Bob Mann: 2017 Marshall University Marathon

Sun Nov 5, 2017

On Sun Nov 5 2017, I ran the Marshall University Marathon in Huntington WV. West Virginia would become my 40th state in my 50 state quest. Huntington is in a somewhat inconvenient location to get to from New Jersey. About 550 mile from my home, it's almost too far to drive, but almost too close to fly. Also, there aren't any large airports in the immediate vicinity. However, I was able to find a nice cheap flight from Newark to Cincinnati. It was still about a 150 mile drive from there to Huntington, but that was much easier than attempting 550 miles each way.

I arrived in Cincinnati late Saturday morning. Or, rather, I arrived at the Cincinnati airport, which is actually in Kentucky. I drove towards the city and parked near a bridge on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. This is where I started my usual day-before-marathon warmup run. And since I get a kick out of crossing state lines on foot, I ran over one bridge into Ohio and over another one back to Kentucky, logging about 2.5 miles in all. I then grabbed a quick bite for lunch, and then got back in the car and headed east thru Kentucky towards West Virginia.

I arrived in Huntington in the late afternoon. I picked up my race packet from the expo and checked into my hotel and then found a place for some dinner. And of course I called it an early night in order to get a good night's sleep. Also of help was the fact that this night was the end of Daylight Savings Time, which gave me an extra hour of sleep. So I was well-rested when I woke up at 5:00am Sunday morning for the race.

The marathon began at 7:00am in front of the Marshall University football stadium. The finish line of the race was on the field inside the stadium. This would be the second time I finished a marathon inside a football stadium. The fist one was at Notre Dame in 2010. The weather started out very nice for a marathon. It was cool and cloudy, which seemed ideal.

The course was two loops. We started out by running about a mile east of the stadium, then turning back towards campus and continuing to the west side of town. Eventually the route turned south for a short while, then back east through a small park along a bike trail back towards campus.

I kept a nice pace between 9:20 and 9:30 per mile for most of the first 8 miles or so. For some reason, Mile 2 was a little faster (9:08). Mile 6 was a little slower because there was a small but relatively steep hill in that mile that I chose to walk up. Walking up the hills in San Francisco even early in the race served me well, so I continued that strategy here.

Eventually, the sun came out. It didn't get warm, but I could start to feel the effects of the sun. As I have noted in numerous marathons, I often get worn down in the bright sun, even on cool days. This day was no different.

I passed the halfway point of the marathon in about 2:06, which is very comparable to most recent marathons. As always, I would be doing a lot more walking in the second half. Mile 12 was my first mile slower than 10 minutes. Mile 16 was my last mile faster than 10 minutes; Mile 18 was my last mile faster than 11 minutes; Mile 20 was my last mile faster than 12 minutes. I was definitely dragging over the last half dozen miles or so, and spent as much time walking as running. Still, I slowly made my way back to campus and the stadium.

As we ran on to campus on the last loop, we were handed a flower that we were then able to place at the memorial fountain honoring the victims of the 1970 plane crash involving the Marshall football team as we ran by. Eventually we made it to the stadium. As we entered the stadium, each runner was handed a football which we were able to carry the last 100 yards to the finish line. (The football was a souvenir for us to keep). I crossed the finish line with a time of 4:36:46. This was about 3 minutes faster than my time in San Francisco. But this was a much easier course, so I would not consider it a great accomplishment. Nonetheless, I finished the race and completed state #40, so I am pleased.

Overall, the marathon was fine. Other than a couple views of Ohio across the river and the few miles along the bike path in the park, there wasn't very much to look at. The rest of the scenery was not very interesting or attractive. Crowd support was sporadic. The race direction was efficient and the aid stations were well maintained. So it was not the most thrilling race, but it certainly got the job done for the state of West Virginia.

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.