The 7
Bridges Marathon is also known as the 4 Bridges Half Marathon or 2 Bridges, 5K depending on which distance you decided to
tackle.
There were 966 half
marathoners, 402 marathoners, and 490 5kers. They also had their first
wheelchair competitor. The half and full start together, with the half
splitting off about mile 10.
The course goes along
and over the river a few times (hence the Bridge name), but the bridges are
flat, so the only incline is really the ramps and a couple downtown. The first
part of the course is an out and back, but those are always my favorite as I
get to see all the elite runners that I aspire to be!
I drove into Chattanooga a couple days before
the race and stayed north of town at a friends house. It seems the hotels
located Downtown had really ridiculous rates for what kind of hotels they were.
I was going to stay at the Crash Pad (a boutique hostel) for about $30 a night,
but my friend convinced me to stay with her instead! Plus I got to bring the
pup! It was an 8 hour drive from Jacksonville, not too bad except a bit of
Atlanta traffic.
Saturday afternoon was
the ‘Expo’ and packet pick up. It took me 2 minutes to get my bag and see ‘all’
the vendors. Yea, unfortunately there wasn’t much there. The race organizers
were posting what they were selling on Facebook the weeks prior, so I already
knew what I wanted or did not want to buy.
I got a super early
night in, but unfortunately had some weird dreams to keep me from getting a
solid 8 hours. I woke to temps in the 40s, so opted for the pants and sleeves
with compression leg sleeves and a tee on top. I also had on a wig, so that
kept me warm. I just wish I had thought of toss away gloves, as it took a
couple miles for my hands to warm.
We started at
Renaissance Park and finished at Coolidge Park (both walking distance from each
other), making it easy to return to the car no matter where you parked.
Starting line area
parking was charging $4 for 4hour or more. There was not special race parking,
all the city rates were in effect, and the race org was telling people to ride
bikes. (Seriously?) I arrived in plenty of time without issues. The Renaissance
parking also had real bathrooms with heaters! Score! I stayed in my car for quite a while as it was
still dark out, so socializing was a bit weird, plus it was super cold. I did
get to chat with a couple Superwomen Tutu girls while in the warm bathroom.
The start time was set
for 7a. Sunrise was planned for about 730. It was a very awkward starting area,
as the porta potty lines were merged with people lined up to start. I was so confused.
There was only 1 spot light and a muffled guy on a speaker you couldn’t hear.
At 7am, the organizers picked up the Start sign and moved it on another street.
So the entire crowd had to get regrouped. Ridiculous. The Anthem was played,
yet most of us didn’t even hear it until almost the end (again speakers not
loud enough). We finally started at about 720a.
We headed straight over
the pedestrian bridge into downtown. . It was really pretty as the sun was just
starting to come up over the mountains. The downtown lights had pink bulbs and
there was a Komen Pink Ribbon lit up on the next bridge over! Was a good way to
start the race, reminding me why I do what I do. Right away my nose was running
with me! It never stopped the entire race! Good thing I had stuffed my bra with
tissues!
We hit the first ‘water
station’ quickly, yet there were only 2 people with no cups filled. One at a
time they were pouring. I had flashbacks of the Rock n Sole race that was black
flagged because of lack of water. It was a good thing it was cold and I didn’t need
anything yet! Unfortunately it was a sign of what was to come. Most stations
were barely set up, a couple completely out of everything. Only 1 or 2 stations
had Powerade. It was disappointing every time I saw a Powerade cup, yet was
told they had none. All I could think about were the people behind me and those
doing the full. (after a few posts and conversations with some other runners
though, seems there were more supplies for the marathoners than there were for
the half…..that and the faster runners of course!)
Half way through the
race, we ran through the same parking lot where we started, and then along the
river which took us to the Finish area (what?! We are done already? No way!).
Nope. But of course we got to see everyone else that was done (5kers, and
really fast runners!) who were partying it up, music blaring, food eating, beer
drinking? (yea, I found out later, there was no beer). It really just made you
want to stop and not finish the rest of the race!
After that the course took
a ‘dead zone’ on a highway for a bit (I guess this goes longer for the full)
which was real boring with nothing to look at and no spectators. At this point
my Ipod decided to die, (good thing I had a feeling on this and brought a
second one with me but then had issues with that one too) so my focus was on
that during this boring part. However, I did add on a few minutes to my time
because of this!
Once we got back on the
Riverwalk to head back the last few miles, I was really pumped and started to pick
up some speed. That was, until we hit a huge spiraling ramp and then
stairs!..What Stairs? Who has stairs in a race? Isnt that dangerous? And they
were downhill! There is no way if I was running 26 miles that I would be safe
in walking down stairs in the last mile!
The last bridge was the pedestrian bridge where a lot of spectators had gathered. I got a lot of shout outs of 'Pinkie' throughout the race and photos taken. I was pacing what I think was a marathoner and as we turned the corner right before the last bridge, her boyfriend was waiting for her and he ran with her the rest of the way!
Coming into the
straightaway (which wasn’t so straight here, and ends on grass), I had probably
the most quiet finishes in my life! There were still a lot of people standing
around watching the runners come in, but not one person was cheering or even
clapping! Was the pink wig too much?? I ran through the crowd and starting
cheering for myself! Man, they must have thought I was something! But
seriously? No cheering at a finish line?? Ill show them!
Overall, I did OK. I had
no issues physically. A little achey knee for a bit (probably from the cold)
and I could feel my right big toe starting to act up, but still nothing
serious. My time was actually the same
(for the fourth time!), however I felt a little better physically (probably
because it was cooler than usual races) and mentally (probably because I forced
myself not to look at my Garmin . I only did a handful of times the entire race
which made me really enjoy the race more).
All in all I would rate
this race a 5. Right down the middle. And that is probably more to do with it
being new. There were some things that were really good but then there were some
really bad things. Heres my breakdown:
Cons
-Lack of volunteers, water, Powerade (some tables completely ran
out, or not set up)
-Did not see porta potty options except maybe once
-Awkward finish area which included having to fill up own water
bottle, no alcohol, ran out of pizza
-Expo extremely small
-No sports drink/chocolate milke/etc of any kind given at finish
-All types of terrain….road, bridge, wood, grates, grass…definitely
slows you in some areas
-Poorly placed photographers…on the stairs …really?
-Poor signage towards the end….had to look both ways trying to
figure out which way to go
-Quiet spectators
-Stairs
-No parking deal
Pros
-Real bathrooms at start (if you knew they were there)
-Gorgeous Scenery
-Medal and shirt (although sizing runs large)
-Expo located at finish area, so got to ‘see’ the area to
prepare for race day. No lines, easy come and go.
-Souvenir water bottle
-Great police support..probably most energetic
-Run on the Riverwalk
-Downtown locale makes a great mini vacation
-Run for charity options
