Race Report: George Washington's Birthday Marathon

On February 19, I ran the George Washington’s Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt, MD.  I signed up for this same race last year, but it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This race bills itself as the longest-running marathon in the National Capitol area.  It has a long history, but it hasn’t been held every year.  The 2021 and 2022 races were cancelled because of COVID-19, and there have been several other years when the race was cancelled because of winter storms.  Despite the cancellation of last year’s race, I took my chances and signed up again this year.

I was watching the weather forecast, so I was reasonably confident the race wouldn’t be cancelled, but it wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that I got an email saying the race was definitely on.  That’s when they look at the forecast and decide if conditions are safe to hold the race.

Last September, I had a cortisone injection near my L5/S1 joint to relieve sciatic nerve pain in my lower back and right leg.  I was pain-free for about seven weeks, but eventually the pain came back.  At first it was mild and I only felt it intermittently.  In January, it became more persistent.  More recently, it got so bad that running and walking were both increasingly uncomfortable.

On Wednesday, I had another cortisone injection.  By the end of the day, I was already feeling more comfortable.  Over the next few days, I still had occasional discomfort, but it was no longer constant, and it was no longer severe.  Earlier in the week, I couldn’t run without pain.  Now, I could.

The closet major airports to Greenbelt are Baltimore and Washington.  I flew to Baltimore on Saturday and drove from there to Greenbelt.  A few days before the race I learned they were offering an afternoon packet pickup in Arlington for runners coming from Virginia.  That meant the packet pickup in Greenbelt didn’t start until 6:00.  After checking in at my hotel, I went to the fitness center to do some leg and core exercises while I was waiting for packet pickup to start.

At 6:00, I drove to the Greenbelt Youth Center to pick up my race packet.  I got my race bib, but they didn’t have the T-shirts yet.  I wanted to get to dinner, so I asked if I could pick up my T-shirt in the morning.  Then I went to dinner at a pizza place in Hyattsville.

I got to bed early, and I slept reasonably well.  I set an alarm, so I would have time to eat breakfast, but I woke up before the alarm went off.

When I got up, it was 31 degrees, but the race didn’t start until 10:00.  I had to remind myself that it would warm up into the mid-40s by the time the race started, and it would warm up another 10 degrees by the time I finished.

The race started and finished a short distance from the Greenbelt Youth Center.  Parking there was limited, so I got there early to make sure I could get a parking spot.  They had race day packet pickup starting at 8:15.  When packet pickup started, I picked up my T-shirt.

It was more comfortable inside the youth center than it was in my car, so I waited there until it was time to walk to the start.  I saw a few runners I knew, but they were all either too fast or too slow for me to run with them.  There weren’t any pace groups, so I needed to start this race on my own.

In my last marathon, I thought I did well to break 4:30.  I didn’t expect to be any faster in this one.  I just haven’t had enough training lately.  I started at a pace that felt comfortable and didn’t worry too much about my time.

The course was all on roads.  We started with a two mile segment that we wouldn’t see again until the end of the race.

I ran the first mile in 9:46.  That was faster than I planned, but it wasn’t too much of a surprise.  That’s about the same pace that I started in my last race, before I settled down.  The first mile always feels easy.

Ideally, I would’ve slowed down in the second mile, but I was starting to run down a long hill.  Before the race, a friend who has done this race several times told me to save my energy for a big hill near the end of the race.  As I ran down this long hill, I realized I would have to run up the same hill later.

Because so much of the second mile was downhill, I couldn’t help but run it faster than my first mile.  After that, I gradually slowed down.

After roughly two miles, we ran a short out-and-back segment.  We only had to run that once.  When we finished the out-and-back, we started a long loop that we would run three times.

The loop was hilly.  The hills weren’t generally steep, but the terrain was constantly rolling.  Running downhill, I had mild discomfort in my right leg from my sciatic nerve.  The cortisone shot may have helped, but I’m not out of the woods yet.

I actually looked forward to the uphill sections.  That’s when my leg felt the most comfortable.  I was careful not to lift my effort running uphill.  I didn’t worry about my pace.  I tried to keep my effort consistent, so it never felt tiring.

Although we were running a loop, we weren’t always turning in the same direction.  The first two miles of the loop were a bit serpentine.  When I could, I ran the tangents, but the road was open to traffic.  Occasionally, a car would come, and everyone would move to the other side of the road.  Traffic was sparce enough on this section that we never encountered traffic from both directions at once.

There were two spots in each loop that we had to cross a busy road.  There were police stationed at these intersections to hold up traffic when runners were approaching.

About halfway through the loop, we turned onto a road that was much busier.  On the second half of the loop, we sometimes had cars coming from both directions at once.  It was no longer practical to cross the road.  We all kept to the left.  When cars approached in our lane, we moved all the way over to the white line.

I didn’t notice it at first, but the second half of the loop wasn’t as hilly.  It was the easier half of the loop, but I was still slowing down.  By the end of the loop, I wondered if my pace was too lazy.

The last two miles of the loop were into the wind.  It was just strong enough to feel tiring.  It also made my hands cold.  I had taken off my gloves early in the race.

As I started my second loop, I knew what to expect.  The first half of the loop would have less wind and far fewer cars, but it was the hillier half of the loop.  I was quickly reminded of that the first time I ran downhill.  I felt my sciatica again.

I was drinking Gatorade at every aid station.  It was a cool enough day that I probably didn’t need that much fluid.  I passed a pair of port-o-potties, and I was tempted to stop.  I knew I’d need to stop eventually, but I wanted to wait until I was at least half done.  I waited, but I started to regret that decision.  I felt increasingly uncomfortable.

In my second lap, I started putting a little more effort into the hills.  My pace in the last two miles of the first lap was slow, and I wanted to get back to the pace I was running earlier.

Somewhere between 11 and 12 miles, I reached an aid station and saw a port-o-potty.  I was grateful for the opportunity to make a bathroom stop here.  It would’ve been tough to make it to the halfway mark.

When I did reach the halfway mark, I was on pace to finish somewhere between 4:35 and 4:36.  At the time, I didn’t know if the second half would be faster or slower.  On one hand, I felt like I had paced myself conservatively in the first half.   On the other hand, I was noticing my sciatica more and it seemed like the wind was picking up.  I was going to run into that wind two more times, and that might slow me down.

Just past the halfway mark, I turned onto the busier road.  This time, I already knew that this side of the loop was less hilly.  Over the next four miles, I put a little more effort into my pace.

Shortly after I made the turn onto the busier road, I was passed by a faster runner.  I expected the leaders to lap me at some point, but this guy didn’t look like he was going fast enough to be leading the race.  He did, however, quickly pass the next few runners as well.

Within the next few minutes, two other runners passed me.  These guys did look they were running fast enough to be near the front of the race.

I continued to follow the other runners who were still on their second lap.  Then I noticed a runner who seemed much slower.  He had a homemade trekking pole, and all the other runners were passing him.  I wondered if it was possible that he was still on his first lap, and I was already lapping him.  If so, I didn’t like his chances of finishing within the six and a half hour time limit.

My pace improved over the next few miles.  Every so often, I passed someone who was also on their second lap.

Every mile was marked.  Even though I was on my second lap, I could also see signs for the first and third laps.  With about a mile left to go in my second lap, I saw the 23 mile sign for runners who were already in their third lap.

At was at that moment that the lead woman ran by.  She had a powerful stride.  She was probably in 10th place overall, but there was no doubt in my mind that she would pass a few of the men on front of her by the time she finished.

Near the end of my second lap, I started to talk to a runner named Nina.  When I mentioned the lead woman, Nina told me she might have been on a relay team.  I forgot there was also a relay.

Nina asked me if I knew what pace I was on.  I told her I was on pace for about 4:36 at the halfway mark, but I had sped up a little since then.  Nina was really surprised to hear that.  Her goal was to break six hours.  She never expected to be on pace to break five hours, and she wondered if she had been running too fast.

I asked Nina how she felt.  We had already finished 17 miles, and she still felt OK.  I figured she would be fine if she ran conservatively the rest of the way.  I decided to run with Nina and help her get through the last lap.

I had run my 17th mile in 9:54.  That was my fastest mile since mile two.  Before meeting Nina, I was hoping to pick up my effort enough to run negative splits.  Now, I realized I needed to ease up a bit.  I didn’t want to pull Nina along at a pace that wouldn’t be sustainable.

For the rest of the race, I was careful to match my pace to Nina’s and not get ahead of her.  As we ran the hills in the first half of the loop, I still noticed my sciatica running downhill, but it didn’t seem as bad.  Maybe slowing down helped.

For the rest of the race, we talked about running and a few other topics.  I think our conversation made the miles pass more easily for both of us.  We slowed down a little, but it was never much slower than the pace I was running in the second half of my first lap.

We both managed well through the third loop, but we still had to run almost two miles to get to the finish.  With a little over a mile to go, we encountered the long hill I had been expecting.  I let Nina set the pace.  We slowed down, but we got through that mile OK.

The finish line is in a different spot than the starting line.  We eventually left the streets for a narrow path.  We briefly had to run down a hill that was steep enough to be extremely uncomfortable.  I slowed almost to a walk.  Fortunately, that hill was fairly short.  Then we went through a tunnel and saw the 26 mile sign.

As we got within sight of the finish, Nina sped up.  I sped up a little, but I couldn’t match her pace on the final push to the finish.

For the last few miles, I had been telling Nina she would break 4:40.  She did.  I finished several seconds behind her, with a time of 4:39:26.  I didn’t run negative splits, but I was only positive by four minutes.  I was happy with that.

Right after I finished, I was handed a finisher medal.  That surprised me.  Earlier, I had received an email saying that the shipment of medals was delayed by supply chain issues.  I didn’t think they would have them today.  Perhaps I misread the email.

This was my fourth marathon in Maryland.  I’ve now run four or more marathons in 46 states.  To complete my fourth circuit of marathons or ultras in every state, I just need to run marathons in Vermont, Utah, West Virginia, and Oklahoma.  I expect to do that by the end of the year.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:39:26

Average Pace: 10:39 

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  476

Maryland Marathons:  4

Race Report: 2023 Surf City Marathon

On February 5, I ran the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA.  I run this race almost every year.  It’s one of the few places in the continental U.S. where I can run a winter marathon and know it won’t be freezing.  I also know quite a few runners in southern California, and this race is a chance to see them.

This was my first race in three weeks.  When I got home from the Houston Marathon, I started to develop a cough.  Within a few days, I was coughing constantly, and I also had a low grade fever.  Then I developed nasal congestion.  It took three negative tests to convince me it wasn’t covid.  Then I saw a doctor, who told me it was probably RSV.  I’ve never had RSV before.  It knocked me on my butt for two weeks.

During that time, I didn’t do much training.  I did my best to get exercise by walking on a treadmill, but I had to slow the pace down to keeping from having coughing fits.  Even then, I sometimes had to stop after only two miles.

I was scheduled to run the Sun Marathon last weekend, but I had to cancel.  I didn’t want to get on an airplane if I was still contagious.  I also had serious doubts about being able to finish a marathon.  Two days before that race, I tried a short run.  It was about five times as tiring as usual, and I was having coughing fits every half block.  I had to stop after slightly more than a mile.

In the last week, I’ve recovered.  I’m no longer coughing, but I didn’t know if I had my stamina back.  I was pretty sure I could finish the race, but I wasn’t going to try to go fast.  I just wanted to finish.

In the past, I’ve often flown into LAX, but it’s a pain picking up a rental car at that airport, and it’s a long drive with unpredictable traffic.  It’s much more convenient to fly into the Orange County airport.

Delta has non-stop flights from Minneapolis to Orange County, but they only have morning flights on weekdays.  If I flew in on Saturday, I’d have to take a later flight, and I wouldn’t be able to get to the expo before they close.  I flew in on Friday, even though it meant an extra hotel night.

I arrived in time for lunch, so I went straight to lunch from the airport.  After lunch, I went to my hotel to check in.  I stayed at the Doubletree Club in Santa Ana.  I’ve stayed at this same hotel several times.  They have a race package that includes free parking plus transportation to and from the race.  In my experience, they always treat the runners like VIPs.

In the afternoon I went for a run.  There are probably lots of good places to run in Orange County, but I wanted to stick to a route that was familiar.  I also wanted to avoid traffic.  I drove to a beach that’s just north of the Huntington Beach Pier.  There are paved bike and pedestrian paths next to this beach that are part of the marathon route.  I parked my car and ran a little over six miles.  Interestingly enough, nothing looked that familiar, even though my route overlapped with the marathon course.  I guess that’s the difference between running a race and running on your own.  Everything looks different on race day.

This was my longest run since the Houston Marathon, by far.  It felt even longer.  I’ve recovered from my recent illness, but I feel like it had a lasting effect on my aerobic capacity.  I wasn’t going very fast to begin with, but after three miles, I started to slow down.  It was a struggle to finish the last miles to get back to where I parked.  I didn’t know how I was going to run a marathon two days later.

After getting back from my run, I had some mild pain in my right leg from my sciatic nerve.  I usually feel better after running or walking, but it can bother me pretty badly if I get dehydrated.  I didn’t drink anything during my run.  I drank a bottle of water afterward, but that wasn’t enough to rehydrate.  For the rest of the weekend, I was more careful to drink enough.

When I travel to the west coast for a race, I usually try to avoid adjusting too much to the local time zone.  If I can eat an early dinner and get to bed early, it’s easier to get up early on race day.  This year, I didn’t do a good job of that.  I ate such a big lunch that I didn’t feel like having an early dinner.  I waited until it was dinner time in the local time zone, and even then, I only had enough room for an appetizer.  Because I had a later dinner, I also got to bed later.

On Saturday, I had the luxury of sleeping in.  I initially woke up at 4:30, but I was still tired, so I went back to sleep and didn’t get up until 6:15.  That might not sound like sleeping in, but in my own time zone it would’ve been 8:15.  I never sleep that late.

I spent the morning at the hotel.  I had a big breakfast, relaxed for a couple hours, and then did a workout in the hotel’s fitness room.  After my workout, I drove to the expo to pick up my race packet.

Packet pickup was inside a tent in a parking lot next to where the race starts and finishes.  After picking up my race packet, I took the time to visit the booths of various vendors.  At one, I had a chance to sample the beverage that would be available at the aid stations.  I was disappointed to learned that it contains electrolytes, but no sugar.  I’ve seen that at a few other races, and it’s an alarming trend.  The whole reason I drink a sports drink at the aid stations is to replace some of the sugar I’m burning, so I won’t “hit the wall” later in the race.

While I was at the expo, I bumped into Natalie and Robert who both do this race every year.

Finally, I got to see some of the VW buses that were on display in the parking lot.

The Doubletree has an outdoor pool and a hot tub.  When I got back to the hotel, I spent part of the afternoon relaxing in the hot tub.

The hotel provided transportation to the race, but you had to sign up for it.  Later in the afternoon, I went down to the lobby to register for the marathon bus and get the wristband I would need to board the bus.

After having a big breakfast, I skipped lunch in favor pf having an early dinner.  Saturday was mostly a rest day, but I walked to and from dinner, so I could get some exercise.  Then I made a point of getting to bed early.

The hotel provided a continental breakfast for the runners.  It started at 4:30, so I got up a little earlier so I would have time for breakfast.  I didn’t want to have too much food in my stomach, but it was important to eat something, knowing I wouldn’t be taking in calories during the race.

The temperature was in the mid-50s.  Normally, I would consider that warm enough to wear shorts, but I didn’t know if I could run the whole race, or if I would need to take walking breaks.  I wore tights so I wouldn’t get cold if I started walking.  I also wore a Tyvek jacket to stay warm until the race started.

Ideally, I would’ve had my phone with me, so I would have the option of taking pictures during the race.  When I went running on Friday, I had my phone in my fanny pack, and I really felt the extra weight.  I felt like I had a brick in my fanny pack.  I was already expecting to tire quickly, so I left my phone at the hotel.  I didn’t want to carry any extra weight.

The bus for the marathon left at 5:30.  It took about half an hour to get to the race.  When we were almost there, I noticed rain hitting the windshield.  I wasn’t expecting rain, so I was glad I chose to dress on the warm side.

In the past, they always dropped us off in front of the Hyatt Regency.  This year, they dropped us off in front of the Waterfront Beach Resort, which is in the next block.

I was hoping to meet some friends for a pre-race picture in front of the pedestrian bridge that leads from the beach parking lot to the Hyatt.  I only had five minutes to get there, and I needed to make a bathroom stop.  I walked over to the Hyatt as quickly as I could, went downstairs to use the bathroom, then went upstairs to get to the corridor leading to the pedestrian bridge.  I got there just in time for the picture.

I wasn’t sure how fast I would run.  I thought the best case – if I could run the whole way – was about 4:30.  If I needed to take walking breaks, I might be closer to five hours.  I optimistically lined up near the 4:30 pace group.

While I was in the start area, I noticed the rain had stopped.  A few minutes before the race started, I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.

I started at a pace that felt easy.  I didn’t want to feel like I was working to maintain the pace.  As it turns out, my first two miles were about 10 minutes each, which put me just in front of the 4:30 group.  I was never too far in front of them.  I could always hear them talking.

I used to wear a plain stopwatch and check my time at the mile markers.  More recently, I’ve been using a GPS watch.  I’m glad I did that today, as some of the mile markers were badly misplaced.  When I reached the mile 2 sign, my watch was already reading 2.3 miles.

My sciatica rarely bothers me when I’m running.  When it does, the discomfort always goes away by the end of the first mile.  Not today.  I was still noticing mild discomfort in my right leg in the third mile.

As we were nearing the end of the 4th mile, we went up a gradual hill, and I fell behind the 4:30 group.  I wasn’t committed to any particular pace.  I continued running at a pace that felt easy enough that I might be able to sustain it for the whole race.

In the next mile, we ran down the biggest hill on the course.  Running downhill aggravated my sciatic nerve.  I not only had mild pain in my right leg, but I also felt soreness on the right side of my lower back.  Fortunately, it went away when the road leveled out again.

Running down the hill, I sped up a bit.  Without really trying, I caught up to the 4:30 group again.

Next, we entered the first of two small parks.  I started talking with one of the other runners who was following the 4:30 group.  Somehow, carrying on a conversation made the next few miles easier.  I easily kept up with the 4:30 group.

After eight miles, we started running up the same hill that we had run down earlier.  I didn’t want to risk tiring myself out on this hill, so I eased up and fell behind the pace group.  At the top of the hill, there was an aid station.  The pacers often slowed down going through aid stations, so I caught up to the group again.

As we reached the nine mile sign, we started seeing the fastest runners in the half marathon going the other way.  They started an hour and 15 minutes after we did, and they were just starting a section of the course that we were about to finish.  For the next mile, I moved toward the center of the street, so I could look for runners I know.  I didn’t see any.  We only saw the faster runners before turning onto the Pacific Coast Highway to begin the first of two long out-and-back sections.

For the next few miles, I ran with the 4:30 group.  It took more effort now, but with 10 miles already behind me, I had more confidence that I could maintain my effort.

Most of the aid stations just had water and a sugar-free electrolyte beverage.  Near the 12 mile mark, there was an aid station that also had Chargel, which is a gel drink.  It tasted like mashed up strawberries.  If took time to get the cap off and squeeze it all into my mouth, but it was my first opportunity to drink something with calories.  I washed it down with some water.  I was afraid I would fall behind the group, but the pace leaders also took extra time at the aid station.  When we reached the turnaround, I was still right behind the group.

After the turn, I noticed the sun was out.  For the first time in the race, I started to feel hot.  Thankfully, it clouded up again later.  Otherwise, I would’ve regretted my clothing choices.

We reached the halfway mark almost two minutes ahead of schedule.  The pace group was staying on the right hand side of the road, but I moved to the left to get as close to the median as I could.  I started looking to see if I recognized any of the runners who were still going the other direction on the other side of the highway.  I knew several runners who were doing the half marathon, as well as a couple runners near the back of the pack in the marathon.

Running well to the left of the pace group, I accidentally got ahead of them.  For the next few miles, I was running on my own.

At 16 miles, we made a U-turn onto a bike path alongside the beach.  No sooner did I make the turn than the pace group caught up to me again.

Shortly after we started running on the bike path, one of the pace leaders told us he planned to get to the last turnaround a little ahead of schedule.  We was expecting a headwind in the last five miles, so we wanted us to have some extra time in the bank before we got there.

He also told us that this was a good time to ask ourselves how we were feeling.  If it was a struggle to keep up with the group, we might want to slow down.

It was at this point, that I found myself falling behind the group.  To keep up with them, I would need to work much harder.  I still had 10 miles to go, and I didn’t want to burn myself out.

Over the next few miles, I slowed down by 15-20 seconds per mile.  It seemed like I was falling farther behind the pace group than I should be.  Before long, I couldn’t even see them anymore.  I knew I was doing the right thing by slowing down, but it was discouraging how quickly I fell behind.

Over the next few miles, I realized why my surroundings didn’t seem familiar during the training run I did on Friday.  When I was on my own, I stayed on the pedestrian path, and I was careful to avoid running on the bike path.  During the race, we used the bike path.  The two paths sometimes diverged, with the pedestrian path being farther from the road.

There was another reason.  When I was doing my training run, I didn’t go as far before turning around.  As we got farther north, the surroundings looked much more familiar.

The path was mostly flat, but occasionally it would dip down and back up.  On each of these dips, I briefly felt discomfort in my right leg from my sciatic nerve.  I’ve never had that problem this far into a race.

In the past, there used to be an unofficial aid station called the “beer & bacon station.”  Last year, it wasn’t there.  This year, I learned why.  The race used to be on the same day as the Super Bowl.  When the NFL added an extra week to the regular season, it pushed the Super Bowl back a week.  The guys who did the beer & bacon station where there for a pre-race tailgate party.  No Super Bowl on race day = no beer & bacon station.  I also noticed there were far fewer spectators on this part of the course.  That was probably for the same reason.

As I was running north along the bike path, I saw faster runners coming back.  I spotted a couple runners I know, and I also noticed all the faster pace groups.  As I got close to the turnaround, I saw the 4:30 group on their way back.

I looked at my watch as they passed me.  I checked it again when I reached the turnaround.  A minute and 16 seconds elapsed since they passed me.  Doubling that, I was about two and a half minutes behind them.

After the turn, I had just over five miles to go.  I picked up my pace as much as I could.  I knew I couldn’t catch up to the 4:30 group.  I could never make up two and a half minutes over the last five miles.  My hope was that I could get back to my previous pace, so I wouldn’t fall any farther behind.

A 4:45 pace leader caught up to me.  I knew he shouldn’t be this close to the 4:30 group, so I asked him if he was ahead of schedule.  He said he was, and he explained why.  Most of the 4:45 group were with another pacer who was several minutes behind us.  This pacer only had one runner with him, and he was helping him to run the best race he could.  Over the next four miles, my splits ranged from 10:11 to 10:17, yet I fell behind the 4:45 pacer.

During this stretch, I finally had an opportunity to see runners I knew who were still on their way out.  There were other out-and-back sections, but I always finished them before the friends I was looking for got there.

By the time I reached the 24 mile sign, I could see the Huntington Beach Pier in the distance.  I knew it was farther away than it looked.  I also knew that the finish line was several blocks past the pier.  Still, it was something I could run toward that I knew was close to the finish.

At 25 miles, I looked at my watch and realized I was going to break 4:30.  The 4:30 group was way ahead of me, but they were two or three minutes ahead of schedule.

I had to get past the 26 mile sign before I could finally see the finish line.  I ran as hard as I could, and I finished in 4:28:52.  That greatly exceeded my expectations.  It’s slower than most of my recent times, but I felt much stronger today than I did on Friday.  On Friday, my average pace was a few seconds slower, yet I struggled just to finish six miles.  Today, there was never any question that I could run the whole race.  I started with no time goal, but I fought my way to finish in less than 4:30.

This race always has cool finisher medals with a surfboard theme.

In addition to the medal, we also got a towel.

After finishing, I saw my friend, Karen.  Karen was waiting for Robert, who was just a couple minutes behind me.

I walked through the finish area quickly, skipping most of the post-race food.  All I had was a snack bar and a bottle of water.  I also skipped the beer garden and walked straight to the pickup point for the bus back to my hotel.  There were only two buses, and I finished in time to get on the first one.  If I missed that bus, I would have to wait another hour and a half for the next one.

When we got back to the hotel, we were greeted with a standing ovation from the hotel staff.  The kitchen staff were banging pots and pans.  Then they gave us each a water bottle and a warm Doubletree cookie.  They do this every year, and it never gets old.

After getting cleaned up, I went to the SoBeCa district for lunch.  There’s a place called The Lab that has several restaurants and shops.  One of them was a pizza place I had never tried before.

I always used to watch the Super Bowl in the hotel lounge after the race.  I can’t do that anymore, but this year the Grammy Awards were on the same day as the race.  I don’t know if that will be the case every year, but I may be starting a new tradition of watching the Grammy Awards after the race.  It’s the only awards show that I actually enjoy watching.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:28:52

Average Pace:  10:15

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  475