my smallest marathon

A local guy wanted to put on a marathon and have it be a real-deal, certified BQ course, but without all the trappings of having to host a big race. So he did.

This past weekend I was one of five starters/finishers in the (official) Green River Marathon. Yep... five. The course started where the pavement ends on Green River Road here in Greenfield, MA then runs north along the river into Vermont. Around mile 11 in the village of Green River you pass through the covered bridge and then keep going north. At the junction with Hinesburg Rd you go left and run about a mile to the start of the pavement by the Deer Park Rd bridge near the Halifax town line (mile 14). Then you reverse course and head back to about 2 miles north of the start. It's very gradual uphill most of the way out and the reverse on the way back, with easy rolling hills the whole way. There were no water stations so you needed to either plan ahead or have a support person helping you out (I'm VERY lucky to have Jen).

I didn't train for it specifically, and only agreed to run it about a week beforehand. I had the bare minimum of training, but also the experience of twelve previous marathons and a handful of ultras under my belt. And the weather was PERFECT for running. The five of us lined up at 6:30 a.m. and set out in fairly brisk temperatures given the weather lately (NOT complaining; though it did mean I needed to stop and take off my windpants and extra shirt about 2 miles in, which equals a few minutes of lost time).

ready to go (I look like I had just woken up;
in fairness, though, I had just woken up)

Imagining that I might drop out around mile 20 or so, I held myself to 9-ish minute miles, hoping to get a good long training run out of it. Well. I just kept feeling good. By the time I got back to the covered bridge on the return (~ mile 17?) I had a pretty good notion that I'd be able to finish, maybe even under 4 hours. I did slow down some after mile 20, not surprisingly, but not a lot. No cramps (took 4 salt tabs overall), and no real wall to speak of. To my great pleasure, I crossed the finish line in 3:57:53.

~mile 3

mile 10

through the bridge

back through the bridge

across the finishing line

Now, several days later, I'm happy to say that it's been one of the easiest, quickest marathon recoveries I've ever had. I took two full days off, as everyone recommends. Then I biked easy for 15 miles the third day, Then the fourth day off. Then today I did 4 miles at 8:30 pace. I tried to go slower but it really didn't seem necessary. That's a great feeling just 5 days after a marathon! There've been some where I was still having trouble with STAIRS on the fifth day after. I am probably gonna lose a toenail, though.

So. Lucky thirteen, I guess. I decided to sign up for the marathon at the Free to Run Trail Races over in Pittsfield State Forest in a week and a half. Very much looking forward to that.