New Jersey Marathon - RunMarathon

Since I had wussed out on Sat (only running half of the challenging trail marathon + bonus miles), I was feeling pretty good and like I could run close to what I ran at Boston (3:30:52). Had I run the full on Sat, I think 3:40 might've been pushing it. But I was feeling pretty good. Had to deal with miserable traffic getting there. It was ~5 miles from the Parkway to the parking area and it took well over 40 minutes to drive it!! From where I parked I had about a mile walk to the start area. Got there about 1/2 hour before the start, checked my bag, warmed up a bit, then went over to line up ~10 minutes before the race was supposed to start. Wellll... they wound up delaying it for 30 minutes due to the traffic, plus there had been an accident on the road in.

I gotta say, this isn't the first year for this race, why didn't they advise people of the horrible traffic, or find a way to make it better? So I stood around for 40 minutes feeling pretty peeved. I was beginning to really regret signing up for the race. I also had a bunch of half marathoners lining up around me, and I knew they weren't that fast. Sigh. Eventually the race finally started. And yes, there was a fair bit of weaving. Too many slow people lined up too close to the front (line up by the appropriate pace group people!!!!). I settled into a nice pace and took a leisurely 8 min to run the first mile and get warmed up - again. Then I started to crank it up and quickly started running ~7:40/mile or faster. Yikes. I felt like I was on pace to blow up, but didn't back off. A bit hardheaded, but I was willing to lay it all out on the line today and see what I could do. I quickly caught up to and passed the 3:30 pace group. Mile 5 came and went, and I figured I was on pace for a <1:42 first half (my HM PR is 1:40:52). Hit the 6 mile mark in about 46 min flat. Ok... still cranking hard.

Continued at my fast pace, wondering when it was going to catch up with me. But eventually I felt like I was adjusting to the pace. The crowd support was better than I had thought it would be, despite the drizzly weather. The course was mostly going through town - lots of turns, but easily accessible to spectators. Then around 10 miles I could see I was getting close to another pace group. Hmmm... it can't be the 3:20 group, I'm not going that fast, am I? That would be waaaaaaay too fast! But.... I didn't see a 3:25 pace group at the start. Odd. By mile 11 I had passed the 3:20 pace group. Well, this could be interesting. I'll either run a fantastic time, or go down in flames!

Kept pushing hard to keep the pace group behind me, and finished the first loop (first half) in a few seconds over 1:39. A new half PR! The second lap was so much more enjoyable. No more idiots cutting RIGHT in front of me, plenty of space, more attention from spectators. I marked a few people ahead of me who were running strong, so I could keep tabs on the to see if I was starting to slack. At the AS near mile 15 a volunteer told me I was the 20th woman. That's good.... but bad at the same time. Ok, with the first half split I had posted, I was secretly hoping for an AG placing, but to be told I was 20th woman in a field of />2000 runners... I dunno. But, amazingly, I was still feeling pretty good. As I ran the next few miles I picked off a couple more women, guessing I had moved up to ~15th. I also started lapping people that were walking the half. Some marathoners seemed to be hitting walls - noticed several slowing down or walking. Mile 20 and I still felt pretty good and if I kept running sub-8 miles, I had a shot at sub 3:20.

I got a fair amount of cheering from the female spectators - I guess being one of a few women running near the front. At mile 23 I calculated I had just under 24 minutes to run the last 3.2 miles and come in under 3:20. Definitely possible if I hold my pace. Mile 24, I've got 17:30 to run the last 2.2 miles. Definitely gonna make it!! Closing in on the 25 mile marker I started cranking it up a bit and passed several more guys and 2 more women in the final stretch. By the last .5 miles I was probably going faster than 7:00 pace and flying down the home stretch. Crossed the line with a gun time of 3:19:14. But I think my chip time will be ~3:18:50.

No official results when I left, they had some computer issues, plus people reg'd for the full but only running the half had screwed things up. Unofficial results showed 3:19:14 (gun time, I assume) and put me at 13th woman and 3rd in the F25-29 AG. They said official results should be up tonight - and if I won something, they'll send it to me.

Regardless of placing or AG award, I ran a fantastic race. I took ~12 minutes off the PR I ran at Boston 2 weeks ago and qualified to run NYC Marathon (needed a 3:23:00). So... YIPEE!!!

Not a damn thing! 12 min PR and sub-3:20 the day after spending 3:40 on trails and drinking beer... doesn't need any changing!

Huddled in a corner of the food tent to not freeze. Ate, drank, and waited for results. Gave up and ran (yes, ran) back to my car ~1 mile.


I know they can't control the weather, but all the facilities they used were just not sufficient for the number of runners and the weather made it much much worse. Almost nothing going on post-race, which was a bit disappointing for such a large race.