SunTrust Richmond Marathon - Run


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Richmond, Virginia
United States
SunTrust
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 4h 14m 3s
Overall Rank = 1235/3532
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 246/309
Pre-race routine:

Due to a family emergence, I had to drive from home to the race. This meant a 2 hour drive, so I got up at 4 and was out the door by 4:30. I got to Richmond at 6:30 and got a great parking space right at the finish by pure luck. I wasn't sure where I was going and followed some people who appeared to be going to the race. I checked in, picked up my packet and got dressed for the race. I then found a virgin a porta-potty. Wow, I was getting lucky this morning. I then spent the next 45 minutes walking around and eating a Cliff bar.
Event warmup:

Besides walking around and a few stretches, I didn't really warm up. It takes about a mile to warm up anyway and I didn't want to add any extra distance.
Run
  • 4h 14m 3s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 42s  min/mile
Comments:

As this was my first marathon, I really didn't know what to expect. I knew from my training runs that I could comfortably average 9:30 a mile for 20 miles. What happened after that I didn't know what would happen. This was a good size race for a first marathon, enough peoople to make it interesting without being too crowded. Amazingly people actually self seeded themself correctly. The first mile seemed slow but the road was wide enough to pass or be passed and people quickly sorted themselves out. The first 13 miles went by quickly and easily and I was right on pace. Of course, I had delusions of finishing in under 4 hours and that I may be a "marathon savant". Most of those went away after mile 14. I happened to find an empty porta-potty and stop to go. I thought, "Great I must be hydrating correctly", but I had a hard time getting started again. I slowed down some but didn't have many problems until mile 21. From there to the finish mostly was a trudge fest. During the last 6 miles, I looked at the people around me and wondering why they were running so funny until I realized I was running the same way. Kind of a wide leg shuffle with a blank stare on their face. I kept my legs moving but never did feel comfortable until the finish. The last mile of this race is down a big hill. When I saw the hill, I thought great, this should be easy but running down the hill hurt more than running on the flat. It was great to run through the finish shoot and all the cheering people
What would you do differently?:

I'm not sure that I would do much different. I managed to run the whole course and I didn't have any significant problems.
Post race
Warm down:

After crossing the finish, they had volunteers to hand you water. I must have looked at the girl funny because she asked if I was all right. I said sure and then stumbled away. As I said earlier my car was near the finish line but the bag check and food was at the bottom of a big hill. The hardest thing all day was making it back up the hill after eating. Also, there was a brew pub by the food and I was very tempted to go in but knew I had a 2 hour drive home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Age and genetics

Event comments:

This race is a great first marathon. There were 3500 runners but plenty of volunteers, very organized and well run but it's not one of the top tier races like Boston or New York. The course is not flat but doesn't have any super tough hills, the people are friendly and everything ran as advertised. The swag left something to be desired but about as expected for a race like this.

I would definitely do this race again as it has a nice end of season date that lets me complete the triathlon schedule but still have time to train for a marathon




Last updated: 2005-11-13 12:00 AM
Running
04:14:03 | 26.2 miles | 09m 42s  min/mile
Age Group: 246/309
Overall: 1235/3532
Performance: Good
I actually tracked my splits if anyone is interested: 1 9:37 2 9:13 3 9:10 4 9:11 5 9:31 6 9:18 7 8:35 8 9:10 9 9:07 10 9:00 11 9:24 12 9:18 13 9:14 14 9:04 15 9:37 16 9:31 17 9:37 18 9:37 19 9:47 20 10:06 21 10:26 22 10:42 23 11:10 24 10:48 25 11:16 26 10:25 Finish 2:00
Course: The course was relatively flat with either long up hill/down hill grades. The course did not have any severe slopes
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4