First of all, that was HARD!

For those along the Mid-Atlantic and SouthEast Atlantic Ocean front, you understand the winds we had on Friday and Saturday. That is what I ran in. Temperature started in the 40's and climbed to 50 degrees. Wind in Ocean City was 25 miles per hour with gusts of 30+. That is the backdrop for my first marathon.

I arrived early and got settled into my pre-race routine, all the while seeking shelter from the wind. I got in a little stretching and had some pretty good butterflies going.

The race started about 10 minutes late and by the time I crossed the start line, I was pretty emotional. After I regained my composure, it was time to get going. Things were pretty crowded at first with not much room to pass. Funny, on our way out of Sunset Marina, I noticed that we missed a turn that I thought was supposed to take us around a loop of the local neighborhood before leaving the Marina. Oh well, I must have been mistaken. At what was Mile 1 on my Forerunner, I started looking for the Mile 1 mark along the course to see if I was in sync. Unfortunately I found Mile 2 and realized that we did in fact miss part of the course. Oh well, I will rely on my forerunner for mile splits and hope they correct the course at some point.

After leaving Sunset Marina, we ran along backcountry roads away from the Ocean. I didn't feel much wind and I hoped that the wind had actually died down after the start. While settling into pace of 9:30ish, I struck up a couple of conversations. One gentleman was running his 189th marathon – WOW!!! In fact, he said that he turned 52 this year and his goal for the year was to run 52 marathons - one per week. That was truly impressive and inspirational.

At the first 10k split everything felt good and I was actually a little warm. Still not much wind away from the ocean. At mile 10, I was feeling great and starting running a little faster. Miles 10 - 12 were along the highway leading to Assateague State Park. I noticed a little tailwind, but nothing to speak of. Both sides of the road were lined with trees and pockets of spectators really helped cheer us on.

At Mile 12, we arrived at the bridge to the state park. Now that I was finally in open space, I knew that wind in fact was going to be a factor for the race. Up until this point, this was just a normal run. Going over the bridge was difficult and I had to concentrate on balance as the wind was hitting me sideways. Once over the bridge, it was around the corner and we hit the half marathon point. I was just under 2:02 and felt that sub 4:10 marathon was very much in my grasp. I still felt great!

Mile 13+ was down wind and I worked very little to run my only sub 9 mile of the race. We were passing people running up wind and I could tell they were struggling. At the turn, I could immediately feel the sand whipping into my face and bare legs. I struggled up wind while trying to make myself shorter to block the wind. This mile was over a 10 minute pace. Time to go back over the bridge and finally I thought I was out of the elements.

Miles 17-19 were still very good and I got back to my 9:30 pace. I was beginning to pass a few people and probably got a little over confident. I was running into a little headwind, but nothing too bad. I arrived at the mile 20 point at 3:09. All I needed to do was run a sub 1 hour 10k for my sub 4:10 finish. Mile 20 - 21 was around a loop and still protected by the trees. Just after Mile 21, I was starting to tire and walked a little bit. Then it hit.

We turned a corner and hit the major part of the road with no tree cover. We were now heading straight upwind and with no protection. The last 4 plus miles were going to be work. It felt like every step was uphill. As you can tell from my pace (1:18 10k), I walked as much as I ran over this period. I was spent. I ran a great race for the first 21 miles.

Finish goal times kept going by the wayside along the homestretch. Most other around me were going about the same pace with a few people passing me. As we turned towards Sunset Marina, they had in fact corrected the course and we had a 1 mile loop through the local neighborhood. Unfortunately, at this point I was done, both physically and emotionally! Plenty of people passed me as I walked more than ran.

When I finally got to the turn I could see the finish line. I almost broke down with emotions, but got it back together and jogged slowly to the end. Crossing the line I felt more sick than happy. I stopped my watch - 4:26:55.

It took me about 5 minutes to regain myself before I could even talk to my girls who were at the finish to greet me. I felt bad, but I just need to collect my strength. The girls gave me a trophy, which was great! When I could finally speak, I thanked them for it!

Looking back today, I am happy with my race. Not bad for a first marathon! I never would have imagined doing this last year.

Looking forward I wonder how much Mother Nature played a factor in my time, or was that just in my mind. To find the answer, I am looking for another marathon to run in late Spring or early Summer.

Believe it or not, I think I am hooked.



Not sure. I know my mid-week training runs were not a long as they should have been. Maybe I should have gone out a little slower?

No warming down, just collecting myself.


Wind. Lack of mid weeker 'longer' runs. The spare time that resides around my waist.


I don't know if I will ever run this race again, but I must say that the volunteers were great. They were everywhere! The crowd support for a small race was also great.