It was easy to see early on that this would be an interesting event for me. I forgot my Garmin, so I knew I'd be running blind. This also being a new event; I expected there to be some 'hiccups.' There were some indeed! The race started about 15 minutes late, which was not a big deal for I have dealt with worse. What really messed things up for me were to find out after the race that they had lost my drop bag. I had a premonition this would happen, and should have heeded its warning. The worst part of it was the response I received from the race director: "Well, that's just the nature of the marathon." Responses like that, without any form of apology or sympathy is about the easiest way for me to black list an event from future participation! I'm hoping I can get a hold of him in the days to come, and see if they did ever find it. I can replace most of what's lost, but it was his attitude that perturbs me the most!
Now, on to the race details...We parked at Ellison Park in a field to catch the bus bound for the starting line. There were about 6-8 busses lined up curbside to the park, and I was able to hop right on one. One thing that entered my mind upon seeing how few busses there were was a couple of prerace e-mails that had been sent out. The participation had been capped at 1200, and they had anticipated it completely filling up. What I didn't realize is that number was for the total of all four distances: 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon. So, this ended up being a fairly small marathon. No big deal, as I enjoy marathoning both big and small. The ride to the start was uneventful, but sure felt never ending!
The start was about a mile north of the Field Garr Ranch on the east side of the island, and followed a mostly flat, but gently rolling roadway. The only real climb (and not much of one) began around mile 7, peaked at mile 8 and had dropped back down before mile 10 as we headed out the causeway. The causeway was definitely the longest stretch for me, which lasted about 7 miles and felt like running on a treadmill. Oh boy, doesn't the Great Salt Lake smell so wonderful?! It was completely level, and seemed to go on forever! From here, the course lead us alongside corn fields and eventually through residential areas. The last of about seven turns beyond the causeway sent the runners in the final stretch to the finish in Ellison Park.
Without my GPS, I just ran on how I felt. I did ask another runner at 13 what the elapsed time was, so he told me 1:37. So, I certainly slowed WAY down in the second half! My legs were definitely feeling the wear and tear of this year's running season. I have a couple of half marathons this month, which will sign me off from running races until early next year. (Unless I find myself having withdrawls before then!) | 