The Rock n Roll Marathon series is a 24 city nationwide (worldwide next year) racing event that has taken place in VA Beach for the past 11 years. VA Beach is my hometown, living there for first 23 years of my life, and this was going to be my first race at home! I grew up hating running. (well lets admit it, its still not my favorite part of the race…finishing is! Lol) But I was super excited because I hadn’t been home in several years and the course was along the oceanfront….a beach runners dream!
Labor
Day weekend in VA Beach marks the end of summer. Kids are getting ready to go
back to school, and the oceanfront strip gets super busy for one last beach
blast with the American Music Festival weekend. This is 3 day concert event
with stages lining the beach. Top performers this year included Stone Temple
Pilots, ZZTop, Tonic and Bret Michaels. The RnR gave runners free entry to the
weekend events.
Just
an hour and half flight from Jacksonville, I arrived the evening before the
race and headed straight to the Expo to do a little shopping and change my
corral time. I registered in February, and apparently had high hopes of
increasing my PR by 30 minutes in 6 months, when in fact, I’ve only increased
it by about 10. I wanted to take my time during this race, and enjoy the
surroundings so I set myself in the 2:45 corral.
My
plan was to get checked into the hotel, grab some pasta or pizza, and then
catch a concert. I soon learned that it was going to be quite impossible to
jump into carbo loading, as the lines wrapped down the sidewalks at each joint.
I decided on a walk up tiki bar and ordered a crab cake sandwich, and prayed it
would be enough fuel for tomorrow. After strolling the boardwalk for a bit, I
called it an early night.
Race
morning I was up at 430am, to catch a shuttle at 530, just a couple blocks over
that would take us to start at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. It was
very organized with no lines. The Start area was huge, a little too huge. They
had the water in one area, and all the way across the lot was the bagels. And
NO coffee! What?!? I rely on my coffee race mornings to get my stomach settled,
but I was going to have to do without. I sat, ate my Cliff bar, drank some
water, dropped off my gear at the gear trunk and got in one of the extremely
long porta potty lines, …for over 40 minutes…I was still 3 people to go and the
national anthem started!
The RnR has about 19 corrals,
and I was in corral 17, so I figured I would have enough time. The corrals are
based on times that you predict you are going finish, so you are surrounded by
runners of the same pace and you are not being trampled on by faster runners.
Several races do this, and its excellent, however RnR takes it further, and
gives 19 different start times as well, instead of everyone starting at once,
each start time is about 2 minutes apart. Another awesome thing they did is for
each group, they got an expert runner on the microphone to give words of advice
and encouragement to each group, like your own little coach. It probably took
me about 25 minutes to cross the start line. Within those 25 minutes I met this
wonderful lady that is signed up for her first Susan G Komen 3Day for the Cure
walk in DC! I was super excited to talk to her and giver her advice, but there
was a race to be had! She noted my website, and I hope she emails me if she has
questions! It was an awesome feeling to be out of state, and not near a 3Day
city, but still run into other 3Day walkers!
11,210
half marathoners came out, with a large majority of them running for a cause.
Among the top, LLS Team in Training and Team Hoyt who runners pushed those who
are physically disabled in wheelchairs so they could be part of the active
community. It was great to run with other athletes on a mission of not being
the top finishers, but to go the distance, and complete something you put your
mind to all while raising awareness and funds for a cause. .
Before line up, I noticed a guy wearing a Hash Foot shirt,
and I was flooded with memories. I soon learned by mile 3 or so, that there
were hash marks in flour and chalk on the street. I started following them (not
like everyone else was following them), because I actually understood what they
meant, while it was probably foreign to everyone else. You see, my very first days
of running started with the Hash House Harriers. I was in Tampa at the time and
newly single, living on my own. I met a guy that travelled and ran all over the
world and he introduced me to the Tampa Chapter.They call themselves a
‘drinking group with a running problem.’ Perfect!, I thought…except I didn’t
run. Not even a little. I couldn’t even make it to my mailbox without heavy
breathing! But I so desperately wanted to not only impress the guy, but to be
part of such an exciting group.
The
Hashers are worldwide, and they usually meet at least once a week and run about
3 miles….stopping along the way of course to do nothing else but drink beer.
They would meet before hand, and linger afterwards to, of course, drink more
beer, which then in turn would be followed by an On After, the after party at a
local bar to drink more beer!. The way it worked was a 'Hare' would sign up
every week to lay a trail, with flour and chalk marks. The Pack would follow
those marks about 10minutes later, and figure out the trail, despite trying to
be misled by the Hare several times on wrong directions. It was a great way for
me not only to meet new people, but also try something new.
At
the same time I had just gotten my puppy, Molly, a Jack Russell terrier that
was left alone hours on end while I worked, so of course, I had to figure out
the best and fastest way to wear out her energy. That is when I found out
running did the trick. I would be there for Molly, taking her on these late
night runs after work, and she would be there for me, pushing me further and
further every day, every week. (Lets face it, a hyper puppy wasn’t going to let
me walk much.) She gave me the confidence enough to go to my first Hash event,
when I could finally run more than a few blocks without stopping.
Two
years later, the Hashers introduced me to racing and I participated in my first
5K in Savannah, which then gave me confidence to try my first half marathon,
the Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville. That was all 5 years ago, and I am
still running, and I owe it all to them. I gave an 'On On' shout out to a group
of hashers on the sidelines as I ran by, and reminisced for a couple more
miles. And no, I didnt pick up a beer at the Beer Check, halfway thru, even
though I so desparately wanted to!
Race
day weather was perfect… overcast for much of it and when the sun did finally
make its appearance, it wasn’t too hot, about upper 70s. I later learned it was
96% humidity, but I guess this VA/FL gal is used to that.
I
went into the race not bringing my IPOD. I figured it 'Rock n Roll' marathon,
known for all the music along the course, that I would not need it, and that I
would enjoy the music along the way. Little did I know actually how little
music they would have, and how bad of songs the bands would play. Okay, okay,
maybe that was a bit harsh, but lets be honest, I don’t want a slow song
playing, at say mile 6, when all I want to do is slow down in running. Instead
they should be playing fast, upbeat music to keep me going. The Reggae band was
probably the best along the route, the rest were mainly local high schoolers.
You would think with how expensive the registration is, they would put more
into the bands.
The
course was lined with different cheerleading squads from schools and community
leagues. Each group dressed up in different themes in competition of the best
support, such as the Disney group, and the rock n rollers in tutus! There were
all age groups and it reminded me of the time when I was a cheerleader.
The
beach community that came out jumped in on the festivities and dressed up as
well,…among the favorites were Captain America and the Blue Hawaii group, as
well as those in the 'blow up' costumes. A lot of people also brought out their
hoses to spray us down, and set up their own water and popsicle stands! A bunch
of runners were dressed up as well...There was a guy that was juggling while he
was running...yes, juggling. I was with him at mile3, and he dropped about 4
times, so who knows if he finished the whole thing juggling, but man, what a
good try! I also ran into Beaker for the third race this year! Other good
costumes included Bret Michaels look alike and of course the infamous Elvis.
I
started the race nice, slow, and steady as a turtle and I maintained that for
the entire race. My goal was to just enjoy myself. I went in with a clear head.
I did not even look back at previous races to figure my PR (the past couple
races have been pretty bad), and the pace needed to PR again. I kept a clear
head the entire time, not worrying about the finish time, just finishing. I
kept a pretty steady pace of about 12minute miles and held my runs longer,
instead of trying to increase my pace and run shorter distances. Each mile I
was amazed how good I felt and and how much I was enjoying myself! There's not
one bad thing I can say about the race. I mean, my calves were tight for the
first couple miles...expected. I got really tired about mile 10...expected. My
stomach felt fine, no nausea. My feet felt great, no blisters. I was having a
good race! I wasn’t going to PR, but it was definitely turning out to be one of
my favorite races!
The
course took us East from the Convention Center towards the ocean, then North a
few blocks, and then South over Rudee Inlet, where all the elites were already
hitting mile 12, while we were on mile 3! I got to see Ryan Hall, US Olympic
Marathoner and record holder, and a 14 year old girl who placed 11th
being the first US woman to cross the finish line! We then went past the huge
gorilla at Ocean Breeze, thru the shade of Redwing Park, into the stark blaring
sun of Camp Pendleton, and then back North in the home stretch to where we were
to finish at 13th St. Time just seemed to fly by and before I knew
it, I was on the home stretch on the boardwalk. Ok, maybe not every part flew
by. Those last 13 blocks on a straight away, seeing the Finish sign in the
distance, seemed forever unreachable!
Maybe
I felt so good because I was in such good spirits with all the memories of
being home. Maybe because this was a cake walk compared to last months trail
race! Or maybe my training is actually starting to pay off! Whatever the
reason, it was a beautiful day. And after I crossed the finish line, got my
medal, MGD64, and breakfast goodies, I got the best thing in the world....a complete
stranger stopped me in my tracks, threw her arms around me to give me a hug and
said 'Thank you'.
The Rock n Roll series also always has a concert of some sort. The VA Beach one was Brett Michaels. I have to admit I was a little fan excited, growing up listening to Guns n Roses. The concert was great located right on the sand. It made an entirely too long of a day with the super early race and late concert, but every moment was well worth it!
13.1 Finish Time-2:41