Philly Marathon 2010 - Race Review

The alarm went off as scheduled at 4:45 am on Sunday morning. We had a breakfast of oatmeal squares, grapes and coffee and donned our matching cheetah running skirts before heading off to the starting area which is in front of the Art Museum (the famous Rocky stairs). My only gripe about this race is that it was a little disorganized at the start. They did not have the corral markings up until about 15 minutes before the race so people were just gathering. There was no music or pre-race hype. They sung the National Anthem then started announcing to line up in your corrals. Anyway, the gun went off at about 7 am and the Elites were off. I was in the 5th corral otherwise known as the “Purple” corral which made it up to the starting area around 7:22 am. The Full and Half marathon start together and had 24,000 runners so it took a little while to get everyone running.

From that point on this race is an A+ all the way! The scenery, the crowds are second to none. My race plan was to stick to a 6 min/km pace and run with Liz the entire first half. She was running her very first half marathon and I really wanted to run with her. I had hoped to run this pace for at least 28 – 30 km before I started slowing down (which I knew would happen).
Mile 1-5 was pretty crowded. Liz and I were all over the place trying to get into a groove. At this point we are running through the historic downtown area. Mile 6 -7 we run down Chestnut through the Italian Market – and boy is it a party! The spectators are lined up 2-3 people deep cheering like crazy. I felt like Rocky, which is often heard playing from boom boxes.

Mile 7 we passed by Drexel University and all the frat houses are alive and pumping music. The “lively” frat boys are out and cheering with passion and still drinking beer from last night’s party. The next mile you run through the University of Pennsylvania cheer zone near the famous Wawa – they weren’t quite as loud as Drexel but a close second.

Mile 8.5 – the Philadelphia Zoo and the first hill…ugh! Scenic yes…all I saw was hill.

Miles 9 – 11 was run through Fairmount Park, the crowds were still great, the music was there….but again…more “rolling hills”.

Mile 12 – 13 – along Kelly Drive is scenic however the roadway is very slanted and the knees and quads were starting to feel it. I was trying to talk to Liz as she at this point was minutes from finishing her very first half. I was also trying to prepare myself for the second half of this journey that I would have to take alone. At the 13 mile point we said our good-bye’s, congrats and high fives as Liz headed off to her finish line and I headed out back along Kelly drive and the beautiful boat house row alone. I clocked a 2:05:04 at 21 KM.

Mile 13 – 19 you run up Kelly drive, past Laurel Hill, Over East Falls Bridge and up Main St in Manayunk, however the down side is that the entire time I am running out….there are runners already running back towards the finish which can wreak havoc with your confidence. Luckily there were lots of cheer zones with no shortage of people yelling my name and encouraging me to continue on. At Mile 18 there is a beer tent where they hand out little ‘dixie cup’ shots of beer! This of course is not part of the race…just a lively crowd of race supporters that take it upon themselves to purchase a few kegs of beer to hand out to the runners! Only in Philly I tell you!!! Although I didn’t drink any, it sure made me laugh and carried me through that portion of the race.

The turn around point is rather tight, but at this point the race is spread out enough that it was not an issue for me.

Mile 19 which is about 30 km…up until this point had been doing very well. I did 30 km in 3:02:51 which is actually a PB for me too. However I was starting to struggle and knew I was going to need some walking breaks. The entire way back down Kelly Drive through Miles 20 – 25 were pretty tough for me. Your brain plays pretty bad tricks on you….from feeling elated to feeling like why the hell did I ever sign up for this craziness! My quads were seizing up…but more so my knees were killing me (I blame that on the hills). Luckily again there was no shortage of strangers along the route calling out my name…cheering me on…telling me “I can do it”. So…I plodded along.

Before starting this race I had dreams of ‘smashing’ my previous personal best time however, somewhere along those last few miles it occurred to me that I had already kicked some Philly butt. I had come back stronger and healthier then I ever had been and was able to race with my “BFF” in a great city. I finished this race in 4:32:04 a mere 7 seconds faster then my previous PB but with a brand new sense of peace…AND of course with renewed commitment to finding my inner speed demon.

For anyone still here and actually reading this, Thank you.