The OBX Marathon - RunMarathon


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Kitty Hawk , North Carolina
United States
60F / 16C
Precipitation
Total Time = 5h 35m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

we were not sure about using the shuttle system for this event; it seemed like the event organizers were trying to have people dropped off near the start of the race as oppsosed to using the shuttle system, we were at the finish so we packed 7 runners and 1 driver into a Toyota Matrix and dropped 2 runners at the half marathon start and then rest at the marathon start; a rather interesting ride, had a Starbucks coffee drink, banana and breakfast cookie pre race
Event warmup:

got to the start about 55 min before the start, stood in the bathroom line for 20 to 25 min (~20 port a johns for 2000 runners), found friends and got into our corral, no real warmup, but then I wasn't planning on starting fast so I figured I'd warm up the 1st mile or 2
Run
  • 5h 35m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 47s  min/mile
Comments:

run started great, overcast and comfortablly in the low 60's, forecast was calling for rain and thundertorms but they were holding off for the moment, this was a new marathon and it was really great to see the neighborhood support early in the race, I wasn't super concerned with my time, so I just set my watch for a 4/1 run/walk ratio and started moving, I was pretty much on my own because several friends were running faster (~10:30 to 10:45 pace) and my husband was going slower, between my Ipod and the crowd I got into a nice running rhythm, didn't even look at my chrono until 6 miles (there were no clocks on the course), I was surprised to see that I was running ~11:15 min miles; unfortunately I knew that was probably too fast, but I felt good and I kept going.

At mile 10ish we entered a wooded trail area, dirt/gravel road, small up and down hills, not killer hills, but a bit surprising to find on a marathon billing themselves as totally flat except for the bridge at mile 21, part of the course here was a narrow trail through the woods, luckily I wasn't with a crowd of runners so it wsn't a problem to negotiate, it was starting to rain a bit here, but the cover of the trees kept it pretty mild, we came out onto the highway a bit after mile 12, and right about at the halfway mark the sky opened up and there was a torrential downpour and some rather nasty wind. I checked my watch at the 13.1 mark; I was pretty much right on target for a 5 hour finish (2:29); however the rain and wind, not to mention the bridge, were probably going to make running even splits difficult if not immpossible. I decided to slow down my pace a bit and figure that a sub 5 wasn't going to happen today and I didn't want to hurt anything running in the rain; especially since a lot of the back neighborhood roads were starting to flood. I kept an easy pace for the next 4 to 5 miles; the rain finally stopped but the wind was still pretty strong, just before mile 20 I came upon my friend Maria (who had started with my faster group of friends, but then had to slow down because of leg cramping) I decided to slow down and run with her; she was struggling a bit and was happy to have my company. At this point I was all about having fun and enjoying the day; runnign with Maria seemed like a good decision to me. We battled the return of the wind and the rain, made it up and over the bridge and talked and laughed the last 6 miles to the finish line. It wasn't a fast time for either of us, but we had a great time finishing together and she told me that she really enjoyed my support the last few miles.
What would you do differently?:

not do my first HIM 3 weeks prior to a marathon if I want to PR; I struggled all fall with training for both the HIM and marathon as the 2 events were too close together, the HIM was very tough for me and I really didn't have enough time to recover and give this race my best effort; I was also mentally fatigued from prior races, I decided it was more important to have fun and enjoy the race and the day and it was nice to find one of my running buddies towards the end of the race and share the last 6 miles with someone
Post race
Warm down:

got my medal, gatorade, bagel pieces, warm dry clothes (it was getting colder and windier as the day progressed) and waited for my hubby to finish, then we walked about 3 blocke back to our hotel, we didn't go to the post race festivities at Festival Park because we were too cold

What limited your ability to perform faster:

too many races this fall, not enough specific run training, and not enough recovery time from my HIM

Event comments:

this was an inaugural race and I thought they did a great job, the course was pretty interesting, the volunteers were awesome, there are a few things the organizers could do tho make this a better race, but I would highly recommend this marathon :)




Last updated: 2006-09-07 12:00 AM
Running
05:35:00 | 26.2 miles | 12m 47s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: point to point from Kitty Hawk to Manteo, NC, mostly through neighborhoods, a section of wooded trail, past the Wright Brother's monument and Jockey's Ridge sand dune, over the bridge and down into Manteo
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4