MYRTLE BEACH MARATHON - February 14, 2009 Our trip to northeast South Carolina for me to run the Myrtle Beach Marathon was a busy one and thoroughly enjoyable. We left SeaTac Airport in Seattle on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, and spent the night in a motel near the Raleigh/Durham Airport. The next morning we were joined for breakfast with our Brit friends, Roger Biggs of Stevenage and Jack Brooks of St. Albans. Roger is the first runner from the United Kingdom to be a 50 States Marathon finisher, and Jack will be the second finisher when he runs a marathon in Tennessee on a future visit. Since neither Lenore nor I had traveled in the Carolinas before, the 200 mile drive from Raleigh to Myrtle Beach later that day was interesting. I had spent three months at the Parris Island (SC) Marine Corps Boot Camp in 1946 when I was 17 years old. Because we were restricted to our quarters, I didn’t get to see much of the state at that time. After we checked in at the Breakers Resort Hotel, we toured the seaside resort and recreation city for awhile. Then we went to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center for packet pickup at the Runners Expo. While there, we visited with Julian Smith at his Cooper River Bridge 10K booth. He’s a good friend and the race director of this race in Charleston, SC. With a field of 40,000 it’s one of the largest 10 K’s in the country. We enjoyed being his dinner guest at the adjoining Sheraton Hotel the next evening. At an earlier time on Friday, we drove the race course and later at the Expo we compared running experiences with our friend Henry Rueden from DePere, WI. He’s a megamarathoner whose total will soon reach 600. He runs 10-12 doubles per year, and he planned to travel to Phoenix after completing the marathon at Myrtle Beach to run one the next day in Arizona! As a fringe benefit of staying at the beach, I found time to check out the bird life there and at the ocean by the hotel. I saw a Brown Pelican diving for fish close to shore. Gannets nearly as large as the pelicans and white or gray in color were also diving off shore. Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls were also in the beach area. Mourning Doves, Mockingbirds and smaller birds were inland. On race day I left the hotel at 5:30 a.m. to walk to the start/halfway/finish area a mile inland where 6,000 runners (2,000 marathoners and 4,000 half marathoners) would leave in a mixed field at the 6:30 a.m. start. The race conditions were excellent with a temperature of 50 degrees at the start and 60 degrees at the finish, overcast skies and minor winds to 10 mph. A light, cooling rain began to fall about four hours into the race. The asphalt pavement was in good repair, and the course was flat with only a few minor hills. The aid stations for water and Powerade were at two-mile intervals, and gels were available at some of the aid stations. In the first half hour we ran in the dark, but the many streetlights gave us good visibility. The course layout was interesting. We first ran a three mile loop inland from the starting area and then ran toward the shore. Upon reaching the beachfront street, we turned right and ran south between hotels on one side and tourist attractions on the other. With several turns the box-like loop was completed at the half way mark close to the start/finish area. The field divided with the half marathoners finishing their race and the marathoners running a second large, rectangular loop going north by the sea. I knew only a few of the runners, mostly Marathon Maniacs (MM), so I saw few familiar faces on the course. I’d met MM Mary Lenari, 62, at a marathon in Olympia, Washington, and talked with her and MM Greg Goebel, 54. Both of them are from Sarasota, Florida. MM Larry Macon, 64, from San Antonio, Texas, finished before I did but he greeted me from his viewing place as I passed by. Larry just set a Guinness World Record by running 105 marathons in the year 2009! My run went fairly well. I ran most of the way, but I slowed with time and shifted to a half-walk/half-run in the last six miles to finish with a chip time of 5:46:08. I was 1,658th of 1,825 finishers overall and placed 7th of 13 in the 70-99 Male Division. If there had been a 75-79 category like most races have, I would have finished second of five and been eligible for an age class award. Congratulations to Frank Mason, 84, from Mullins, South Carolina, for running a 6:44:09. If there had been an 80+ division, he would have been first for his unique accomplishment. I was really pleased to see Roger, Jack and their friend Rich Holmes, 59, a “continent finisher” from Durham, North Carolina, waiting for me at the finish line. After we had refreshments, they drove me back to my hotel. Later, they picked up Lenore and me and we went to North Myrtle Beach to the House of Blues Post Race Party. A great pasta meal, beer and other drinks were served as we watched the marathon film and checked the race results. Lenore and I were interviewed and filmed by a local TV reporter. We missed the evening news, so we don’t know if we had a minute of “fame” or not. Running his first marathon, the race was won by Cameron Bell, 24, of Pendleton, SC, in a time of 2:34:12. He had never run farther than 20 miles before in a training run and 13.1 miles in a half marathon competition. In second place was Keith Forlenza, 21, of Whitestone, NY, with a time of 2:39:02. James Pearce, 29, of Durham, NC, was third with a 2:40:51. The women’s race was won by Elizabeth Whiting, 26, of Marquette, MI. She took the lead at the 25 mile marker to win with a time of 2:56:13. Christine Rockey, 38, of Conway, SC, finished in second place with a personal best of 2:58:19. In third place was Sarah Hogan, 24, of Durham, NC (3:08:40). The race was run on Valentine’s Day, so the T-shirts, beach towels and backpacks we received were red, and it was appropriate that the finisher’s medal was heart shaped. It was reported that there were eight marriage proposals on or near the finish line that day. It had been a well-organized and scenic race, one that I recommend. I’ve added “South Carolina” to my list of “completed states” to bring the totals to 35 done and 15 to go before I can say that I’ve run a marathon in all states and D.C. Lenore did reach a special goal of hers on this trip. After arriving in South Carolina, she can now say that she’s been in all 50 of our glorious states!! After landing at SeaTac Airport at midnight on February 16th, we were pleasantly surprised to see Doug MacLean, owner of Talking Rain and sponsor of our Yakima River Canyon Marathon, and his son Hunter who had come back on the same plane. Their marathon adventure had taken them to Florida for the National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer. From start to finish, our trip had been a great one! …………………………………Written by Bob Dolphin PARTIAL RESULTS – Myrtle Beach Marathon……….February 14, 20092:34:12 Cameron Bell, 24, Pendleton, SC, OVERALL WINNER, First in Age Division
|