The Race: Steamtown Marathon, Scranton, PA, October 12, 2014
My training plan: Steamtown was the second marathon of a back-to-back marathon weekend, so my training plan was the same as the Hartford Marathon.
Weather: The weather was perfect. It was much colder than expected at the start, but warmed up nicely throughout the run. When we were packing on Thursday for the trip, it said the lows would be in the 40s. The lows ended up being mid-30s at the start, but warmed up to about 59 by the end of the race.
Who I ran with: I didn't start off running with anyone, but did pick up a few people along the way. I ran with a girl named Meredith for about 8 miles or so. Toward the end around mile 19, I passed Mike and Kelsey, and they followed close behind me (encouraging each other) almost to the finish line. They passed me at the last water stop and sped up so much that I couldn't catch them in the end.
The views along the course were breathtaking. The fall colors were spectacular. Coming down off the mountain toward miles 3-4, we were on a little country road, and you could see ahead of you for miles over the other mountains with all the trees showing their colors. On the trail portion, we ran next to a river, which was also beautiful, but I couldn't find a good place to take pictures.
The end of the race, as I mentioned, was uphill and a little bit of a teaser. As you were coming toward the hill, you could see a banner across the road, which looked like the finish line. But, alas, it was not, and we trudged on. Again, another banner across the road could be seen, but again it wasn't the finish line. People were yelling, "just three more blocks." And finally, at the top of the hill, the finish line banner could be seen. Relief!
Organization: The organization was fabulous! This might be one of the best organized races I have ever been to. The Assistant Race Director sent race update emails as the race approached, and daily the weeks before the race. The emails were both fun and informative. Anyone who actually read them would know almost anything they could want to know about the race.
Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the race expo, as it closed at 6pm and we were still driving from Hartford, so I don't know if it was good, bad, or otherwise. But they did offer race-day packet pickup at the high school where the starting line was and offered some race attire for sale at the finish line.
The aid stations were fully stocked and had plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. There was both Gatorade and water at each official water stop. They also had several medical stations set up with Vaseline, Tylenol, and Advil. They had porta potties at most of the aid stations, and clearly pointed them out in the race information packet. They did not offer any GU along the course, but that didn't matter at all, and you will see why when I talk about the fans below.
One recommendation I would pose for the future is to have a printed map of the course in the race information packet. The interactive map online was hard to use and even harder to transport with you as spectators try to go watch the runners.
Starting line: The starting line was at the Forest City Regional High School. The whole school seemed to get involved. The cheerleaders were there to greet the runners as they got off the bus. The marching band was there to play songs during the first mile of the race. There were students handing out ribbons and water bottles. There were plenty of porta potties lined up outside the school (labeled Men and Women). The school was open so the runners could stay warm until the starting cannon (yes, I said cannon) went off. The race was started by one of those old cannons from the Civil War, with men dressed in Civil War attire shooting it off.
Because the starting line and finish line were in different places, they offered bus service from the finish to the start. I didn't use the service, because my husband was there to drop me off at the start, but I saw the buses of runners coming to the school.
Fans: The fans were much better than I ever could have expected. When I looked at the map online, it looked like there would be several lonely spots along the course with no spectators. Now, don't get me wrong - it wasn't lined from start to finish with fans, but with the frequency and quality of the fans, you completely forgot about the lonely stretches. Every town that we ran through had crowds of people cheering us on and handing out goodies. There were probably more unofficial water stations than official stations. Along the course I ate a granola bar (the only thing provided at an official station), orange slices (both real and candy), gummy worms, and two bananas (cut in half). They also had people handing out ice pops, water, and beer at various places along the course.
Finish line: When you crossed the finish line the happy volunteers were there to congratulate you and give you your milar blanket, metal, and a bottle of water. You were then directed toward the food tent.
The finish line had the best post race food I've seen yet. They had the usual bananas and bagels, but they also had chicken soup, and every kind of pasta dish you could want (Mac n cheese, penne with marinara, shells and Alfredo). They also had pizza and Krispy Kreme donuts, granola bars, coffee and juice, cookies, yogurt, and probably other things I'm forgetting. The one improvement I would mention is that, other than the bottle of water, there were no other rehydrating liquids to take with you.
The finish area was right downtown Scranton in a green area. They had post race massages (although by the time we went there after we showered and ate, they were closing down). They also offered showers for the runners a few blocks away. The parking around the finish was easy to find and free.
Results: 3:44:56. Pretty good for a second marathon that weekend. It's actually my second best time ever.
How I felt: At the start, my calves were tight in the cold, and I was worried that I might have a bad race. I took the first mile as slowly as I could, with the crowd and steep downhill slope, and ended up running an 8:48 first mile - much faster than I had intended for a warm-up mile. The second mile, I decided to take advantage of an open porta potty, and still ran a 10 minute mile. The next two miles I stopped and took pictures so that I could slow my pace down (those miles were under 8:30, even with the picture stops). By then I was pretty warmed up, and decided to just go with the slopes. I felt better the second half than I did during the first half and decided to go all out and try to negative split the race. I felt pretty good the entire race until about the 26th mile when I could dig any deeper to catch up with the two people I had been running with, but I still finished strong.
Travel/tourism: We were in the Scranton area less than 24 hours, so it's hard to rate this area. We drove in from Hartford, arriving around 6:30pm on Saturday. We stayed at Nichols Village Hotel and Spa, in Clark's Summit. The hotel was nice, but wasn't anything special. Since we arrived after dark and left in the morning before the sun rose, I didn't get a very good look at the hotel and amenities.
When we arrived, it was dinner time. We asked the hotel where we could find a sports bar so Rob could watch the games. The hotel clerk suggested JJ Bridges, which is just a few doors down from the hotel. The bar was packed as the Penn State game had just started. We managed to get a table and invited another couple to join us, since they weren't going to get a table otherwise, and ours was big enough for four people. Rob had two of the local beers, and I had the parmigiana chicken with a baked potato. The bar had a local group playing live music that started a little while after we sat down. The food was good, the band was better, and the company was even better. The people of Scranton seem like great people.
For lunch after the race, someone suggested Pizza by Pappas. They said anytime they go to downtown Scranton they have to stop there. It was a nice little pizza joint with 10 inch personal pizzas. We each had our own, and they were quite delicious. The outside of the crust was a little crisper than I'm used to, but still good.
After the pizza, we headed back to Hartford. One more state down, and now I finally have an answer to the question I always get asked: "What was your favorite marathon so far?" Definitely Steamtown!
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