finished, I might have a hard time getting out among all the traffic. Library seemed to be the location not affected by the race day road closures.

Geography. The race is in the city Cocoa which is different from Cocoa Beach. About maybe 7 miles away. It is not too far away. I did not know that until I arrived (I am not that good at remembering what I read in my research). The host hotels and my hotel were in the island over. I stayed on Merritt Island. Due to time constraint, I did not explore the place much. I do like the place because it reminded me of my former country in Vietnam, at least just a bit because of the tropical weather. Florida is pleasant to visit in the winter. It is a place I want to stay after I retired as do so many people.

Instead of visiting Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach, I decided to walk around the area near my hotel. I walked maybe couple miles to a buffet place and had an early dinner and then walked back. By the time I got back, the sun had set and it was the right time to sleep because I would have to be up early.

I believe the race started at 6:30, my memory is a bit vague now. I had to be up by 3:30 AM to be at the race parking lot by 4, to fight for my spot. They do have a shuttle on Merritt Island, but I did not want to depend on the shuttle since I wanted to stay around after the race and would not want to be bounded by the shuttle’s schedule. I believed I was a bit late arriving than what planned, but I was at the Library a little after 4. There were other runners arrived but I did get a parking spot.

Then it was the long wait for the start. It might seem long to wait for two hours but by the time I walked from the car to the start, there was a decent amount of time spent. The place already had people, milling about. Soon more and more arrived as the shuttle buses came. I got everything I needed. There were about a thousand marathon runners and maybe twice as many for the half marathoners. The place probably had few thousand people, plus volunteers, vendors, and friends and families.

They offered drop bag service but to me the weather was perfect and I did not need to wear a jacket, so did not have anything to drop off. I guess, it was good to change into clean clothes once the race is done.

I spent my time waiting for the bathroom. Since, I arrived early, the line was not too long. I also spent my time walking around. It was good to know exactly where I was. I am not a map reading person. I could read map but I prefer to actually walk the place to know my location and soak it in. Walking around served as a warm up. So yes, I walked around for two hours before the marathon start.

The course is easier than most other marathons I did. The start and finish is located in the middle. It is an out and back to the north for a half marathon and another out and back to the south for the second half marathon. We as marathon runners would run both the north and then southern route. There is no way of getting lost except when near the finish when we arrive back at the city Cocoa or unless they start to close the course, then yes, one would need to know where to go.

The half marathoners could choose which ever direction they wanted to run beforehand (the bib is color coded, so one can’t change their mind on the spot). The north side has a stricter time limit while the south side does not have time limit other than when the full marathon ends at 7:30 hours (and when the break down the aid stations and reopen the roads). They also have a sweep wagon to pick up runners. North runner would start first before the people who were running the south course.

We started in the middle of the street. North bound half marathoners started with us in the dark. I don’t remember if I wore a headlamp because it was still dark. With so many people, generally you don’t need one. Some did. I think I didn’t wear one. The streets I believe were lit.

I started at the very last wave. They had informal corrals. I met an older gentleman, probably the oldest runner on the course. His name was Bob. He has done Space Coast 8-10 times. He told me about the roads etc because I said I don’t know where to go because I had not really study the course. He said he knows the course by heart because he would be coming in after they take down the directions, etc.

The morning was nice. Since I started very last, I was slowly catching up. I passed different pacers. I don’t remember but I felt they had more pacers here than at the Philadelphia marathon, at least for the slower people. Soon I caught up to the 5:00 pace groups. There were two pacers. One would run an even pace and another would do run/walk. I think that was pretty interesting.

My goal of that day was to beat the 5 hour people. I know I don’t want to join the pace group but would go on my own.

Soon I caught up to the 4:45 and then passed them. I was straining to see the 4:30 people. It was not my day. The weather was getting warmer. I was tired soon. Miles went by. We had aid stations every two miles or so. Some neighbors would also set out their tables with adult beverages and some had nice fresh fruits, breads and snacks. Some only leave a cooler with a sign letting us know the snacks or food are for us. Not many people are brave enough to try stranger’s food, besides I think, everyone remember the rule of not trying new things on race day!

For me I had an iron stomach so I would stop at any stations available but avoid the official ones due to crowding.

I felt the crowd support and atmosphere was great. It is a small town, so it would not be like Philadelphia, but people were welcoming and I had a good time.

The road was closed for us. Though some residents (one, at least) did try to drive among the crowd of runners. Some runners were trying to report that to the police or security officers.

I did fine the first half. It is usually the second half that give me trouble. I got to the halfway point, and went out for the south route. There I saw the the fast marathoners coming in for the finish as well as the half marathoners.

I ran with couple people. I saw Bob a few times, usually at some turn around points and I waved and encouraged him. He remembered me and pressed on. I know for him it is a harder race than it was for me.

I had few more miles left before finishing. The 4:45 pacer passed me back. I was trying to hold off the 5:00 pacers. The finishing loop was pretty exciting. We came out at the park where the expo was and people who finished were staying around to cheer. It was where they served food, drinks and music. So I thought it must be the finish around the corner. People were cheering me on, so I ran faster.

Little did I know the finish was maybe half more to 3 quarters of a mile. It was to the end of the road that is far far away near the bridge that crosses to Merritt Island. Interesting indeed. Of course, after finishing, runners would have to walk back to the Park where the party was held. Fun indeed on tired legs. Usually, there were friends waiting and walking along, so it would not be too bad.

I finished under 5. I think around 4:53 (too lazy to look it up). I was torn whether to stay at the finish and cheer for people who were about to enter in or walk to to Park to enjoy myself with food and stuff.

I chose to walk back. And cheered at the Park and scammed runners like I was scammed earlier by saying the finish is just a little more around the corner. Fun. Some runners were jaitbaited but some knew the course and would not be fooled.

I stayed for three more hours or so. Soon there were fewer people finishing. They were already taking down the baricades on the road from the Park to where the finish line was. Some runners coming in around 7 hours to later were confused as where to go. I acted as a race course volunteer and pointed to people which way to go. Some had family or friends to guide them. Some I ran with with them.

Soon after a while, it seemed nobody would appear, I decided to walk further up the course to try to find Bob. I found one runner who was still on the course and I asked him, if he had seen Bob. He said is here wearing such and such color. I said yes. He saw him. He said while at a mile out, there was a bus/van to pick up runners since they would not make it to the finish by 7:30 hours. Many got on the bus, but not him (the guy I was taking to). He said there would be no way for him to quit a mile out even if the time has expired. He though was not sure if Bob has quit. In his opinion, Bob would not do so. I didn’t think so either.

So I waited a bit more. Bob did show up. I ran with Bob to the finish. He came in under 8 hours. I thought he was the last runner, but there was another runner after him. They gave him a medal and he was considered an official finisher. I was so happy for him.

I learned a bit, that is never give up even if it passed the impossible. Even though the race might close at 7:30 hours but they might also still keep the clock runners for those who refused to quit.

The rest of my day in Florida was uneventful. I went for sushi. Then I had to make my connection home. The airport was as busy as it could be. I got through security without any issues (through the pre-check line). It was a long wait for my plane at 9 pm. It was delayed and so forth. The food court was too crowded. I was hungry but was not willing to wait in line. Anyway, it was as expected a long trip home. Also about the car rental, I had forgotten which company I got my car from and that was fun little trip I took driving around to find out. Later, I found my rental agreement and everything was solved.

Overall, I enjoyed my travel and my run. I saw many runners. Some were very grateful when they arrived at near the finish to see me cheered and encouraged them. One lady complained that she had to run still a bit more. I shared with her, she does not have to, she can stop here, however, both she and I knew it wouldn’t be a finish. She reluctantly ran the course. Later she came back to thank me. I asked, does that last mile worth it? She said certaintly, beaming with her medal in hand.

2023-12-05
[Day586] MCM48

Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is a favorite for many people. It has a cult following. I met many people who have done this race year after year. This year we are back to what it was used to be: a lot of people, heat, and thanks to the soldiers, the event was as well run as it could be. There were a few oopsies but they were quickly mitigated.

First the heat. We knew ahead of time it was going to be a hot one. MCM sent out multiple emails on this regard. One of the small oops, was when people started fainting at noon, the race chose to “close” the race early by diverging runners in stages to a shorter course. I heard rumors that they ran out of water. They had more than a gallon per runner. I personally think that is more than enough. I carried my own water though.

We knew ahead there were three cutoffs called the gaunlets. DC gaunlet was first to be closed and diverting running starting at 12:00 pm, 30 minutes early. Then the Bridge, not sure if this is the same as the DC gauntlet, but they started to close at 12:30 and moved people over to Crystal City. There was the Crystal city gauntlet, that also had a shorter version. In total, I think runners could shorten about 6-9 miles. However, many of those in the tail end were not doing that great. The sad part is they don’t receive an official finish.

My MCM44 report is very different from this year. I did mostly the same thing. Woke up at 3 AM. I arrived at the Metro early 45 minutes before they were scheduled to be open. We could take the train at 5 AM. Last time, I took the train at 6 AM. I almost missed the race that year. This year, I did not have to do a transfer at Rosslyn, but instead I exited the station there and walked about a mile to enter the race area. I followed a runner who had used this way before. There was no crowd. Using the Rosslyn’s entrance was a vast improvement over the Pentagon exit.

The best thing of this year was running with many people I know. I recognized several people I rode the Metro with that morning while on the course.

There were also a dozen of my running friends who were in the race. However, due to the sheer size of the number of runners, it was almost impossible to recognize anyone I know. I only came across two people on the course. And one before the race began and one at the finish. So a total of 4 out of like a dozen people I knew that ran the race.

My friend Tony E came from Colorado, and I met him at the first mile. Lynn came from New York, and I saw her before the 50K start. It was actually she saw me first and called out, because she went up to the 50K starting area, probably to look for me and someone, but she was actually running the marathon. She said her friend is the pacer for 6:30 hour group in the 50K. It was the group I was planning to stay with. That pacer had paced me before.

Lauren lives in DC, but her sister Liz came from out of town to cheer and support her. I only saw them at the finish. They were wearing matching outfit. I would not have recognized her. I might have been ahead of her when the 50K rejoined back with the regular marathon course.

My friend Scott, whom I met at Iron Mountain and Grindstone this year, drove from North Carolina for this. He said this was his first road race in 9 years. And he PR’d it, settling his personal record on the course and running his best.

I saw Scott long after he had finished, and that was only by chance he was there at the exit area, waiting for his friend to finish. He kept saying how hot the weather was. He had changed to regular clothes by then, otherwise, I would tell him to take off his shirt. His friend did finish and might have walked past us, without us realizing. In the same way, many of my friends slipped past us, while we were waiting. We were just not that good at spotting people in a crowd.

A few friends came out just to cheer me. Jana did the 10K that morning and then afterward went to the course to cheer the marathon at mile 17-18, probably my mile 22-23. I didn’t see them, but they told me they were there. I guess she missed me as well. There were just too many people.

Another Lauren and Siri from my running club were also there to cheer. I only later linked up with them at the exiting area. They got drinks and snacks for us.

They explained the tracking app was probably delayed in updating the runner’s positions. While they saw us passed by them on the tracking app, they said they did not actual see us on the course.

They cheered nonetheless. We likely already passed by the time it showed up on the tracker, at least that what we like to believe.

A note for future spectators, maybe go to one of the less crowded places. I think the steps at Lincoln is a good place. Somewhere before we get on the National Mall too would be a good place, such as the a long three miles around Hains Point on Ohio Drive. The pool outside the Capitol too had less crowd there.

Some people held up big bubble head pictures. It helps runners to identify their friends or family from far away. Also, I saw some people held a big picture of their pets. Those signs stood out to me while running.

I so happened to see coach Mike (one of the coaches from the Stone Mill training runs of the Muddy Shoes running club). He was not really my coach. He was one of couple people hosting the training I attended the day before the Marine Corps Marathon. I was not supposed to do a training run right before a big race. I did not tell a lot of people that I would be running it. He was cheering me as I made the turn onto Independent Ave, heading back toward the Congress. He was just at the right place at the right time. It was out of the blue I saw him around my mile 20. It did give me a boost.

While on the course, there were 22000 runners (30000 later annouced, probably with the 10K runners included). I had crowd fatigue from staring at the runners for too long, every runner on the course became a blur. Even though I knew my friends were out there on the course, I did not get to see many. After the race, we did not get to link up, because everyone went their separate ways.

During my run, I only came across Tony, who was running the 50K. It was by chance too. In the first mile, the runners had spread out a bit after the start. I was running near the end of the pack and I looked over shoulder and there he was, just like I when met him at Grindstone. I first met him this year at one of the MMT training runs. He was passing me when we were running on the mountain. I knew this old guy can run. He flew in that weekend just for the training run. Since then, he has always stuck in my head.

Tony was one of the older gentleman maybe 20 years older than me. He did finish. He said it was his hardest run he had. He is also a friend of my friend, Caroline.

The other person was my friend, Caroline. We ran a few races together recently. I had my eyes out for her throughout the day but I did not see her. I had given up by then. I passed her at her mile 12. It was my mile 18. It was so happened I looked over to the sideline and saw her, so I called out. She was walking on grass and off from the road where we were running. I guess, she was not feeling well and step off to make room for runners surging up from behind. This was after the Blue mile. I was not doing too well either. I guess it was hitting my wall (proverbial marathon runner’s wall), when the body has reached its glycogen’s limit and thus the point where it refuses to run any more. It did not occur to me at the time, that I was at my limit. I was walking along the other side. So I went over and joined her. She started running again and almost out-ran me. I told her in that case, I need her to pace me, jokingly of course.

At the time, I came across two families offering us candies and water. I stopped by both booths. The second one was the best. The lady manning a small table had grapes, sodas, chips, Miller Lite beer, and shots. These are the fun stuff at an ultra. I was surprised many people did not stop for this. Maybe, many runners are not familiar with private aid stations or just being vary of meeting strangers. This used to be common in marathons, but this year there were not many private aids offer along the course as compare to other marathons I did.

I, having run a lot of races, love this kind of imformal race supports more than the official aid stops. I think it is fun and the stuff they offered were actual the good stuff.

MCM food wasn’t bad, but they are all processed stuff like gummies, honey waffles, apple sauce and gels.

Those are fine, but nothing beat fresh fruits. I took some beer, and she poured me some Coke, and I ate some grapes. I stayed a bit there to reset my pace.

It was worth staying. Caroline was already out of sight. I took a pong cup from her and this actually helped me at the next few refilling stations. People just poured water into my cup and I was set to go. I always carry on me a small cup, but I like the bigger cup better. This private aid station revitalized me. I know, some races, receiving outside help (away from an aid station) is ground of a DQ (disqualification). This is though a fun marathon. Those rules don’t apply. I don’t strictly follow this rule, unless it is a trail race, because it falls under the no muling rule or crewing outside the designated areas.

By my mile 22, marathon mile 18, a family was offering me ice. That was the best I could ask for. It is better than beer or candies. I have been looking for ice on the course. I was sure they had them in the medical tents but I did not want to stop by a medical tent for ice, because they would then evaluate me for heat exhaustion. I know I was good on that front but I did not want any wasted time with a health evaluation.

At this time some runners started having health issues due to the heat. One even had to airlifted out. They sent a helicopter right down on the grassy area. We were redirected at one point to the sidewalk away from the medical staff working on a runner I think.

The ice from the family saved me. I put the ice under my hat. I carried some a spare sock, and I put some ice in it and kept it on my chest for the whole way till after Crystal city when it was all melted. The sock prevent the ice from melting too quickly. It took the ice a long time to melt under my shirt. I only learned of this trick this weekend. Got to keep a spare sock on you for situation like this. My pace picked back up afterward.

I beated the bridge. There are several “hard cutoffs” they called it the gaunlets. There was the DC gauntlet, the Bridge, and the Crystal City Gauntlet. I had no problem in beating them. As long as we stay above 14 minute pace, we were good. Later, after the race, I learned they shortened part of the course early because too many people were fainting and overwhelming the medical staff. The 14 st Bridge cutoff was moved up to 12:30, instead of 1 pm and the DC gauntlet was moved up to 12 pm.

Having experience the bridge section in prior years, I knew this was the hardest part of the course. Many people chose to walk across. It is about 2 miles long. It was also the hottest time of the day and humidity was high passed 70%. We reached a cupless water point midway. Many just drank out of the faucets because they did not bring a cup. Some let the water running down on them. I poured some water over me too to keep cool.

We entered Crystal City. It was as I imagined it. Crystal City had good crowd cheering all the way from one end to the other. It was just a mile out and a mile back. I stopped for a fireball. I knew they were there from a previous year, people who handed out hard liquor. They gave me some. Someone offered me jelly beans and gummy bears. The fire department opened a fire hydrant and spayed water. I ran under one. There were slight breezes in Crystal City, so I was cooled off sufficiently.

However, my pace continued to slow but I managed to finish. I haven’t checked but I felt beat previous time. I couldn’t find my previous result. I reached 26.2 miles under 5 hours (I think it was 5:54). I finished at 5:56:51 on the 50K. My previous time from 2019 was around that, close to 6 hours, at 5:58:45.

There were several other friends running the race, but I did not get to see them. Alex did the 10K. Jeff (David’s coworker, who I met at package pick-up) was slower than me and was finishing at 6:10. Jeff did not get an official finish because he was part of the crowd that was diverted. Caroline finished at 6:00. Lynn was 14 minutes ahead of me.

Only time I saw Lynn was at the start when she spotted me. My goal was to catch up to her, but it was not meant to be. I was hoping she would not run so fast. I am to pace her the following week at the Rim to River 100. I checked her pace, she seemed to handle MCM well. I just hope she did not exhausted herself. She ran the second half in a very controlled pace, so I guess she knew what she was doing. David finished half an hour ahead of me. Scott was 3:38, but luckily I saw him at the end.

I was lucky to be spotted by Lauren at the exit. She was waiting for Lauren E. Soon Siri found us and brought drinks and snacks. We had a little reunion.

Meeting people at the MCM was all happening by chance. Even with a phone it was hard to link up. Scott had a hard time to link up with the guy he came with. We waited like an hour and still did not find the guy, and they were in communication of where to meet. He kept saying he went to left or to the right. I think runners had runner’s fog at the end of their race so they could not communicate clearly. I think the best place to link up was by the UPS trucks where they returned the drop bags.

I thought back to my first MCM, and I did not carry a phone at the time, but my mom did not tell me she was going to come, showed up at the finish area, just by wandering around and saw me as I was coming out. That was very lucky on her part. My mom did not know about the family link up area or any those things. Just by accident she saw me. I had completely forgot about this until she mentioned it. That was my first MCM in 2017.

A race is fun when you get to do with other people or there are other cheering you.

Rachel was asking after I finished, if I wanted to sit on the curb to stretch out my legs. We were sitting in a circle at the time. I was reaching down to sit on the road. I said, I used to running long distances and I am almost running just as far every weekend. I was not that tired. I sat cross-legged on the road just fine. It was good to have someone to celebrate with at the end of the run.

Did I run hard? I did. I also had a 18 mile training run the day before. So my legs were a bit tired even before the start. I was built for endurance. So even without the training run the day before, I might not have done any better. Maybe a tad better. I should one day, train to run faster. Seeing couple of my friends to be able to run a 3:38 marathon was exciting. Mine, was like a 5 hour marathon.

This was my third time running the MCM. I was well familiar with the course and how to get there. My friend Caroline has done it 25 times. The guy I rode the Metro with, ran it a dozen times. I like the race. Weather can be iffy. This year is one of the hotter years, but it was better than 2019, when there were floodings. We take it what was given. No complaining.

Is it better than other marathons? Maybe not. I am a local, so I saw all the sights on my daily commute. The festival was subdue compared to other marathons I did such as Shamrock in the beginning of the year. It was a typical DC area with high transient. We came with a dozen friends, I only get a hold of one or two at most during and after the race. Locals wanted to leave as quickly as they could to avoid the crowd. Not a complaint. I went into the race and I enjoyed my time there. I would be better to celebrate the finish with someone, and I did, but it was never a planned thing. I sat at the steps leading up to the Rosslyn Metro. All my friends were gone by then, trying to beat the traffic out of Arlington. I had a bowl of Korean Rice and bulgogi. I was watching as the UPS trucks packed up and drove away. They had emptied all the drop bags. There were a few runners milling about, but the bulk of the crowd has dissipated. I was just taking things in. My two previous marathons, all I remembered was rushing there and then rushing home. This time I had the time to let it wind down. I finished my race at 1 pm but did not leave until 4 pm or so. Some races, I like it to be like this, just letting it go slowly.

pre dawn photo of random strangers. They were giving an interview to the press. Later the startline would get crowded. We had a sold out event of 30000 people

2023-11-03
[Day577] Rock n The Knob

Claysburg, PA. I ran the Rock n the Knob every year since I first discovered it in 2020. Reports from the 2022 run (here), 2021, and 2020 are linked for those who are interested.

Each year is a bit different. One thing constant is the course is hard. I love this race. It is small but in my mind it is one of my biggest races. I usually sign up once it opens and I waited whole year for this. It is definitely the hardest marathon I did.

Having prior years experience helped. The course changed a little bit from year to year. They always say, “we added more climbing to the course.” This year, the new section added did not seem too bad. We had two new river crossings. I don’t like getting my feet wet but it would not have been a true trail race without dipping one’s toe into the water.

The climbing was a lot but I did not struggle as much as last year. I think if I remember correctly I threw up last year (It was actually 2021).

Maybe this year I have gone out a bit slower, so I was not rush climbing up hills, so I was not as winded.

I felt this year, there were less people, which made me a bit sad because this was a fun race to do. We had more time too, 1 whole extra hour, 10 hours total. I think that was messing with our heads. The last runner only needed 9 hours (there were a few who dropped and usually, it is for other reasons but time). The race started at 7 AM instead of 8 AM. I finished in 8:20:52. Last year, I finished under around 7:50. I was 30 mins slower.

I camped out the night before. Originally I intended to be there for two nights. My friend, decided to join me on the run and asked for a ride and to camp with me. She was going to sleep in her car at the start, but I said, I had a tent spot about 3 miles away. More the merrier. So we left work early and rode up to Blue Knob State Park. It was long 4 hour-ish drive in rush hour traffic. Having a friend to talk to on the way up though, makes time pass by quicker. Normally for me any drive over 2 hours is too long for me. I could run 10-20 hours but could not stand driving more than two hours. I would fall asleep behind the wheel.

The race was uneventful. I knew the course almost by heart now being this was my fourth time doing it. There were a lot of side trails or we usually would take one of the unmarked ones. The first couple miles were on a rocky path. I went slower. I know soon it would become more runnable. Occasionally, I kicked over some roots or rocks. I did roll my ankles a few times but each time, I was not hurt. And it was my strong ankle that was stumbling. My weaker ankle was alright. I was so afraid of hurting myself since a big race (Grindstone) is coming up the following weekend. I need my feet to be strong and healthy.

Then the group I was with started to separate out. Note, I did not claim the front position but was in the rear. I believe I was one of the last few runners left. I could not catch up or stayed with the main group. In the past, I usually could stay with them because I had a fast short range burst. Not this year. At the downhill section, I could speed up some, but there were a lot faster runners who could take the downhill and out ran me (like Sarah did, bib 65). The few I happened to catch up, passed me back in no time.

In the beginning, I could power up the climbs. I felt I did better than last year. About maybe about 4-5 miles in at Pavia, I started to get tired a bit. I walked more. There were some pictures taken by volunteers and I looked beaten up. We went down to the Lost Children. (This year, post race, I finally understood why they called it the Lost Children, it is sad story of what happened about 150 years ago, when two children disappeared from the town Pavia; they had a memorial there called Cox Memorial). I wanted to go back after the race to pay a proper visit.

This year, we did the new loop there. I enjoyed this section. We had a huge climb up back to Chapell Field/Blue Knob Campground.

From there, we went to the next section where we had another big climb – Teal is Real. This year it did not feel that bad. I met a half marathoner, Jake. Soon I was at Raven Rest/Roost. Previous year, I felt like dying here. Maybe the course changed somewhat, I felt I missed an aid station, but I was with other runners, I don’t think I had gotten off course. Yes, I just reread last year report, this year course was a slightly different, there was no Pavia’s Aid station. Instead of climbing up to the Pavia’s Aid station, we descended down. We climbed Saw Mill. We climbed Rocking Ridge. I met a lady from Pittsburgh who will be at the Grindstone 100. She will be voluntering.

It was about 4 miles from Raven’s Rest to the Heavenly Hairpin. Last year, I barely made the cut, and I was the last one in. This year, I was surprised when I got to Hairpin early, I caught up many half marathon runners. Of course this section had one of wicked climbs in the whole course. It was like 4 miles straight up to Pavia Overlook. Many runners felt exhausted at “I will Neetle do it again” or Beaver Dam. I was a bit tired, but climbing up was nothing to me. I was not even out of breath. I was sweating profusely though.

At the Hairpin, I felt I was at least an hour ahead of the cut. I think the time was 11:45 or something. I wanted to make it Quitters Rows by 12:45-1 pm. It was only 2 miles-ish, but we had a huge ski slope to climb. This section though I hate it was also most fun because on the big ski slope, we got to run down first then climb back up. On the way up, you could see a long line ahead. I actually started cramping on the climb. It took much effort to reach the peak.

It might not look that steep, but o boy, it was one of the hardest ascends (26% grade they said). Note, the top is not actually a top yet. People were tiny dots on the hill.

Then there was the steep double diamond descend. It was fun for me but it was too dangerous to run down this year. I know in one previous years, I bombed down the hill. I did not have to sit on my butt to go down because I was bolder, but running down on it was no joke.

There was the part everyone like, I needed a Sherpa. It was just a small climb but it was like mountaineering. I got down on my hands to crawl up. I reached the Quitter’s Rows at 12:50, and found out the aid station doesn’t close until 2:45. It was because the extra hour they gave up. The previous years, I felt I had to fight the cut off at here.

I was demotivated on the final 10k. We marathoners had an extra section to do. It was not bad. I ran it in prior years but this year, I had no energy to do it. A guy who was with me, seemed effortlessly walked faster than me. He soon left me behind. Previous years, there were so many other runners on this section, but this year I was alone. So I continued walking at my own pace. Halfway through, Sarah caught up. She was a downhill runner. So with her, I got my motivation back to run. Maybe also, I had rested enough after couple miles of walking. She wanted me to go ahead. I did. We rolled into the final aid station, “throat punch“, having caught up to the guy who previously left me.

The final two miles were on a big climb (Soul sucker) back up to Blue Knob Resort. I started cramping again, but this year the cramp was not as bad as last year. I rested maybe a minute or so until the cramp went away. Then the climb was not too bad. I caught up with Sarah again on the way up. From then it was the last stretch to the finish. I could hear Sarah and the couple guys behind me. Occasionally, on one of the switchbacks I looked down and saw them. I waved and shouted, saying I am up here. They looked up and shouted, Thanks. They kept close and I thought they would overtake me up at the top. They never came close. At the top, there was about half a mile to 3/4 of a mile relatively flat section, but a bit rocky trail leading to the finish. I walked because I could not make myself to run. Last year, I was running with another runner all the way to the finish. (That was the year with Jen).

I ran in when I saw the finish line banner. I amazed afterward that my legs were not cramping like last year. I basically could still walk. I remembered last year, it was painful to walk (because I was cramping up for over an hour last year). No more cramping this year. My friends were there cheering me. Surprisingly I was not the last one finish. There were 9-10 runners behind me. We stayed till a bit after 4 pm, (last runner came in) before going home (45 mins or so).

Have to cross the wire line to avoid getting shoes wet. I was too afraid to try

Pavia Overlook – so beautiful

Was the car flipped before? Apparently for Cadillacs parking only. (yes someone flipped it over since last year; see last year picture)

I regretted in the new section of not going hand-over-hand on the wire line. I did not think my balancing and acrobatic skill is that good to try. I waded across the water instead.

It was good thing I reread the last few years’ reports. My memory of the last year race while writing this report was actually from 2021. I did not realized until I reread those two years. Last year event was blanked/erased from my brain already until I reread the report. I did not remember Brian and the 65 year old man. I did remember Sean. Sean and his wife ran it this year. They were at the finish this year cheering me as I came in.

This year run was peaceful. There were no people chasing me. I wasn’t chasing anyone. Sarah, popped up from time to time. I think she was either immediately ahead of me or behind me. I did not get to know her until after we finished when Caroline called her over to our table. She ran Rim to River last year and will pace a friend this year. I plan to be there to cheer, because a friend Aaron, who introduced me to this race (actually both Rim to River and Rock n the Knob and Camp Anderson) will be running the Rim to River. I said, I hope to see Sarah again at that race.

Last year, I wrote, why do I love running? It was because somehow from seemingly a series of inconsequential events, we have a story to tell.

Some I chose not tell because they seemed not good to the flow with the story. In my mind, they might make sense, but why did I remember something like this but not other things.

Mike, who was doing the sweeping this year, remembered me as the guy who found his iPhone. He shot some wonderful pictures of many runners including me and posted on Facebook with his iPhone.

Sean will be running the JFK 50 this year. Couple other people asked me if I will run it. I haven’t planned to run in it yet, but I kind of want to do it now Sean is running in it.

The woman at the Throat Punch Aid station, told me that she always gains weight while running ultras. She gave me chocolate covered coffee beans last year but none this year. Maybe I did not ask.

Keith, Aaron’s friend was at the Throat Punch station, but Aaron was not around this year. The race felt somewhat different for me without seeing Aaron.

This year, I had Caroline, though we did not run together, but we shared the same course (she did the 13 miles) and she enjoyed it. I thought the hills might be too much for her, but apparently that was her best part. She likes also the stone steps on the trail. She likes the Chalets on top of the hill. She took many pictures and they were posted on Facebook. She made the drive to PA a lot more enjoyable.

Weekend is too short. The race was enjoyable. Good things always have to end so soon. I did wish to stay for another night. With Caroline though, we had to make it back the same night. I would feel bad to make her stay another night. My feet were sore. I spent the whole Sunday sleeping in and did not wake up until 4 pm. Slept in too on Monday morning.

2023-09-18
Toronto Marathon [Day554]

It was an exciting trip and a big race for me. I like it just because Toronto is a great city. Granted I didn’t explore much but just the area near my hotel, the place seems orderly and unlike many places in the US. It has been many years, might have been like 24 years since I have been to Toronto, or at least 10 years. Has it changed much? Not much. It is just as hip as back then. I felt honor to finally run in it.

For most marathons, I would fly in, run, and then fly out. I could have done the same too for the Toronto Marathon, but for traveling this far and not spending more time in the city seems like a waste.

My mom and aunt wanted to come along, so I made it into a 5-day road trip. There certainly could have been a 7 or 8 days trip. It was a bit rush with 5 days.

We arrived in Toronto on Friday afternoon having stayed the previous night at Niagara Falls. We stayed near a chinese center, Time Square in Richmond Hill/Markham. There were a lot of good chinese food to eat, which is mostly what I want to do in Toronto other than running.

On Saturday, I went to check out the starting line at Yonge and Sheppard to get a sense how far the drive would be from our hotel. The race goes from North York and finishes at the water front at the BMO Field (about 13 miles away).

At the same time, I was searching and was able to purchase a temporary Canadian phone plan. Most major US phone companies have data coverage allowance for Canada but my phone plan did not, so I had to purchase a SIM card to use cellular service and data in Canada. With a data plan, I was finally free from teethering to a wifi. It allowed me to contact my family to pick me up after my race. Wifi isn’t hard to find, since almost everywhere provide free wifi, but still having a phone data plan is kind of a must.

The Toronto Marathon is a point to point race for the full and half marathon. Logistically, it is a challenge because either you need to know two separate locations – a drop off at the start and/or a pickup at the end of the race. It is kind of hard to tell your family where to pick you up at the end. They would have to find their way there. The race provided optional shuttle buses to transport runners to the start from the finish innthe morning. We could park at the finish and then take the bus. However, then our family members would have to wait there until I finish since the bus ride was not for them. So, as for me, I was dropped off and picked up by my family. I did not use the bus.

The course being a point to point was one of the reasons I picked this race. I like to feel the distance I covered in a race and to see it on a map. I love to run across the city (actually any city). I like to feel I was going somewhere instead of running around in a loop as many marathons tend to do.

It was an inconvenience for the whole city because the course caused road closures to a big section of the city, effectively dividing it north/south and east and west. Many city drivers were not happy about us running on the roads (and took their outrage to social media). I think many did not expect the duration of the closure to be long and also there was a lack of communication from the race organization and alternative routes being provided. Having just a map of the closure on their website is not enough. Some were upset they were blocked up to an hour. Some cars went on the course (probably illegally) and was driving among the runners — it was caught on video. Yes, wtf.

My family too was having trouble going around the closures trying to find their way to pick me up post-race. The race website did poorly to direct where to park for post-race runner pickup. They mentioned a parking lot, but we being from out-of-town were not able to find the lot. My family circled around the area several times before contacting me to set a mutual meeting place that worked for both of us. I am sure locals have less a trouble with the post-race runner pickup. I ended up walking to them.

The race recommendation was to use public transportation. Yes, sure. I will do that next time. (Note, trains didn’t run before the marathon started).

Race day. Everything worked out exactly for me. I arrived 1.5 hrs early. I had my bib mailed to me ahead of time so I did not have to attend the convention to pick it up. There were issues for some runners receiving incorrect bibs or not receiving a bib at all before the race. Some runner’s bibs were not being recorded during the race either, which was a runner’s nightmare. Mine was working correctly.

We arrived at the Yonge-Sheppard Centre by 6 am. It was not my first rodeo, so I knew to arrive early. We got a parking spot. Other runners also arrived. They closed the roads by 6:30 and began setting up. It felt late. I have been to races where the starting chute was set up during the middle of the night. There was a slight delay of getting the race start on time (5 minutes late — not bad but it was a shame they could not start exactly on the dot. Certainly some runners also couldn’t make it to the race before the start due to traffic.

We lined up on the street. The race feels empty. There were supposed to be 3000 of us but it felt like 500-600 runners. It did not feel like a big city mega race. I had expected it for more runners, like 50 thousands. There was an announcer at the starting line. His voice did not carry to the back and, we who were lining up in the back could not hear much of what was said.

I wish they had place some loud speakers toward the rear so we were feel the festive too.

I am sure the announcer was giving out last minute instructions since there would be two other events happening. The half marathon started half hour after us. However, I think some half marathoners seemed to be mistakening joined us (I think unintentionally) and did the full.

Some of the half marathon – walkers (walkathon) intended to walk the course, they started 15 minutes after us. They might have joined the full unintentionally. There were certainly some confusions that morning. I think also lack of signages at the start advising the half marathoners to wait or where to wait created some confusion.

There were also runners without bibs — I don’t think they were race bandits, but likely their bibs did not arrive in time. Again, I think communication could have been better to resolve this. They mentioned they would have race officials to pull runners without a bib off the course. When I was reading over the postings on social media, there were some confusions out there.

There were supposed to have different waves (corrals) to separate out the fast and slower runners but I think because they did not have time to set it up or volunteers to enforce the separations, it became one giant wave start.

Some faster runners complained about the disorganization. I believe the slower runners must have gotten in the way of the faster runners and crowded the faster runners. For me, as a slow runner, I stayed to the right and let people pass on the left. I also lined up in the back instead of the front of the pack.

Also other big marathons have restrictions that dropbags to be of a certain size (and a clear plastic bag). Here too they did, but the rule doesn’t seem to be enforced or followed. I saw many people brought all kind of suitcases, backpacks, and handbags. I did not use a dropbag myself because I carried everything on me like in a trail race, but I found it was comical that people did not follow the rules/or that the race organization did not provide those clear plastic drop bags for runners. Of course, there bound to be someone who missed the drop-off time (7:00 am). The bag drop-off closed 30 minutes before the race start. Not sure why, since they could have kept it open for the half marathoners too. Anyway, rules are rules.

We had a lot of first timers and the race did not explain well what a bib is or what to put in a drop bag or generally what to expect. Some did not know they need to pick up their bibs un order to run. Some thought they could pick up their bibs on the race day (and they could with exceptions, for those who chose mailing but didn’t yet receive a bib).

What went well: I am not complaining, with a big race like this, something would go wrong. Social media just amplified it more. However, I felt a lot of these could have handled and communicated better.

As for myself, my race was a success. Everything pretty much in line to my expectation.

The weather was good. We had a week of bad weather leading up to the race weekend and a week of bad weather after we left. I felt pretty lucky on race day, we had dry, calm, and warm weather.

I started off with a good pace. I tried to keep a 7 min per 1 km pace (probably around 10-11 min-mile pace). There were a lot of people around me. Many could and did run faster. Slowly I made my way forward. I was not in a rush. I started in the back so there were a lot of room once the race started. The course was measured in KM and I adjusted in my head to KM. I counted my pace using mins per km. It was easier than I thought.

There were some pleasant runners around me. At one point, the first km, I did it in 7 mins and I was saying what 7 times 4. The runner beside me answered 28 when I could not say it out the answer. hahaha. I was struggling with math. She said I am having runner’s brain already. True. I was actually calculating my finishing time of 7 times 42 in my head (7x4x10+14), which is 294 minutes or about 5 hours. Complicated math for running. I was stuck on the first part of 4×7.

I know the course is 6 hours. I was not sure if I could do it under 5, or that I will need the full 6 hours. The first km allowed me to get a good projection of my finishing time. Note that I had not run fast for a long time, so I was not sure if I could do it in 4h30.

I did enjoy the course. It had couple big hills. I ran up on all of them. Those around me also run up, unlike many marathons I did where most people would walk the hills. I was impressed with the Canadians.

The crowd support outside the city was tame but I did not mind. Most runners were quiet too. No one talked much. It did not get boisterous until we merged back with the half marathoners and we arrived in downtown.

Generally, I like to run with a pace group but this time, I ran by myself because they did not have a 5 hour pacer. I did not wear a smart watch (I lost/misplaced mine somewhere since my last race) and so I kept my own pace based on feel and an old watch. I did not caught up to the 4:45 pacer until couple hours later into the race. I think it would have been helpful for first timer to have a later finish pacers. I wish I had volunteered for the 5:00 group.

Once we reached halfway (over 21 km), I saw a lot of runners went down from going out too fast. A lot of them needed medical services for cramping. They all sat down either in the middle of the course on the side. Medical personels would go to them and wheel them off the course. I felt bad that many of them could not finish their races. I wish I had stopped to help some of them. In races in the US, only serious injuries would require medical attention, as for cramps, I was told to walk it off, and I would tell others the same. I mean each runner would have to judge for themselves if they could still finish or they need medical aid. I was surprised so many called for help.

It could be that the temperature was a bit hot. It was in the 60 F. For me it was perfect, but many prefer to be cooler say 45-50s.

We were given plenty of water like at every 2 km except at the finish line. Some complained with a race this size not providing water or gels at the finish and it was a bit of a disappointment. It did not bother me, because as a trail runner, I learned to take care of myself. I brought my own gels.

The last 10K was on a bike trail. Some faster runners complained that the path was not wide enough to have runners running in both directions. They said they almost crashed into runners going in the other direction. I (4:33 finisher) did not have that problem. Everyone mostly stayed in their own lane. I guess, they just need to educate runners to “slow down” and stay in their lanes. Some might have taken the race too seriously.

Some also said not all the roads were closed off. The police/security people were letting cars to cross, and some runners said they did not feel safe having cars sharing the same road. Again I did not have that problem. I think it might be the very front of the race or the very back of the race where they let cars crossing the course or onto the course. Some runners said they were stopped by the police to let cars cross and they felt that was not right because they were held up from having a PB or BQ (personal best, boston qualified). Some said they were almost ran over (because they didn’t yield). I did stop twice to let an ambulance through and another time was to let the police to go through. Those two stops might have costed me the 4:30 finish. However, I didn’t mind, but you could imagine if someone was chasing a BQ and they had to stop for couple minutes.

There were a lot of course marshals on the course, but I almost missed a turn during the final half-full marathon split. The half were making a right turn to the finish but the full marathoners were supposed to go to the left.

They did say, know the course. However, somehow I missed this turn during my course study. It is on me but I wish they had made a mention on the course map, put a star or something to draw attention to the split. Also I wish they had several course marshals there to separate the full from the half. The race signage was kind of lacking. Their signs were small and easy to miss. I have done many marathons where they would use giant banners/flags to warn of turns. The signages here were like a 5k race instead a major city marathon. Not complaining. My race was saved when a spectator shouted out to me to make the left turn after I went the wrong way. I was forever grateful to him otherwise my race would come to an end at the turn.

Running the marathon distance was not a problem for me. By 32 km, I was getting tired. The turn around point for the full marathon was a bit later maybe at 35 km. It seemed an eternity. I carried some gels on me, so I ate my gel. Then I picked up my pace, running a 9m30 (per mile) pace. It started to rain. I was one of a few who could still run at the time. Many were walking or slow jogging. I was able to pass many people. I finished at 4h33. It is a good finish time for me.

At a turn around point, I met a friend was also running the full marathon. I was good seeing her. I was kind of searching for her during the race, knowing she flew in for this. However, we were not able to meet up beforehand. I tried to catch up to her but her pace was too fast for me. She finished 15 minutes before me. I did not have a chance to see her again at the finish. Maybe because of the rain.

Ice: The weather was warm. Around 37 km, someone had a small bag of ice (maybe 5-6 lbs or so) and she was giving them out ice to runners. So I stopped and received a handful from her. Ice was so good on a hot day. I ate them. It was one of the reasons I could pick up my pace toward the end.

The post-race was a bit disorganized. They guided the runners out of the finishing chute. We were then left on our own. Runners did not receive their medals or water nor were we directed into the Elizabeth where we could pick up our finisher’s swag. Some went home without picking up a medal!

There were no signs or instructions where to go. Many met their family there at the end of the exit. So it was crowded. The Elizabeth building was right in front of us. Many people were crowding around there trying to get in but that was the exit. They would not allow runners to enter. The other entrance we could enter into the Elizabeth building was on the side. There were also a crowd there because they were handing out the medals at the doorway. I think it was not a good idea, say a stampede condition in the making. I waited around a bit for the crowd to clear but it started to rain harder, so I joined in and entered the building.

Inside the building was not crowded as I expected. Some were saying there were no one handing out medals earlier, but I got my medal from a volunteer.

There were food tables. They were handing out electrolytes. They were out of water. Likely the 5k/10k runners took them all.

I also drank energy drink instead. They had bananas and muffins for us. Many runners grabbed a big box and filled up their boxes with food and drinks. There was no limit how much we can take. I think it is ridiculous people carrying boxes of food. It was not likely they would eat a whole carton of of waffles or drink cartons of 24 cans of energy drinks. People were extremely greedy and grabbed as much as they could carry.

Late runners were out of milk and a lot of good stuff. I saw the earlier finishers had a lot of good food. Runners also discarded boxes and trashes all over (when they decided to leave behind after couldn’t finish them or the stuff they took was not good).

There were volunteers cleaning up as quickly as they could but they could not keep up with thousands of runners throwing away their trashes onto the floor. To me, it showed the lack or anyone in charge inside the Elizabeth building and people were doing whatever they wanted. There should have been a one way direction to guide runner through the food tables and then exit the building and then to their ride pickup location. Runners were like a mob there, robbing the place. Some described it being like a refuge camp. I think refugee camps have more order than here. Yes, it is a shame.

My family came to pick me a bit later. It took them an hour to circle around all the road closures to get near the building where I was. This was unavoidable. However, I wish the race had mentioned or provided a place for “kiss-and-ride”, a pick up area for family, taxis, and ride-share. They probably did, but I did not know about it. I stayed and watched how others were being picked up and did the same. We waited near the fire house, it seemed easy enough for our drivers to find us.

I had runners asking me about whether shuttle was available to take runners back to the hotel or the start area. I doubt there was any race provided shuttling back. Again there was a lack of signs or communication post race of where to go especially for those who were from out of town. The website mentioned we can take a city bus to various points in the city. Those places were like greek to me.

Personally, I enjoyed the race. The race could improve a few things. When runners pointed out the deficiencies on its social site, however, their comments were deleted. I understand it is to creat a positive experience but it was seen as stopping negative press. The race only wants positive reviews but not the negative comments.

There will always be people complaining but if the race went out of its ways to antagonize both the residences and runners, the race would not last long. Some were calling to boycott this race. Before I ran this race, I had some hints that the organization would not be as top notch as the city’s other marathon races. I still picked it for the point to point course. Also it fitted my race schedule.

I was lucky the race was good for me and my time during my stay in the city was also good. There were runners who ran this race every year. If I am near, I would run it again but since it is so far, it is a once and done for me. They do have a few bad sides but the goods certainly outweigh the bads.

2023-05-10
Roanoke Double Marathon [Day551]

It was a novelty when I ran the Blue Ridge Marathon in 2019. It was known as America hardest road marathon, the footlevelers, with 7000 ft of total elevation (gain and lost). I finished in 4:45 and I thought I was slow because I had expected myself to finish under 4:30 or less. Now four years later, I had a chance to redo it and up the game to run it twice in one day also known as doing the Double.

Blue Ridge Footlevelers is one of the few marathons (might be the only one) that has an event where you could run the course twice and receive a time and an award for it.

I became aware of the double marathon during my first time there when I saw the doublers finishing their first lap of their marathon as we were about to start our race. They would be then joining us on their second lap. It was beyond my imagination those days of anyone capable of running a marathon twice.

Now fast forward to November that year, I ran the JFK 50, my first 50 mile race. I probably knew I was going to do a 50 miler since I usually plan things a year in advance, but still since I hadn’t run it at the time, it was a wonder for me that there were people out there capable of running two marathon distance on the same day.

By February 2021, I ran my first 100 mile race. The rest is history, because I ended up doing several more by 2022 and 2023. I was just a matter of when I would to go back to Roanoke to do a double marathon.

By then the challenge was no longer that hard to me, since I could run a 100 mile on trails.

MMT has way more elevation gains than Roanoke of 17 or 18 thousand feet of elevation change meaning 32000 feet of total elevation (about 4 to almost 5 times as many), so 7000 feet at Roanoke seems minor. I did the MMT last year, well 95% of it at least.

Note most races are measured by elevation change instead of total elevation gain and lost.

Spoiler: Before reading further though I didn’t finish the double marathon. Not because it was too hard for me but because the race was canceled halfway due to a storm. I only finished the first lap, and had a time of 6:22:00 for my first lap. Compared to my 2019 time of 4:45, over 6 hours finishing is slow. Not that I would mind. I am pointing it out my understanding of slow also has changed.

I was at least 6 miles in on the second lap before the race was called. I had a good time nonetheless.

I drove down to Roanoke after work on Friday. The drive was long. It was about 200 miles away. It normally takes about 3.5 hours. I ran into some afternoon rush hour traffic and it was over 4 hours before I arrived. My eyes had glazed over. We runners joked about couldn’t drive more than an hour but don’t mind running 6 or more hours out there. Indeed, I don’t like driving that far.

I arrived around 6-7:00 pm and made it to the expo, which closed at 8 pm. There were some people still around, but not a lot. There was a free concert happening at the amphitheater. I brought two pairs of new shoes at the expo, Altra Rivera 3 and Estalante 3. I feel comfortable in them. The volunteer asked me if I would wear both of them the next day since it was obvious I was running the double marathon because I was holding my bib and race shirt in hand. Hell no, because rain was forecasted. I don’t wear new pair of shoes in the rain. Rain ruins good shoes.

The forecast had 100% of rain for race day. So I chose to go with my beat up trainer pair. I had two old pairs with me but I know if my feet feel fine, I would not even have to change shoes midway.

My hotel Econo Lodge was only a mile from the start. I decided to rest early that night. I brought a Subway sandwich from next door. Price has gone up and my dinner cost me nearly $20 and I was grumbling about my footlong and drink being expensive since I could get a chinese buffet of an all you can eat at around that price (Hibachi Grill I think was under $20, same for a large bowl of Pho and drink, $16). Traditionally, I go for a buffet the night before a race and Pho afterward. They are my comfort food.

I did not want a buffet this time because I did not want to go bed with a heavy stomach. After eating, I tried to sleep early since I know my double marathon event start in the middle of the night at 1 am, but I was unable to fall asleep until closer to 11 pm.

I don’t know when I felt asleep, it might have been 10 or closer to 11 but I slept like a baby with the light on and my clothes unchanged. I had my REM sleep, which was great because that all I needed to have energy for the run.

The race, my first lap was going to start at 1 am. We had a choice to either start at 1 am or 2 am depending how fast we think we were going to run. The rule was we could not finish before 5:30 am or after 7:30 am. I chose 1 am and was planning to need a 6 hour to do this for my pace. 7 am finish.

I set the alarm to wake up past midnight at 12:01 to be sure I get the AM/PM thing not be mixed up. Somehow I slept through the alarm or I might have messed up with the am/pm setting. It has happened before (at my MMT race when I overslept).

It wasn’t until 12:45 I was shock awake. I was having a real nice dream of running in some race. I was happily laughing in my dream. I remember in the dream I was running yet I was late to the event. I was running around trying to find to the start. It seemed stressful but I was having a happy dream somehow. That was when I woke up, and realized my dream had become my reality and you bet I was not laughing. I was about to be late in my real marathon. Thank to the dream I woke up, because I could easily have slept till morning and I could even have missed the morning marathon.

I already packed everything and had my bib on and water pack filled beforehand. So grabbing those, I put on a longer sleeve short, feeling it might be a cold night. I grabbed my rain jacket too and food bag, I got into my car and drove to the start. There was no time to lose. It should not take long for to drive a mile, maybe couple minutes, and at most 5 minutes.

However unfortunately, I drove down on Orange Avenue thinking the start was on Orange, due to my half awake state. I did not realize I had to make a turn on what was like the main street of Roanoke. I drove on for maybe 5-6 miles before realizing my mistake. Then I put on google map to help me get me back. By then the race had started.

I arrived to the race parking lot past 1 am. I put on my headlamp, my reflective jacket, and my flashing lights and walked to the start. Luckily they had a volunteer still there to check me in. I unofficially started my run at 1:12 am. I told the volunteer, I wouldn’t mind if she recorded me starting at 1 am, to make the math easier when they had to combine my time for the first lap with the second lap.

I didn’t remember to start my garmin watch until I reached Walnut Street’s bridge crossing. It was about maybe 5 minutes later. So my watched recorded my whole race time as 6:15:00. My official time for the first lap was 6:22:00. About 7 minutes more and half mile shorter of 28.5 miles.

It was a quiet night. About 40 other runners started ahead of me. They were now at least a mile ahead. I, having done the race before, the roads seemed familiar to me. Originally, I was worried and wanted to run with someone who knew the course. However, now having to run by myself, I just had to make it work. I did have the turnsheet/map in my hand. I also had the running app telling me where to turn but unfortunately, once I was up on the mountain, the app stopped working since it had no cell signal. I think I had the battery saver mode on, so it was interfering with the app. If I didn’t have that on, it would have drained my battery before the end of the race. Those running phone apps is kind of a catch-22. The newer Garmin watches can give turn directions and avoided this issue. You bet I want one of those.

The first 6 miles was pretty easy. It was just one straight road up to Mill Mountain and then to Roanoke mountain. There were check points along the way, where volunteers checked us in as we passed them. They also served as race marshalls, to ensure we were on course, plus also served as aid stations, with water for us to refill our bottles. Many of them had waffles for us. Cheers to them for staying up all night for us.

By mile 6, the fast people already reached the turn around point and were coming back down the mountain. I was able to see many of them as they passed me.

By mile 7 I was able to catch up to some of the slow runners, like about the last 4-5 runners slower runners.

Unfortunately on the way down from Roanoke Mountain, I did not pay attention and missed a turn at getting off of Blue Ridge Parkway. I added like 3.5 miles onto my run on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Later, I found out people did try to chase me to let me know I went the wrong way, but they just couldn’t catch me.

I was again about 20 minutes behind everyone. It was now around 3 am and 13 miles in (my watch distance, the race distance was much less, maybe at 10 mile). Runners who started 2 am caught up to me as they came down the mountain. They were very fast and an enthusiastic bunch. There were not many of them, maybe 5-8. They gave me encouragements. I couldn’t keep their pace though and soon I was alone again after they passed me. I noted that the first crowd of runners I passed were subdue and didn’t cheer but the second crowd (2 am people), they were as excited as I was and it was fun. The 1 AM runners were too serious in their run.

By mile 13, I caught up to the tail end again of the 1 am starters. I still knew I was about 15 minutes behind the race pace. Lucky there were no sweeps for the night run. Even though I was behind on my pace, I was not in danger of being pulled from the race. I got to Mill Mountain, it was all downhill from there so I could run much faster to make up the time.

It had a very nice view at the Mill Mountain, looking out onto the city below from the Roanoke Star. It was one beautiful sight. I did not take a picture because it was night time.

Location of my unofficial start (from garmin pov) Walnut St Bridge. Crossing this bridge would begin the climb to Roanoke Mountain. A lonely night

It looks something like this on top of the mountain. This is at the turn around point at mile 7. I know it doesn’t look quite impressive, but the idea was while they sleep we run.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Once I got back down from the mountain, it was easier. We were in the city around 4 am. There were already some occasional traffic on the roads. The signs for turns were easier to spot and there were street lights. The terrain was flatter. I followed the road markings.

5 am. I think I was passing the hospital where the finish line was around the corner. Yet I still had maybe 8 miles to go. I had to get back to finish by 7:30 to start the second lap (2nd marathon). I remembered someone was passing me. I told the person, 40 more minutes before the finish line opens. we couldn’t finish before 5:30 am because the finish line was not ready yet. I think we had somewhere between 8-10 miles to go, likely 8 ish. I said he could finish before 5:30 (doing 5 min per mile), while I need two more hours for this. I was half joking of course. I was jealous of the fast people taking way less time than me.

Climbing Peak Hill was hard. I had to walk. The volunteer said I was not that far behind the runner ahead. I was estimating maybe 10 mins behind the pace. I hoped to close the gap.

By mile 20~ish, I passed the second to last runner. The sky was dawning. The time was around 6 am. I knew by then I could make it back in time. People were waking up and walking their dogs. The street was not so lonely any more.

A beautiful morning. Looking back up at the hill I ran down from earlier during the night. We were at the foot of the Roanoke Star. Rain clouds proved later of spoiling our race.

The final few miles I was able to see some runners at another out and back segment. I caught up to race pace of 16:20. They were couple miles ahead of me. They cheered me and I cheered them back. I am a loud and boisterous runner. I passed a few slower runners. My feet were still fresh. Catherine, I found out ran the course virtually a week prior and the year before, she finished with an hour to spare at the transition. Not this time. She came in just as the 2nd marathon was about to start.

Less than two miles from the finish, they had police blocking the traffic for us. I felt like a king as I was only single runner at the time running on a wide road. They allow us to use the road now. People who were running in the morning race were also arriving. Some cheered me. I started having the runner’s high and crowd support motivated me to run even harder. I made it to the finish line by 7:22 am crossing the finish. At least for the first marathon is done.

I had maybe 10 minutes to get to the car and freshen up before the start of the second race. I refilled up my water. I took my food bag with me. This would be my breakfast. I didn’t get to use the transition area they had for us. I used my car as an aid station instead.

The food was originally for my first lap but I didn’t bring it with me, and now I took it. I did not have time to change shoes or shirt. My feet felt great and had no blisters or hot spots. I kept the same shoes on then. I didn’t have to change socks or lube up. Though when the rain came later, I regretted of not having put on some lube because my shorts were cutting into my private area.

I got back to the start with about 5 minutes left. I missed the national anthem. There I met Iris, who was in my running club. I didn’t know she was running this race. We were excited and caught up on stories. Iris was one of my crew for the Devil Dog. It was good to finally see her again. Roanoke was her first marathon 10 years ago, she told me. This was her second time running it. She is a friend of Catherine. She said several members from my runner club was there that day. One was 4th female overall before the race was canceled.

For second lap, I planned to go slower. Having Iris as my companion helped. I kept at her pace. The second lap we had 7.5 hrs to run it. It was an hour more than our first lap. However, we had to reach mile 20 by a certain time, which means we had to maintain 16:20 pace for the first 20 miles. We were doing like 15-16 min mi pace, so we were a bit ahead.

6 miles in, it started raining. Then thunders and lightning started happening around us. It got very cold. I had my jacket on but I was still shivering. They called off the race around 9 am, about an hour and half into the race. We had to turn around and headed back. They reopened the roads. Police officers were telling us if we run, we run at our own risk.

I understand their policy because for the safety of the volunteers and runners, the event had to be canceled. However, I agreed too with many runners that we were left unsupported midway through the race and there were confusion as to what to do. Most of us turned around and headed back to the start/finish area. I was not sure if there were buses coming to pick us up. My motto was, I can walk back on my own power.

I wish they had closed the race in stages instead. I know there were no optimal solutions. With a canceled race, they were going get complaints. Some chose to continue on their own and were surprised no water or food served since the volunteers also had left their stations. Again the roads had reopened. I didn’t think that was safe but I think they wanted to send the message to us that we should not continue the run.

The rain lasted only about 15-30 minutes. In hindsight, the race could have continued. Many (ultra) runners said they had been through much worse and dangerous or exposed situations before. What they experience that day was nothing. Hindsight always is perfect 20/20.

As for me, I did not continue on. It was obvious we wouldn’t have the aid support. I had my water pack so in theory I could run a marathon unsupported. I was also having some rub burn issue so as soon as I could get to the finish area the better. I checked with Iris, she also wanted to get back quickly. It took us maybe an hour to get halfway down the mountain. We got to mile 12 and 13, where the buses made their way up. We got on the buses. We were overjoy that the buses came for us. I knew I could make it back to the start by walking or running (we were probably at most only 3 miles away) but having the bus take us back was way better than walking in our wet clothes. The bus waited until it was fully packed before heading off. There were maybe 50-60 of us on a bus. We arrived back at 10:30.

The finish line was a busy place. They were serving food and drinks still. I did not mind grabbing myself a slice of pizza. Those that did not take the bus were coming in. I guess they were the 3 hours finishers (half marathoners/marathoners). They were still handing out medals. The volunteers though received words that the race closed at 9, but had remained for last hour and half serving finishers. They were understaffed because majority of the volunteers had left. It was a shoestring operation! I did not stay for long because as more buses arrived, it was going to get more chaotic.

It was a hard call to whether continue the run or give up for a lot of people. There is a bit of shame of giving up on a race. RD made the call, so in a sense the RD took on the blame. The drama is still going on the social media. All runners who did not finish were converted to a virtual race. We could submit our time and get a medal. There were questions how many miles do we now run, since the race was shutdown halfway, whether we had to redo from the beginning and or how to combine the two timings and courses for the upload. Technically, I think you have to redo the course from the beginning, the whole 26.2 miles. But it is a virtual event now. Who cares. RD just wants everyone to be happy and go on until next year event. Some were calling boycotting the next year event. Some were asking for a discount or refund. Basically I think do whatever they want since it is a virtual race. The race would not count for anything. This got people upset.

FYI I took a medal and a finisher picture and I even cross the finish line (don’t tell anyone 🤫) and I rode on the bus back! People who rode with me on the bus, asked you could do that? sure! why not! Sorry for those who did continue the race in their own power and ran to the finish without the aid station supports. They were beasts. But you know I will do the full 52.4 mile run on my own, right (I will just use part of the upcoming 100 mile race as my time👍)?

My action somewhat took away their honor, but to me since the race was over by 9, anyone who came in after that would not be recorded. We made the finish celebration to mean whatever we wanted it to mean by then. Hence there were a lot of dramas happening and complaints on Facebook going on. People were discontent that they didn’t get the proper recognition or for some was the opportunity to continue. I don’t really care by then. You go out there and have fun and deal with what was given. Stop giving people a hard time. Having the race canceled is part of the journey. Iris told me in her years of running never once was a race canceled on her midway.

There was no DQ-ing for those came in after 9 o clock (or technically we all DQ-ed) and that was why people were upset.

For me I think, we received no words from race organization on what to do and there was a general of confusion! I mean we clearly understood the race was canceled. It was like what’s next then. None of us wanted to go home. For me it was a successful fun run finishing with a group of friends and we celebrated we survived the ordeal being three hours out on the course. It was for our friends and family also because they wanted to see that is the end of the trip and all the training. So we took photos at the finish line. Our group promised we will be back next year to do it properly.

2023-04-28
Day517 Turkey Trot / NCR

TL;DR – I ran a local 4 mile race on Thanksgiving and over the weekend did a marathon. They are thanksgiving related or happened about the same time frame so two race reports in one.

I have done this Fairfax Turkey Trot charity race a few times and yes every time it was freezing cold. The first year I did it because this was the only turkey trot that offerred a 4 mi run instead of a traditional 5K. 4 mi is a weird distance but I like it. I was looking for a “long race” to run. At that time, 4 mi was a long race. A bonus for me was the hills they have for this course. I did not go about choosing a race based on how hilly it is but it was so happened to be like that. It was just right for me. I love hard runs.

We had great weather this year. It started at around 30 F and got up to around 55 F in the afternoon. It was similar condition for the whole week because of the cold air / jet stream got push up to the pole. So it was like a final fall weekend before winter arrives.

I dressed the way I did for the JFK, double layer for the top and shorts for the bottom.

I arrived bright and early. The race did not start until 8:30 but they said parking would be hard to find because there were 1200 of us signed up. And the nearest lot held maybe 50-75 cars. There were no lots big enough for 1200 cars. Of course cars scrambling around the neighborhood looking for spaces. I was one of the first few to arrive around 7:30 to stake my spot. Then I just walked around the neighborhood until start time. I tell you, I was freezing, yet I refused to sit in my car. I figured it would get me prepared for my winter races.

I had fresh legs and pretty much recovered from the JFK50. I decided to run my best by pushing hard early to see where I am at. I did not realize the neighborhood has plenty of hills. After a few of those, I was exhausted. I managed to finish. I mentioned this because I hit a wall around halfway and the feeling is like hitting a wall in a marathon. My legs became very slow. I felt like they were frozen. Time for me was not important. I just wanted to finish and to see how I did. I knew I was slower than my previous times. I managed to finish around 40 minutes averaging about 10 min pace. My best was probably around 35 mins. I am too lazy to look up my other finishes (my earliest was 32:34 in 2018, and probably my best). You just have to take my words for it. For short distances, finish within 4-5 mins, seems insignificant.

Then of course, I did not feel good after running so fast. Originally I planned to go to downtown to do run with a turkey image on my strava (they call this strava art). My running group does this every year. We plot our run so that it will turn out to be a picture of the turkey on Strava. Yet I was too tired from my turkey trot, I decided to call it off. It would be a self guided run this year any way since everyone was out of town. I did not like the complicated parking in DC.

Instead, I went to a nearby neighborhood trail and was going to do my usual Thursday training run. However, I was too tired to run and only did a 3 mile hike on a trail called the Wild Turkey Trail. I called it a day. I kind of watching my body. I knew if I struggled I could put out the miles I wanted to but I knew I have the Devil Dog coming up. I should be tapering for it and I shouldn’t push my body beyond its limit yet. Afterward, I went home to clean up, eat, and rest. At night, we had our Thanksgiving celebration. I was super tired.

Part II. On Saturday, I had a marathon in Baltimore. It was the NCR race. I did this four years ago and I was happy to try my hand at this again. Back then, this was my first trail marathon. Speaking of trail, it was flat, and a fast course. I finished it in 4:23:00. Yet, because I was running with a bunch of runners on their championship event, I felt I was the last one on the course.

This time around I had experience of not to push too fast. I was racing with many top local runners since this was a RRCA (Road Runner Club) champion event. A lot of fast older people came out to run this (as well as a lot younger runners). Let say, a competitor, who seems at least 10 years older than me, yet finished at a time I can only dream (3:15:00). A woman about my age who finished at 3:35 and said she was slow this year, meaning, she used to be faster. What are these people? They probably running sub 3 hour back in their younger days. If I could run under 4 hours, I would consider this year a success. Yes there were a lot of fast people at the race, so over 4 hours seemed to be really slow. I am happy with my time though (if you compare it to my last marathon in Atlantic City, it was just a couple minutes off).

Not much can be said about the race. The swags were awesome. We got a premium hoodie sweater and we were given a wool blanket as a finisher prize. It was also well run. We had crossing guards at every intersection. We had buses picking us up from our parking lot. The race really was spread in three sites (runners parking, the school staging area, and the start and finish chute. Each location is about 1 mi to 2 mi apart. It was handled well.

The trail was scenic out in a rural area (might be near Camp David, i need to check). It was in a wooded area north of Baltimore near the PA border. There is a bunch of history about the trail but I did not read up on it. NCR is the name of the rail road company and rail line which now the track has become a rail to trail called Gunpowder Falls Trail (state park). It is one of the best trails I run on in the area. It is unpaved.

I did arrive early this time. I left my house at 5 and got to the race location (bus pick up location) at 6:30. I was one of the first one there. I went to a Dunkins and got a couple bagels for breakfast. This was smarter than the first year I did it. Also, I did not stay at a hotel this time and saved some money. The bus took us to the school (Old Fields, and all girls boarding school that seems to have a bit of history; I feel like I’m in a Harry Potter movie) where the start would be. We waited in the field house. It was a long wait, because the start was at 8:30.

The race was uneventful. I started off at a 9:30 pace but I got slower as the race progressed. I finished with an overall pace of 10:04. I have not analyzed my spits. My pace must have degraded badly around mile 22. My pace was 10:50 for the final section. I was running a 10:26 after the turn around.

I was mostly by myself. The fast runners all passed me during the first mile. This time I did not panic nor did I try to chase like I did the first time. On the second half, I led a pack of maybe 5 runners. Though I couldn’t manage their pace. With 10K left to go, they passed me. Then it was just me running to the finish.

I struggled around mile 21-22. I was bonking. The aid stations being about 2-3 mi apart helped. I was revitalized. The last two miles were not an issue for me. I was some what regaining my pace. I finished without feeling too tired. I believed I could still run some more.

NCR is one of the best marathons I did. It is not like the Grandma’s Marathon or other city marathons I ran this year. It was low key event but had great supports. We had a lot of aid stations. Many are well stocked with gels and drinks. Some had sodas. Finish line had the usual water and bananas. But at the field house, we had soup and other snacks and lot of breads that they were giving out loaves to runners to take home. It was pretty much a lunch in the field house. Not many marathons serve lunch. This is one of the rare ones that does.

I don’t know why I signed up for this race in the first place. I think it was because I wanted to run a marathon but I wanted something local. I think I did well. I glad I did it. See the 2018 report. It offers an interesting perspective of my early days marathon run.

2022-11-27