my first marathon!

I did it! I ran 26.2 miles in the Blue Ridge Marathon, "America's Toughest Road Marathon." It was pretty great.

My dad flew out to go to the marathon with me, and Friday we drove to Roanoke. After checking into our hotel we headed downtown to the packet pickup, where we got to see three famous runners. I have to be honest, I didn't know anything about them except I remember seeing Bill Rodgers in the documentary Run for Your Life. It was still cool to see them though. (They ran the race Saturday on a relay team, and I'm pretty sure Bart Yasso said some encouraging words to me on my way up the first mountain, but I could have been mistaken.)

Three running greats: Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, and Bart Yasso.

After checking out the little expo, we killed some time at a coffee shop and then went to an Italian restaurant downtown for dinner so I could eat lots of carbs. Back in the hotel, we watched the breaking news about the Boston Marathon bombing. The race had "Running for Boston" stickers and blue bracelets for us runners, so I put the sticker on my bib and wore the bracelet during the race.

My bib, with a "Running for Boston" sticker.

Saturday morning I woke up at 5:15 to get ready. I ate my banana and half a bagel with cream cheese and drank a cup of coffee in the hotel room. About an hour later I was ready to go, and we headed out! Dad dropped me off a couple blocks from the starting line downtown, and then he headed off to park and get himself to the one mile mark to watch me go by.

Since this race came so closely after the Boston tragedy, there was a very noticeable police presence along the entire course. Everyone seemed to appreciate the extra security measures and I heard tons of runners thanking the police as we ran.

Waiting at the start!

The temperature was in the high 30s at the start of the race, so after taking off my sweats and handing them over at the bag check I had several chilly minutes to wait to start. But the cooler temps were perfect once I started running! I think it only got into the mid-40s.

I'm ready for this.

Now to make sure we're all up to speed, the Blue Ridge Marathon has the trademarked motto "America's Toughest Road Marathon." There are three mountains: Roanoke Mountain, Mill Mountain, and Peakwood. According to the race's website, the 2013 course had 3,620 feet of elevation gain with a total elevation change of 7,234. But then rain was forecasted (and happened) on Friday so they switched to the "Flood Route," which meant instead of running along the river for the last few miles we had to run "inland" a little more which added about 206 more feet of elevation change. During my training I was always more concerned with the elevation gain, but after the race and suffering through all the downhills, I want to emphasize the full 7,440 feet of elevation change. (However, I will also point out that my Garmin GPS watch claims I only ran 26.09 miles with 3,490 feet of gain and a total change of 6,952 feet. I'm going to trust that was GPS error and stick with the higher numbers.)

Elevation profile according to my Garmin watch.

The race started at 7:35. They had a moment of silence beforehand to honor Boston, but unfortunately the speakers didn't broadcast all the way back to where I was so we didn't hear them and no one around me was silent. Halfway through the National Anthem people finally quieted down though. And then we were off!

Here we go! Running down Jefferson Street.

There was only one mile of relative flat before we hit the first mountain, so I went extra slow in the beginning to warm up. Pretty quickly we could see Mill Mountain ahead with the famous Roanoke Star on top. (It lights up at night!) The half marathoners would head straight toward the star, but us marathoners headed behind Mill Mountain to climb a higher mountain first.

Crossing the bridge on Walnut Avenue, looking up at the Roanoke Star on Mill Mountain.

Sea of runners coming over the bridge.

My dad was at the first mile, so I said "hi" to him on my way by and then started to climb...

On the Blue Ridge Parkway, headed up Roanoke Mountain!

I was not fast, but I was really proud of myself on this uphill because I didn't have to stop to walk! I had been nervous about how well my uphill training was going to stand up to the real deal on race day, so I was pleased to learn that my training worked! And to help distract myself from the hard uphills, I just had to look around at the beautiful scenery.

Loved the personalized mile markers!

Looking down on Mill Mountain.

We reached the top of Roanoke Mountain, the highest point in the race, at about mile 7. As I approached the water stop at the top with my camera in hand a volunteer saw me and ushered me over for a quick photo, my favorite of the day:

At the top of Roanoke Mountain!

I was able to pick up my speed a little bit on the downhills for miles 9, 10, and 11. Then we turned and headed up Mill Mountain...Once again I made it up without any walking!

Up close to the star on Mill Mountain.

But then? Then came more downhills. And those downhills hurt. I was slower going down than I was going up!

As I neared the bottom of Mill Mountain though I heard people call my name, and the most welcome sight ever was my friend S. with her boyfriend and dog on the sidelines cheering me on! It was a complete surprise to me that they drove all the way from Charlottesville for my race. And even better, S. hopped on the road to run a little ways with me! Mile 15 was the same spot as mile 1, so I also got to see my dad again since he'd hung around in the cold for over two hours waiting to see me come back by.

S. and me passing Dad at mile 15.

Say cheese.

I'm not sure where or when these things happened exactly, but S. and B. had left me to drive to a different spot I would be running by, and at that other spot B. and the dog ran along with me (on the other side of the road so the dog wouldn't be in anyone's way) for a few blocks.

B. and R. joining in the running fun!

Then I was alone again, heading up the third mountain. I had heard (or read on the internet) a lot of warnings about Peakwood, since it's a steep incline from mile 17 to 19 and you have to be careful to have energy left. I did end up taking two short walking breaks going up this one. Peakwood is a really nice neighborhood, and lots of people were out on their lawns cheering for us and even handing out snacks and drinks. At one point three small children were handing out water and I laughed when the little girls warned me not to take water from the eager toddler because "he drank out of that cup!"

Heading up Peakwood, the third mountain.

Once again coming down this mountain was pretty painful for me. I was still able to pass people going up, but several runners flew by me on this last major downhill. I tried walking down very briefly wondering if it would hurt less, but it didn't so I just kept jogging. When I got to the bottom S. was there again and she offered to finish the race with me. I was so grateful for her company during those last six miles.

Passing Dad (and our hotel) at mile 22.

At this point I was eager to be done, and didn't care much about looking around anymore, but I never hit a wall and never needed to walk. (Except I did stop briefly for drinks at a couple of water stops.) There may have been a little moaning and groaning though. Finally we were downtown again and nearing the finish. I passed my camera to S. and she sped around taking some shots of me as I neared the finish line.

Running next to a train. Roanoke is full of trains.

So. Close.

Finishing strong!

I'm up there, about to cross the finish line.

A welcome sight.

And then it was over! Obviously I was sore, but I wasn't injured and I was pleased with my time and overall it had been a great run.

Success!

My chip time: 4:42:35. Age group: 16 (of 33). Overall females: 50 (of 143). Overall: 216 (of 429).

These are my favorite race shirt and medal I've earned so far!

I am so happy I made this race my first marathon. It was definitely a challenge, but my training worked (thanks to my coach for his great training plan!) and I was well prepared. Sure I wasn't very speedy, but I was much more concerned with the mountains than with speed. This was the fourth Blue Ridge Marathon, and it was very well organized and had really great spectator support throughout the course. Plus net proceeds from the race go to the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it's always nice when you know your race fees are going toward a good cause.

I'm not sure yet if I'll ever run this again, but I do see more marathons in my future...