Maine Runnah Group

1

Good luck Blaine! (Read 306 times)

    Here's to hoping Blaine can defend his title this weekend in Providence. I'll be in Providence this weekend too, but not for the marathon. I'm going to the beer festival on Saturday. If you'd like to severely screw up your race, come check it out. Anyway, good luck!
    Teresadfp


    One day at a time

      Good luck, Blaine!! That's mean to put the beer festival BEFORE the race! What were they thinking?


      #2867

        Beer festival? Where? Big grin

        Run to Win
        25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

          http://www.beerfestamerica.com/ It's at the Rhode Island Convention Center, which isn't all that far from the marathon. I went last year and had a blast. They just give you a glass and tell you to have fun. No limits.


          #2867

            Very cool. As for the marathon, for anybody interested in taking part: Predict My Time!

            Run to Win
            25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

              hell of a nice time, Blaine. Someone who has been running as long as you knows that they can't all be PRs, so I hope you aren't down on yourself for not hitting your goals. Nice pace out there.


              #2867

                It was worth running. I have no doubt that I was in PR-shape, but I bit off more than I could chew. Going out in 2:35 pace and coming back in 3 hour pace is a bit of a swing, you gotta admit. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and yesterday just wasn't my day to win. Taken as a time and a finishing position, I still did great. How was the brewer's festival?

                Run to Win
                25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

                  The beer fest was a lot of fun. I saw quite a few people walking around outside in various marathon shirts and I kept thinking that I want to run another one. Do you recommend this one, or is there another one in New England that you think is better? I've run the Maine Marathon, and I think I'd rather run a different race for my second.


                  #2867

                    Let's see, here's what I've run in New England: ME: 2003 Maine Marathon, you've run that NH: 2007 Pisgah 50k Mountain Race - lots of fun and on trails if you are up for that sort of thing, expect to do a lot of climbing VT: 2006 Vermont City Marathon - Good race, great for spectators since you run near the same area multiple times, my wife saw me 6 times, and there's only one out and back section along a highway but you get that over with early. MA: 2005 & 2007 Boston Marathon - Well, it's Boston. 'Nuf said. CT: 2004 Mystic Places Marathon - I would highly recommend this race as I had a ton of fun running it, but it doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately. RI: 2008 & 2009 Cox Sports Marathon - This year's course was flatter, but it's still relatively tough. It's worth running, assuming that they finish construction on the bridge next year or change the course to not involve running single file and then having 6 hair pin turns as you go down a ramp. The race improved drastically from year 1 to year 2, so hopefully year 2 to 3 will improve a lot too. NY: 2006 New York City Marathon - not really New England but pretty close. It was okay; the fans were probably the worst of any that I've run (at least until I got to Manhattan where they rocked) but when I ran the race it only costs about 2/3 of what it costs now, maybe even a little less, once you factor in the application fees. Certainly a race to do for the experience, but I don't expect to run it again just because I don't think that it would be worth it for the amount it costs now. (Note that most people enjoy the crowds, but where I was running I was behind the elites and before the huge masses of people so most of the crowd just kind of stared at me stone faced and even when I heckled them wouldn't cheer.) And what the hell, outside of New England: OH: 2004 Cleveland Marathon - This was the 1st year on their new course, I liked it. Start downtown, run west for 30 blocks or so, south a few blocks, east for 110 blocks, north to the lake, and follow the lake back downtown. NV: 2009 Running from an Angel 50 Miler - If you go to Vegas, try to time it any time that Calico Racing is putting on an event, Joyce does a great job. There was a marathon option as well as 3 other races all going on the same course, no idea how she manages it. (I just saw her yesterday in RI and next weekend she's doing a midnight race at Area 51 with 4 different distance options up to 51k.) TX: 2004 San Antonio - Wasn't a huge fan. It was a 2 loop course. I think that it's since become a Rock'n'Roll marathon so it's probably way better than when I ran it. I will admit, though, the post-race food was very good. VA: 2007 Marine Corps Marathon - This is a pretty good big city marathon. Not super expensive, it's cool having support provided by marines, and it goes through the Capital. I had fun. FL: 2000 Jacksonville Marathon - This was my first one. It's a very flat and fast course. It took almost 3 years to run my next one. GA: 2008 ING Georgia Marathon - This was the first road marathon that I ran since Maine that had more hills. (Pisgah obviously had more since you run up and down a couple of mountains.) I treated it as a tempo run getting ready for the Cox Sports race last year so it was perfect for that, but I wouldn't want to try to PR on this course. It was made worse from last minute changes forced by the tornadoes that ripped through their 2 weeks prior. I think that's my experience - let me know if I missed any. Big grin Any other suggestions I could make aren't through personal experience, although I could still make recommendations based on things I've heard.

                    Run to Win
                    25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)