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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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