Marathon #47 (state #34): Rocket City Marathon, Huntsville, AL

3:57 finish, 457/1346 place overall. Wouldn't ask for anything more from a marathon in Alabama. The area is hilly, but course is routed to avoid the hills and keep it pretty flat. Enthusiastic and friendly local support, combined with nearly perfect running weather, made for a great day. Best time since PR in July 2012.

Race map and details

Marathon #46 (state #33): Route 66 Marathon, Tulsa, OK

4:06 finish, 457/2021 place overall. Easily the coldest marathon I've run so far - first time below freezing and first marathon wearing long pants, hat, and gloves. Unusual for OK in November, but it motivated me to go out fast in an effort to warm up. Ended up being too fast, and despite having a sub-four pace going at mile 20, I crashed and burned for the last six miles. Course was hillier than many would expect for OK, but I attribute the slowdown more to running too fast too early. One minute improvement over NYC earlier in the month, but nothing to brag about.

Race map and details

Marathon #45: New York City Marathon, NY

4:07 finish, 18809/50062 place overall. Far from my best day, and 10 minutes off best NYC time. Weather was good - nice and cool - and training was sufficient as usual - but just felt sluggish in later miles and couldn't push the pace enough to have a shot at four. Much more crowded than ever this year - record numbers for NYC - making it hard to get into a steady groove until Manhattan. Once it opened up a little, I had very little left and slogged my way to a mediocre finish.

Race map and details

Marathon #44 (state #32): Twin Cities Marathon, MN

3:57 finish, 3010/8847 place overall. Twin Cities, along with Chicago, could be considered the Midwest's version of the NYC Marathon. Consistent enthusiastic crowd support for the entire course from Minneapolis to St. Paul. Pleasant fall scenery and great running weather (cool with clouds and a little light rain) made for a great day. Best finish time since PR in July 2012.

Race map and details

Marathon #43 (state #31): Mesa Falls Marathon, ID

4:06 finish, 51/142 place overall. This was the ID race I had to skip last year due to injury, and this year it ended up being two weeks after Crater Lake, which I had already planned. As I learned from the NYC-Philly combo in 2010, two-week gaps are not ideal for me but can be done without major detriment, so I signed up. Course was at high altitude, but mostly downhill, beginning in a national forest near Yellowstone and finishing in the small town of Ashton. Maintained sub-four pace for first two-thirds of race, but the two-week gap caught up with me in the later miles as I resorted to a painfully slow jog. Ironically my time was almost 20 minutes faster than two weeks earlier, but that is due to this course being significantly easier than Crater Lake.

Race map and details

Marathon #42 (state #30): Crater Lake Marathon, OR

4:25 finish, 29/69 place overall. Probably the most scenic marathon I've ever run, with Catalina as a close second. Even with the constant hills and elevations ranging from 6,000-8,000 feet, the nearly constant views of the Cascades and Crater Lake made the challenge more than worthwhile. The only downside, if there was one, was that the organizers decided to add an out-and-back for the last four miles that went up and down an extremely steep trail - steeper than anything we had run earlier in the already very hilly course. With that "insult to injury" aside, this will be a race to remember with very friendly support and top notch scenery.

Race map and details

Marathon #41 (state #29): Missoula Marathon, MT

3:58 finish, 318/1098 place overall. Great race in every way. For a small city in Montana, the organization and support could not be topped. Relatively flat course with nice scenery - varying from farmland to forest to residential neighborhoods - finishing in downtown Missoula. Broke four hours once again, but still haven't done so by more than two minutes since my PR one year ago.

Race map and details

Marathon #40 (state #28): Bay of Fundy Marathon, Lubec, ME

4:10 finish, 132/448 place overall. Unique, inaugural event in a very remote location on the Maine-New Brunswick border. Race begins in Lubec, ME - at the easternmost point of U.S. - and crosses into Campobello Island, NB around Mile 6. Very hilly through the Canadian portion of the course before crossing back into Lubec for the finish. Perfect running weather, but relentless hills made for less than ideal finish time. Cool experience running across international border with amazing local support from both countries and even from border patrol agents. Passport and customs procedures taken care of pre-race, so no hang ups on race day running over the border.

Race map and details

Marathon #39 (state #27): Wyoming Marathon, Laramie, WY

4:35 finish, 24/74 place overall. Smallest and most remote marathon I've ever done - start/finish is literally at an interstate highway rest stop. Hills and high altitude - entire course above 8,000 feet - makes this a very challenging race, but the remote mountain scenery makes up for it.

Race map and details

Marathon #38 (state #26): Shiprock Marathon, NM

4:04 finish, 65/176 place overall. First "normal" high-altitude road marathon (Pikes Peak is in a whole different league, and Top of Utah was marred by injury so can't be a point of comparison), and the effects were noticeable but not severe. Nice high desert scenery, starting at NM-AZ border, running past Shiprock rock formation and finishing near "downtown" Shiprock - entire course on Navajo Reservation. Navajos provided great enthusiastic support despite very remote location. Good time overall.

Race map and details

Marathon #37 (state #25): Eisenhower Marathon, Abilene, KS

4:03 finish, 64/177 place overall.  Couldn't ask for much more from a marathon in Kansas.  Another double out-and-back, but it kept the scenery changing from small town to parkland to rolling farmland and then back again.  Not quite as flat as expected, but still an okay time.

Race map and details

Marathon #36 (state #24): Ocean Drive Marathon, Cape May, NJ

3:58 finish, 197/537 place overall. Another last-minute sign-up. Starting to realize that I can't have gaps of two months or more without feeling the urge to schedule another marathon in between. Outside of running through scenic Cape May and along the Wildwood boardwalk, most of course was residential and nothing spectacular. Still, the perfectly flat course and good weather helped me break four hours for only the second time since last July. Only local state left is CT, which I am saving for my 50th.

Race map and details

Marathon #35 (state #23): Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon, LA

4:07 finish, 891/2610 place overall. Great course, good organization, and nice weather should have made for a good day, but with my body acclimated to cold weather running, the warm sun and lack of shade got to me late. Still a nice race and a good chance to see the many bright sides of New Orleans despite its recent challenges.

Race map and details

Marathon #34 (state #22): Charleston Marathon, SC

3:58 finish, 230/820 place overall. Some good things about this race - nice mild weather but not too warm, good scenery in early miles through historic downtown Charleston, and flat course made for my best time (and first sub-four) since toe injury over the summer. If only the later miles were not so dull - running through boring industrial areas in an otherwise beautiful city - this would have been a great race overall.

Race map and details