The Atlanta Marathon is my hometown marathon and this past Sunday, I ran it for the 8th time. They've made course changes over the years and since 2020, it's usually the last weekend in February or first weekend in March. It used to be right around St. Patrick's Day, but I actually like that it's a little earlier now as it is typically cooler weather.
I decided to sign up just a week out from the race as I had been recovering from Rocky Raccoon 100. I knew I wouldn't be crazy fast, but I felt healthy and wanted to go enjoy some type 2 fun. I decided to pay for will call to pick up my bib on race day and after scouring the info, found a parking deck to prepay for near the area they had listed for will call (more on this shortly).
Race morning, I got up at 4:30 to eat breakfast, take the dogs out and feed them, and avoid race day traffic. I hate mornings, but I hate being late even more.
I pulled into the lot right at 6am and the will call area was an elevator ride down from my parking space. Great! I went back to my car to stay warm and decided to leave around 6:40 to walk over to the start. I ate part of a Snickers and then headed towards the start.
But wait, why are huge crowds of people walking the opposite way?
Are there that many people who have will call?
Something seemed weird. I had only been walking about 90 seconds when I decided to stop and pull up the race website. Once I pulled up the maps, I realized the race no longer started/finished at Centennial Olympic Park as it had in all the other years I'd run it.
By stupid luck, I had chosen the parking deck closest to the start/finish. Which was the same place that will call was at. Which was where I just had been and somehow totally was oblivious to the fact this is where the race was starting.
Wow Carissa, really?
So that snafu out of the way, I now headed in the correct direction and towards the start corrals. I was supposed to be in wave A according to my seed time and ended up seeing Sarah as I walked into the corral. We chatted for a few minutes and then parted ways so she could meet up with her group.
I saw the 4 hour pacers in wave B so I decided to head back as my plan was to run with them. I was a few rows ahead of them, but figured it would be easy to tuck in behind them. But then the longer I was standing there, the more I realized that there likely would be a TON of runners aiming for that time.
So I decided I would just try to stay a little ahead of them and not get caught up in the craziness. I assumed that as the crowds thinned, it would be easy to just hop in to the 4 hour group later. I wasn't running this race for a PR or BQ, just wanted to go run a marathon. I know, I'm weird.
Well, maybe I'm the world's biggest sandbagger because I never saw the 4 hour group again.
The gun went off and I stayed very, very relaxed for the first few miles. I had ditched my throwaway in the start corral and got pretty cold standing around waiting. But once I got going, I was super comfortable in my gloves and arm sleeves. It was a little windy, but it was dry and the humidity was super low. What a treat!
Having no skin in the game makes racing so much more enjoyable. I was smiling at the interactions around me, watching my city lighten up in the daylight, and waving at spectators.
I passed a ton of the Kyle Pease groups in the early miles and am always moved by how many people have such big hearts to be a part of that community. They allow people with all kinds of disabilities join in on race day. I hope I can convince Adam to do it sometime.
The early miles of the course were familiar, despite the start being in a slightly different area. In all the years I've run it before, there are always groups in Little Five Points passing out beer and this year was no different. I made sure to grab a cup! Just a sip, nothing too crazy. But also a reminder to myself to just have fun.
The miles were ticking off and I realized based on my eat timer beeping every 30 minutes that I was faster than intended. But I running comfortably and decided to just stay with it. I took a gel every 30 minutes and for this race I alternated between Precision, Torq, and GU, 2 of each.
I saw Eli run-spectating with a few friends in the single digit miles and was so stoked I was looking that way when our paths crossed.
As the course wound through Piedmont Park, I decided to get rid of my gloves. But it was chilly enough that I ended up keeping my arm sleeves on the whole rest of the race!
I was all smiles through the first half of the race, getting high fives, pointing at funny signs, and thanking volunteers. The course splits between the full and the half somewhere in the 12th mile. There was sign pointing to the left for full marathoners, but volunteers started waving us to the right. I guess the sign was meant for the finish chute and they put it out early!
With the majority of runners in the field doing the half distance, it became noticeably quiet after the split. There were still people around me, but the vibe was very different from those about to finish their race.
One of my favorite sections is going through Clark Atlanta University as the spectators and volunteers are extra loud here. The water stop is always full of good energy!
The miles started to wear on me in the upper teens for many reasons. Mostly because that's what happens in a marathon, but also because I started pushing a bit more knowing that I probably had a little over an hour left. I rode the waves of feeling good and so-so as they came.
I welcomed the feeling of gambling with myself with nothing to lose. The easy choice was to just relax and jog it in. I had plenty of fun and the mission was to enjoy the day. But in that last hour, I wanted to see if I could squeeze it down. I knew I wasn't going to be setting any land speed records, but I did want to feel properly wrung out at the finish line.
The hills chewed me up and spit me out, but I hung on to a steady pace all through the final miles. I heard my eat timer go off at 3:30 and this was after I passed the mile 25 mark.
Sandbagger city.
I gave it a nice push in the finish chute and finished marathon #54 feeling both properly tired and happy.
3:37:05
I'm very happy with my 1:51:22 / 1:45:43 splits and feel like they very much reflect the effort I was giving.
The medals this year were really beautiful and featured dogwood details on both the ribbon and the medallion. It's not as though I wear them at any point after the race, but I do appreciate a good finisher medal!
Next up: Boston!
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