Tobacco Road Marathon

Don’t let this seemingly small race fool you, it has all the benefits of a big event and a better course. At the expo there were even beer samples. I passed on those; however, I was too confident when it came to the terribly delicious donut holes – eating not just one but two. It’s always the second one that leads to, “I shouldn’t have done that.” Chasing a whole bag of Tom’s Potato Chips devoured on the seemingly quick three and a half hour drive here, it was definitely not a wise eating decision. The potato chip rationale; the potatoes provided potassium, the chips were salted (sodium), this tasty bag was low in saturated fat and didn’t have monosodium glutamate. It was a win-win snack (at least for me). Note to the discriminatory conscious athlete/reader; this book is not a dissertation on healthy eating and I am not giving nutritional advice. After the expo we checked in at the Comfort Inn, about 25 minutes from the race venue. Surprisingly, being a Choice member with the hotel chain you get complimentary late checkout. In addition to providing 24-hour coffee/tea in the lobby, in your room you have a decent selection of pillows with various types of firmness. And the mattress was the most comfortable I have slept on before a marathon (away from home). This review was not solicited, it was just that comfortable at this Comfort Inn (Durham, NC).

Race day temperature was 61F at the start rising to 70F, with 91% humidity and SW winds at 7 mph. Needless to say, unless you trained for the heat and humidity, i.e. came up from Florida or a tropical rainforest on the equator, it was going to be a take-what-the race-gives-you day. Be patient up front and finish ok/strong, not suffering/broken from heat exhaustion. While waiting in the start corral I had the pleasure of a short dialogue with a woman who is running her 50^th full marathon and her husband who has finished the prestigious Western States 100-mile Endurance Run twelve times. That previous sentence has no typos, I am entering it again for verification (like you duplicate a password) – she is running her 50^th full marathon and her husband has finished the prestigious Western States 100-mile Endurance Run twelve times. This race had the deepest field of accomplished recreational runners that I have ever been cognizant of in a half/full marathon, more are coming up.

The course opens up on pavement for about 2 miles but then you are taken on a wide compact dirt-gravel composite trail bounded by towering pines for the majority of the distance. You also get to cross a few wood bridges and go through a short tunnel. The environment was very green, relaxing and as Jane said, “I was really impressed with the amount and quality of support, and water stations.” The enthusiastic volunteers also dispensed so many gels along the way in different locations you really didn’t need to carry any; I had one with me not knowing this was such a good setup. Between miles 8 and 9 while passing a woman who was wearing a jersey that said 100 marathon club (on the back) I smiled and shared, “Congratulations, 100 marathons, that’s awesome.” Plodding along at a steady pace characteristic of a veteran runner while having what appeared to be a mid-size white plastic bag filled to the brim with race cups tied to her waist she smiled back, “242.” I quickly inquired, “242 marathons?” She casually retorted while not missing a step as the bag bounced against her left hip, “Yes, this is my 242^nd marathon. I have been running for 24 years.” Yes, the shade from the thick pine forest and a slight cool breeze provided some relief from the heat and I was steadily pouring water over my head at more than one water stop as a cautionary measure, but it was “242” that stuck as the primary driver to move forward, there are no excuses for failure.

A little further along I got into an interesting conversation with a younger fellow who was running the race to provide company and a consistent pace for his wife (alongside). He asked me about my intended outcome to which I replied, “It will probably be between 3:40-3:45, if it is under 3:40 it has been a good day, under 3:35 an unexpectedly great day.” He then offered, “We just want to run consistent, we don’t really have a time goal. I don’t do any speed work, I haven’t qualified for Boston and I have run more 50-milers than marathons.” The ease in his conversational voice while cruising at a sub-8:30 pace was rightly indicative of treading many miles. When finding out I have been logging 100-mile weeks on RunKeeper he recommended the website Strava sharing as it says on the site, “Connect with athletes all over the world to stay motivated throughout your training and racing.” Pausing to check it out as I translate these notes, I am happy to see I can upload my RunKeeper data so I won’t have to wear multiple timing devices or try to use simultaneous apps on the same run. But you won’t find me there, the weekly format on Strava was a fixed Monday to Sunday (I keep mine Sunday to Saturday) and the downloadable RunKeeper data didn’t include manually entered times (I don’t wear a GPS tracker during events and on the treadmill and I don’t want to have to manually enter data on two different websites). So if you want to connect, friend me on RunKeeper. Let’s get back to the race.

At mile 8 I consumed a Salted Caramel GU energy gel (a handout) and then the GU Espresso Love gel (I was carrying) at mile 16. I should’ve let that one go and replaced it along the way with a less chemically-modified flavor. As Jane shared on the ride home, “No more caffeine for you.”

I followed the race plan of running four miles at a time but then after mile 20 just kept going to the finish line. I was passed quite a bit in the first two miles and then by a few more runners up to mile 11. But between miles 11 and mile 26 I passed several runners and no one moved ahead, except in the last half mile when two guys bolted by like they just started. It was a very impressive show of strength and experience to say the least. I found out after crossing the finish line and catching up to them to laud their efforts, one was 41 years old and hasn’t qualified for Boston but doesn’t do speed work and the other was 46 years old.

Hold on, we’re not done yet. Jane who was waiting for me (she had already finished the half marathon) added, “A woman running next to this man who appeared to be in his late 40s maybe early 50s said he was running his 300^th full marathon today.” The marathon and half marathon ran together for a part of the course during this race, and as you can tell from this recap so did beginners, experienced and many lifetime runners. Since this book is focused on time, I will share this was shockingly my fastest marathon in 11½ years and I ran a negative split (front 1:50:07, back 1:48:33). But it was the outstanding logistics, course, support and other athletes, and of course spending time with Jane on yet another new adventure that made this race one we will certainly come back to next year.

Time = 3:38:40, Distance = 26.2 miles, Pace = 8:20/mile