So, I thought I had run all of the organized marathons in Ohio. In years past, I've run (1) Cleveland Rite-Aid; (2) Cleveland Inaugural - only lasted 1 year; (3) Akron; (4) Cincinnati Flying Pig; (5) Columbus; (6) Glass City - Toledo; (7) Towpath; (8) Athens; (9) Air Force - Dayton; (10) Inland Trail - Elyria; (11) Last Chance for Boston - Dublin; and (12) Ohio River Road Runners - Xenia.
As I was searching for a training run in April, I stumbled across a new one - the Earth Day Challenge marathon in Gambier, Ohio. I quickly signed up for it as it fit perfectly into my running schedule.
The marathon was held on April 25th. The course was advertised as flat. The first 4 miles, however, wound around the town of Gambier and was a series of rolling hills. After we got that out of the way, we headed out onto the Kokosing Gap Bike Trail, a well-maintained paved path - which was very flat.
It was held in conjunction with a half-marathon so there were a fair amount of people for the first half of the race. The second half was a bit lonely as I think there were about 120 total marathoners in the race. All of the aid station workers and road crossing volunteers were very friendly so I did have some company. The drink choice was Heed and Hammer Gels were passed out too. Perfect!!
Weather conditions at the start were ideal but things heated up a bit for the second-half. There was some tree cover on the path but the sun poked through a bit and I got my first sun-burn of the season. Right after the race, the sky opened up and poured. Sadly, I think a lot of the runners got caught in it.
This was a very nice, low-key race. Very well run. And in keeping with the earth day theme, all of the goodie bags had compact fluorescent light bulbs - something I can actually use. I will definitely keep this race in mind for next year.
So have I missed any other Ohio marathons?
Off-topic, as usual: The US 24 hour championship is in Ohio again. Anything you can tell me about the course that I won't find on the race website?
ReplyDeleteThere was a Winter Buckeye Trail Marathon this year you missed.
ReplyDeleteI think the Buckeve Trail is a 50K? I stink at trails so I probably will pass if it is just a marathon!! Did you run it, Steve?
ReplyDeleteHi Deb, Wished I had known you were running the marathon, I would have liked to introduce myself. I ran the Earth Day Marathon too, but finished a bit back of you-in 5 hours 10 minutes!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck at the Worlds!
Kimba