Indianapolis Marathon Report - long (Read 509 times)

This marathon is a hidden gem in the Midwest. Its run in Lawrence (slightly East of downtonwn Indy) at Ft Ben Harrison State Park and old Army post. The race is capped at 6000 with a half and full. The full has about 2000 runners so there is lots of room but it is well supported throughout the course. Also, the $45 entry fee is hard to beat. So here we go. Temperature at arrival was 42F. Perfect fall running weather. I ran as an American Cancer Society Charity Runner so we had a tent with personal gear check so I did not have to do the noral gear check. Talking to others, that gear check went smoothly. The finish area had several firepits going when I arrived to help people stay warm. The firepits were surrounded by hay bales for sitting and was a great touch this close to halloween. SO after some warmup, we toe the line. I'm in the 9 minute pace area. You self corral here so I wonder how many walkers I will need to pass but as it turns out most people placed themselves fairly well. Once the national anthem completed, we started off. The first few miles wind through an old Army post. In particular we wind through what would be called Officer Row which has lots of trees and brick homes around a large parade ground. The folliage was perfect as we are just having the colors of fall hit Indy in ful force. Once we leave the Army post portion, we head for an out ab back through a local neighborhood. There is a small hil-valley combination but something to wake the legs and not too hard. Since its an out and back we catch a glimpse of the race leaders and they are moving fast. This part of the course travels along 56th street and is wide so you can feel comfortable during the run. We complete the out and back and head East towards our next partion of the course. We travel through another portion of the Army Post and get a chance to receive som cheers from a larger gallery. The one nice thing about this course if you are a viewer is that you can catch a glimpse of runners at several locations without much travel so the crowd support is great. We run through a subdivision for a change of direction (what puzzles me is that there are people sitting in their cars waiting for the runners to thin so they can get out when there are signs everywhere telling them that traffic is restricted for the morning - the local police are at the intersections so no one is moving except us runners). We head West down the same road that brought us east but we turn into Lawerence Park and hit the paved trails. It is really pretty with the fall colors. We are heading donwhill and are now at mile 8. If you've run this one you know that the hill at mile 9/10 will come up soon. A quick turn around a lake and we hit the mile 9/10 hill. This is a rolling hill but still gets lots of people to walk. I pass through this feeling pretty solid and exit the park no worse for wear. Now we are heading to the split for the half and full. The half moves off to the South and the full keeps going downhill through Ft. Ben State Park. We run on paved trails and through wooded places. This part of the course will be mostly flat and will follow a water way called Fall Creek. The fan support is a little thin here but mostly because cars can get back here due to traffic blocks for the race. Its nice and peacefull on this section and all you hear is nature and runners. A portion of this route travels near some neighborhoods and people are out cheering runners. I especially like the one group that had a tailgater complete with beer and brats and airhorns. This bottom section of the course is an out and back and we see the leaders again. They look much better than me but then again, they train more as well. We keep moving along to the turn and head back for home. This is about mile 19 so only 7 more to go. The last seven is the same mix of raod and paths heading back to Ft. Ben. The temperature is rising but still only about 60. Perfect running weather. The next miles go by slowly and now we hit mile 25 which starts the uphill climb to the finish. Its not a big uphill but feels like the Matterhorn to me. Once at the top, there is about a 1/4 mile to the finish and again along officer row. Still pretty and lots of people lining the roadways cheering everyone. When you hear the PA guy announcing finishers, you know you are almost there. The finish has some basic foods and fuel and a nice medal. A signature of this event is the cookout they provide (brats, pizza, burgers and vegiie subs) for the runners at no cost. I grab som water, get some warm clothes from the ten and head to the still raging fire pits to talk with other finishers and stretch out. All in all a perfect day for a run. The support along the course was great. We always seemed to have a water station when needed and the volunteers were supportive and cheering everyone. If you want a fall marathon, think about Indy as it is small in number but big in organization and support. And the brats are good too. My final time was 3:48 which was a PR by a littl over 7 minutes. All in all a good days work.

Great job CR! A PR...and no talk of pain in your report - congratulations!

Congrats on the PR. Nice work.

7 minute PR and you made it sound easy!! Great job!!

Nice race! Your report was fun to read.

nice work and congrats ... looking at your log it would appear that you also PR'd your 1/2 marathon by 2-3 minutes as well.