Columbia Marathon : Official Thread

Experior,

What time you shootin for if thast is your goal...?

I just came off of an Ironman Marathon (Florida) a little more than a week ago and did a heap of jogging/shuffling/walking which put me at my slowest ever 26.2 miles.  I entered the Columbia marathon right when it was open for registration becuase I knew that I would wnat to go the distance over again and actually run it in it's entirety, so i am looking forward to this.

Back "in the day" 1992 (I was 37) I ran it non stop in 3:12, then again in 1997 (I was 42) in 3:18.  Not sure where i will fit my mself into a estimated time these days at 56 (57 the day of the race).   My training from now until taper will give some idea.  I have always teased myself with the notion of "going back to Bostion" of which i qualified twice for and ran once...  we'll see how this plays out.  Humm.. I am right in this age bracket and close to this pace...we'll see if I can accomplish this.

Well, I'm going to reserve judgment about a goal time for a few more weeks, but I'd like to (and think I will) come in quite safely under 3 hours.  The precise time goal that seems reasonable will depend on my performance in a half marathon in a few weeks, and of course on how well the training goes.  This race will be only my second open marathon (only other was in 2008), though I've done some IMs and several half marathons (and HIMs).  I'm 43.

We do have to bear in mind that this is not at all a fast course.  There are a few pretty significant grinding long hills.  The one on Gervais (coming up out of Five Points) is going to be extremely tough on the second loop, as we'll hit it right towards the end of the race.  (I guess the good news is that the last .2 miles is downhill...)

Good luck in Myrtle Beach!  Apart from a 10k that goes across the dam, I can't think of another regular running race around here that isn't pretty hilly.  It's hard to go very far around downtown without encountering hills.

Hey all,

I'm backing out as of now due to just not getting my mileage up where it should be right now...I won't want to be walking a bunch of that course and not being more prepared as of now will force me to do just that.

Maybe next year... Right now my focus is on a good balance of swimming "dryland right now", cycling and running in prep for next season's triathlons.  I seem to enjoy more cross training than I do just beefing up my running alone..

You all have a good race those of you who are still planning this race...

Kurt

Sphinx runfest in Greenville wasn't too hard. I mean it was rolling, but no steep climbs.