Just for effect... I like to post the elevation profile of this course to sort of "set the stage," as it were. This is the 4th year I've run this race, so many of you have seen this bad boy before... My first year running this was in 2005. It was my first marathon, my goal was 4:30 and more experienced runners told me that was a wee bit ambitious for the first time (and as a first marathon). Bah! I trained hard on the course all summer, and got a 4:26 time. I had such a good time and was hooked on marathons and this course. For various reasons, the following two years were slower and felt harder. So this year, I set this as my "A" race for the fall and set my goals: 1) finish happy and in one piece (always a good #1 goal for this course) 2) Get a course PR 3) Nail a 4:15 I've had problems with my right foot all summer. Metatarsalgia is annoying, painful and stubborn. Even with that, I managed to increase my weekly mileage this summer and set some PR's along the way in various distances. I'm lucky to be able to train on this course, and had done the whole thing in pieces, some pieces (like that big climb from mile 9 to 12.5, and 12.5 to 17 which is called the Out-and-Back) several times. The week before the race I stuck to pool running mostly, giving my foot time to recover as much as possible. Friday before the race was absolutely beautiful weather, IRC in the morning. Would've been a good time to run! But the forecast for Saturday was not so good, and the day dawned with 41F temp, damp from rain, and low-lying clouds. Ester Dome (the hill we climb) was shrouded in foggy clouds, and it's usually about 10 degrees colder up there on a regular day. Brrrr! I met another Marathon Maniac at the start, Gay from Regina Saskatchewan, she'd signed up at the last minute and was pretty excited. There was another Maniac there, but I never did meet her. With a loud Bang from I guess a starting pistol, we were off up the hill. This race had a record number of relay teams this year. Sometimes they can cause problems for me because they're all going faster than marathon pace (they only run ~8.5 mile legs) and I get caught up with them. It's also hard to position yourself in a good spot going into the several single-track trail sections. I did better at that this year but still went out a bit fast. I have a pace chart with desired times at various points along the race. These points correspond to the sections I did my training runs on. Start to mile 8 was supposed to be about 1:14, and I hit it at 1:09.... oops. From there you start climbing and at mile 9 it gets steep. We could see the golden birch covered hill rise up and disappear into the cloud. More than one runner said "I hope that burns off before I get there!" Had first Gu at mile 9, skipped the S-caps (oops again). Miles 9 to 12.5 go from the base of Ester Dome to the first peak, which is where you come back to after the Out-and-Back. My goal time for this was 2:05, and I was at 2:03... already lost a couple minutes of my cushion, my legs felt dead tired and I was getting very cold. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and we were in some sort of misty light rain that was making the road slick and freezing my face (I never did take off my gloves the whole way... wish I'd worn heavier ones). I met Roger (used to post as Nordic Beserker) at about 12.7 mile--actually it was almost 17 mile for him--and he was flying. That was at 2:07 and he had less than 10 miles to go. I kept trudging on, doing my run/walk mix, tucking my hands under my arms at the walk parts. Brrrr! This section is fun though, the trail is steep but in better condition than prior years. It's fun to see the fast runners come blasting past you on their way to The Chute. You go on an up and down trail to about 14.6 mile, then turn around and head back. I budgeted 50 minutes for this, hoping to reach the top of the chute at 2:52... I was 2:54 by then. I'd lost time because I had to ask volunteers at water stops to dig out and open my Gu packets... my hands were not working they were so cold! The Chute is an extremely steep section, about 1/3 mile and it drops about 500 feet I think. Lots of people fall here, but I never have. I have torn up my knees on this though, so I go slow and carefully. The next couple of miles are on a beautiful trail, mostly gentle downhill, winding through the birch and aspen. The recent rains made this section slick and muddy though, so I had to be careful. Starting to warm up which is nice. No wind in this section because you're down in the trees. You come out on Henderson Road, which is dirt at first, the turns to pavement, just past mile 19 and down to about 21.5 mile. The next two miles are roads with an incline, then along a powerline which is sometimes very slick and uneven, but today it was pretty nice. The sun started peeking out and I'd warmed up pretty well. Miles 23 and 24 are on paved road with mostly downhill slope, then you return to ski trails and a steep hill at mile 25 (this one is just mean), then downhill to the Student Rec Center field where we started. When I was on the out-and-back, I figured my 4:15 was gone, just focus on the course PR. I was so cold, and my left hamstring was cramping from a slip at mile 3... felt it seize up as I caught my fall. That's why skipping those S-caps was a bad idea... Oh well. At about 3 miles out, I realized I was at 3:47... Hey, I can do the next 3.2 miles in about a half hour... Get going! So I did. I passed a bunch of runners those last 7 miles, it was energizing. Checked my watch as I started down the trail at mile 26 and saw I was at 4:13 something! Pulled off my top shirt to cross the line in my Marathon Maniacs singlet. Called on whatever gas I had left in the tank (which wasn't much), and crossed the line at 4:15:05.... Between you and me, I'm going to forget about those 5 seconds. Fashion report: Black Boston Marathon shorts, Marathon Maniacs singlet under Seattle Marathon long-sleeved tee, ratty old gloves, Garmin 205, Asics Nimbus 9's... Results: 3rd in AG, 14th woman overall. And my foot is ok, I feel pretty good, and I'm very very glad to have this behind me!! Next up... NYC on 11/2.

WOW! Tough course + tough conditions + tough runner= PR Great report.

Fantastic. I'd was totally caught up in following your training, hurting foot, training adjustments then wet, cold weather. WoW! You did fantastic. Smart running.

Erika - fantastic! Some tough runners up there obviously because I was hoping you would get 1st in AG! Frozen hands fumbling with gu is defnitely worth more than 5 seconds. You achieved all 3 goals! The course actually sounds quite beautiful. But beautiful usually translates as tough. Just think what a totally different experience NYC is going to be...

oooops

What a great accomplishment to meet all your Equinox goals on this year’s rain-slicked trails with roots, rocks and ruts conspiring to trip you up at nearly every step and still being able to charge up the ski hills in the last mile for a well-deserved PR finish. As if that’s not enough, you’re already in WDC less than 24 hours later. ps - partially-opened gels, shot blocks in snack-size Ziplocks, etc. keep warm from freezing too if pinned to inside of waistband or, as some of the ultra goddesses seem to do around here, to certain girl-garb a little higher up. For e-caps, try tape around some snap/flip/screw-in/etc. pill vials and pinning to waistband, shirt or in amphipod micro-pouch for cold-hands access.

Maniac? Nutcase! Just joking, that was some race and looks very tough, that first climb, is it 2000' from base camp looks really hard. You did so well just to finish but gets hardware and meets goal. Well done Erika Roy

In the last few weeks, I've learned more about Alaska than I ever thought I wanted to know, but all things considered, I much prefer your version and descriptions of the place you call home. This sounds like a really tough course, Erika, but as usual you absolutely blitzed it, freezing hands or not. But I'm also not sure that I needed your description of the cold weather to remind me that it's only a couple months away for us also. Good job on another maniac marathon, and an excellent RR on top of that! Am I too old and/or the wrong gender to say "You go, girl!"?