Race: Go Beyond Racing’s Mt. Hood 50K
Location: On the Pacific Crest Trail and around Timothy Lake, in Mt. Hood National Forest, about 1.5 hrs from Portland, Oregon and at about 3,225 ft above sea level
Race: Kiawah Island Marathon 2016
Location: Kiawah Island, South Carolina, about 40 minutes from the Charleston Airport, at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Size: About 1000 marathoners, plus about 2800 half marathoners
Time of Year and Weather: Saturday in early December. Race day was sunny, breezy at times, with temperatures in the 40s. Perfect running weather. This course has the potential to get windy, but I lucked out and it wasn’t bothersome.
Yesterday I ran the Bank of America Chicago Marathon! This was my 14th state and my 19th marathon. Here is my recap and review.
Race: Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Location: Chicago, Illinois.
Size: Big! Over 37,000 marathoners. (But no half option! YAY!)
Sorry for the delay! I traveled around after the Mesa Falls Marathon (post on that travel to come!) and wasn’t able to do a write up right away. But here it is!
Race: 20th Annual Mesa Falls Marathon
Location: Finish/packet pickup was in Ashton, Idaho, in eastern Idaho about 2 -2.5 hrs from the Jackson Hole, WY airport. Note for sea-levelers: Ashton is 5,259 feet above sea level (and note, a week of easy running at a similar altitude is not sufficient acclimation).
Time of Year: End of August, on a Saturday.
Weather: Can vary, but for me it was wonderful — started in the high 40s at 6:30 am and ended in the low 70s, I think. Temperature felt good the whole time running but a little cold standing at the start.
Number of Runners: 146
Other Races: Half marathon, 10K, 5K, fun run.
Race: Asheville Marathon
Location: Biltmore Estate, Asheville, in the hills of western North Carolina
Last but not least in my historical recap of races past: the Gore Tex Philadelphia Marathon! This race was a special one because it was my husband’s first (and he says, last) marathon! He never wanted to run a marathon until a few of his friends were talking about entering the New York City Marathon lottery. None of us got in to NYC (that lottery is BRUTAL), but somehow we took that momentum and he signed up to run in Philly–his hometown. (For the record, I’d still love to get into that NYC lottery with or without my husband!)
Website: Gore Tex Philadelphia Marathon.
Time of Year: Sunday at the end of November, the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Location: Philadelphia, PA. Start and finish are conveniently located at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Size: 30,000 runners across all events. Half-marathon offered on the same day as the marathon.
Weather: QUITE chilly in the morning. I rarely check a bag, but I did for this one because we had so many layers to store. It sure was hard to part with those sweatpants 30 minutes before the race… Once we got running, the weather was perfect.
This is a nice little race. So nice that I’ve done it twice and would probably do it again. Here is my recap of the Harrisburg Marathon.
Website: Aspire Harrisburg Marathon.
Location: Harrisburg, PA. Begins on City Island.
Size: About 700 full marathoners, joined by a small contingent of relayers.
Time of Year and Weather: November. Both times I ran, the weather was great for running, although a bit cold at the start. Luckily there is no waiting around necessary before the start. Towards the end of the race, running in the sun along the water, I wanted to shed all of my layers. But then once I finished, I wanted them all back.
Country Music Marathon, 2011
Website: (Now Called) St. Jude Rock N Roll Nashville Marathon.
Size: 30,000 runners across all events (full, half, 5K).
Time of Year/Weather/What I Wore: Saturday at the end of April. My weekend was quite warm, so be prepared. I was nervous about overheating but drank ample water and sports drinks, and I ate ice and put it down my sports bra. It was fine.
Race Logistics: This race is easily accessible via air, being in big city Nashville. Just fly in if needed and Uber about as necessary. Start and finish are conveniently located downtown. There are lots of hotels nearby and lots of restaurants and attractions within walking distance of the race and the hotels. It is nice that the race was on a Saturday, so runners could go out on Saturday night and relax around town on Sunday before heading out.
Website: Freedom’s Run Marathon
Date: Saturday, October 10, 2015.
Location: Start at Harper’s Ferry National Park, end at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. Although I think this is OK as a WV race, note that most of the course is on the MD side of the river.
athlettuce 