Ran the Skidaway Island Marathon in Savannah Georgia this morning. My overall 88
th marathon and 4
th State second time around. Though I doubt I will be aiming to complete the Fifty States again.
Road trip down to Savannah, with the Wednesday first day drive lasting 12 hours from Toronto to Knoxville, TN. From there the next day to Savannah taking just under 6 hours driving.
Kit pick up was at the local running store, so very low key. Spent the most rest of the day visiting a Civil War fort and a bit of shopping. Got a Savannah Bananas Baseball cap. Friday was a sightseeing day in Savannah, starting with a 100-minute Trolley tour to get my bearings on the historical downtown area. So afterwards I wandered the city, going to the City Market and Chippewa Sq. where the bench scene in Forrest Gump was shot. They moved one of the four benches made for the movie to the local historical museum. Also wandered on the waterfront and converted cotton warehouses which have been transformed into shops and restaurants. Lunch was biscuits with an egg, sausage gravy and two chicken tenders. After that, drove over to the Museum of the Mighty Eight Air Force, which the TV Series, Masters of the Air is based on. Probably did too much walking for the day before the marathon, but Savannah is such a beautiful city. General Sherman in the Civil War could not order the destruction of the city, like he did with Atlanta. Garmin said I put in over 12000 steps.
Race morning was early with a 4:50am wake up call for getting dressed, washroom, and my usual pre marathon breakfast of bagel with peanut butter, banana and Gatorade. Drive to the start at the Ocean Science Centre on the island was about a 20-minute drive from the hotel. Lots of going back and forth between choosing short sleeved or long sleeved shirt. Starting temps for the marathon start at 7am was a cool 50F, but it would slowly rise by mid day to the high 60Fs. Settled on a long sleeved ¼ zip top. Probably should have gone with the short sleeved top as it was a gorgeous sunny day and ended up rolling up the sleeves after the half marathon mark. Otherwise the weather was almost perfect.
Course was a through mostly a beautiful gated community with magnificent houses surrounded by marshland and a golf course backing on many of the houses. Route was a mix of residential roads, golf cart path and walking paths. Just a whiff of swamp gas at one point in the course. About a third was on cement sidewalk, which my old man joints usually does not like. Marathoners got to see an extra section of the island community as Half and Full marathons started together. Like usual at smaller races, it got a bit lonely when the halfers split off. 200 in the marathon and about 500 in the half. Another 200 in the 5K that started after the marathoner went off.
Decent run for me, as the weather this winter was mild and allowed me to get some good training runs in. Felt pretty strong till just after the half when the right hamstrings began to tighten up. Went through the half just under 1:57. Left hip started to act up in the final 8 miles. Finished in 4:09:47. 77/200 overall, 7/20 M55-64. A 9:32 mile pace.
Right after finishing and grabbing a bunch of post race glazed pralines, banana, cookies and mini chocolate bars, and got in the car and drove 5 ½ hours in my next designation near Dunedin, FL to catch Blue Jays Spring Training games over the next four days. Plus, some beach time too, of course.
