CITY OF OAKS MARATHON A treat for Lenore and me when we participate in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, and northern Virginia each year is to add a new marathon to my 50 States list. This year we left Alexandria, Virginia, several days after this race to drive south to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the third annual City of Oaks Marathon on Sunday, November 1, 2009. Participants of the weekend races were given a discount at the Comfort Suites Arena where we stayed for four nights enjoying the accommodations. On Friday afternoon we went to packet pickup and the Expo that was held in the McKimmon Center on the North Carolina University campus a few miles from our hotel. While there, we talked with 50 Stater Ed Peters and Isolde Davis. Ed planned to run the marathon and Isolde would do the half marathon. On race morning I left the hotel in darkness and drove about five miles in steady rain to the start/finish area at another site on the university campus. I followed the signs to race parking and was pleased that a large, parking garage was available to the runners at no cost. This sheltered facility was about 100 yards from the start line. It was there that I met Matt Jenkins, 28, of Boone, NC (4:18:53), a Marathon Maniac who asked me about my recent 80th birthday run at the Portland Marathon a month earlier. He had read about the event when it was posted on the Maniac home page. There were about 2,713 runners on hand for the 7:00 a.m. combined start of the marathon and half marathon. The 613 marathon finishers wore orange colored bibs, and the others had green ones. The temperature was about 55 degrees at the beginning and 65 degrees when the race ended six hours later. It rained most of the time, and there were some winds up to 20 mph. I wore my TyVek jacket and gloves during the entire race and was comfortable. The course consisted of loops and out-and-back sections that took us through the campus, to suburbs, to the city center and out to the rural countryside. In the second half of the marathon we ran up and down long, steep hills on paved streets and dirt trails of Unstead State Park. There we saw a variety of trees, all in fall color from yellow to orange to red to purple. In this setting, James Mandrin, 72, of Annapolis, Maryland, caught up to me and we visited awhile before he ran ahead to finish 2nd in the 70-74 Male Division with a 5:07:43. Participating in triathlons is one of his favorite sports. Later, as we were nearing Raleigh, I talked with a Shirley McKenna, 52, of Scotland and Raleigh who had run may pace until then. She finished stronger than I did with a time of 5:38:38. A young, bare-chested runner seemed to be enjoying himself as we passed each other back and forth in the last 10K. It was Simon Everett of Charlotte, North Carolina, who was running his first marathon. He asked me how old I was…..and said that I was his inspiration. He did well in his first marathon and finished in 5:51:44. I met his parents at the finish line and told them that I enjoyed meeting and talking with their son on his special, first marathon day. After negotiating one final hill, I crossed the finish line in 5:42:07 (chip time), 590th of 613 finishers and first in the 80-84 Male Division. I missed the course closure by 18 minutes! There was no award ceremony, so I’m hoping that my award will arrive in the mail. Thanks go to race director Jim Micheels, his staff, the volunteers, the medics and the police for putting on a well-organized race. NORTH CAROLINA is now on my list of “Finished States”……and that brings my total to 37…..with 13 to go. ……………………………………….Written by Bob Dolphin * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PARTIAL RESULTS – City of Oaks Marathon, November 1, 2009 2:33:03 Patrick Reaves, 24, Durham, NC, FIRST OVERALL, First in Age Division 2:48:50 Elena Kaledina, 43, Eugene, OR, FIRST WOMAN OVERALL, 1st 4:18:53 Matt Jenkins, 28, Boone, NC, Marathon Maniac (MM) |