The Hyannis, MA Marathon - 26.2 Miles - How Long Can I Wear The Medal?
Way back in November I was out for a friendly jog with my best friends Amy and Erica when the "M-word" was somewhat casually mentioned. Amy said, "I'm kinda thinking about a winter Marathon". What? No way. Been there, done that...x4. I'm out.
But...I'm a Type-A. I mulled it over for a while, didn't mention it to anyone. Was I up for it? Were my knees up for it? Maaayyyybbbeeee....
It could't hurt to be a training partner right? All caveats in place, I decided to join my friends on weekend training runs - it was the right thing to do for my friend. No race registration, no commitments...just supporting my friend.
There was the 13 mile run; then the 15, the 17 and the 20.
Then the race registration deadline approached (Jaws music here). Ok, I registered...and got a hotel room. It was just registration, no commitment.
With a week to go, the sinus infection showed up. I took the meds and ate enough vitamin C tablets to turn orange. 1 Day to go...race expo and packet pickup. There were.....
4,200 Registered Half-Marathoners but just 600 Registered Full-Marathoners - 2 times around a 13.1 mile loop. Doing the math here....we were going to be the lone rangers on the back part of the course. Double Dang! Whose idea was this anyway?
Race Day - 2/26 (ironic that we had to run 26.2 on 2/26). Gorgeous blue sky, sun, 30 degrees.....30 MPH wind. LOL
If you're considering a winter marathon location, Hyannis isn't a bad pick. The course is nice....not flat as you may imagine, several rolling hills. The organizers had things under control which is key. The only thing that was extremely difficult was the ratio of half-to-full race participants. Most of the race volunteers tried to be encouraging shouting support toward the runners. Most didn't understand that there were a few of us lost souls running the full 26.2 miles. At the 12 mile marker we kept hearing, "You look great! Only 1 mile to go!". That killed me....I had 14 more to go! There were no bands, almost no crowd support. Smaller races can play mind-games....big races like NYC have bands, 100k cheering folks all the way through the course. It helps. This race....not so much. But, we're friends and...
We did it!
Chalk up another win for the 40-something gals! My 5th full marathon and OFFICIALLY my last one. No kidding this time...........now, how long can I wear the medal???
PS- Did you know that only 1% of the population ever runs a full marathon in their lifetime? And only 0.1% of those ever run a 2nd. About 500,000 people in the US will run a marathon this year. There are a record number of marathon particpants these days. If you've ever even considered it....give it a try. I think it is a pretty neat club to be a member of.
Thanks Amy!!
2000-Austin, TX 2001-Baystate, MA 2003-NYC 2005-Toronto, ON
2012-Hyannis, MA
Caroline DeVore
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Caroline DeVore ©2010-2013 Stowe Meadows ©2010-2013
