HERE WE GO AGAIN

My previous post is titled "successful fall season" and that's true but a bit premature. We have ONE more race this season, on Sunday of this week at home in DC. We will be doing it with our TNT friends although not officially part of the "Team" for this event.

The Marine Corps Marathon includes a 10K (6.2 mile) event which basically uses the last part of the MCM course. Starts on The Mall behind the American History Museum, goes almost to the Capitol, then back to 14th Street and across "the bridge" to Virginia. The bridge is infamous for those doing the MCM, as they must reach that point (about mile 20) no later than 5:10 after the starting gun. That is a pace of 15:22.5 minutes per mile if you start at the front of the 30,000 runners, or even less if you start at the back. If you do not "beat the bridge" you will be loaded on a bus and taken to the start, not allowed to finish and get a finisher's medal.

Having done the MCM as my last Full Marathon in 2010, can tell you that bridge is a real challenge, especially at age 65 suffering from a gout attack from mile 12 through the end of the 26.2 miles. The big yellow bus was directly behind me, but I did beat the bridge & earn my MCM finisher's medal. In other words, even an aging racewalker can successfully complete the Marine Corps Marathon.

This year my race is only a 10K and while that is longer than many people will ever do it seems short after the Nike Half Marathon on October 14th. Not nearly as many hills either, although the last .2 of the MCM course is uphill. Your first time facing that it can be a bit demoralizing but the road is lined with civilian and Marine Corps spectators cheering you into the finish, making it seem much less daunting than it might be otherwise.

NEXT SEASON

We are planning some 2013 events already. There will be an inaugural Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC on April 28, 2013 and both Naomi and I are already signed up for it with Team in Training. So you can look forward to a fundraising appeal soon. Or if you just can't wait, you can use my TNT fundraising site to contribute right now http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/nikewhlf13/tfarnam  contributions are always cheerfully accepted and acknowledged quickly.

Shortly after the Nike Half we will be setting off on a new adventure with Jenny Hadfield and John Bingham - the Danube River Marathon Cruise. Starting from Budapest, we'll travel the river on board the AMA Dolce, a small enough ship that our group will be about half of the passengers. Stops in Bratislava, Slovakia; Vienna, Austria; Durnstein then bicycle the Wachau Valley to Melk, Austria; Linz, Austria; Passau, Germany; and finish in Vilshofen, Germany. Time to brush up on my Deutsch.