The Race: Hartford Marathon, Hartford, CT, October 11, 2014
My training plan: Because I knew I was going to be running back-to-back days, I started in mid-August running back-to-back long runs on weekends. I did two 20 milers followed by 15 milers and a 20 miler followed by a 13 miler before race weekend. I also started running consecutive weekdays: Tuesday through Thursday. The mid-week runs ranged from 6-8 miles in length each day. I took Mondays completely off and cross trained on Fridays.
Weather: The weather was cold and rainy. It started in the upper 40s with a drizzly rain. It probably got into the lower 50s at some point, but it felt like it was getting colder as the race went on. There was also a light wind to factor in. At the end, it was so cold that I didn't even stretch before we headed to the car.
Who I ran with: I ran with the 4:45 pace group, headed by a guy named Kim and a girl named Jeanne. There were also several other people who stayed with us for some or all of the way: Susan, Megan, Michelle, Cathy, and some others who I didn't catch their names. From about mile 15 to 19, Rob jumped in and ran with me for about five miles.
The Course: The course was a rolling hills,
out-and-back course, for the most part. The beginning takes you around downtown several ways, and then goes out on a long, out-and-back leg from mile 10 to mile 17 and back into town to the end. There were plenty of places for spectators to stop and cheer for their runners. It also went by some very pretty views (or they would have been pretty if the rain and clouds weren't around), and ended through the arch. Very picturesque.
There was one part where we ran along what appeared to be a park bike path. It was probably a little too early in the course (mile 6 or so), because it was pretty crowded with no room to pass other runners. But the parks were pretty. There were several places where we ran along a river.
While there was some fall foliage out, there was also a lot of green left. I'm not sure if this is typical, or if it was just because of strange weather this year. For better colors, I would suggest moving the race back a weekend.
Organization: The organization was good, but there are several suggestions I would make to improve.
I got to meet Kathrine Switzer (the first woman to have an official number in the Boston marathon). This was back when Boston didn't allow women to compete, but she registered as K Switzer. They didn't know she was a woman, so they accepted her application. When the race director saw a woman with a number running, he tried to pull her off the course, but her boyfriend knocked him down, and they kept running. She has started a movement for women called 261 Fearless (261 was her race number in Boston) and had a booth at the expo.
I loved that the Hartford Marathon offered pace teams, and that they had two pacers for each group (just in case one had to stop at the bathroom or something). They had a wide variety of pace options (4:40, 4:45, 5:00, 5:10 all around the pace I was looking for, and obviously more ahead and behind me).
There were bands and DJs along the course to motivate you along the way. They weren't Rock n Roll marathon quality, but they were frequent and effective, even in the cold, rainy weather.
They utilized cutting edge technology. They had an app that gave you information about the race, parking, maps, expo, etc. They also had athlete tracking where you can sign up to have your splits posted on Facebook (or another social media site) and texted to up to three phones. They had real-time results at the finish line where you could look up your time as soon as you got to the post race expo. They also sent some race update emails, but they were mostly about the sponsors of the race and didn't have much relevant race information.
The hardcopy race information guide had a lot of cool articles to read about some of the runners and how the race was organized. It did not have enough information on parking. In fact, I don't think it even mentioned parking at all. We had to go to the app to find a map of where you can park, which is hard to look at on a phone. It also didn't talk about where GU/candy/food was located on the course, which is critical to plan race strategy. The maps of the course weren't drawn to scale, so it was hard to gauge how far some of the roads were before you made a turn.
The water stops could have used more volunteers. There were several where only one or two people had cups in their hands, or they were frantically filling cups in order to have some to hand out. The volunteers that were there were very nice and supportive; they just needed more help.
The course had a 6-hour limit, and they were ultra strict about it. While I made it in well below the time, other people in the 50 States Marathon Club were commenting about getting pushed onto the sidewalk when they had only been running 5 hours and 45 minutes. When they say 6 hours, apparently Hartford means 6 hours from when the gun goes off, not from when you cross the start line (which most other races mean).
The course had a 6-hour limit, and they were ultra strict about it. While I made it in well below the time, other people in the 50 States Marathon Club were commenting about getting pushed onto the sidewalk when they had only been running 5 hours and 45 minutes. When they say 6 hours, apparently Hartford means 6 hours from when the gun goes off, not from when you cross the start line (which most other races mean).
One of the semi-good things about this race (and necessary since there is NO race day packet pickup), is for a small fee (I think it was $15) they will mail your bib and shirt to you. Since I was coming from out of town, and I never know if my flight will have issues, I opted for a mailed packet. It arrived in plenty of time before we had to fly up there, and I got to leave the shirt at home instead of cramming it into my suitcase after the race.
Starting line: There was plenty of close, free parking at the starting line. Once we found them (they desperately need to put up more signage), there were plenty of porta potties, in three different places, too. I think they had a starting line map and a finish line map in the race information packet, but we didn't have it with us when we were looking for the porta potties, and they weren't in an obvious location. They could have used more signage for gear check and pacers too. I heard a guy ask a police officer about gear check, and the officer had no idea where to send him.
They did not have any corrals, which I don't necessarily think are needed. I think they had a self seeded area, but I don't remember seeing the signs. The large pacer signs were helpful but they didn't necessarily line up in order either. By the time the pace groups left their meeting area to head to the start, the starting line was crowded, and it was hard for them to get in line with others already there with that pace in mind.
Despite the rain, they had a huge TV or projection screen where they were projecting the crowds and other information to the runners. That is the first time I have seen something like that at any race (again, cutting edge technology).
Fans: My personal favorite fan was my sweet husband, Rob. He came to cheer me on, and I saw him five times along the course. There were several spots along the course that were easy for fans to get to, so there were a lot of fans scattered along the course. There were definitely places with no fans, but there were enough fans to get you through. This is especially surprising due to the weather. But the towns and neighborhoods got into it, and even tailgated in some places to watch the race.
Finish line: At the finish line they had a post race expo. They had a lot of the vendors from the pre-race expo also attend the post race expo, which was nice, although it was too cold to stop to look at them. The food tent had a lot of good items, and you had to have a ticket to get in, which limited the number of non-runners who could take the runners' food. They started out by handing you a plate so you could put your stuff on it. They had granola bars, bagels, bananas and orange slices, apple cobbler, some kind of protein shake, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I hear they had soup, but by the time the 4:45ers got there, it was gone (plan for more next year so all runner get some!)
How I felt: During the race, running slow is tough. It wears you out because you're running so much longer than you're used to. I was getting pretty tired around the 25 mile mark, but I pressed on with the group to finish in the paced time. We ran pretty even 10:45 minute miles throughout. Running slow is tougher on your body while you're running the race, but easier/quicker to recover from.
Travel/tourism: We flew into Bradley International Airport in Hartford. The airport is small (about 22 gates), but services most of the major cities. It is about 30 minutes away from downtown.
We rented a small SUV from the Budget at the airport (the SUV was actually cheaper than an economy car). They have several car rental places to choose from (Avis, National, Dollar, Hertz, Budget) that are all a shuttle ride away from the airport.
I traded my timeshare points so we could have a hotel for this race and cut down on some of the expense. We stayed at the Extended Stay America in Farmington. There wasn't anything special or amazing about this hotel, but it gave us what we needed. It is one of those hotels that caters to long-term guests and only services the room once per week, so we had to ask for additional towels and washcloths if we wanted fresh ones. It had a full kitchen, which was helpful to store my ice packs in the freezer. The fitness room was pretty small (one of each cardio machine). They had coin laundry facilities for those who needed it. They did allow pets, although we didn't bring Nacho with us. It is located right off the interstate, about 20 minutes from the starting line and downtown.
IHOP is my traditional pre-race dinner place, and CT was no different. We found an IHOP in Newington, CT. I'm pretty sure everyone knows how IHOP is, and this one was about the same as all the rest.
After the marathon, we showered and hit the road to Scranton. On the way out, we stopped at Subway and Tiramisu Italian restaurant in Waterbury, CT. I had penne with meatballs. The meatballs were good, but the marinara sauce wasn't my favorite.
We returned to Hartford from Scranton late on Sunday night. It was dinner time, so we went to a local restaurant and bar called J Timothy's Tavern in Plainville, CT for a celebration dinner. I had some delicious New England clam chowder and chicken and waffles for dinner. Rob had some wings with sweet red chili sauce. The chicken and waffles were good, but weren't anything to write home about. Rob said the wings were good, but the sauce really burned his mouth (I guess that's what it's designed to do). We also had a Rasberry bliss martini (me) and a local beer called Olde Burnside Ten Penny Scottish Ale (Rob).
Downtown Hartford was a typical mid-sized New England city with some older buildings mixed with newer buildings. There seemed to be enough to do to keep you busy (provided it wasn't a holiday like Columbus Day). They had the Science Center, art museum, cultural center, capital building, parks, etc. We stopped at the Bushnell Park and drove around town on Monday before departing for the airport. Overall great visit to Connecticut, and one more state checked off the list.
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