2019 Philly Marathon Race Report

My first blog post  (inspired by my run team ):

The weather was frightful but we made it delightful.

Crazy hangs with crazy so my Crest run friends (Nick, Linda, and Susan) were focused on getting up early driving up and getting it done.

We left the Crest at 4:30am in a light rain and warm temps. When we arrived Philly it seemed the temps dropped 10 degrees. It took awhile to find parking (Hanneman parking lot). We got dressed in the car and looked ready to weather the storm. We peed two times before we got to the start. We were hydrated.

We jumped into the orange corral. It didn't seem like anyone really cared or checked or bibs. while standing waiting to start we saw the best voice in race announcing , John McBride, and he gave me the "IronMayor" shout out.

Start:
Wearing our ponchos we started the rainy treck while plotting through and with thousands of people.
I must say the crowds of people cheering us on was awesome. True Philadelphia spirit!

Along the way:
The course was well marked with timer and mile flags and held up well despite the wind. there were many puddles and high water areas you had to watch for. Plenty of porta pots too. Plenty of fluid stations with nutrition every two miles. At mile 5 there was a great gospel group singing and rocking.

There was one hill that was challenging somewhere around the zoo and slight inclines but also some down hills as well.

For me the best part of the race was the support on the course and the volunteers. Fun people  standing in the rain and wind dolling out beer and whiskey shots and handing out food even rolling out your legs.

The hardest part was running into the wind into Manyunk and then on way to finish (last 6 miles) it poured rain, even snow or ice. We found Christa one of our running friends from North Wildwood and she joined us. Congrats to Christa as this was her first marathon. And we saw Chrissy Cas on her way to finish and stopped for a hug. She’s fast.  Manyunk was vibrant and awesome cheering (it felt it took forever to get there but worth it). My son was at Winnies and had a beer waiting for me. I gave him a big hug and took two swigs and off we went as we made the turn around to the finish.  I was too cold and focused to get to the finish at that point.

This race was more about fun with friends and taking Philly in! I used it to log running miles for calorie burn as the Holidays and Key west triathlon is coming up soon. My next marathon will be (I think) the Nashville Rock and Roll to get ready for the summer race season including IronMan Mont Tremblant  or FL.

I learned that Linda was a great “picker”. She found candy and held along the road side. If are fighting to survive you want her on your team. Susan ran steady and strong. Her cardio is in tip top shape. She’s a great swimmer. And then there’s Nicky .... my beer drinking friend along the way. For a big guy he gets it down nice and streaky. Nick prepping for IM MT. And thank God for the Motrin stop.

We finished :

The 2019 Philly Marathon is in the books. We had a blast ! I highly recommend it. If it is fun in poor weather . I cant imagine it with good weather !