Triangle Running Group

The inaugural 2010 Tobacco Road Marathon and Half Marathon are in the books. Our own FGump gives us a very nice race report.

This race was planned as a tuneup race for Boston. As such, I wanted to simulate a few things in preparation for that adventure. I had a few goals for this race.

1. Race healthy / DO NOT GET INJURED
2. “Live off the course”, and
3. See if I could PR a half.

Unfortunately, about 10 Saturday morning, I began feeling sick. No energy, aches and pains, mild fever, etc. So things were not looking good at all for Sunday. I rallied late in the day, and Lainey and I took the boys to Pittsboro to the Carolina Brewery. We had a great dinner (and a pint), and headed back home. So, back home, in bed by 10pm, and ready to give Sunday a try.

I awoke to the alarm on my watch beeping frantically. I also felt worlds better, so decided to give this thing a go. Being a 7am race start, and there being some traffic logistics to work out, I set three sequential alarms; 5 a.m., 5:10, and 5:15. Fortunately, the 5 a.m. alarm was sufficient. I had loaded my mountain bike on the car the night before, along with all sorts of “just in case” supplies in my backpack. Here’s what I was toting: official race shirt for post-race (bad ju-ju for wearing it before the race!), cycling jacket, helmet, gloves, toboggan (?), run gloves, arm warmers, cable, lock, Gu, Chomps, handbottle with Gu Brew, racebelt, smartwool socks (in case I chickened out and ran in them). Loaded for bear!

I was out the door at 5:20. Enroute, I ate a Clif bar and swigged on some Gu Brew. Mmm, breakfast of champions. I drove over to the Wimberley Road ATT access, unloaded my bike, attached my lights, and proceeded to pedal on over to the race site. It took about 20 minutes or so of riding, but I was able to ride right in, lock up my bike, check my backpack at bag check, and mingle. I ran into Bald Eagle, KarenG8r, and several other friends planning to run the ½. I had other friends in the full that I hoped to see later while on my bike. At about 6:35, I decided to run a short warmup, so I ran out 4 minutes, then ran back to the start, doing a few sprints along the way. I took a Gu 15 minutes before the race start. I had my handbottle with me, and did a last-minute dash back to bag check to drop it off. This was a big step for me, running empty-handed! I seeded myself pretty near the front, as I did not want to be caught up in the melee in the middle or back in the darkness.

A few minutes after 7, the command to start was given, and we were off. You’d have thought it was a 5k the way some folks sprinted out of the gate. I decided early on that I would NOT fly out of the chute like normal, and that I would NOT try to keep up with the fasties. My goals were simple, and I had decided to stick to them. So I ran my race. As usual, I get blown by on the downhills, only to make it up going uphill. Umstead, anyone? So I settled into a nice pace.

The first mile came up pretty quickly. The water stops were approximately every 2 miles, which is a stretch for this every-mile drinker, but I managed. It was a rolling first mile, with a pretty nice climb about 4 minutes in.
Mile 2 came up pretty quickly too, just before some rolling hills leading to the ATT, and I took a cup of water. This was a net downhill mile, and it allowed us to stretch our legs a little.
Mile 3 passed, and we were on the trail. That’s a slight grade uphill for about the whole mile, so it was a good place to get settled.
Mile 4 came up and I took a cup of water on the fly. Some down the hatch, some down the back. This took us past the White Oak parking area, with a nice crowd.
Mile 5 and I was in a groove.
Mile 6 and I took a Gu, then some water. I like the new section of the ATT, as it is “different” than the Wake County section. Not necessarily better, just different. I stripped off the gloves in this mile, ready to toss them to Lainey past mile 7.
Mile 7, I saw my wife and kids in a flash, then came the turnaround and I was headed back down the ATT. This was up at Pittard Sears Road, near the Old Chatham golf course area.
Mile 8 saw the wife and kids again, and then I missed mile 9 somehow. Must’ve been while dodging 2300 runners trying their best to run me over!
Mile 10 I took Gu #2, and hit some water. Now we were off the ATT and heading back towards Brooks Park.
Mile 11 came and went. It was my slowest mile, with some steady climbs and camber/terrain to deal with. I backed off a tad here when I saw I could almost coast to the finish and hit my goal.
Mile 12 and I took a cup of Gu Brew, then kept the cruise control on.
Mile 13 I heard a few footsteps during one of the last uphills, and I decided to put just a little distance between us. Then it was pretty much downhill from there.
Had a fun duel with one of the local female triathletes down the finish chute, which was a hoot!
Crossed the line, made the left-hand turn, and played roulette with which medal-placer I’d choose. I know it’s some sort of game with them, who gives out the most medals, kind of like the volunteers issuing Gu keep a tally. I got a bottle of water, a banana, and some cinnamon chip Great Harvest bread, then collected my backpack from bag check, grabbed my bike, and headed up to cheer on some friends. Once a few of them finished, I headed out on the bike to reverse-ride the course. I rode all the way up to the turnaround in Durham, and headed on back towards Wimberley.

I ended up meeting all my goals, and was very happy about that. The course is 6 miles of rollers on either end of 7 miles of almost flat. It’s very gentle on the joints when on the ATT. The volunteers were fantastic. The event was well-organized from my perspective, fantastic for a first-year event. I’d like to run the full in 2010 at this point, but it’ll be a tossup between this and Umstead. And I do love Umstead…

Congrats to my Mitterling Miler friends who also raced. I hope you enjoyed the course as much as I did! Next up: 5k on 4/18

Bill