Drake Well Marathon

It was a great day; I came in in 3:48:19 unofficially.

Let me start with leaving on Friday. My daughter Kelly and I left at about 10:30 AM for our first part of our trip. State College in PA. I drove much of the way since I thought Kelly may have to drive most of the way home on Sunday.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in State College. Nice big pool and the room was good except the bed was a little soft.

We ate at Otto's brew pub. On Friday they tap a Firkin at 5 PM. Unfortunately, we arrived at 5:30 and it was gone. Their beers were excellent; I bought a bottle of double D IPA for later which was also excellent.

We went shopping at Giant; lower prices than in CT.

The next day we stopped at Panera's on the way to Franklin, PA and a Ouality Inn. At both motels the people at the desk were great.

We drove the 35 minutes to Titusville at about 2:00 to check out the town before the packet pick-up at 4:00. I asked at the community center where the start was and if we could get directions to drive the course. The start was at a one way bridge not far away.

We got to the bridge and proceeded down the dirt road but only went about 3/4 of a mile before we decided it was too rough for the car.

I don't have a lot of trail experience and we were warned about watching our step and the dogs for the first 4 miles. Kelly and I drove what we thought might be part of the course. The hills were long and steep. We then went back to the Community Center to retrieve my bib number, chip and shirt. This is the first year of the event. They handed out the gear in a small room and were well organized. The pasta supper was home made for $5 but it ran from 5-7 and we needed to go to church today so we looked for a restaurant in town. We discovered the Blue Canoe, a brewpub which we learned had been opened for about a year. The beer was excellent and the food was too. We had a hummus appetizer and I had vegetable casadilla. I usually like to have WW pasta but I have found that I just need to eat fairly early the night be fore and have food that moves through me well; avoid cold and oily foods.

We went to St. Titus at 5:30 and were back at the motel by 7:15.

I usually don't sleep well the night before but I had slept well Friday night. I was awake at 2:00 AM and 3:00 and finally got up at 4:35. Stretched and put on my gear. I ate a banana at 5 and then the Tylenol followed by a Powerbar at 5:30 just before we left. The motel had coffee ready and I had a small cup I drank in the car; 1/2 regular 1/2 decaf. I stopped drinking water and went to the portapotty at 7:35.

I felt like I had forgotten something but couldn't think of what it was.

We arrived 40 minutes before the start.

We talked to several runners and 4 Maniacs. One women running the 1/2 grew up in Titusville and her father was involved in getting the bike trails made.

There wasn't a timing mat at the start which seemed a little odd but there was suppose to be 2 killer hills so I knew this wouldn't be a fast race for me. I was just going to enjoy it.

We started on the parking lot side of the bridge and took a loop around the Drake Well museum before hitting the dirt road.

There was a river next to the road and after the first 1/2 mile the road lost most of the pot holes. The hills weren't that steep on the dirt.

We ran down a paved road and around a corner and the hill went straight up. 1/2c the people were walking. I managed to run up and passed several runners who passed me on the downhill.

The uphill was OK but the down was too steep for me and I had to slow. This turned into another steep climb and I passed the same runners and a few others. I was kidding with them I would see them pass on the downhill.

The first 7 miles were hilly and we did run down another dirt road. From 7 -10 we ran through the town and back out to the bridge.

At mile 10 we went up a hill to the bike path. This part of the course was a loop; mile 10-25. It was under trees the entire time but not too many bugs. It was nice to be able to see the lead runners and I felt strong up until mile 21. 21-24 was tough I started to feel tired and my legs were a little tight.

The volunteers were fabulous!!! I can't say enough about them. I was able to pass people from the town to mile 22 and only one person passed me that I didn't pass back.

The end was across a field at the park and then onto an artificial track.

I came in 23 out of 116, 1st in my age group of 7 runners, http://runhigh.com/2009%20WEB%20RESULTS/R080909AC.HTML

The post race food and music were excellent for any size marathon.

We ate at the pub on the way out of town; several of the runners showed up.

The ride home, due to construction, was long and we arrived home at 11:45 PM.

I drove most of the way my legs seemed OK; I kept massaging them all day and drank water every 45 minutes.