1 mile skied, 34 miles biked and 128.6 miles run in 2013 races
Race: Delaware Half Marathon
Place: Wilmington, DE
Miles from home: 2954 miles
Weather: 60s; Sunny; Humid
In writing both of my books, See Dane Run and 138,336 Feet to Pure Bliss, I shied away from giving the utmost in course descriptions. I remembered reading a book which purported to detail some of the best marathons in America and realized how something so tied to a point in time could become obsolete so quickly. Other than a few courses like New York or Boston, which have stayed virtually the same for decades, most courses will experience some changes. Be it from necessity or restlessness, course changes happen and trying to tell someone how to run a course which is no longer the course you ran seems pretty absurd.
The perfect example of this would be the Delaware Marathon this past weekend. When I ran it in 2006, it was multiple loops of the same course. Some people like that type of course and others not so much. That sort of course, where one knows what to expect and removes the unknown, is right in my wheelhouse. Nothing proves that more than how it remained one of my fastest marathons of the year until the last ten weeks of that 52 marathon journey when I broke through a glass ceiling and blew away my previous marathon PR by 8 minutes.
So I was looking forward to experiencing this new Delaware course which could not be much different than the one I ran 7 years ago (Seriously? Seven?!) Moreover, running as part of the Pennsylvania Beef Council’s Team Beef I was trying to show people how well being powered by the protein of lean beef can help an athlete recover and move forward. Given the severity of a foot condition just a month prior, the mere fact I was running today proves something is working in my make-up.
The day of the expo was interesting if only because the King and Queen of Sweden floated down the Christina River in a reproduction ship midway through the day. The expo cleared out to view this procession even if it was not only impossible to actually see the dignitaries but I would have bet my life savings that 99% of the gazers couldn’t have given even one of the two first names of their Royal Highnesses (Highnie?) Although some research showed that the Christina River was named after a Queen of Sweden which might explain their visit. In addition, Google maps needs to start naming bodies of water. But I digress.
My second favorite part of the expo, over meeting oodles of great people? The avowed vegan who signed up to win a basket of beef-related products. I hope she wins if only to find out exactly what she planned on doing with the goods.
Race Morning:
The marathon and half-marathon started 20 minutes apart with the marathon going first. Sharing the same course (the marathon doing two loops) there needed to be some separation of runners, especially given some narrow portions of the loop. As I stood in line for the restroom I saw some old friends (such as Keith, known to many as the Pink Fairy) and some new ones. The marathon started and as the runners streamed by on the river walk of the Tubman Garret Riverfront Park, all those holding in a pee were able to at least give a rousing round of applause.
While I stood in line I was finishing both a low-fat chocolate milk and one of the small beef sticks I would use to fuel me for the race. One runner who I had met the previous day came up to me and said he had noticed my beef singlet and figured it had to be me. We spoke for a bit about his upcoming cruise and how he was going to still fit running in whenever he could. That is such a fun thing about runners: even on vacation we take our running seriously!
Before too long, I had made my way through the line and found myself standing near the opening arch. I was hoping to better my time from the previous week at the Long Branch Half. However, I knew this course was more challenging, the weather less forgiving, and me far more tired. I had a tall order in front of me.
