Tallahassee Marathon - RunMarathon

I told K not to run with me but shortly in, we seemed to be running together. We stayed together until the half turnaround which was just before mile 7. He seemed to be doing good with no ITB flairups so I was happy.

Since we are with the halfs for the first 7 miles, there were always lots of people around since there were 800+ in the HM and almost 400 in the full. Local races are nice because we knew lots of people and it's fun cheering and high-fiving friends. But once the HM turned around, it was pretty desolate on the trail. Not bad - just quiet. No spectators except for the awesome aid station volunteers, the police officers at major crossing, and the other really great volunteers that worked traffic. Phyllis, whoever you are, you have my vote for the best and most enthusiastic volunteer.

It was great to see so many people I knew on the course and it was nice to have friends working the course. It's an easy, flat course but it doesn't have any crowd support until the very end. My friend M ran with me for much of it and I will forever love her for her encouragement.

My paces were in the 9:xx for the first 10 miles, 10:xx for the next 10 miles, and although I was putting in the effort for what felt like a 5K at the end, I was at 11:xx creeping to 12 mm. I was tired. It was great to reach the track and bounce in.

I forgot to start my Garmin for the first 3 min so was always just a little off on my calculations. I was hoping for 4:45 but as I rounded the track, I saw clock time go from 4:47 to 4:48. Since my former PR was 4:48:42, I had to push hard to insure that I got a PR. Unofficial results show me at 4:47:53 so, while it's not a big PR, I'll still take it.

I was sad that I wasn't there for K at the end of his first HM. He has been so encouraging to me, I would have loved to hug him and place his medal around his neck. I was thrilled when I saw his time and his awesome negative splits. I'll be there for his next one.

Hugged M and Mel and did a little walking. Tried to make myself eat something but my stomach wasn't real interested. Dropped down and did my stretches and visited with some friends. After more water and Gatorade, I was able to eat a small slice of pizza and I swear, that crust was so good to me at that moment.


This sounds like an excuse but I'm really just trying to record the facts. This was a B race for me where I was hoping to use my base from the Dec 50K to finish my 4th and final marathon. So, to have done better, I needed more base miles and more speed miles. I needed to put in more effort. But, I really just wanted a PR for my last mary so I'm happy. As Brenda says, I "Ran Happy".


I always have trouble rating races because everyone wants/expects different things. But everything with this race was organized and as promised. It's not a huge race with bands on the course and entertainment at the end but it's not advertised that way and the price is not inflated for those amenities. It's a organized, well-run race with great volunteers, plenty of aid stations, and food and drink at the end. I loved it.

Love the medals too. Since the race is around Groundhog Day, a groundhog is always featured. The marathon medal was a pix of the groundhog, the Capitol, and one of the domes while the half medal was half the size with the groundhog and most of the Capitol. I like it but of course, both my medal and K's medal are going to medals4mettle.org. What a great program.