Once the race started, the girls at the front took off. They didn't look like they were running too fast for their own good, they just looked fast. I saw about 10 of them get ahead of me and keep pace with the male front-runners, and I knew there was no way I could keep up. I kept my pace at around 7:12 min/mile for the first half of the race, hoping that the time I saved would give me a nice cushion for the end of the race, without blowing up. Everything felt great about the pace, and I was able to stay consistent. I knew my goals were ambitious, but I really wanted to push my limits and see what would happen. It wasn't always easy to train while also studying in grad school this semester, but I still thought I had a shot at 3:10.

I found myself with a very consistent pack of runners that all seemed to have the same goals as me, and we sort of formed a pace line. At around mile 12, I started running with a very cheerful southern gentleman named Greg who was determined to pace me to a 3:10. We were going strong from mile 12 to 20. He was trying to run a 3:10 marathon in every one of the 50 states- crazy! It was great to have him with me though, because he would just talk and I'd grunt, and he'd keep me going.

At around mile 20 I started to lose him. My nutrition and hydration seemed right on, but all of a sudden, my legs just started losing their energy. I tried to pick up my pace, but every time I looked at my garmin, my pace was drifting farther and farther from my goal, and settling right around 8 min/mile. My legs hurt, bad, and I wanted to walk more than anything.

Once I knew that I wasn't going to place in the top 3, it was a lot tougher, mentally, to push through the immense pain I was feeling to try and get a 3:10. It just didn't seem worth it! I never walked, but man was it tempting!! The mental battles of mile 22-26 never get easier :) I finally crossed the finish line and was thrilled to be done running!


The weather was perfect- overcast, temps in the high 50s and no humidity. The course was decent. It was billed as flat, but that's not totally correct. I think they said 'flat' because there weren't any real hills, but there wasn't a time when you weren't going up or down something.

The best part of the race, though, were the volunteers. There were police directing traffic at every single intersection, and tons of volunteers throughout the neighborhoods making sure we were safe. The aid stations were very well-manned and they even had a few bands playing along the way. Every time you ran by a volunteer, they always cheered you on. The interesting thing about Georgia, though, is that 'goodmorning' is also used as an enthusiastic cheer for runners. I thought that was cute :) Everyone I met was extremely friendly, and I feel like the race depicted 'southern hospitality' at its finest.

Overall, I had an excellent marathon. I PRed by over 6 minutes, despite the fact that training in Michigan, on top of grad school, has been really tough this winter. It also didn't help that I slipped on some ice 6 days before the race and banged up my knees really badly. I couldn't run for 4 days and though they were fine for the race, I just didn't have a proper taper. Nevertheless, I know I can still improve :)

Oh yeah- and my mom rocks :) She's the best jockstrapper ever!

In retrospect, the only things I would change would be 2 of my long runs in training and I should've drank more gatorade out there on the course. It was hard to drink though, because I had already peed 3 times before the race, and once during, that I didn't want to have to go again.

I found my mom, and she told me that the THIRD place woman came in at 2:47! Holy crap, that's crazy fast! As it turns out, the first place woman ran a 2:37, and the top 3 women were all in the top 10 overall- they kicked ass! We stuck around the awards ceremony so I could get my prize for 2nd place in my AG. Listening to the times of the winners, though, I was suprised to hear how many male age-groupers I beat as well. It certainly made me feel better about not hitting 3:10, and my mom always loves it when I beat up on the guys :)

I also got to meet runnergirl and her fiance and hang out with them, which was awesome. I wish we could've hung out longer, she seems like a really fun person!


Haha! I was saving this spot for Michigan. I blame Michigan, in so many ways :)


For being such a small race, things were extremely organized. There were actually more volunteers than racers! If it weren't so far away, I would definitely do it again, but if you live down south, you should give this race a shot!