Hatfield McCoy Marathon (Weat Virginia)

On Friday, 13 Jun, Katharine and I got in the car and made our way to Williamson, WV, a short 8-9 hour drive from the DC metro area. Along the way, we stopped at what appeared to be the only normal restaurant in Covington, VA, Cucci's. After a "delicious" meal and some more driving; we arrived at our B&B shortly after midnight. After a short nap, I was up at 5:45 and out the door at 6:15 to catch the shuttle van over to the starting area. I can say that I've never started a race in the parking lot of a grocery store but this is a small race in a small town and you have to use what places are available to you. I got to the race start and was all decked out and ready to go by 6:44. I also talked with Chuck Engle for a few seconds before the race and he gave me a few "pointers" about the course and the hill around mile 8 and then how it was all pretty good from there on out.

At 6:52, I felt a huge rumbling in my gut and I looked at the port-a-potty and thought there is no way I can get in there and make the start of the race so I darted into Food City and made my way to the bathroom where there was no waiting/no line. That rock in my gut turned out to be an explosive BM. Now, I don't normally write about such events but mentally I was not feeling too well about what just happened and thinking it might happen again at some point over the next 26.2 miles. (I could only have imagined what would have happened if I would have had the "Sloppy Cucci" the night before.) After I cleaned up I got back to the start at 6:58 and at 7am we were off.

The course was rolling hills through neighborhoods with lots of scenery but not your typical southern front yard with cars up on concrete blocks. Somewhere around mile 2/3 I started running with Lisa who was from the northern VA area. She was running her 37ish marathon and just had a child 9 months earlier. We ran together through mile 17 when she slowed down a bit to work out a cramp.

So anyway, I hit the hill at mile 8 which in reality started at mile 2. By the time I got to the top of the hill, I was running a 10:30 pace. After cresting the hill it was down hill and the few folks that I had gained on during the hill took off and before you knew it we were alone on the course.

By Mile 13 (about a 1:44 split), we passed one runner in front of us and then caught up to Lisa's friend around Mile 14 and then we got passed by a runner who ran by us like we were standing still around 14.5. About this same time, it started to rain which was a nice bonus since I like running in the rain. By mile 17, Lisa dropped back and then we hit the part of the course where the road turns to gravel. After walking a short distance because I didn't really want to fight small rocks and slippery conditions going up a short hill I crested the hill and was off to running a again. Around mile 18, I was looking around not paying attention to the sides of the road when I hear a commotion to my right. I look over a see something big in the woods and then I realized after a few seconds this large animal (I thought it was an animal - what else could be that big making that much noise in the woods be?) was a guy just finishing a BM and was wiping himself. He yells out in his Scottish accent, "I'm not a bear."

Shortly thereafter, he catches up to me just as we go over the swinging bridge. What an experience that was running across the bridge with someone else (bouncing and swaying) but he put a little distance between us and soon the bouncing motion of the bridges settled down and it is a nice smooth run over the remainder of the bridge. At mile 19, I grab a gel from the aid station and I'm off again. By this time, I have passed three runners (since 13) and I see a few others in front of me to include the guy who blew by me around 14.5. So I set off to catch them and by mile 22/23, I catch the guy (the guy who blew by me) just as we encounter a pretty step hill at mile 23. I know I'm stronger on the uphills and I would put some distance between us on the hill and sure enough I put a huge amount of time between us.

Around mile 25, the course begins to flatten out and I spot another guy in front of me but this time, he is "wounded" in the sense that he is stopping to take short walk breaks (about 5-7 seconds) and I realize I'm gonna catch him too. He is wearing headphones and has no idea I'm gaining on him until he turns around during one of his walk breaks and sees me 30 feet back and decides to start to running again only to have me pass/blow by him with ease. And to make it worse for him, I pick up my pace just a tad to make it appear I'm running just that much faster than he is. He tried to stay with me as I went by but his burst of speed didn't quite last too long and he fell back.

Just after 25.5 I made the turn onto Hwy 119 and the final stretch. I did a quick peak behind me and I saw nothing but cars and fast food restaurants behind me. I make the turn off of Hwy 119, cross the bridge and see Katharine waiting for me at the end of the street. She finally sees me and I then I see her struggling to get the camera out all the while, while holding a phone to her ear. She manages to get a few pictures off as I run by and wave. No time for kisses in this race.

I continue towards the finish line, give the Hatfield and McCoy re-enactors a high five and cross the finish line in 3:27:55. The volunteers clip off my chip, give me a wet towel and then another volunteer asks me how old I am and I almost said 37 but then realized I have a few more months to go before 37 and finally spit out 36. She then hands me a 1st place trophy for my age group! It was a total surprise considering how slow I ran (wasn't going out to run fast - just take it easy) and how I stopped at four historical markers to read about the Hatfield & McCoy feud. I finished 10th overall and 1st in my age. Not a bad day's run considering the warm, semi humid and rainy conditions.