Non-Disney Races

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Has anyone done the OC Marathon in SoCal? Looking for a spring marathon at the end of April since the one I had been training for, the New Jersey Marathon in Asbury Park/Monmouth Beach, was cancelled and there aren’t any races within driving distance of Philly happening that weekend.
 

Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
Original Poster
Has anyone done the OC Marathon in SoCal? Looking for a spring marathon at the end of April since the one I had been training for, the New Jersey Marathon in Asbury Park/Monmouth Beach, was cancelled and there aren’t any races within driving distance of Philly happening that weekend.
Never done it, but it looks like part of the course has some awesome views, plus you wouldn’t be far from LA or Disneyland for additional vacation fun!
 

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Ended up doing the OC Marathon two weeks ago. I quite liked it. I chose the race because I needed to do a spring marathon within a specific time frame due to personal commitments and the one near me was cancelled due to COVID uncertainties. Race was well organized and had a really nice small town vibe despite it being in Orange County. The first half of the course is lovely with great views of the beach and the Back Bay nature preserve. Second half leaves a lot to be desired after mile 17, once you’ve passed John Wayne Airport, the last working farm in Orange County and the Segerstrom/South Coast Plaza developments. Lots of subdivisions, and two miles running down a concrete lined river. Needless to say, I’d run it again as a half before I did it again as a marathon because of how the second half of the current course drags.
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One of the best parts of doing a marathon in Southern California… you get to go to Disneyland after!!
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Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
Original Poster
Training for the Winter season has officially begun for me! And what better way to kick it off than a race you’re totally unprepared for 😂

14.15 miles, 3468 feet of ascent (for comparison, I’ve run 13.47 miles total on paved roads/pathways since mid-June), needless to say, I was in the back of the pack around 120 of 157 participants (22 DNF’s), but was just happy to finish and the views were amazing!

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Surferboy567

Well-Known Member
I neglected to mention, the first leg of my Lord of the Rings conqueror challenge is finished. I am already half way done with my second leg.

The Shire:

Start: May 26, 2022
End: September 25, 2022
Length: 132 days
Distance: 145 miles
Number of Runs: 44

I also received the medal, and it is nice quality around the same size as the virtual series medals. The app component has also worked really well. Definitely a fun challenge to be apart of the story telling part of it is fun as well.

3 more legs to go! I should finish the second leg soon!
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member

Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
Original Poster
That hair and beard must have been itchy.

And good luck at the NYC Marathon!!!!!
Thanks!!

And, yep, I may choose a costume next year with less little polyester threads that get in your mouth every time you breathe. That and something that doesn’t require a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, vest, and thick coat 😜 (November is still warm in SC, thank goodness it was cloudy!)

That really looks like a lot of fun!
So much fun! There were lots of people in the neighborhood watching and cheering, lots of elaborately decorated houses, a graveyard along the route, and lots of costume participation. They were hoping for 150 people for this, the first year and ended up with about 300 registered and 75-100 for the kids fun run, I imagine there will be a good many more next year!
 

RunningKoen

Well-Known Member
It's a long shot for most of you, but if you ever have the interest in some overseas racing, I'd highly recommened the 'Zevenheuvelenloop' in the Netherlands :)

Its a 15K (9.3 miles) race with fun course. Also one of the biggest and most famous not marathon race we have. The name is a dutch reference to the famous seven hills you'll cross. Despite that, the course is known as 'fast' and often used for record times.

I finished my 7th edition last sunday and it was a blast, as it always has been :)
The medals are a bit of let down, but they changed them to be very 'eco friendly'
 

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Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
Original Poster
Now that the pics are all up for NYC Marathon, here comes a race report, entitled “Why do all my marathons end up associated with the phrase ‘Hottest on Record,?”

To start, the trip to NY from SC unexpectedly turned into a lot of fun! We took the 6AM flight and we’re supposed to land in NY around 8:30AM I think, bet we’re diverted to Allentown, PA due to fog. They said we’d likely be back in the air by about 9:30-10:00. I got us a little keepsake to lighten things up and commemorate our time in Allentown:E3C988FA-95B1-47EB-82D5-0FF610D26424.jpeg
After about 30 minutes, we decided we’d rather rent a car and drive the rest of the way than roll the dice on what the delay would actually be (and Delta gave us each $100 vouchers for our trouble compared to $70 for a rental).

We decided to try to find any unusual roadside attractions to stop at along the way with our new mascot and arrived at Devil’s Tree in Bernard’s Township, NJ 😁:
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It turns out that turning our rerouting into a positive was the right call. We made several stops and still got to downtown NYC before noon as we kept getting new notices that our flight was continually delayed (it apparently finally landed at La Guardia around 5:00PM as we were enjoying an incredible meal at Lucien French Bistro):
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On to the actual race! As mentioned in the title, it was the hottest NYC Marathon on record since they’ve been doing them in November. Of course, my starting wave would not be until 11:30AM, so my day started in the mid-70F’s and stayed between there and about 80F all day (still not as hot as my Disney ones or when Myrtle Beach was run in May, but close!). Even setting out to take it slow, my hamstrings started cramping by about mile 9-10 and really didn’t want to me to do any real running after about mile 14, so the second half was a slow slog to the finish!

However, what a great experience! The crowds even that many hours into the day were amazing and there were people cheering almost the entire course. The views were amazing, the course support and volunteers were excellent, and aside from the buses from the ferry to the start line, everything was run exceptionally well. I really hope to get through the lottery again someday soon, it was really a great experience and, although this one was really, really slow, I’d love to get a chance to do it again when it’s chilly out!

Here’s some pics from the actual race!
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Demarke

Have I told you lately that I 👍 you?
Premium Member
Original Poster
Six days removed from NYC, I followed it up with the Lexington (SC) Half Marathon. As is becoming typical for me, it was another HOT one (avg 77F, topping off a little over 80F by the finish).

I really like the course and have had my two best times in this one in 2020 and 2021. It was nice having only one starting wave, but if felt like there were several million less people cheering along the course than my race the week before. 😉

I finished in about 2:35:00 which was somehow even slower than when I was taking the first half easy in NY. I wasn’t expecting a PR in the heat, but figured I was in shape enough to do maybe 2:20. Unusually for me, I was still pretty exhausted from it come Monday.

As it turns out, I tested Monday had Covid (apparently, a medal wasn’t all I brought back from New York!), which explains an awful lot!! Fortunately I didn’t have anyone else I knew at this race, so I think I pretty much kept a safe distance from everybody and don’t think I unwittingly passed it on to anybody.

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LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Six days removed from NYC, I followed it up with the Lexington (SC) Half Marathon. As is becoming typical for me, it was another HOT one (avg 77F, topping off a little over 80F by the finish).

I really like the course and have had my two best times in this one in 2020 and 2021. It was nice having only one starting wave, but if felt like there were several million less people cheering along the course than my race the week before. 😉

I finished in about 2:35:00 which was somehow even slower than when I was taking the first half easy in NY. I wasn’t expecting a PR in the heat, but figured I was in shape enough to do maybe 2:20. Unusually for me, I was still pretty exhausted from it come Monday.

As it turns out, I tested Monday had Covid (apparently, a medal wasn’t all I brought back from New York!), which explains an awful lot!! Fortunately I didn’t have anyone else I knew at this race, so I think I pretty much kept a safe distance from everybody and don’t think I unwittingly passed it on to anybody.

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If you jink Marathon weekend and it's another hot one....
 

OG Runner

Well-Known Member
I will try to get some pics attached, but I ran a Jingle Bell 5k yesterday. It was a lot of fun. A lot of costumes. A bit of an up and down course. It was about 22 degrees at the start and 24 degrees by the end. Funny thing happened after the run. My girlfriend and I went
to breakfast and we ran into about 20 people who had also run the race at the same restaurant.
 

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