Good luck to the weekend racers!!!

06/10 coastwalker - Market Square Day 10K, Portsmouth, NH

06/10  RunnerKSA - Hatfield & McCoy Marathon,  WVA

I found it!  Full report later. 4:53 and age group win.

Market Square Day 10K, Portsmouth, NH

Fashion reports: black shorts, silver 'Granite State Racewalking' s/s shirt, orange cap, grey Balega socks, black Topo ST-2 shoes.

A beautiful day in Portsmouth, with cloudless skies, bright sun, and temps quickly climbing through the 60s. I worked at our Seacoast Series table from 7 till 8:30, and then shut down and went to warm up and get ready for the 9am start. Big crowd at the start, so it took me 30 seconds to get to the start mats. I did pretty well in the first 3 miles, keeping a good pace in the mid 10s. In #4 the very strong sun with no breeze started to get to me. It was already about 20° warmer than what I was used to working out in on my pre-dawn workouts. I started to get a little light-headed (despite having been well-hydrated and hitting almost every water stop), and I had no choice but to slow down. In miles 5 & 6, we got back closer to the harbor, with it's open water and slightly cooler temps, and I was able to recover my pace a bit, and had a decent walk to the finish. My time was 1:09.54, which was about 4 min off what I would have been happy with. Afterwards, a lot of people were remarking on the heat, if only because it was so different from what we have all gotten used to this Spring. So, I guess, for most of us, there was a lot of 'mind over matter' work out the on the course. Because of my good early miles, and despite my mile 4 bonk, I still managed to finish first in the RW division by a little over a minute. It was not an impressive outing, but it was good enough for today.

About an hour after the race, I had a 2-hr. stint at a booth (our Seacoast Series road race series again) in the huge Market Square Day festival. We had a bunch of people stop by, and had some interesting conversations. It was also great people-watching, and among the interesting folks who passed by, we saw a guy in a sundress, and another guy in the shortest shorts we saw all day. I finally got home at about 2:45, had something to eat, took a nap.

Thanks. Jay.

Hatfield and McCoy Marathon-

This was my first full marathon since 2013, and I was ridiculously anxious.  I mean- paralyzingly anxious.  It wasn't about how I would do, but about even DOING it!  I get that way- it's almost not worth it to race.  I think I've been at this so many years and raced so hard that I know how much it hurts!  I really over-raced in 2013 (6 full marathons and a bunch of halfs and shorter races) and was just tired of all the long runs and fitting them in with my job, etc.  Plus- I'm older and it's just a lot harder.  My PR (from ages ago) is 3:08 on a tough course, so probably 3:05 shape.  In 2009 I qualified for Boston a couple of times, including with a 4:08 on a course where I fell twice and cracked some ribs but kept going.  So- I've lost a lot.  I train well, but age has had an impact.  So, now I'm under a 5 hour marathoner, but not by a whole lot!  If I really worked and risked injury (speedwork, raced more) I think I could get down to 4:40, but I just don't want to.  The problem is, 5 hours just feels like a long time to be out there.

Anyway- very odd part of the country. W VA/Kentucky coal country.  Mainly rural and not very affluent, to say the least.  My company has a retail store there (in Williamson, KY) and I visited with the store manager. Many customers have no email or computers, so can't sign up for our affinity program.

That said, the staging and execution of this unique race is amazing.  Everyone in the county must volunteer.  There are aid stations more than every mile (more than they even promise in the race materials).  There are 2 half marathons (one starting in W VA and one in KY), the full marathon, and the ability to put the 2 half marathons together to get 2 states.  I'll state right now that I am NOT a Marathon Maniacs fan (although I was a member at one time)- and this race caters to the whole 50 state crowd.  That means there are a lot of slower participants, which is fine.  No time limit for the full.  It's a small race - probably 800 or so total participants.  If you bail on the full, you can get credit for the half that ends halfway through the full.

The race starts at a grocery store with no big banner or anything.  It is chip timed.  It was 58 at the start and perfect.  I kept my throw away t shirt until after 5 miles (and got it back at the finish line).  I ran a sub 2:21 first half, which included about a mile long climb and then a big descent down the other side.  Other than that, the course wasn't that bad at all in the first half.  It's easier than Monkey, for sure.  I did a mile running, 1 minute walking for that entire half.  I was running near some folks who were "frequent fliers" (Maniacs for the most part) which included "Ironman Dave" from Minnesota.  He turned out to be a nice guy, but talked an awful lot about all his Ironman adventures.  Since my son is a top amateur, I know pretty much about the sport and a lot of what he was saying was not correct.  I didn't waste my breath addressing it, though.

I thought the 2nd half of the race (also the 2nd half marathon) was harder, even though it didn't have the big climb.  It started to get warmer, although we had decent shade until about 18 miles.  At one point the lovely, paved path by the river (they call it River Road) turned into a gravel path, then a rutted path, then single track then a mud pit and finally a golf course.  I am a fall risk (low foot pick up) and I walked much of that.  I used some bad words.  Then there was the swinging bridge with really wide wood slats.  It was around 19.  I walked.  I was told some people are terrified and crawl.  I gave up on the 1 minute walks at about 14 and just walked when I felt like it.  It was getting hard, too.

The last 7 miles are in sun and were tough.  There is a giant hill at mile 23.  Everyone walked.  My husband was on a bike and told me several times that I was the only one running still (not on the hill).  He's not the "great encourager", so that was probably true.  I passed a fair amount of people, considering how small the race is.  After the beauty of most of the course (it is stunning), at mile 25 1/2 we dumped onto a highway with Taco Bell, etc.  It was horrible.  We had a coned off lane, but it was hot and ugly.  We turned into town over a bridge which meant we entered W VA again.  Still had the cones.  I was running- well, mainly....    I crossed the finish at 4:53:09.  They are giving me a faster chip time, but they aren't correct since I know my watch is right.  They were giving out awards shortly after you went to the timing guy and got your time, but they hadn't figured out the overalls, masters etc.  Turns out I won Senior Grand Masters (over 60) for women.  I felt fine once I finished.  I mean, I was exhausted, but didn't need to go to medical or anything.   The medal is awesome and we got this great mason jar (which my award medal sticker sticks to the lid) which the local bar filled up with beer (32 ounces) for $5.  I didn't have any money while my husband was retrieving the car and travel trailer, but this nice woman who had done the first half gave me a $5 and later we bought her a beer.

Our logistics were complicated.  Taking the travel trailer added a layer of complexity.  The night before the race we had it hooked up to power at the old train depot (historic building) in Matewan (which I learned is pronounced MATE- juan) and had no air  conditioning.  We didn't really need it, but that meant the windows were open.  A train went by every hour with full whistles.  We didn't sleep.

I used 3 Huma Gels during the race and drank water and Gatorade.  They had ice at most of the aid stations, and I stuck ice down the back of my crop top (my Oiselle racing kit) at all the later ones.  I had some watermelon on the course, too.  I stayed hydrated, which was good.  I think it helped that the start was cool.   I wore Hoka Clifton 3 shoes and got no blisters and had no chafing.  I'm moderately sore today but mainly have very tired legs, hips and butt.   I think all the up and down of the course makes you be less sore.  I was worried that the long downhill in the first half would trash my legs, but I think Hokas are particularly good for that.

This is a very historic area and interesting.  I prefer small races like this, and it is unique.  I am SO glad it's over!

Nice set of reports coastwalker and RunnerKSA. I had forgotten about fashion reports from when Spareribs would post here! Amazing running history you have there RunnerKSA.

Great reports to you both. Sounds like you each had some challenging weather to deal with but certainly ran smart and didn't let the warmer temps bonk you. 

well done!

Thanks, tetsujin.  I think there might have been a little stream or some water coming off a ledge that created that muddy stretch.  It wasn't too long, but there wasn't a way around it!     I hear you on the slower runners/walkers.  I also appreciate them.  Back in the late 70s/early 80s a 4 hour marathon was slow- but mainly because there simply wasn't the participation in the event that there is now!  If you ran a marathon, you were a pretty serious competitive runner.  The races for the general population were 10Ks (we didn't have nearly as many 5Ks back in my early running days).     My running goal really is to stay healthy and be able to keep doing it.  I'm not that discouraged by my times.  I'm more discouraged by how hard the effort is to achieve even those times.

Two great race reports this week. And I think the Hatfield/McCoy Marathon is now on my marathon bucket list. Thanks for  posting these.

Paul