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Yet another Myrtle Beach Marathon Report (Read 543 times)

    I know there are already a couple of Myrtle Beach Marathon reports posted that are much more interesting and written by much more respected posters...but it makes me feel good to publicly air my thoughts! Thanks for bearing with me... Anyway, I was very impressed with the organization of this race. Ample parking close to the start/finish, plenty of restrooms at the start, seperate starting line for half marathoners and marathoners, etc. made for an easy and stress free morning. The volunteers were the best I've seen at a race. The aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers were ethusiastically yelling water/powerade in order to make them run as smooth as possible. Even the volunteers that were "guarding" the side street crossings were cheering on and acknowledging the runners. The course itself was pretty good, but nothing great. Miles 21-24 or so were the worst - running along Highway 17 with cars driving in the lane next to you wasn't real fun. All in all - not a bad course, just nothing great. The expo was pretty good (free beer) as were the finish line provisions (free beer). I do wish they would have had pizza - hands down my favorite race recovery food!!! Oh yea, there are plenty of really good hotels on the beach with outstanding off season rates. There were a few negatives - the race shirt was just plain bad. It was some sort of short sleeved, mock necked, zippered, too small technical shirt with a so-so logo. At least they did have in-expensive good looking long sleeved t-shirts for sale at the expo. The expo was a little bit hard to get around in. I believe next year they are moving to the convention center so there should be more room. The medals were ok - not the best I've gotten but not the worst. They need to consider corrals next year - I had to do a lot of passing in the early miles of the race. Now for the race.....I had one goal in mind - 3:59:59. My two other marathon times were 4:08 and 4:07 - both of them I was in good position at the 20 mile mark and then I cramped really bad and struggled to the finish. The weather was absolutely perfect - a slight breeze at the start and it was probably around 45 degrees or so; the finish was no more than 55 degrees. Couldn't blame this one on the weather! Miles 1-19 went pretty much as planned. My running buddy and I maintained around a 8:45 or so pace (some miles 8:30's some closer to 9:00 depending on the fluid stops). Somewhere between mile 19 and 20 my friend began his struggles....so I put on the ipod and slowly left him behind. We made the deal before the race that we were running our own race. My pace slowed some over the next 4 or so miles to the point I was probably doing close to 10 minute miles however I only walked through the water stops (the "water stop walks" did become a bit longer, however Smile). Mile 24.5 or so is where the proverbial wall hit me and I stopped to walk. I probably walked for about 5 minutes or so when I finished doing the math in my head on what it would take to beat my goal. The conclusion - you better start running. Somehow I managed to keep my feet running, albeit not real fast, until the finish. I think I was even running with my eyes closed a good chunk of the last mile. I crossed the finish line and stopped the watch - 3:59:42. My actual chip time was 3:59:40. Never could have done it without all my friends there racing with me and cheering me on (see picture in my profile)! Thanks guys! It is amazing how much that 19 seconds has meant to my demeanor these past few days! Less than 1 second per mile! Now the hard part is deciding which race to do next!


    Me and my RP

      Well done!!!! Sounds like you had a good race, aside from the 'wall'. But hey, to sub four even after hitting the wall?!?? Kudos to you!!! Great race report. It reminded me of a few things I had completely forgotten aboutSmile Did ya see that little barefoot kid running?? That floored me! I agree with the post race goodies..pizza would have been much appreciated!Smile The expo was a bit of a zoo, wasn't it?? Jam packed with folks and I wish they had done the bib/shirt/chip all at the same time instead of making you go room to room. In the past, I've gotten all three in one bag at one table. Or maybe they were trying to keep traffic moving out of the rooms. Whatever, it'll be nice to see what they come up with next year. The shirt is a bit..cheap. Not something I'll ever wear running or otherwise. Not really even worth framing with the medal as the logo is so small. Ahh well, it's just a t shirt after all. The cars driving by bugged me a bit, too. I felt like I was being hurried along those last few miles. I did find that I had a lot of walkers to get around at the start. Maybe I lined up too far back (4 hr) but goodness, I was having to dodge walkers left and right. ( I didn't realize people walked marathons...that must take quite some time!). You're right, plenty of facilities pre race, wish they had a few more at the water stationsSmile So congrats on your sub 4!!
      jeffdonahue


        Nice job! Way to persevere adn get through to the finish line, and under 4 hours is great! I am hoping for that come the Bay State marathon in October.
          Thanks, I am glad to have that sub 4 hour race behind me! JM - Congratulations on your great finish as well. From looking at your training log and your successful marathon debut...you have some great marathon times in your future! I just got around to reading all the reports today - had to catch up on all the work I neglected last week 'cause I was only worrying about the race. I didn't notice the lack of porta-johns on the course....I used the trees to the right of the start area just before the gun went off - one of the perks of being a male! I know, TMI! I heard the barefoot kid was 11 years old and he ran a 1:38 1/2 marathon! Amazing!
            congrats! Nice job meeting your goal Big grin Nice job on the math... I do the math game until I hit about mile 20 and my brain goes to mush and I no longer care, LOL! Bummer about the shirts...I got the same thing at the America's Finest City Half last year...horrible shirt and an equally horrible race. Dead Maybe if they get enough complaints/suggestions, they'll do better next year.

            Jennifer mm#1231


            Another Passion

              Congratulations on the sub-4 race, Wings! That's awesome! Nicely done. Wink

              Rick
              "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." - Juma Ikangaa
              "I wanna go fast." Ricky Bobby
              runningforcassy.blogspot.com

              JDF


              Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

                I know there are already a couple of Myrtle Beach Marathon reports posted that are much more interesting and written by much more respected posters...but it makes me feel good to publicly air my thoughts! Thanks for bearing with me...
                Actually, I have the up most respect for you! You smoked me! I finished about 12 minutes behind you! The marathon is a tough beast! Everything has to be in your favor on that day and it sounds like it was for you on Saturday. Congrats on the sub 4:00 time. That is an accomplishment believe me! I have run 3 marathon's. One in 3:57:50, one in 3:20:50, and one in 4:11:30. I am definitely most proud of the two marathon's I ran that were close to 4 hours. When everything is going right it seems easy. When everything is going wrong and you hit the wall is when you show what kind of runner you really are. It sounds like you really showed your inner strength at mile 25. Congrats again! Do you remember passing me between miles 20-25? I was the tall man walking with a blue singlet shirt on. The shirt said NCRC on the front and "TAF"(The Athlete's Foot) on the back.
                  ^ Actually I do remember seeing you on highway 17 walking through one of the fluid stops. I am familiar with the NCRC logo and it caught my eye. You were carrying a water bottle thing - correct? I was part of the 7 or so runners that were wearing the RMEC (Rocky Mount Endurance Club) shirts.
                    For those who ran myrtle - here is the "back door" to view your pictures a little early. Just change my bib number below (in bold) to yours. Don't look at my pictures, they are horrible - the camera very rarely seems to catch me in stride! http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=30922&BIB=5674&LNSEARCH=1&PWD=
                    JDF


                    Non-Stroller-Still Crazy

                      ^ Actually I do remember seeing you on highway 17 walking through one of the fluid stops. I am familiar with the NCRC logo and it caught my eye. You were carrying a water bottle thing - correct? I was part of the 7 or so runners that were wearing the RMEC (Rocky Mount Endurance Club) shirts.
                      Yep, that was me. I remember seeing you and your group also. I was really struggling at that point. You all were looking good. Great job again!