Bob Mann: 2017 Albany Marathon

Sat Mar 4, 2017

On Sat Mar 4 2017, I ran the Snickers Marathon in Albany, GA. It had been about five months since my last marathon in Maine. I had been hoping that I would use that time to really train well. My last few marathons had been a real slog, and I was finding it increasingly difficult and painful to creep through 26.2 miles. I wasn't necessarily looking to get back under four hours, although that would certainly be nice. It has been more than 5 years since my last marathon under four hours, and I'm obviously I'm more than 5 years older. I'm sure I could do it if I REALLY trained well, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. For now, I would just have liked to get to the point where I could run a marathon without feeling terrible over the last few miles.

Unfortunately, my training was still not very good. Life just seems to continually get in the way. I didn't have a single calendar month where I logged 100 training miles (although I came very close in February with 99.7). I figured this was enough to get me through the marathon, but that it would be another slow and painful one. Perhaps another new PW. Oh well, if that happened, so be it.

I flew into Atlanta on Friday morning. Albany is a good distance away, but I don't mind driving. In fact, I quite enjoy driving around parts of the country that are new to me. I had plenty of time on Friday, so I took my time. My route southward took me through Columbus GA. I got there around lunchtime. I wanted to get in a short warmup run that day, as I usually do on the day before a marathon, and I figured this was as good a place as any to do it. I also chose Columbus because it is on the border of Alabama. And for some reason, I get a kick out of crossing state lines during my runs. I had previously done this on warmup runs before my marathons in Kansas and Nebraska. So I parked in Columbus, found a route that took me over the Chattahoochee River to Phenix City, Alabama and back. After changing back out of my running gear, I found a place to have lunch in Columbus, and then I continued on my way down to Albany.

After getting my race packet from the expo and checking into my hotel, the rest of Friday was uneventful. I woke up Saturday morning and got ready for the race. My hotel was a couple miles from the start/finish line, but parking was plentiful, and it was very easy to get there. It was a cool morning, but the sky was completely clear. This had me worried, since I often perform poorly in sunny conditions, even when the temps aren't too hot. Early in the morning, the temp was in the upper 30s, but it would get into the 60s later in the day. I was worried that it might be warm enough to combine with the sunshine to really wear me down. Nothing I could do about that.

Once the race began, I was feeling pretty good. I suppose that's always a good sign. I ran the first mile in 9:38, which is right about the pace that I felt I should be going at this stage. Lately it seems like I start out a bit too fast, but this one was right on target. As always, I knew I would slow down eventually. With my crummy level of training, I don't delude myself into thinking I can do a negative split. I just wanted to run as much as I could before I would inevitably start walking a lot.

My pace stayed rather consistent through the first half of the race. From Mile 1 thru Mile 12, my fastest mile was 9:23 (Mile 3) and my slowest was 9:44 (Mile 2). Without meaning to, I fell in with the 4:15 pace group, and this probably helped keep my pace consistent. 4:15 was faster than I expected to finish the race, but it seemed about right for the first half, before I started walking a lot. The group seemed to actually be moving a bit faster they needed to be, but I was feeling good, so I stuck with them.

The largest hill of the race was in the 13th mile, so I used this as an excuse to walk for the first time. This resulted in a mile split of 10:16, my first mile over 10 minutes, and it caused me to fall behind the pace group. That was fine, since I didn't plan on sticking with them anyway. I passed the halfway point at just about 2:07, which is very close to what I had done in my last few marathons. The second half was bound to bit quite a bit slower.

I resumed running, and kept the 4:15 pace group in sight ahead of me for a few more miles. My next mile over 10 minutes was Mile 17 (10:04). Mile 18 was back under 10 (9:49), but that was it. Every mile from here on was going to include a bit of walking.

So far, this was progressing very similarly to the marathon in Maine. However, the wheels never completely came off in Georgia, like they did in Maine. Yes, I was tired, and yes I was walking a bit. But I actually still felt okay. While each mile took over 10 minutes, some weren't over by much. Mile 22 included another hill, which I walked, which led to a slow mile (11:30). But for the most part, I was moving much better than I had expected. Mile 25 was my slowest of the day (12:13). I had been slower than that by Mile 20 in Maine. I continued on, and finish in 4:26:00.

While I would never call that speedy, I am really quite pleased with it. It turned out to be my fastest marathon in more than two years (since my 4:24 in South Carolina). And most importantly, I felt good all the way through. Frankly, I'm not sure how it happened. As I've said, my training wasn't very good, and this amount of sunshine normally wears me down. The signs were pointing towards a much slower race, so I am very happy that it was as fast as it was. This race has given me renewed hope that I can complete the remaining 50 states without being miserable every time.

The race course itself was okay. Most of the race was run on roads that were still open to cars. Orange cones were set out to indicate a lane for runners. I'm not a big fan of running with traffic right next to me, but there were no issues with the traffic. The course made a ton of turns, but with a zillion orange cones marking the route, there was no way to get lost. Plus, cops were placed at the larger intersections to halt traffic, and volunteers were placed elsewhere, so the course was easy to follow. Parts of the course were quite scenic; others not so much. The city of Albany had been somewhat devastated by a tornado back in January, and apparently there was some concern for some time as to whether the marathon could still go on. But it did go on, and I noticed no devastation around town. There were long stretches without spectators, but the spectators who were out there were very supportive. I had heard that Albany takes the race very seriously, because there really aren't many other events throughout the year that will draw people from around the country to town. And I did notice that the locals seemed to take a lot of pride in the event, which was a nice touch.

My flight out of Atlanta wasn't until Sunday evening. So I plenty of time to kill. I checked out of my hotel, hit a Waffle House for breakfast, then slowly made my way back towards the airport. I spent most of my time off the interstate, instead taking state roads northward. I went out of my way to drive to Athens, where I checked out Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia, and had lunch nearby. After that, I briefly went to Stone Mountain to do something touristy.

Overall, I had an enjoyable, albeit low-key, weekend. Doing as well as I did (and not feeling miserable) certain helped give me a good impression of Albany. It might not have been the greatest race in the world, but it definitely was worthwhile for checking Georgia off my list.

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.