In keeping with my goal to run all Ohio marathons, I was compelled to
sign up for the Inaugural Hall of Fame marathon in Canton this past
weekend. Now, you may remember that
Canton did have an “Inaugural” marathon two years ago. It was held in June and over a very hilly
course. For reasons not explained (at
least publicly), that version of the Canton marathon was also the “last” one.
The HOF marathon was resurrected
by a new group of organizers who moved the date to April and remapped the
course. The new and improved HOF
marathon was a winner on all fronts.
While a late April date
could still potentially be warm, on race morning, helped by unseasonably cold
weather, the temperatures were in the 30s.
I do not think it climbed out of the low 50s all day and was perfect running
weather. The 7 AM start was also a plus.
The route was also very favorable
to runners. It was fairly flat, just enough ups and downs to keep things
interesting.
My pre-race plan was to
try to stick with the 3:45 pace group. I
haven’t been running a ton this winter and wasn’t sure I would be able to keep
up. The pace group was fairly large and
it was nice to run behind a bunch of tall guys to break the wind (although not a
lot of wind). Water stops were spaced every mile and the
miles really went by quickly.
The highlight of the race
was around the 12-mile mark. We turned
the corner and the very enormous McKinley Monument was right in front of
us. I have to say it was quite impressive
and I want to return to check it out along with the McKinley Presidential
Library next to it. Luckily, we did not
have to run up the steps (108 of them)!
.jpg) |
| Finisher medal - made out of rubber, just like a football! |
The race wound through
many neighborhoods and quite a few spectators were out to cheer on the runners. I kept with the pace group until about two
miles to go. Then I started to fade but
managed a chip time of 3:45:57. The race
ended at the Hall of Fame football field so we had the opportunity to run
where “champions” have run. With a half
marathon held in conjunction with the marathon, there was quite a crowd at the
start but everything was well organized by corrals and the large numbers added
to the excitement. This is definitely a
race to add to your spring race schedule for 2015.
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| Bib and finisher medal |
