theRunnersRun: TARC Spring Classic Marathon 2017 Race Recap

Monday, May 1, 2017

My favorite part was peeling my contacts off my dehydrated eyes after showering. Good times.

Running a marathon is hard.

The TARC Spring Classic marathon is my 4th marathon finish. Still, it was my toughest marathon. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like marathons keep getting harder and harder.

The Course

I said in my prerace write-up that I would see whether I agreed with the race being FAST and FLAT. I actually do agree. If you are looking for a beginner course to get your feet wet in trail running, look no further. This course was perfect. Single track with a mix of access roads, dirt and rocks and roots and everything you would expect to find in the woods only just a light version of all those things. There were a few walking hills but the course was run-able overall. Definitely a race I would do again.

the course was beautiful and runnable

My race

Running a trail marathon is hard

I started out at a slow. I knew it would be a long day and since it was my first trail marathon and I wasn't sure how I would do in the last half, I kept an easy pace. I wanted to stem off cramping for as long as I could. The first couple laps were great. I fell and hurt my wrist in the train station on the way to the race and had to make a couple stops at the aid station to get it wrapped and then get some ibuprofen. It was annoying for the first two laps but then i stopped thinking about it as the tiredness of the race started to set in.

Michael joined me for lap #3 just as the Wall started hitting me. I think I was a little dehydrated and could have used more calories. It was a struggle to finish that lap but after finishing and getting some salty potatoes in me, I seemed to revive a little. Liza and Urvi joined me for lap 4 which started slow and ended steady :) All things considered I was pleased with my performance on that cold, rainy day out in the woods.