Marathon #33 (state #21): Hoover Dam Marathon, Boulder City, NV

4:14 finish, 50/173 place overall.  Challenging but very scenic course in the mountains alongside Lake Mead, briefly overlooking Hoover Dam. Double out-and-backs are generally not my favorite, but the views here made up for it. Perfect running weather - cloudy and cool. Took the hills too fast early on and paid for it later with significant slowdown, but not disappointed with time considering difficulty of the course.

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Marathon #32 (state #20): Manchester City Marathon, NH

4:07 finish, 392/705 place overall. This was a last minute sign-up due to Hurricane Sandy. I was registered for NYC the same day, but in the aftermath of the storm, there was much uncertainty about whether the race would happen. Despite repeated media statements that the race would go on, I became skeptical due to increasing protests coming from people who claimed the marathon would be insensitive to the victims or would take critical city services away from the relief effort. Even if the race were to happen, I wanted no part in an event with so much negativity surrounding it, so I signed up for Manchester as an alternative. I would be able to check off another state and have a good excuse to travel somewhere with electricity that didn't have debris all over the streets. The course itself was unremarkable, with numerous hills and not much in the way of scenery, but with NYC ultimately being canceled (the announcement came as I was driving up), it ended up working out.

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Marathon #31 (state #19): Amica Marathon, Newport, RI

4:10 finish, 383/1008 place overall. Nice, scenic and well-organized course past many historic mansions of Newport, RI.  Coastal location made for great scenery, but it also made the wind more of a factor. Later miles were less scenic - and more hilly - than the early portion along the shore, but even with the hills and wind it was a nice bounce back from Utah a month earlier.

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Marathon #30 (state #18): Top of Utah Marathon, Logan, UT

4:35 finish, 935/1545 place overall. What a difference two months make. Broke my toe in early August, stupidly stubbing it on a chair in the middle of the night. Had to skip planned August marathon in ID, and by September had gotten back to running but had lost about a month's worth of training. With registration and flight already paid for for, I wasn't about to lose a second marathon to a petty injury, even if I had to walk. First half was very scenic and all downhill, albeit at high altitude, and I managed a respectable pace despite lost fitness. Second half was flatter and warmer, and injury caught up with me - forcing me down to a very slow jog. While this was one of my slowest times (almost an hour off PR just two months ago), it was nice to have bounced back from the injury.

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Marathon #29 (state #17): Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon, North Bend, WA

3:41 finish (PR), 82/351 place overall. Perfect running conditions - slight consistent downhill course along a rail-trail, cool and drizzly conditions typical for Pacific NW, and great views of the western slopes of the Cascades. Despite marathon three weeks earlier, this was a four-minute personal best, beating Charlottesville 15 months earlier. Sub-four streak is now at nine.

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Marathon #28 (state #16): Maritime Marathon, Manitowoc, WI

3:50 finish, 57/204 place overall. Another last-minute registration. Seven week gap between marathons leads me to look for a race to insert in between. Four days before race, registration still open, and airfare surprisingly still reasonable...why not? For an inaugural race, very impressive organization and support, not to mention nice scenery on a flat course along the shores of Lake Michigan. Sub-four streak continues - now eight in a row.

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Marathon #27 (state #15): Memorial Day Marathon, Lenox, MA

3:59 finish, 25/139 place overall, 3/17 age group place. Warm, humid, and hilly race through the Berkshires of western MA. Scenic and well-organized course, however, and conditions did not prevent me from breaking four hours once again - this time by a mere seven seconds.

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Marathon #26 (state #14): North Shore Marathon, Haleiwa, HI

3:55 finish, 86/412 place overall. Other than the fact that the RD changed the race date to a week later after I had already registered and booked my flight (forcing me to completely rearrange travel plans, pay extra fees, and take an unplanned day off work), this ended up being a good day and a good race. Very scenic course along north shore of Oahu - mountains on one side and crashing ocean waves on the other. Very flat, but also very warm and humid, as to be expected in HI. Early start made it more tolerable, but sun still got to me in later miles - making me very happy with sub-four finish.

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Marathon #25 (state #13): Lower Potomac River Marathon, Piney Point, MD

3:48 finish, 72/178 place overall. Another relatively late sign-up; didn't get MD in February, and this one fit schedule nicely with three week gap before and five weeks after. Ended up being a nice, low-key race in rural southern MD with some rolling hills, but nothing crazy. Perfect weather - cold at start, but ended up great for running. Second best time so far, not counting DE which was a few seconds faster on paper but wouldn't have been if course was measured correctly.

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Marathon #24 (state #12): Lost Dutchman Marathon, Apache Junction, AZ

3:56 finish, 158/527 overall. Originally signed up for a MD Marathon but thought it would be canceled due a snowstorm (which it ended up not being), so signed up for this last minute. Perfect weather, great desert scenery about an hour east of Phoenix. Went out very fast (would have been PR if I maintained pace) but slowed down considerably after mile 20. Overall a good day though.

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