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.

Garmin map and performance details

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.

Garmin map and performance details

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.

Garmin map and performance details

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.

Garmin map and performance details

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.

Garmin map and performance details