Anybody else planning to try the whole or half-marathon? I just finished my last 20 miler this weekend without any major injuries (other than my nagging left shin splint), and I'm looking forward to the taper.
If anyone has run the course before, I'd be interested to know what you thought about it.
I have run the half twice and the full once. I am planning on running the half again this year. The marathon course is pretty flat, but as you have probably figured out, running a marathon is as much mental as it is physical. For the first half of the race you are in large groups of people. When the race splits and you start the second half, it really thins out a lot. You kind of get a lonely feeling (as if to say, do I really have 13 miles to go?). The worst part for me was the home stretch coming back down N. Parkway. That is the last 6 miles or so and it broke me. I finished but was not happy with my time. I think if you go in with a positive outlook and can keep that outlook, then you will do just fine. Good Luck!
Wes Mantooth Wrote:I have run the half twice and the full once. I am planning on running the half again this year. The marathon course is pretty flat, but as you have probably figured out, running a marathon is as much mental as it is physical. For the first half of the race you are in large groups of people. When the race splits and you start the second half, it really thins out a lot. You kind of get a lonely feeling (as if to say, do I really have 13 miles to go?). The worst part for me was the home stretch coming back down N. Parkway. That is the last 6 miles or so and it broke me. I finished but was not happy with my time. I think if you go in with a positive outlook and can keep that outlook, then you will do just fine. Good Luck!
Thanks! I'd had a similar experience when I ran St. Louis: I'm hoping that the heat (and my running a first half-split that was probably too fast) had a lot to do with it.
I trained for St. Jude's last year, but the shin splint got so bad that I had to stop running for two months. My wife and I had already gotten a room downtown, so we went anyway and watched the first part of the race as they ran through Beale, and then the finish at the stadium. (We also had tickets for the Tigers and Grizzlies, so it worked out pretty well anyway.) The downtown portion of the marathon really looked like a lot of fun, but I can see how trudging down N. Parkway on those last six could be a bear.