The 2010 Columbus Marathon Experience

This past weekend I ran the 2010 Columbus Marathon.  It was my 2nd marathon ever and while I felt a little more comfortable while running, it was still a grueling task.  Like usual, I really only trained during the weekends and had very little mid week runs.  So, like anything else, you get out what you put in.  One of the main reasons for running this race is the fact that it’s supposed to be a very “friendly” course (e.g. fairly flat and fast).  While I did improve my time by around 15 minutes, my dream of breaking 4 hours will have to be postponed for another race.

A couple of notes about the event itself.  First, the goody bag really didn’t have any goodies.  The Pittsburgh and Akron races had some cool stuff like free food samples, socks, etc.  While Columbus didn’t really have much besides the shirt.  Second, the shirt is nice, but I heard a lot of females complain about the color choices.  All black for both male and female marathoners; pink and blue for female and male half marathoners respectively.  Third, the bands along the way were a great experience.  There drum lines, rock bands, even a guy who played the keyboards while riding his bike… that is talent!  Finally, I felt that the overall runners were not as friendly as in my first marathon, Akron.  Perhaps, it was the fact that a marathon wasn’t new to me.  However, I have a feeling that since the Akron course is so brutal, it forms a much stronger bond among the runners or in other words, misery loves company.  Either way I was full of pithy comments for any runner so unlucky to be around me as I tried to be funny.

Finally, this race did provide some interesting analytics, which I’ve posted below.  It is nice to see a breakdown of your progress, but it is also pretty sad to see how bad my second half was when compared to my first half.

My overtime and splits:

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From the start to the 10K mark, I’m kicking ass and taking names.  All 482 of them:

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I am still feeling pretty good and looking forward to the 2nd half as it’s the easy half:

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Someone lied to me, this half was not easy:

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I am struggling, knees feel like Jell-O, legs feel like Swiss cheese, and I want my mommy:

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Would I do it again?  More than likely, as I think I have a shot of breaking 4 hours on this course.

~david