Athens Marathon 2014

The Athens Marathon

     I had the great privilege of running the Athens Marathon in November 2014 with many wonderful friends, both running and spectating. I have been overwhelmed by emotion at t he end of many marathons, but this is the only one so far where I have cried at the start. Being there was so spectacular!!!!!

Despite the thousands of people that swarmed the expo, I managed to spot one of my favorite Marathon Maniacs, Lichu Sloan. Lichu is an inspiration in so many ways!! Athens was her 170th marathon and she went on to run the Istanbul marathon the next weekend.

       The start of the race was so exciting. The swarms of people, the Olympic flame burning, and beautiful, clear sky promised a wonderful experience.

       People were hiking up and getting pictures with the Olympic flame!!!

       Every race start is nuts and this was no exception. Trying to get my bag to the transport van was one of the bigger challenges of the day! 

I ran into a fantastic number of Maniacs. It was such great fun!!!

       All along the race route people were handing olive sprigs to the runners. I took one early on and managed to finish with 2 out of my 3 olives, LOL. You can see one just below the white of the hat band. 

        When we stopped to get pictures with the statue, a Greek yelled at us, something about "no photos, MARATHON!!!" I guess he hasn't heard of Maniacs yet, LOL. 

I couldn't resist stopping for this shot. 

         I can't imagine running pushing a baby in a stroller, let alone a nearly grown child! These runners are amazing!!

       I don't think I've run a marathon yet where there weren't at least a few people in costume. Athens did not dissapoint. 

This sweet priest was so patient with me! My phone was not cooperating at all for pictures, but he just kept smiling again and again :-) 

       There is great signage alone the entire route. These aren't the usual temporary distance signs, these are permanent signs that are up all year long. 

       Athens is well known for its 13 mile uphill slog. I trained for it by doing most of my mileage on either a 4% incline on the treadmill or on a nearby hill with a nice 2% grade that matched the average for Athens. Thanks to that preparation, it wasn't bad. Not that I wasn't very happy for my walking intervals, but other than a couple of short bits, (up from an underpass, etc.) I was never forced to walk by the angel of incline. It definitely added 10-15 minutes to my finish time, but considering how much time I spent stopped for pictures, it didn't matter much. 

       Nothing beats a great camera man on the side lines! Big thanks to my parents for waiting for me in the sun to get a perfect race shot. 

       Coming into the stadium is so incredible! So much history, so much emotion, and so much cheering!

       Yes! I stopped for  a selfie right before the finish, LOL. After all the time I had spent taking pictures, another minute wasn't going to matter. 

       My good friend Elizabeth and her Husband Antonis were waiting for me at the finish too! Elizabeth assure me next year she will be IN the marathon instead of watching it. 

This will definitely remain one of my favorite medals and memories.

Walking around town that night was so cool. Nothing like the acropolis lit up on a clear night! 

Yorkshire Marathon 2014

Yorkshire Marathon 2014

In October of 2013, Yorkshire held its very first marathon. It sold out almost immediately and was a huge success. This year, 2014, the race sold out the 4,000 or so slots in a few hours after opening. Yorkshire is shaping up to be a key event for running in England! It is a fast, flat course in an incredibly beautiful setting. Definitely a worthy destination race!

Looking so excited to be here.

Watching the Jumbotron from the start corral in the fog.

York is a great tourist destination, filled with history, museums, and events all year long.

Medieval buildings attract huge crowds

The Jorvic museum is a Disneyland worthy ride and museum that teaches about Viking life in York.

Old fortifications are everywhere

The River Ouse runs through York and is still a very busy waterway

Tourism attracts a bit of hilarious Kitsch. I've never seen a "native American" dressed in Pheasant feathers, or looking so Peruvian, LOL

Hitting the wall can be a bit different here. I've run trail races that included climbing over these walls more than once. Not and easy thing to do when you are past the 20 mile point! The Yorkshire Marathon was, thankfully, free of walls.

       Since I live about 25 miles from York, this was a must do race for me, but it was also very low key. I didn't carry a camera because I already have hundreds of pictures of York, no one came with me, and despite the fact that this was a milestone race for me, (30th marathon/ultra,) I didn't have any fanfare or celebration planned. The last couple of months of my life have been an emotional and mental train wreck so while running has been a good escape, I wasn't enjoying my training at all and every mile was forced and hard. I toughed out Loch Ness in September on painfully low mileage and did not have high hopes for Yorkshire. Despite really not wanting to run, I knew I either had to do this race, or do a 20+ mile training run alone in order to be prepared for Athens in November. Running with thousands of people, cheering spectators, water stations, timing mats, and a well laid out, traffic free course, that I have already paid for, will always be preferable to running alone so I headed for the race start.

      The set up at the university was great. They took wonderful care of the runners, there were an incredible number of volunteers, and the campus is stunning. It was just as well that I didn't carry a camera as we ran in a thick fog the whole way that covered everyone and everything in tiny drops of water until we looked like we were all covered in watery pixie dust. It was perfect running weather though. Having so much water to breathe meant I needed very little water to drink and my lungs weren't parched dry at the end. 

       Although my heart wasn't in the race at the start, the spectators, views though the mist, and the other runners carried me along in the flow. I socialized, helped cramping runners with salt, checked on people that had stopped, and ran at a comfortable 4/1 run/walk pace. Since I wasn't in a hurry, I too it east at the start, which lead me to a nice negative half split :-D I shocked myself by being able to maintain my pace throughout and realized, with a few miles left to go, that I had a shot at a personal record. Apparently, between the speed work for the half marathon in early September and the marathon in Loch Ness two weeks before, my training was just what I needed. Not orthodox, but good enough to sharpen both my speed and endurance.

       I felt great after the race. Of course, I was tired and hungry, but nothing felt injured or wildly over used. Even the day after I was not sore, only a little stiff the next morning, but by Tuesday I was totally over it. To me, that is the biggest win! At the rate I am improving, it will still be a long time before I run the coveted sub-4, but as long as I keep improving and my rheumatoid arthritis stays under control, that is enough for me :-) 

   Next up, Athens Classic Marathon!

Loch Ness Marathon

Loch Ness Marathon 2014

  I was really excited about the opportunity to run the Loch Ness Marathon. I had heard so many wonderful things about the race and it was a great excuse to venture farther north into Scotland.

  The race and the city of Inverness was everything that was promised!

  To begin the race, all the 2,500 or so runners were loaded on buses of every sort and shipped up around Loch Ness to the race start. It took nearly an hour, but the mood was wonderful and it is always fun to be on a bus full of runners!

  When we arrived at the start area, there were lots of porta-potties and, of course, free hot tea with all the appropriate fixings.

   The runners spread out to enjoy the views and prepare for the race. It was a perfect, misty morning on the moors. 

I was quickly hailed by a group of Maniacs, two from the US, and another from Canada. Later we found a 5th from Edinburgh that was running her first race as a Maniac.

Waiting for the start gun

En Route entertainment was great!

This silly horse was trotting up and down the fence matching the pace of the runners. He would hit the end of his pasture, race back to the other end, and do it again.

Maniacs are always fun :-) 

The weather brightened as we wound our way through the country side.

Loch Ness

Where?

The dark, mysterious, loch looked just like I expected!

Yes, the course is a "Wee Bit Hilly", but it is far more downhill than up so still a reasonably fast course and there were always lots of people to chat with during the uphill marches

"Humpty Dumpty had Wall Issues" The signs were very creative!

Had to stop for a spectator photo with the "Invisible Boy" LOL

It was great having my daughter at the finish line with the camera ready

Just a few more yards.......

Such a spectacularly beautiful town alone the River Ness

Tah-Dah! All done

A bit of local color

Wee Nessy looks a bit like a dinosaur, hmmmmmm

  It really was a great race and wonderfully managed. Even the safety pins for our bibs were great quality, (a first!) The expo was nice and the town really turned out for the runners.