17 May 2014
On the way home from this marathon one of my neighbors asked why Idaho. I explained my goal of running a marathon in all 50 states and they agreed that was pretty cool. But even with that goal aside, the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon was a good time and I would recommend the race to anyone.
On the way home from this marathon one of my neighbors asked why Idaho. I explained my goal of running a marathon in all 50 states and they agreed that was pretty cool. But even with that goal aside, the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon was a good time and I would recommend the race to anyone.
This was the race expo. Which was fin by me. |
The Course
The course largely uses the Boise Greenbelt. This is a
bike path / paved trail is reminiscent of the Boulder Creek path where I live
(with the main exception that the Boise River is much bigger). While the course
does not show off the city of Boise, it is relatively free of traffic and
pretty well shaded (Boise is, after all, the city of trees). I can only
remember three or four crossings that even needed a guard.
The course starts at the picnic area below the Luck Peak
Dam and heads downstream along the Boise River. Halfway through the
half-marathoners break off and finish at Ann Morrison Park. The marathoners
continue on for another six miles before turning around and coming back and
finishing at Ann Morrison park. The course drops around 800 feet, mostly over
the first 19 miles before gaining back around 300 feet on the way back to the
finish.
The Start
Gear assembled for the race |
You could tell this was a small race because they
actually waited for the stragglers to get in their pre-race piss. So it was a
little after 7 am before we got off. Temperatures were in the 50’s and the sun,
while up, had not yet crested the canyon rim.
The first three miles were through beautiful canyon
country. I knew the first 19 miles were a steady downhill so I did my best to
keep my pace modest and not pound my legs too much. As we left the canyon
country we got our first taste of the sun.
Logistically, the course had water stops every 1.5 to 2
miles as well as one gel stop and a couple of porta potties along the way. I
did my usual strategy of alternating between water and Gatorade and eating a
gel every at roughly every quarter (6.5 miles). Right around the time I was
reaching for my first gel we crossed to the west side of the river and went
through some neighborhoods.
Middle Miles
The course alternated between neighborhoods to the west
of the river and the greenbelt until the end of mile 11 when it crossed back to
the east side and stuck to the greenbelt for the rest of the race. Suddenly at
the halfway point the half-marathoners left and it got very still and lonely.
This was not a course for spectators. Most of the people were either volunteers
at the aid station or folks just using the bike path (which was not closed and
sometimes made running your tangents awkward).
I had no idea where I was in the standings other than I
was fairly secure where I was at – there was no one in front or behind that I
could see. Eventually some aid station volunteers told me I was second.
Around 15 miles I got a sighting of a POW flag off of a
bridge over the river. I took it as a timely reminder of perspective when it
comes to suffering.
Last 10k
This is the hardest part of any marathon. But it was
especially cruel when you turn around and go steadily (albeit gradually) uphill
to the finish. The one encouraging thing was that I got to see first place
(who was well ahead of me) and third place (well behind me). It was some
comfort to know that my increasing splits were not going to change my place.
Eventually all good things come to an end and I came into
Ann Morrison Park. My wife and son met me and we relaxed under the shade and I
slowly ate, yes, a baked potato (and some other goodies). We may have relaxed in the cool shade a bit too long as one person got concerned that my lips were turning blue. I explained it was par for the course. After recovering my
wits we walked back to where we were staying and enjoyed the rest of this post marathon family vacation.
View of the City from Camelback Park |
Enjoying the view at Bitner |