By Stephanie Croft
The North Olympic Discovery Marathon held it’s 20th annual race weekend on June 4 and 5th in Port Angeles, Washington. Events included a 5k, 10k, Kids Marathon, Half Marathon, Marathon Walk, Marathon Relay and Marathon. I chose to do the Marathon and started my training in January. I had wanted to do this race for a few years and was excited to finally be able to participate in it.
The marathon began at 7:30 on Sunday morning at 7 Cedars Casino just past Sequim and followed the North Olympic Discovery Trail to downtown Port Angeles, near the ferry terminal. Although I have a lot of confidence in the training plan I followed (I downloaded a free Nike plan off the internet), I was not prepared for the almost 300 meters of ascent that this route had in store for me!
The temperature was perfect for a marathon, cool and overcast, albeit a little humid in the wooded areas and windy along the roads. The route was beautiful and had so much variety: farmers’ fields, forest, trestle bridges over raging creeks and residential areas. My plan was to run a 5:30 pace per kilometer for the first 5km and then pick it up to 5:20 and maintain until the end. The first two kilometers were all uphill and then it was an undulating uphill run until around the 30 km mark, after which it was a huge downhill to the coast and then flat along the ocean.
I managed to stick to my plan and ran a 5:20-5:30 pace until the halfway mark. It was about this time that I felt my quads tightening up. My nutrition and hydration all seemed to be going fine and I was sticking to my schedule but I think my quads were unimpressed with the amount of uphill they were forced to climb. (This was a little surprising to me because my calves and knee were what bothered me in my training.) In hindsight, I should have kept my pace slower at the beginning through the hills or even incorporated some walking uphill. Or maybe salt tabs would have helped? All I know is that the last few hills felt almost impossible to run up and walking is what gave my quads some relief so I could run downhill or on the flat. Even the slightest incline sent my quads into knots. When I got to the big downhill, it felt like relief but the damage was done so the last long flat part of the race was slow and painful.
I adjusted my race goals many times throughout the race. When I realized my 3:45-3:50 finish time goal was no longer in sight, I thought, ok I’ll try to beat my last time of 3:57. Then I saw the 4:00 pacer run by and realized that wasn’t going to happen. I decided that if I can at least run the flat and through the finish, that would have to do. I managed to do just that. Even though my quads were killing me, I was in good spirits and felt otherwise totally fine!
I ended up finishing in a time of 4:06:10. I placed 2nd in my age category, Female 45-49, although this is confusing because they adjusted the results online many times. On race day, I was given a trophy for 3rd place in my age category. I was 56th overall out of 260 runners and 13th female out of 136 women.
The overall winners were John Mauro in first with a time of 3:00:47, followed by Melissa Melough with a time of 3:10:53 and Ruth Perkins in third with a time of 3:12:53.
I have a feeling if the terrain had been less hilly, I would have been able to achieve my goal time. It seemed to me that most people’s times were likely slower than what they would normally run.
Overall it was a really fun weekend. I was blessed to have my best friend Trish, an RMT, runner and triathlete, accompany me. She gave me a massage, taped my knee, coached and encouraged me all weekend long. We went over to Port Angeles on the Friday evening and stayed in a hotel in Sequim. On the Saturday, we did a little warm up jog, explored Sequim, picked up the race packet and enjoyed the pasta dinner put on by the race. After the run on Sunday, we packed up, went for lunch, explored Port Angeles a little and caught the ferry home. It took a few days for my quads to stop hurting and then a few more to not feel sleepy all the time. Although it was a super enjoyable experience, I have no desire to do this particular race again! That said, I still am determined to reach my time goal of 3:45 so I’m going to have to figure out which marathon to do next.
