A bit of background, I’ve done a few trail marathons now, but this is Kim’s first. When we first talked about doing a marathon a few months ago, she’d never run more than five miles or so. I wanted to do a trail marathon, and she agreed. After we’d both registered, I spoke with several runners who told me that this a super hard course. One of the hardest apparently. (I’d say it was probably the toughest course I’ve been 
on, but each had things that made them tough, and my training/fitness has varied quite a bit, so it’s hard to know for sure. In any case, it was a really tough course!)
So it was with some nervousness that we walked down to the registration site. Everyone at these runs is super friendly, and I saw a few familiar faces. We changed into our running clothes, and at 8:30, we were off in the pack of 110 runners. A short hill climbed past the cars, through the campground. about 3/4 of a mile (I’d guess) from the start, Kim pulled of her fleece top. I really didn’t think she’d want to run the whole race with it tied around her waist, so I offered to run back to the car. She relented, and I did. I ran back through the back of the pack, tossed it in the car, then turned around. Turns out it was a bit further back than I thought, the start was a three mile climb up a steep dirt road, and I wouldn’t catch up to Kim until I was 4 or so miles into the race.
Kim had finished her first marathon, on a VERY tough course, in a respectable 6:21. I’d ticked off another marathon, on a super cool course, and had lots of fun doing it. Kim placed 1st Female 20-29, for which she received a very nice plaque. (um, there was only one other female in her age group.) I think the winner did it in like 3:18. A great race, and a great day.
What’s next? LA or Napa Valley Marathon Next. I’m sort of curious to see how fast I can do a road course marathon.
Geoff “Dirt is Good”
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