Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon - RunMarathon

This was my third marathon, second if not including the ironman marathon. I did ironman Florida about a month prior. Some friends of mine conned me into running this so I agreed. My plan was simple. Go after Boston. Either I crash and burn or I qualify. I really went into this race with nothing to lose.

I started about 4 rows back, just in front of the 3:15 pacers. Gun went off, and even though it was cold I felt great. First mile was about 6:45 so I back off just a hair. I figured I'd hold 7 minute pace as long as I could and then see if I could still hold up until the finish line. I felt really strong and had lots of people running my pace. Unfortunately most of these people were doing the half marathon. At the 12 mile mark, the half marathoner turned and I was alone. I made it to the 13.1 mark in 1:31 and had a nice time bank built up.

A saw a runner here and there, but the crowd support thinned a bit and I knew my pace was slowly dropping. At mile 15 my foot started hurting. Weird feeling, one I'm not used to. Almost felt like my stress fracture (same place) just not as bad. At this point, I knew I was in for a suffer-fest. The BQ run probably wasn't going to happen, and I focused on bringing home a PR instead. The last 8 miles were slow and painful. I probably ran 8:45ish pace and it was all I could do to maintain that pace. Had a laugh at the mile 24 water station. Three of us stopped to get a drink and walked as we drank. We threw out cups down and just looked at each other for who would be the first to start running again. We laughed and I started my death march again.

I ended up missing Boston by 12 minutes. But I did break my PR by 11 minutes. So I'm happy with the results. If nothing else, this race makes me confident that I can qualify for Boston as before I was unsure. This was a fairly hilly course and it was really cold. Also, I had only 2 to 3 weeks of speed training (post ironman). So with proper BQ marathon training, better weather, and a flat course I think I can do it.

I'm sure I could have gone a bit faster if I didn't go after Boston from the start. But where's the fun in that?

Nothing.

Froze.

My friends both finished aroudn 4 hours. So I had to wait for them at the finish for 35 minutes. I got cold fast and was in pain. In retrospect, I really should have gone back to the hotel ASAP.


Expo and race packet weren't great compared to other races, nor was the post race stuff. My biggest complaint is the lack of options at the aid stations. Gatorade and water...and thats it for the first 16 miles. At mile 16 and 20 they gave out Gu's. Not enough in my opinion.

However, the race itself went off with no glitches. Very well marked, and police at every intersection. Also some cool music along the way.

That said, I probably won't be back.