Last Finisher

We ran the Run-A-Palooza Jersey Shore Relay Marathon, a fundraiser for Special Olympics. Not my best day, but I finished. Actually, I think I may have been the last runner to finish!

Lots of problems:

• Temperature of 45 throughout (!), which is lovely, but the wind was continuous at 20 mph, gusting to 30 or so, and rain off and on for the last hour and a half. We ran mostly straight north along the Jersey shore, and the wind was from the ENE, so it was partly in the face and always a factor. That's my only real excuse.
  
• Nursing a sore right knee, I had not run for two weeks, only walked. Maybe that's not a good way to train.
  
• That right knee hurt a little in the beginning, then calmed down. Likewise the left hip, which has recently caused problems, was mostly silent.
  
• But hip flexors on both sides (muscles connecting the thigh to the hip bones) started to yell during the second hour and didn't stop. They were a limiting factor. Gosh I thought I'd gotten past the hip-flexor problems.
  
• And the LEFT knee started to complain about halfway through and just got worse throughout. Pain on the outside, might be IT band. We did run on the right edge of a lot of crowned roads, which could cause exactly that symptom. This became a limiting pain too, even on the flat.
  

Anyway I was on schedule for a five-hour marathon until the half, then gradually slowed until I was walking (as fast as I could) but not running for the last six miles or so - just hurt too much to run. Time 5:40:05, average pace 12:58. Best I could do that day. Marathon number 50, state number 33. Seventeen more to go.

About the race:

This race is designed to raise money for Special Olympics. The emphasis is on marathon relay teams and on the accompanying half marathon. A team of one runner (like me) is allowed, but not really encouraged, and I suppose the reason is that more runners raise more money. Also, the marathoners don't all start at the same time. We were asked to estimate our pace, and then were allocated a start time, slowest runners first, I suppose so that support teams (water stations, route marshalls, and medical) could be out there for the shortest possible time.

I screwed up here, and seriously overestimated my speed (underestimated my finish time) when I registered back in February. I thought I could run 11-minute miles, maybe better, and ended up with 13-minute miles. That amounts to almost an hour in a marathon. I should have started at 8:00 am with the first group out, but was assigned to the 8:40 group instead. Because of that mistake, and because it was so miserable out that the volunteers quit, I ran behind the support. After the aid station at Mile 19 (or so) I never saw anyone associated with the race except four runners who passed me. No water, no directions (marshalls), and no medical, not even a volunteer on a bike. Zip. In fact some of the directional signs were gone, blown down I suppose, no other runners in sight, and I wasn't entirely sure of the course once or twice. There may have been water along the boardwalk if I had known how to get it, but I didn't and came in mighty thirsty.

What the race committee could do:

• Be more willing to allow people to start earlier than their assigned time. I wanted to do this, even asked, but was unable to make it happen. I know this is a problem - everyone wants to start early - but obviously, there are problems both ways.
  
• This can be made easier in a relay with the use of Velcro-attached leg-wrap chips. Then a team's actual time is known regardless when they start. They use chips for the half - why not the relay?
  
• Keep track of the last runner. Perhaps I wasn't the last to finish, I don't know, but I doubt that the race committee knew I was still out there when I arrived. The finish line was down, and inside the post-race-party building there was no indication where a runner should report, people seemed surprised, and they were quite unprepared for one more runner. A race should always keep track of the last runner. Always, for safety reasons if no other. Happily, I did find a lovely woman who did it all for me - gave me a finisher's medal and took down my time.
  

Flip Side, the Good Stuff:

• We loved running on the boardwalk, even in this exceptionally-blustery weather. My two girls ran the half, which was an out-and-back entirely along the ocean, virtually all of it on the boardwalk. They loved it. The boardwalk is a wonderful venue, goes for miles on end, and the race makes good use of it.
  
• To my surprise and delight, the boardwalk itself was in good condition for running everywhere, bar none. No tipped-up board ends, no cracked or broken boards, nothing but a smooth running surface. There was a little sand, blown in from the beach 50 feet away, but they were cleaning that up even as the wind continued to blow more in.
  
• The marathon ran on boardwalk for perhaps half its distance, and on roads near the ocean for the rest.
  
• Everything started on time, as far as I can tell, within a minute or two of advertised, even in this problematic weather.
  
• Pre-race, lots of good emails with important details.
  
• We liked getting the race shirts before the race instead of afterward. I actually wore one in the race.
  

I highly recommend this race. Do try for better weather.

The cheesy happy face is on the back of each of the medals, apparently a trademark of the Run-A-Palooza races: