The Wirefly National Marathon

I ran the Wirefly National Half Marathon in Washington DC this morning. In it's second year, this race is rapidly gaining in popularity. 1,170 runners finished the marathon and 2,306 runners finished the half marathon. The race drew people from 48 states. Unfortunately, these people didn't get a very scenic or historical view of Washington. The only notable landmark that the course passes through is the Capitol, at the beginning of the race. Otherwise, the course goes through run-down neighborhoods of the city. No nice view of the Potomac river like in the Marine Corps Marathon. There was no view of the monuments or the White House. Just dirty, run-down neighborhoods.

District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty ran the marathon, and completed it in just over 4 hours.

This marathon is following the popular trend of including a half marathon option. The half marathon is rapidly increasing in popularity. Each year, more and more marathons add a half marathon option to the race to draw more people. I ran the half marathon because I am scheduled to run a full marathon at the end of April, and two marathons within a month of each other would likely wear me out. Additionally, I wouldn't have been attracted to the full marathon course because there is a huge hill at around mile 20, with rolling hills until the finish line.

The course was different this year than last year. Last year, marathon runners ran through parts of Maryland. This year, the marathon was entirely in the District of Columbia. Additionally, the course was USATF certified this year, meaning that runners can qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon if they finish within a certain time.

I headed out to the race just before 6:00 in the morning. The race start was at 7:00. It was dark and raining, with a temperature of about 48F. I had debated over what to wear, but finally settled on shorts and a heavy long-sleeved top with a quarter zipper. Before the race started, we had some time to stretch and use the porta-potties. The rain tapered off a bit and I suddenly became very warm in my heavy top. I was worried that I would get too hot, and at certain points during the race, I wished I had chosen something lighter weight.

The race was relatively uneventful. There was very little crowd support, and I was surprised because there were over 3,000 runners (for both the full and half marathons). It was nothing like the Marine Corps Marathon where tens of thousands of people swarm the streets and crowd the sidewalks to catch a glimpse of the runners. The lack of crowd support and dreary weather took a slight toll on my mood, so I didn't have the excited spirit as I typically do when I race.

My strategy was to begin at a 9:00 pace and then gradually decrease to an 8:20. My goal was to break my record of 2:00:25 set in 2005, when I ran my first half marathon. But I really wanted to come in under 1:55, because my training indicated that I was capable of doing so. My first mile was 9:18, and I followed this strategy (somewhat) until mile marker 11, at which point the hills began to take a toll on me.

Starting at mile 8, the course was hill after hill after hill. And it really seemed that there were more up-hills than down-hills. Once I hit mile marker 11, I started to slow down. I usually increase my speed dramatically at the end of a race, but I simply could not do it during this race. I don't think I went out too fast-- if the course were less hilly I probably could have sped up.

I ran to the finish line at a steady pace-- I didn't get my "finish line adrenaline", and I think more crowd support would have helped. I didn't see any spectators during the last mile.

My time for this race was 1:56:27, an average pace of 8:52. I think I ran a good race and I am satisfied with my time. Although part of me wishes that I didn't slow down as much at the end, and I could have come in under 1:55. I have a week and a day to recover for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.

As far as rankings go, the results on the Web site ranked the finishers according to gun time (as opposed to chip time), so it's not an accurate reflection of how I did. The competitive side of me is frustrated by that.

After the race, I walked back to my car. As I exited the parking lot, I was put onto a road that sent me in the wrong direction. After getting a sense for where I was, I realized that the road closings from the race were causing major traffic backups. I left the parking lot at 9:20, and did not get out of the city until after 12:00. Next year, I recommend that anyone running the race should take the metro instead of driving. The metro opens at 7:00 on the weekends, and they originally were not going to open it early for the race. However, the day before the race, the metro system announced that it would, in fact, open one hour early for runners trying to get to the start line.

All in all, this was a good race for me personally, but it lacked crowd support and the course was very hilly during its second half.

Update:
It has now been three days since I ran the race, and an official announcement was made that the course was 0.24 miles too long, due to a cone placement error. The race did seem to get a little long at the end, but since it was USATF certified, I didn't think to question it. The Race Director sent out an apology to all half marathon runners, and my time was adjusted to 1:54:18, a 8:43 pace.