First Marathon Report (Read 616 times)

I ran the Richmond Marathon today!!! The great race reports of the past few weeks are a tough act to follow. Sorry I don’t have any funny anecdotes or cool pictures, just a brief summary… I thought the race was very well organized, and I liked the course. The fan support was excellent. I would recommend this race. The weather was on the cool side (40s), overcast, and breezy. Many say this is ideal marathon weather, but I just haven’t had much experience running in the cold (yes, 40s is cold for me). I wore shorts and a tech long sleeve over a tech short sleeve. I wore a fleece pull-over at the start, intending to throw it away after I warmed up a bit, but when I took it off, I soon got cold again, so I ran the remainder of the race with it on. I am really glad I did, for it was quite breezy and cool around miles 15 and 16, when crossing back over the James River on the Lee Bridge. I ran the first half slowly as planned, in around 2:07 something. My attempt at keeping every single mile in the first half above a 9:44 pace was only partially successful. I ran with the 4:15 pace group, but when mile 4 came in at 9:31, I let them go. On my own, I found it really hard to stay above 9:44, especially given variations in terrain. For example, see mile 7 below, which had a big downhill. 1 9:45 2 9:39 3 9:49 4 9:31 5 9:41 6 9:52 7 9:24 8 9:38 9 9:52 10 9:49 11 9:45 12 9:41 13 9:36 14 9:18 fastest 15 9:27 16 10:06 17 9:54 18 9:36 19 9:32 20 9:51 21 9:54 22 10:15 23 9:52 24 9:51 25 10:33 slowest 26 10:32 27 2:02 In the second half, I just tried to run based on feel. I had a drop in energy at about 21.5 miles, and thought I was done for, but then somehow rebounded for the 23rd and 24th mile. The final 2 miles, were tough, with the legs just not wanting to move faster. I finished the race in 4:16:52. Now I only have to shave about 46 minutes off to qualify for Boston (need 3:30:59)! I’d like to thank everybody for there great advice and support over the past year, with special thanks to Eric for this great RA web site. If I hadn’t found this web site I probably would have never done this marathon.

Wow...you are officially a marathoner! I am so excited and proud of you--between your weight loss and training you have really put in so much work for this race--and it paid off! k

Congratulations VA! You were just ahead of me (4:17:50) Too tired for a report. In summary though the people of Richmond were fantastic, and if I ever do that to myself again, it will be in Richmond. The headwind was terrible for a few miles though!

Awesome, Stephen! Like Zoomy said, you've definitely worked hard for it and I'm proud of you too! Well done!

What great pacing! Pretty unusual for a rookie to run such a consistent pace. Congratulations!

Great job. You should be very proud of yourself!!

Congrats Stephen! Excellent job in pacing yourself, and kudos on leaving the pace group when you realized they weren't running at the right speed. Aside from the wind, did you enjoy the race?

Thanks everyone!!! RK, Congrats on your first as well! We were pretty close. I wonder if we passed each other. I was the grey haired guy wearing the green fleece pull-over... MC, Yes, I really enjoyed it and thought it was a great experience. It was a great feeling (and a relief) to be able to complete the distance and in pretty good shape (no blisters, chafing, cramps, or gastro- intestinal problems, just tired legs). I also enjoyed the support of the crowds cheering along the way (and giving out all kinds of goodies like orange slices, chocolate, pretzels, ...), and I enjoyed the many live bands along the way, they always give me a boost.