On January 28, I ran the Big Beach Marathon in Gulf Shores, AL. I’m making a push to finish a fifth circuit of marathons or ultras in every state, and this was my fifth marathon in Alabama. As you might guess, Gulf Shores is on the Gulf coast, and it has a big beach.
I could’ve flown into
either Pensacola, FL or Mobile, AL. In
2021, I flew into Pensacola. This time,
I was able to get better flight times by flying into Mobile. Either way, I needed to change planes in
Atlanta.
I arrived in Mobile Saturday
afternoon. From there, it was a 90-minute
drive to my hotel. I stayed at The Lodge
at Gulf State Park, which was the host hotel for the race. Packet pickup for the race was at The Lodge. I picked up my race packet first, and then
checked into my room.
Most of the rooms at The
Lodge have balconies. I had a room
facing toward the highway and Gulf State Park, but there were sitting areas on
the other side of the hotel where I could get a beach view. This is a view of the beach at sunset.
After picking up my race
packet and checking into my room, I went to the fitness center to do a strength
training workout. I was originally
planning to go into town for dinner, but it was drizzly, so I had dinner in one
of the restaurants at The Lodge.
I was able to get to
sleep early, but I woke up during the night and had trouble getting back to
sleep. I felt pretty rough when I got
up, but I felt better by the time the race started.
The race started at 7:30
AM. There’s parking near the start, but
it’s limited. I couldn’t remember how
early I arrived when I ran this race before, so I got there an hour before the start.
The race starts and finishes
next to an entertainment venue called The Hangout. The last time I did this race, I was able to
park in a lot right next to The Hangout.
This year, that parking lot was blocked off. The nearby street parking was filling up
quickly, but I was able to find a parking space about two blocks away.
All of my recent training
runs have been in winter conditions.
Snow and ice on the streets has sometimes forced me to run at a cautious
pace, and cold wind chills have sometimes forced me to bundle up like an Eskimo. I’ve been getting in lots of mileage, but I
haven’t done any training at race pace since December. I have another race next weekend, so I decided
to use this race as a tune-up.
I had been looking
forward to running in temperatures warm enough for shorts. The temperature on race morning was 50
degrees. Normally, that would be warm
enough for shorts, but there was a cold wind near the coast. Instead of shorts, I opted for tights. I was surprised how cold it was when I was
walking to my car. I wore short sleeves,
but I made a last-minute decision to start the race wearing a Tyvek jacket, but
I kept it open in front, so it didn’t cover my race bib.
I ran this same race in
2021, but the course is different now.
It used to be two loops. Now it’s
a single loop with some out-and-back sections.
Most of the course is paved, but there are sections of wooden walkways in
Gulf State Park. The starting line is
also in a different place, this year, it was in between The Hangout and the
beach.
I was expecting to have
to wait in the cold to use a port-o-potty.
When I got to the start area, I discovered we could use the bathrooms
inside The Hangout. We could also wait indoors
until it was time to line up. It was
crowded, but we were sheltered form the cold wind.
I wasn’t sure how fast I
would run, but I saw a 4:00 pace group and lined up right behind them. I didn’t know if I would run with them, but
it seemed like a reasonable pace to start.
Going around the first
turn, I was almost half a block behind the leader of 4:00 group. I put in a little extra effort to catch up to
him. Within the first half mile, I caught
up. Then I spotted my friend Heather
just ahead of the group, and I moved forward to talk to her. I ended up running with Heather for more than
seven miles.
For the first mile, we
were on city streets. We were running
away from the coast, but I could still feel the cold wind. In the second mile, we turned onto a paved
trail that took us through the north side of Gulf State Park. We had trees on both sides of us, so I didn’t
notice the wind as much. After about two
miles, I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.
Heather and I were talking
and running just ahead of the 4:00 pace group.
In the early miles, we were averaging 9:00 per mile. I was surprised how comfortable I felt at
that pace.
We crossed a wooden
bridge, and a short time later, we crossed another short section of wooden
walkway. The wood was wet from rain the
day before, so it was a little bit slippery.
Other than that, these sections didn’t concern me too much. There wasn’t much space between the boards,
and these sections were short. The
sections that worried me came later in the race.
The aid stations all had
water and Gatorade. Usually, the
volunteers handing out water were on the right and the ones handing out
Gatorade were on the left. I usually
slowed to a walk briefly while drinking.
For about five miles,
Heather and I were ahead of the 4:00 group.
Then, at one of the aid stations, we fell behind the group. We continued to follow, close behind.
There was a half marathon
that started at the same time as the marathon.
Just after the seven-mile mark, we came to a place where the two courses
diverged. Runners doing the half
marathon turned right onto a trail that would bring them back to Gulf Shores. Those of us doing the Marathon went straight
and continued east toward the city of Orange Beach.
Heather needed to make a
bathroom stop, so I continued on my own at the same pace. I could see the 4:00 group a short distance
in front of me, but I didn’t make any effort to catch up to them. When I reached the eight mile sign, I saw
that I was still on pace for four hours, even though I wasn’t with the
group. I continued running on my own,
but I made a point of keeping them in sight.
Somewhere around nine
miles, we reached the end of the trail we were on and turned onto the shoulder
of a highway going through Orange Beach.
After about a mile along
the highway, we turned onto another paved trail. I knew there was going to be an out-and-back
section soon. As soon as I turned, I saw
runners coming back from the other direction, so I knew this was it.
There were port-o-potties
right at the beginning of this section.
I saw the 4:00 pace leader waiting to use one. He had handed his “4:00” sign to someone else
in the group. I could still see the
group ahead of me.
Before I reached the
turnaround, I saw the 4:00 pace leader go racing by. He was catching up with his group as quickly
as he could. I was still content to
follow them from a short distance.
When I reached the
turnaround, I was right behind the group.
Coming back, I started to fall behind them again. I wondered if I was relaxing too much. When I got to the 11-mile mark, I realized I
was still going the same pace. The group
must have sped up.
A few minutes after the
turnaround, I saw Heather going the other direction. She was far enough behind me that I knew she
wouldn’t catch up. I started to gradually
pick up my pace, so I could catch up to the pace group.
After I saw Heather, I
saw a woman going the other way who was asking all the runners coming back
which race they were in. “Y’all doing
the full? You? Full?”
I got the impression that she was doing the half marathon and had just
realized that everyone around her was doing the full marathon. I remembered where the two courses diverged. She had already been on the wrong course for
almost four miles. Even if she turned
around and backtracked to the turn she missed, she would still end up running
almost 21 miles to complete the half marathon.
I’m not sure what she did. It’s
worth noting that the turn she missed was well-marked, and there were
volunteers there telling us which way to go.
I don’t know how she missed it.
After the out-and-back
section, we briefly ran alongside the same highway. Then we turned onto another paved trail to
come back through Gulf State Park.
At 12 miles, I was still
trailing the 4:00 pace group, but I could see that I was more than a minute
ahead of schedule. They were going a bit
fast. By the end of the 13th mile, I had
caught up to the group. Now, we were
even farther ahead of schedule. At the
halfway mark, we were almost two minutes ahead.
For almost half of the
race, I was wearing gloves. I don’t
recall exactly when I took my gloves off, but coming back through the park, I
started to feel the wind again. My hands
quickly got cold, but I didn’t put the gloves on. I decided to wait and see if I warmed up
later.
For now, I was running at
the back of the pace group and making a point of not getting ahead of
them. I was conflicted about what my
goal should be. The obvious goal at this
point would’ve been to stay with the group and rest of the way and break four
hours. Another goal I often set at the
halfway point is to run negative splits (i.e., run the second half of the race
faster than the first half).
The group wasn’t likely
to run at this same pace for the rest of the race. If they did, they would finish about three
and a half minutes too fast. It was more
likely that they would slow down, so they came in closer to their target time.
I continued to run with
the group, but I crept up to the front.
Just past the 14-mile mark, I heard the pace leader say, “we’ll be
slowing down soon.” That’s when I made
up my mind. I wasn’t going to slow
down. I would go ahead of the group with
the intent of running negative splits.
I ran the next mile in
8:55. That wasn’t much faster than
before. Our average pace in the first
half was roughly 9:00. My goal now was
to run each remaining mile in 9:00 or faster.
I don’t like running by
myself. I prefer to have someone to
follow. I sped up enough to catch up to
the next runner ahead of me. Before I
knew it, I had passed him. Then I
focused on catching up to the next runner.
This continued until I finished mile 16 and realized I had sped up to
8:23. Oops. I didn’t mean to run that fast.
I made a sharp turn,
crossed a short wooden bridge, made another sharp turn, and reached an aid
station. I walked through the aid
station while drinking some Gatorade.
That short walking break would’ve been an opportunity to reset my pace,
but as I left the aid station, I couldn’t see the next runner in front of me. I didn’t need to run as fast as my previous
mile, but I wanted to run fast enough to get within sight of other
runners. I needed to have someone to
follow, so I could tell if I was keeping up a consistent pace. The irony is that I first had to run a pace
that I knew was kind of fast. I ended up
running mile 17 in 8:30.
I was running in a different
direction now, so I didn’t feel the cold wind any more. This section of trail was out in the open, so
I also started to notice the warmth of the sun.
My hands were no longer cold.
There were a couple of
short sections of wooden walkway toward the end of mile 18. Then there was a much longer one at the
beginning of mile 19. These were
different from the earlier sections. There
were noticeable gaps between the boards.
I slowed to a more cautious pace and paid close attention to my
footing. In mile 18, I slowed to
8:47. Mile 19 was 8:55. I was happy with that. I was still keeping my pace under nine
minutes, even as I ran more cautiously.
Whenever I got back onto
firm pavement, I picked up the pace and started chasing the runners in front of
me. For the next three miles, I averaged
8:40.
With just over five miles
to go, I came back to the same junction where the marathon and half marathon
routes had diverged earlier. This time,
instead of going straight, we turned right.
Now, I was headed back toward Gulf Shores, where we would finish.
The next long section of
wooden walkway started right at 22 miles.
This one was more than a mile long.
There wasn’t a sign for 23, but when my watch gave me a split for that
mile, it was 9:11. I didn’t like slowing
down that much, but navigating this section safely was more important than
keeping up my pace. I’ve been known to
trip on surfaces like this.
To my right, I caught a
glimpse of a pedestrian bridge going over Beach Boulevard, which is the coastal
highway. I mistook this bridge for one
that’s right next to the entrance to The Lodge.
That led me to believe that this was the last section of wooden walkway. When I reached the end of this section, I
assumed the rest of the race would be paved.
As I got back onto firm
pavement, I picked up my pace and resumed chasing the runners ahead of me. The next mile took me through a campground. I resumed my previous fast pace.
I was expecting to come out
to Beach Boulevard, but we turned onto another section of wooden walkway. It was long.
It didn’t seem familiar until I got to the last section, which went over
water.
I saw another pedestrian
bridge over Beach Boulevard. This was
the one by The Lodge. I was shocked when
I saw the runners ahead of me running up the wooden ramp to get to the
bridge. This was a significant
climb. This bridge definitely wasn’t
part of the course that I ran in 2021.
The course I ran before stayed on the north side of Beach
Boulevard. This year, we crossed the
bridge to get onto the south side of the road.
When I got off the bridge
and down the ramp on the other side, I still had a mile and a half to go. It would all look familiar. It’s the same mile and a half that I drove in
the morning, when I was on my way to the start.
In mile 25, I slowed to
9:03. That was disappointing, but not
surprising. I was determined to run the
last 1.2 miles as fast as I could. The
good news is that it was all flat and all paved. The bad news is that it was all into the
wind.
The wind was much
stronger now. Running into it wasn’t just
cold. It was tiring. I fought hard all through the next mile. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my
split for mile 26. Despite the wind, it
was my second fastest mile. I ran it in
8:28. I went on to finish the race in
3:52:45. I was almost four minutes
faster in the second half.
My pre-race goal was to
use this race as a tune-up before attempting an all-out effort. I think it went well. In the first half, I learned that I can run
comfortably at a 9:00 pace. In the
second half, I was running at a Boston qualifying pace.
Near the finish line,
there was a sand sculpture on the beach.
People were posing behind it with their medals. I just wanted a picture of the sand art.
Post-race food and beer was
available just outside The Hangout. The
free food included wraps, cookies, potato chips, and gumbo with rice. For friends and family, there was also food
for purchase inside The Hangout.
After I finished eating,
I spotted Heather in the finish area. I
went over to ask her how the rest of her race went. Then I spent the next hour and a half talking
with her and other friends inside The Hangout before eventually walking back to
my car.
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