Marathon No. 16
Twenty-seven bands over 26.2 miles.
Welcome to the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tenn., where this sea-level flatlander Saturday got a taste of hills, hills and more hills. They weren't big, but they certainly were numerous.
This was marathon No. 16, and while it wasn't the slowest for me, it certainly was the hilliest and most crowded. Some 22,000 participants total in the half marathon and marathon, with about 5,000 entered in the latter. I came in around 490th.
I loved every minute of it.
For those who haven't been to Nashville, the terrain is similar to the Texas Hill Country, only without the cactus. It's a great city. Not too big. Not too small.
I got to see a lot of it Saturday, hills and all.
This was my eighth state in my quest to run a marathon in every state. I thought the Little Rock, Ark., marathon was hilly, but what it really has is one long, long grinding hill that seems to go on for miles.
Just about every mile of the Nashville event was going up or down, sometimes gradually, sometimes sharply.
At this writing, my quads still burn. Sitting down requires what I call "The Plop," because the sore leg muscles make a gradual descent too painful and difficult.
Nevertheless, with my time of 3:52:21, I still finished in the top 14 percent, which is amazing considering that race's size. Whereas the locals had the edge on hills, I had the edge on relatively warm, humid conditions. Lots of people dropped out of this race.
The bands were a race highlight. There were 27 of them spread out along the course, with most of them playing country rock and fronted by a female singer.
The best part, though, was staying with a college friend whom I hadn't seen in years. He, his wife and three beautiful daughters live on, of course, a hill in a quaint place called Leipers Fork. After the race, I got to just sit on their porch, sip a beer and relax.
I'd love to have a place like that in the country, hills and all.
I'm not sure what my next marathon quest will be. Maybe it'll be Oklahoma City next spring. I hear that's a top-notch marathon. Maybe it'll be Las Vegas in December. My wife has no desire to go there, so I might as well get that one out of the way, like I have with some of the less desirable places, such as Mississippi and Alabama, although my marathon experiences there were fantastic.
We're saving all the cool states - Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, California, Colorado, etc. - for when the kids are old enough, and we can make a family vacation out of it.
Sure, it sounds odd to have a marathon stuck in something labeled a "vacation," but I suppose having a vacation built around a marathon just makes the goal a bit more palatable.
Rock on!
Welcome to the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tenn., where this sea-level flatlander Saturday got a taste of hills, hills and more hills. They weren't big, but they certainly were numerous.
This was marathon No. 16, and while it wasn't the slowest for me, it certainly was the hilliest and most crowded. Some 22,000 participants total in the half marathon and marathon, with about 5,000 entered in the latter. I came in around 490th.
I loved every minute of it.
For those who haven't been to Nashville, the terrain is similar to the Texas Hill Country, only without the cactus. It's a great city. Not too big. Not too small.
I got to see a lot of it Saturday, hills and all.
This was my eighth state in my quest to run a marathon in every state. I thought the Little Rock, Ark., marathon was hilly, but what it really has is one long, long grinding hill that seems to go on for miles.
Just about every mile of the Nashville event was going up or down, sometimes gradually, sometimes sharply.
At this writing, my quads still burn. Sitting down requires what I call "The Plop," because the sore leg muscles make a gradual descent too painful and difficult.
Nevertheless, with my time of 3:52:21, I still finished in the top 14 percent, which is amazing considering that race's size. Whereas the locals had the edge on hills, I had the edge on relatively warm, humid conditions. Lots of people dropped out of this race.
The bands were a race highlight. There were 27 of them spread out along the course, with most of them playing country rock and fronted by a female singer.
The best part, though, was staying with a college friend whom I hadn't seen in years. He, his wife and three beautiful daughters live on, of course, a hill in a quaint place called Leipers Fork. After the race, I got to just sit on their porch, sip a beer and relax.
I'd love to have a place like that in the country, hills and all.
I'm not sure what my next marathon quest will be. Maybe it'll be Oklahoma City next spring. I hear that's a top-notch marathon. Maybe it'll be Las Vegas in December. My wife has no desire to go there, so I might as well get that one out of the way, like I have with some of the less desirable places, such as Mississippi and Alabama, although my marathon experiences there were fantastic.
We're saving all the cool states - Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, California, Colorado, etc. - for when the kids are old enough, and we can make a family vacation out of it.
Sure, it sounds odd to have a marathon stuck in something labeled a "vacation," but I suppose having a vacation built around a marathon just makes the goal a bit more palatable.
Rock on!
posted by Brian Pearson at 2:41 PM
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