Follow The Bule Line

Sat. Aug. 11,2007
I had one of those chaotic days where I had to be at several places through out the day. I had to run with the group in the morning, buy a van, set up & teach a cooking class and have a fun filled evening at Stan Hywet for a Shakespeare play with my wife and some friends.

The VR Training Group had a 16 mile run on the Akron Marathon course. We met at Canal Park, the finish line for the Marathon. I arrived early to place water throughout the course and to checkout the parking lot. We had great parking, right across from the stadium. About 30 runners(maybe more) turnout. Most of the VR Training Group, and some runners joined us to familiarize themselves with the Akron Course.
I was responsible for mapping out the course. I used www.runningmap.com . Because of mapping and operator errors I made the course 1.5 miles longer. oops!!!! Everyone made it back OK. No punches were swung at me. Next time I'll have the map edited before we post it. I was on a schedule to get to the bank to buy my new catering van, so I had to run real fast. Well that was my plan. I made the opening announcements to the group (where we were running, where I place the water, bathrooms, etc.). Our course covered miles 1 and 2, over the Y-Bridge and 11 through 26.2. I wanted everyone to see the starting line, which was fading (they will re-paint the line before the race) and the finishing leg, running down Main Street to the stadium. The course has a blue line running throughout the route, so once we got started it was easy to have everyone follow the course without getting lost.
I started to run with the Gazelles, they were avg. a 8.0 min./mile. Once we hit the towpath (Mustill Store) I lost them, or I should say, they lost me. I ran the towpath alone, then once I got to Sand Run I started to run with the second pack, Marta, Nick, Mark, Steve. Sand Run is a great place to train for this marathon. This is mile 16 and it can get ugly if you don't know the course. this section is a gradual incline. Once you think your up the hill, there's another hill.
I mainly ran with Marta. She's training for Akron, The Marine Corp. and New York Marathons.
Because of the added mileage, we didn't run Stan Hywet. It's just a little u-turn up the driveway to the mansion then back to Portage Path. Highland Square is mile 24 in the marathon. It's a nice down hill run that you can make up a lot of time, but be careful, from the corner of Market & Main Street it's still 1/2 mile to the stadium. Don't forget to run into the stadium to the finish line.
My time was 2:56 for the 17.5 mile. I would like to see if I could run the marathon in 4 hours(or less). I will be training on this section again. I have the course mapped out correctly next time. They will be 14-16 miles and maybe one 20 mile. I'll post the time & dates soon.