Grandfather Mountain Marathon Anticipation of the unknown is scary. My neighbor has said for years, “you gotta run Grandfather Mountain Marathon, it’s beautiful!”. After some recent business trips to WV and running the hills there, I thought, “why not!” It’s beautiful, it’s an unknown challenge and “it’s there”. I perform best in cold weather like 40’s, I wilt in the heat because I sweat so much. I can feel even the slightest hill when I run so why not run a mountain marathon in July? The perfect challenge. This is a really cool marathon, it’s small - less than 400, it starts at the track at Appalachian State University (The guys that beat Michigan)in Boone, NC and winds up the mountains, even on the Blue Ridge Parkway for awhile and ends at McRae Meadows during the Highland Games in Linville. In fact to get to the finish you have to run the track around the Highland Games field with 15,000 spectators. The scenery going up and around the mountains is nice and woodsy with some great views and several waterfalls next to the road. Lots of shade is the best part. They have a deal where you can stay in a residence hall very close to the race start. That worked out great. The night before they had a pasta dinner which was basic but very good. Lots of spaghetti, tasty bread, salad… Talking with the runners sitting nearby got me a bit more scared. One guy was running his 10th marathon in 10 weeks. He runs a marathon on the weekend and drives to the next one during the week (Alaska Mayor’s, Portland…). Another guy ran a 24 hr ultra and covered 124 miles. Very talented runners it seemed. If you reach the Highland Games within 5 hrs you get to run around the field in front of the crowds but after that they stop you at 26 miles and give you the medal. The course closes after 6 hrs. My neighbor told me to add 30 minutes to my typical marathon time to estimate GMM. I added 30 to 3:40 and got 4:10 then threw in 5 minutes for heat for a goal of 4:15. So my goals were: 1. Finish in 4:15 2. Finish under 5 hrs 3. Run at a hard training pace so recovery will be short since this is part of training for a fall marathon Here is the Garmin Elevation profile: I decided to run this like an Ultra where aid stations are places you stop and fuel properly rather than run and grab like a PR marathon. I was very concerned about hydration since my sweat rate in warm weather is greater than fluid absorption rate maximum. I decided I needed lots of water from carboloading as a source of internal water to supplement what I drink during the run. For 4 days before the marathon I had mounds of spaghetti for lunch and dinner. I got up at 3:30 to have a bagel and honey, banana and Hooah bar with Poweraid. I went back to bed and got up at 5:30 to get ready. At 6 am I had 20 oz water and 3 e-caps then nothing before the first aid station. It was a beautiful day with lower humidity than I was running in lately. Temperatures were 60’s climbing to 70’s. At the track I found JJJ Jessie who was running in a heavy duty kilt - perfect for the event! Later we saw Aamos. There were quite a few Maniacs running. The race started at 7:00 and I ran with Aamos for several miles before I lost her while fueling. That was fun! Due to the hydration concern, I stopped at every aid station and drank 2 water and 1 gatoraid cups often with e-caps to average 3 per hour (12 during the run and 3 before = 15 e-caps!) I also had a gu at 5 of the aid stations starting at mile 10. This strategy worked very well as I never felt fatigued. I also found that I could scream down the long downhill sections without hurting the quads. This really made up for time lost at aid stations. The hills were relentless but there were many downhill portions as rewards. Of course every time we went down we had to make “up” for it. SportsTracks had the total of the “ups” at 2710 feet and 1600 ft of “downs”. The scenery was awesome as we wound around and up the mountains. I hit the 13 mile mark at 2 hrs (beside a lake with mountains mirrored in the glass calm water) and mile 19 at 3 hrs. At mile 25 I was at 3:55 and feeling great. A bit later you could hear the bag pipes playing. Then the course led into the Highland Games and around the track to the sound of bagpipes. I crossed at 4:09:02 well under my 4:15 goal and I wasn’t very tired! Saw Aamos after but not JJJ (sorry!). Then drove 3 hrs back home. The splits show how hilly this race was: Stats: 4:09:02 (9:30 pace, AHR 151) 119/351 OA 20/76 AG (50-59) 1st mountain marathon Beat goal Ran not too hard FR: Blue/white Asics 2120 with 400 miles wear, Wright (double layer) socks, Blue Race Ready shorts and mug, White dri-fit tee,. ETA: Placement

That's seriously good running on a seriously tough course Perch. Some friends of mine ran it last year (or the year before) and did not in any way feel as great as you did at the end. You get yourself on a "normal" marathon course and you're going to smoke it. Bill

I most look forward to RR's where people can learn something, and gain real insight about how a good runner plans an event. One area that stood out is your determination, despite the challenges, to run parts of this race very strongly. Well done. Also consider that an event like this is a mentail as well as a physical test. You must have learned from this event just what kind of great shape you are in and that is sure to be a confidence booster for a strong fall marathon if you have on in your plans. I'm real happy for you Perch. I'm sure the only people who won't like this report are the Michigan fans who don't need that reminder! Spareribs

That is some carbo-laoding you did! Wow, great job, you really flew down that hill at mile 22 too. It sounds like you are actually a great hill runner. You are gonna rock a flat course now!

Looks like a MARATHON of a marathon. I think you ran a GREAT race!!!

That sounds like a lot of fun -- now I want to do Grandfather's. I am wondering what the weather was like -- regardless the shade probably helped a lot, as you indicated. Great race!

Amazing job on a tough course. Thanks for sharing your fueling strategy - it really helps to hear how the pros do it! I know each of us has to experiment with what works for us (sounds like Tramps must have a different strategy!) but its all good info. Its funny how that graph makes the hills look so steep, since each square is 100 ft up and 1 mile long. The big hill by my house rises 300 ft in 0.7 miles, which is like the hill in mile 16 in your graph, or coming down its like the hill in mile 11. You sure run it way faster than I do! Especially after 16 miles! What was your race placement overall and AG?

Perch - what a great race you ran, on what appears to be a monster of a marathon course! This really looks like quite a challenge and you handled it with class. Congratulations on an excellent race.