The Charlottesville Marathon last Saturday was everything I expected it to be after driving the course on Friday afternoon. The online description said it was "rolling" but I'd say "hilly" is a more apt descriptive...and uphill at that. As I got to the starting area, the temperature was hovering around 35 degrees and by the time the gun went off, it was around 40. The sun was steadily rising so it had all the makings of a warm day, nonetheless, in shorts and a thin singlet, I still needed gloves and arm warmers.
The first mile wove up and through the scenic UVA campus, which soon blended into a neighborhood and by the third mile, we were in the Virginia countryside.
For those of you outside the DC/VA area, Charlottesville is not only home to the University of Virginia, but it is also some of the most beautiful horse country on the east coast. With lush, green pastures and miles of rolling fences it really makes for an iconic course. (See the photo above. That was taken while driving the course the day before. I sat on the fence post around the 15 Mile mark of the course.)
The course went up and down for quite a while before we made a turn and took a four mile detour through a soft gravel path that wrapped around several of the horse pastures described above. This area was an endless array of undulating climbs but it came at a nice time as the path was mostly shaded and the soft ground felt good to legs that were pumping batter acid at that point.
Knowing full well, that I'd have the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon some 15 days after this race, I knew that I couldn't go out there and run hard on a super tough course and expect to be recovered only two weeks later to do it all again. In my mind, I tried to negotiate a gentle disciplined pace, but the farther along I went, the better I felt. In truth, I just couldn't convince myself that "running this one easy" would do either myself or the campaign any good. In fact, I thought it would do just the opposite. If the underlying premise of this year-long effort is to draw attention to those who have sacrificed so much, then how could I justify going out there and strolling over a 26-mile course so that I could "preserve myself" for another race two weeks later. That's non-sensical and you know what, the simple truth is that I knew I couldn't look any of these young, wounded soldiers in the eye and explain that very notion so I said the hell with it...let's run. Deal with Cincinnati later.
So I ran nearly dead even splits between the first 13 and the back 13 of the marathon (1:45 and change on each) which was impressive, given the fact that the back half was arguably tougher climbs and the temperature had jumped from 40 to 75 degrees by the closing miles. To the casual observer, 8:01 pace may not seem impressive and when set against the 2:06 finishing times you see from the Kenyan contingent in Boston or New York, I concede that it's not. But I'm not a professional athlete; I represent them, but I am not among them. I am just like you, an ordinary guy trying to make an extraordinary difference in the lives of those who have given the most to our country: the American soldier.
I pushed on thru the finish and crossed the line in 3:30:21. It was a solid time on a difficult day and an utterly beautiful, yet brutal course. More importantly, I am now one race away from the much-awaited halfway point in my journey. As I said from the start, however, this is one man running the marathons, but it is a journey that will require the help of family, friends, colleagues and complete strangers in order for it to be a success. To that end, I will make a posting in the next day or so about a simplified means for contributing to the Wounded Warrior Project, vis-a-vis my 10-12-100 Campaign.
Also, as promised, I've included the link to the interview that aired the night before the race at 6 and 11pm. I didn't get to see it live, but I'd like to thank Matt Holmes, of Charlottesville CBS 19 News, for doing the interview and providing a link so everyone can see it.
www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/home/headlines/43250967.html
So Charlottesville is on the books, and Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon is looming large on the horizon.
Four down. Six to go.
Doug Eldridge
President
DLE Sports
