13.1 Miles of history...
Chickamauga may have just become my favorite half marathon. I have so many great things to say, so I guess I will just start at the beginning.
My alarm clock went off at 3 a.m. in order to make it to Cindy's by 4 a.m. and up to Chickamauga by 6:45. We will a little worried because the smoke from the forest fires seemed to get worse the further north west that we went. I even saw an active forest fire around the Dalton area which was less than 30 miles from the start line. But when we stepped out of the car, the air was as fresh as can be.
Before the start of the race, there was a moment of silence to honor our Veterans, the national anthem was sung beautifully, and the race started with a firing of a cannon. We made a short little loop around the little center green area then entered the park area. The route through the park was composed of road and paved trial. The road was open but I don't think we saw more than 5 cars.
The route was so beautiful, the trees were a wonderful collection of colors and the monuments were plentiful. There was so much to see. Cindy and I agreed, that we would both love to actually visit Chickamauga Battlefield.
Aid stations were found about every 1-1.5 miles and were stocked with water, real power aid (non of that on-site made crap), oranges, bananas, and sometimes chocolate. They also had porta-potties at each stop. The volunteers were friendly and energetic.
Cindy is training for the Dopey Challenge 😃 and had been expressing an interest in doing true timed intervals, I...well, I haven't been running but I suggested we do 2/1 but agree that we could change them if needed. I feel like we both did well with them for the first 6 miles but then I kinda started to slow down a little and then by mile 8 I kinda hit a wall. I changed the intervals to 1:30/1 and by mile 11...I was hurting. At this point we picked out markers for running/walking. I am not sure how Cindy felt but she didn't complain and let me set the pace. I am pretty sure we were behind her average race pace but I think she enjoyed the beautiful views enough that she wasn't too disappointed.
The marathon and half marathon were intertwined but not totally the same. The marathon did two loops but they also occasionally took a different turn for a short distance and then rejoined us. The first place marathon runner passed us at mile 9 and then again at mile 11 (his mile 24) by the time we made it just past mile 12 we heard the cannon fire to indicate that he had crossed the finish line. So incredible and encouraging. I am so excited to start my new training!
After they announced my name when I crossed the finish line, I was handed my medal, a bottle of water and a blanket. Like the whole race, the food tent was super organized. As entered, there was hand sanitizer along with OTC NSAID, then plates and plastic ware. They had pizza, soup, banana pudding, fruit, chips, cookies, moon pies, soda and power aid. There were some tables and chairs but we plopped down on the ground to eat our food and enjoy the music.
Basically I loved everything about this race. From starting with sound of a cannon to finishing with warm chicken tortilla soup. I think my favorite thing was the cold oranges at every aid station. I forgot how much I love a juicy sweet orange. It was wonderful. I would highly recommend it to anyone. And I would probably recommend considering it for the marathon...maybe I will shot for that next year. MAYBE.
My alarm clock went off at 3 a.m. in order to make it to Cindy's by 4 a.m. and up to Chickamauga by 6:45. We will a little worried because the smoke from the forest fires seemed to get worse the further north west that we went. I even saw an active forest fire around the Dalton area which was less than 30 miles from the start line. But when we stepped out of the car, the air was as fresh as can be.
Before the start of the race, there was a moment of silence to honor our Veterans, the national anthem was sung beautifully, and the race started with a firing of a cannon. We made a short little loop around the little center green area then entered the park area. The route through the park was composed of road and paved trial. The road was open but I don't think we saw more than 5 cars.
(photocredit: Chickamuaga Marathon Facebook 2016)
The route was so beautiful, the trees were a wonderful collection of colors and the monuments were plentiful. There was so much to see. Cindy and I agreed, that we would both love to actually visit Chickamauga Battlefield.
Aid stations were found about every 1-1.5 miles and were stocked with water, real power aid (non of that on-site made crap), oranges, bananas, and sometimes chocolate. They also had porta-potties at each stop. The volunteers were friendly and energetic.
Cindy is training for the Dopey Challenge 😃 and had been expressing an interest in doing true timed intervals, I...well, I haven't been running but I suggested we do 2/1 but agree that we could change them if needed. I feel like we both did well with them for the first 6 miles but then I kinda started to slow down a little and then by mile 8 I kinda hit a wall. I changed the intervals to 1:30/1 and by mile 11...I was hurting. At this point we picked out markers for running/walking. I am not sure how Cindy felt but she didn't complain and let me set the pace. I am pretty sure we were behind her average race pace but I think she enjoyed the beautiful views enough that she wasn't too disappointed.
After they announced my name when I crossed the finish line, I was handed my medal, a bottle of water and a blanket. Like the whole race, the food tent was super organized. As entered, there was hand sanitizer along with OTC NSAID, then plates and plastic ware. They had pizza, soup, banana pudding, fruit, chips, cookies, moon pies, soda and power aid. There were some tables and chairs but we plopped down on the ground to eat our food and enjoy the music.
Basically I loved everything about this race. From starting with sound of a cannon to finishing with warm chicken tortilla soup. I think my favorite thing was the cold oranges at every aid station. I forgot how much I love a juicy sweet orange. It was wonderful. I would highly recommend it to anyone. And I would probably recommend considering it for the marathon...maybe I will shot for that next year. MAYBE.
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