A1A Marathon, Fort Lauderdale

We three flew in & out of Fort Lauderdale to collect Florida, Don’s 25th marathon state and 41st marathon. Sunshine & Sweet Pea collected their 11th half-marathon state, on top of their 12 marathon states. They were shooting for four hours and came in comfortably under that, while I was hoping for five but finished nine minutes over. I watched the 5:00 pace team go by but couldn’t keep up. Happily, the 5:15 pace team never caught me.

The A1A Marathon itself is a good one, maybe not yet a great one:

• Water stops were all different from each other, with three different fluids but no signs or specially-colored cups to direct you to the volunteer with your fluid. The only sure way to get water or a specific fluid was to ask for it, and even then I got something else once and had to throw it away. Maybe water was always last, but I’m not sure of that.
• Porta-potties were rather horrible. The first three that we tried in the start area had no toilet paper, even though we were there before the lines had even formed. All of them had hand cleanser dispensers, but few dispensers actually had cleanser in them, even later along the course.
• Parking, especially at the finish, was difficult for us out-of-towners, because several of the parking lots described in the race brochure did not appear to be open at the time we needed to board the bus (4:30 am).  We parked at the Bajia Mar hotel, across from the finish, and were charged only $10 when we left, but that bargain was not described anywhere, even by the hotel people that we spoke with.
• Porta potties were less frequent than water stops, and there were just two at each location. What will it take for race directors to figure out that the need for porta potties is MUCH greater in the beginning of a marathon than near the end, especially where the marathon and the half marathon runners are together for the first several miles. Imagine what it does to a runner’s time if she has to wait behind ten other runners queuing for two porta-potties. I saw lots of people breaking for the woods, and almost did myself.
• Food at the finish was reserved for those who could finish early enough. Sweet Pea and Sunshine, finishing in less than four hours, got oranges, bananas, and wraps with beans and meat sauce, with potato chips. Nice-looking bagels were available too, but we can’t eat them because they are made of wheat. When I arrived a little after five hours, only the bananas and bagels remained. Sunshine did notice that some of the people going through the line were not runners.

The good stuff is more important:

• The A1A course is delightful, running mostly along the Atlantic Ocean beach front on the A1A highway, and partly through a cool, dense woods. Most of the way, it’s about as close to the ocean as you can legally run without getting sand in your shoes.
• Water stops were frequent, and none ran out of water. Chicago could take a lesson.
• 515 runners in the marathon, 2856 in the half. That's a nice-sized marathon.
• The weather today was about normal for the season, I think. 59 degrees at the start, rising steadily to a sunny 75 for my last hour of the race. Humidity was moderate, with a nice breeze off the ocean most of the way. I was glad that it wasn’t raining, or blowing too hard, and have no complaints about the weather. It’s Florida and we came to run.
• The course took us directly east at the start, running toward a spectacular view of the sun rising over the Atlantic.
• Half marathoners had the same six hours to finish as did the full marathoners.
• The water at the finish was COLD, and it really hit the spot.
• A children’s 1.2-mile race started from the 25-mile point toward the finish line at 11:00 am, just a minute or so after I passed that point. These kids, aged 5-12, had previously accumulated 25 miles of running with their parents or some other running mentor, and finished their “marathon experience” in this actual marathon with a genuine finish line. I had to slow slightly at the finish, because they were clumping up a bit there. But I have no complaint - this race interfered with very few adult marathoners, and I can’t imagine a better way to teach kids the value of high-quality exercise. It's a great idea!
• Volunteers and police were cheerful and helpful throughout.

It’s a good marathon - don’t let my negative comments about the little stuff send you away. I started with the 4:30 pace team, faster than I expected to run later, to take advantage of the cool 6:00 am start time.  I slowed more than I hoped, but finished in a better time than in three of my previous four marathons.

No pains, no problems, except sore muscles. I actually like sore muscles. I'll run a few easy miles on Wednesday if nothing is hurting. It's a masterpiece!!

Splits: 9:42, 10:00, 10:00 (really!), 10:20, 9:57, 10:40, 15:00 (potty stop), 10:30, 10:53, 10:35, 11:02, 11:36, 11:29, 14:59 (potty stop), 15:16 (unknown delay or incorrectly-marked course?), 12:36, 12:10, 12:23, 12:25, 24:59 (2 miles), 12:08, 12:27, 12:07, 12:39, 13:44 (1.22 mi), total 5:09:37.

Team-In-Training (TNT) runners raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), which funds research for most of the blood cancers, including myeloma.  I love these folks, because they may be saving my life, and I try to let them know it.  This group and I ran together a few times briefly, as three of them were shepherding the fourth to the finish of his first marathon.  I finished just ahead of them, and Sunshine took this photo just after they finished.  Go TNT!