Blue Ridge Marathon Race Report (4/24/10)

I wasn’t planning to run the Blue Ridge Parkway marathon. When my running friend, Todd, asked if I wanted to run with him and Will, I was interested, but needed to back out of a Boy Scout camping trip. When my son, Brian, agreed that camping could be done without me, the trip was all set. Todd offered to drive the three hours to Roanoke. He arranged for us to stay with Will and his family.

We rolled into town and Will immediately took us on a preview of the course. I have never previewed a course before, so I was skeptical, but it really helped me on race day. Less than 2 miles from the start, we hit the first of what seem like endless hills. Will casually explains that there are even steeper hills coming soon. As we drove most of the course, I got really nervous. The hills were steeper and longer than I expected. As we crest the top of Roanoke Mountain, the concern shifted to the steep descents. Between Roanoke Mountain and Mill Mountain, there is a campground, the campground is locked up, Will assures us that the campground is flat. This matches up with the online report we read. As we came down Mill Mountain, I figured the rest of the course would be pretty flat, but it’s not. We covered the entire course except for a little section near mile 24 where you cross a little bridge and do a loop of about a mile. We drove to the end of the course, then went back to Will’s house.

We talk to Will about race preparation, this is his first marathon. He doesn’t have a hydration plan – no fuel belt, no water bottle. We explain that while they’ll provide water on the course, he’ll probably want bottles with him too. He jumps on the computer to email the local Fleet Feet shop – less than an hour later, our morning plans shift back a bit so Will can pick up his new fuel belt. I’m amazed that he could pull that off.

Kathy (Will’s wife) drops us at the start – such great hospitality. We go find our timing chips – for some reason, they don’t hand them out with the rest of the packet (that Will picked up for us). We had plenty of time, but I don’t think a separate chip pickup is a good idea.

The gun goes off and we head out. The first climb is long and I drop back from Will and Todd. This is definitely a part of the course where a pecking order is established – some people are picking up speed, I’m getting settled in. Near mile 4, the half marathon course turns around to head up Mill Mountain, while we head up the slightly taller Roanoke Mountain before coming back to conquer Mill Mountain too. Just before we hit the switchback road climbing Roanoke Mountain near mile 6, I feel an utterly empty stomach – I decide to take my earliest GU ever. The climb is really difficult and I hit my first walk stretch, but just a short one. Nearing the top of the mountain, a short out and back loop allows me to see Will and Todd – they both look great and I feel like I’m really struggling. When I get to the top of the mountain, the view is spectacular from two different directions. The volunteers are wonderful. I take the first of many banana slices on this course. After we split from the half marathon course, the group that I was near was very quiet. One guy was wearing a shirt that says “Running won’t kill you – you’ll pass out first.” Nearly everyone comments / compliments him on the shirt. I think we’re all convinced that we’re testing the statement. After the top of the mountain, I understand why Will and Todd looked so good – this down hill stuff is almost relaxing. I feel much cooler and I work on different running positions. When the hill is not too steep, I use the traditional lean forward / use gravity / float down the hill. For the steeper down hill sections, I find that I need to do something else, either I’m going too fast or my quads are noticeably stressed. I tried leaning back / pushing my butt down / picking up my knees – this seems to put stress on my glutes. I alternate between this “new” style and a more traditional breaking to control my speed. The course tour helped me because I have a pretty good idea of how long the down hill lasts and where the steeper portions are located.

I get to the section between the two mountains where we didn’t get to tour the campground. As I enter, it seems just like I expected, then we start to go up a hill, I start to lose my focus. The hill keeps heading up – not nearly as steep as other parts of the course, but I get frustrated and take a short walk break. As we head out of the campground, I get another banana. On the day, I take in a total of six energy gels (a new record) and eat between two and three whole bananas. The trip up Mill Mountain is longer and more mentally challenging. At the crest of the mountain, you run in front of the star on Mill Mountain – what a gorgeous view! The trip down Mill Mountain is steeper than Roanoke Mountain. I continue to experiment with running form.

I passed some people walking the half marathon. I thought they were spectators, but then I noticed their bibs. They offer a relay option for the race and I was prepared for the annoying relay behaviors – however, they have fewer than a dozen relay teams, so I didn’t even notice them.

After the two mountains, we ran along the greenway – next to a river. The course stays with the river for about a mile, then the course splits. I head off to the left and run along a series of strip malls for a couple of miles. I caught up to Will as we turn toward a more residential neighborhood. At this point, Will is having bad cramps, he can only run about 100 yards at a time – we talk for a bit and he sends me ahead. I remember that we hit a very steep downhill and I have the good sense to walk down just as the foot cramps hit me. At the bottom of the hill, I get back to a slower run. This neighborhood has sneaky rolling hills – since it’s near mile 20, so these hills are not your friend. I take my first energy gel from the race, an orange Hammer gel – that the volunteer kindly warned me had already been opened. The gel didn’t sit well as I felt nauseous for the next 30 minutes. I head back over to the greenway for my second pass and head toward the finish line. We take a trip through a park and I’m really dragging. During our pre-race tour, we couldn’t drive the park, but could see most of where we ran. The course then takes a turn across a small bridge and goes in a loop. We assumed that the course did not go across the bridge, so I’m a bit confused when the marshal sends us across. I see runners on the other side of the bridge, so I figure it’s just a short little out and back. When we head under the bridge on a long loop, I get pretty frustrated. Some people are out cheering and think my singlet is for the US Marine Corps instead of Marathon Maniacs. Their sincerity perked me up and I didn’t have the heart to correct them. I took another Hammer gel – this time Apple Cinnamon – seriously, WTF? – how about chocolate or something tasty. At least this one doesn’t make me feel like puking. I hit the bridge and stay on the sidewalk even though a lane is segregated by cones for runners. At the end of the bridge a police officer is directing traffic. The curb is about 6 inches, so I look for a shorter curb but find none. The cop has stopped traffic and calls out – “Get Moving” – go ahead, imagine what I was thinking. Fortunately for me, this was after mile 24, so I had zero energy to run my mouth.

Sometime after the 25 mile mark, I ran into Todd. He’s got his finisher’s medal and he’s heading back for Will. Todd’s quite a good friend. We have a brief chat which picks me up. As I get closer, I ask the volunteer for some info about upcoming turns – she did a great job of answering with just enough detail. When I spot the finish line, I kicked it up a bit but I really didn’t have a lot left in the tank.

I went back to cheer for Will. I was a little surprised that he and Todd came around the corner so quickly. Will was running which is better than I expected.

Post race I ran into a couple of Marathon Maniacs (MM), including Daniel Lieb who ran two marathons the weekend before and two the weekend before that. We agreed that this was the toughest for either of us. On the course, I ran with Maniac Ricky Scott who has run Pike’s Peak twice – he assured me that this was a challenging course, but not nearly as tough as Pike’s Peak. I also chatted a bit with Michael Pulley from Sportsbackers Marathon Training Team (SB MTT) and MM. Michael is working on 50 marathons by the time he turns 50 – it always helps to have a goal. This race was my fourth state in six weeks – that earns me another star / level with Maniacs, I’m up to *** / Gold Level.

I really enjoyed the race. It was well organized and very well supported. The volunteers were awesome. This was easily the most difficult course that I’ve run. I had the marathon walk for the next few days. I needed all the water and all the GU that I carried with me. The uphill really took a lot out of me. The Hammer Gel and HEED served on the course was just nasty and they used plastic cups for water. The plastic cups didn’t allow you to easily take them on the run. Race organizers deserve a ton of credit for pulling off a great inaugural event so very smoothly. The limited accessibility of the mountain portion of the course meant the organization needed to be thorough and done in advance. My very minor complaints are chip pickup on race morning (rather than part of the packet pickup) and an odd late race split / loop that could have been better marked / marshalled.

Thanks to Will and Kathy for putting us up … and putting up with us.

Time: 4:27:00

Course: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31141455

Next marathon: Delaware on 5/16 - http://www.delawaremarathon.org/