Matt Jenkins is the RD. Matt offers a series of free marathons with a focus on the runner. Matt supplies the organization and a set of dog tags for finishers – the runners do the rest. Matt offered to help find accommodations for people, he offered to deliver race packets, including five or six GU packets wherever people were staying. He was there to make this a great experience. I really appreciated the flexibility and personal attention.
The Grandfather Mountain marathon is held nearby on the day before Flatlanders. A number of Maniacs run both Grandfather and Flatlanders. Naturally, Matt emailed to ask if I was “only” running Flatlanders or if I was doing the double like so many others. Since this was just a quick trip, I stuck with the single marathon, but I appreciated the opportunity to do them both. Grandfather is done as a part of a pretty big Scottish Highland Games at Appalachian State University. The hotel rooms sell out quickly and at full price. I came up with the idea to camp at a local KOA campground.
I shouldn't have been surprised when my running buddy, Todd, called on Friday for details about the trip. Todd had an open weekend and only needed to find some help with childcare to be able to make the trip. His friend Hector came through to keep the kids for an evening and Todd was ready to go.
When we were driving through North Carolina on our way to Boone, we noticed the change in terrain as we got into the mountains. Knowing that Grandfather Mountain has a reputation similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway marathon in Roanoke, we were skeptical that this would really be “Flat” and the area made it seem even less likely. We took a quick trip to the start to check things out. The course did seem to be fairly flat along a paved path in a small valley.
This was Todd’s first camping trip, so naturally, we spared no expense. The campground had foosball (I lost) and putt-putt golf (I lost). The golf course was a bit overgrown, we dodged trees, but had a good time. I packed a surprise, we broke out the game of corn hole – another first for Todd. He cleaned my clock. Since it was Saturday night, the campground also had a “concert” – two locals played folk-type music.
I could tell Todd was anxious about running as a bandit – although that’s a strange concept with a free marathon. I sent an email to Matt (RD) and he called me back – no problem for the bandit, a couple of people had dropped out. Matt explained that he had one person starting at 11 PM – we continued with our plan to begin running at 6 AM.
We settled in for a fairly early bedtime. I zonked immediately – Todd told me the guy next to us was making a big racket with his cooler in the middle of the night. Based on my two experiences, camping is okay before a run … but getting a good night sleep is heavily dependent on the noise around you – which you really don’t have control over.
We arrived right on time, just before sunrise. Matt let us choose our numbers – or run without them. He put our names on a poster board and had us mark off laps. We needed to make seven laps then record our time. Todd and I both ran out of battery power on our Garmin during the 10 hour race in Paducah, so we both had backup timers. Matt had placed water at the other end of a 3 ¾ mile out and back course. Todd and I ran the outbound portion of the first lap together. Everything was pretty good – the course is along a river and there was the faint odor of swamp smell. As we approached mile 1 ½ - the smell got much stronger, then we saw the waste water treatment plant. After a few laps, the morning dew had burned off and the smell had cleared from most of the course, but the end with the plant was just getting stronger. I focused my energy so I could run at a faster clip for that half mile adjacent to the worst of it.
After two laps, there was a guy just starting on his first lap. I offered to run with him to get him familiar with the route. This was his first marathon – I was really surprised. I liked this marathon, but there were no spectators and it wasn’t publicized very much. Most of the runners were really hard core Maniacs – many of them getting a double … so it was odd to meet a rookie. He was a really nice guy, we’d have run together more, but I needed to hit the bathroom when we finished our lap. I felt bad when I didn’t see him on the course before the turnaround – he missed the one turn on the course and did an extra mile or so … oops!
Todd and I headed back to grab a shower, pack up camp, then a quick bite to eat at the Black Cat Burrito. I found a burrito called the “White Trash BBQ Burrito” – made with tofu, right up my alley. Boone is another great college town (it reminded me of a smaller version of Knoxville). I’d like to head back.
Flatlanders Marathon
Time: 4:37:15
Course: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40098814
We truly have to go back. Maybe next summer.
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