Richmond Marathon - 1st, 10th and (probably) last

I love Richmond marathon, not just because it's my home marathon and has great support. Also, because it's like culmination of running season for me which mostly starts every year after winter slumber. Also after the marathon I always pack my bags to go home on a long vacation. So i just love it. It was also special as I was running my 10th marathon and final marathon before a long break from long distance running, but most important because it was my wife's first marathon, that too after a lung surgery before the MTT season. Our target was just to finish those 26.2 miles, and enjoy it before we pack our bags for long vacation home.

As it was wife's first marathon, we wanted to go through all MTT rituals, so we were in the parking lot around 6 AM. From there we went to Omni hotel, where most training team runners meet early. There we met Corey and Maria, they are an incredible and lovely couple. They run together all over United States, and both of them are really fast. 

somwhere mile 5

Around 6:30 we reached steps of Capitol, where the yearly tradition is to have final benediction and a group photo for MTT runners.  With this all morning rituals wrapped up, we started for the start line. It was one of good November sunny days with 40F morning, just cold enough to have a long run, but not to freeze. Both of us were had our  old jackets on top of running gear to face the morning cold. We joined wave 6 and started with back of the pack. Our target was just to finish before max time limit (7 hrs) which was like 16 min/mile.

Mile 8 done

We started much better than our expected pace. Our plan was to do run/walk every mile, so we keep energy for later. But with so many runners we knew, crowd and coach support, and enthusiasm of running our first marathon together, we clocked 5 miles just after 1 hr mark. We even discarded our throwaway jackets somewhere  in the 4th mile. Just after mile 5 we met Woody, 86 years old and running better than many of us. 12 members of his family were also running this race to honour him. That fascinating story gave us the push to continue on the course. 

86 year old- Woody

We saw beautiful James river on a blue sky background, as we crossed Huguenot bridge. Mile 8 and 9 are my favorites as we run next to James river in Pony Pasture. As we walk the elevation to mile 10 we were still in good spirits.  It took us 2:10 to reach mile 10. Then the route got kind of boring as we pass through Forest hill, and we were somewhat tired too. Our every mile had little more walk than run now.  But it was expected, as we knew we still have good time left to reach our target. We were at 3:30 mark when we reached mile 15 before the Lee Bridge, and met coach Judy, who was there to motivate and help PinkNation  runners.

The TRUE sign

crossing the half way mark

The Lee bridge and next few miles are always kind of hard, as you don't see much crowd around. Also for runners on the back it's much sparse field. We walked a little more now, but still within the target. Coaches were there on the way to boost our morale. Mile 18 was much longer as we needed a loo break, and we had to go little out of way to a gas station to find one. When we made mile 20 at 4:45, we knew we could finish the marathon, with just 6.2 more miles and 2+ hours.

Bellevue-mile 21

The next few miles through Bellevue are fun. Trees with late fall color and colorful leaves on the sides make for a good run. After those 2 miles we were again back in on the roads, with just few runners along with us. At 6:03 we reached mile 25. We were tired but really happy. Just a mile to go to complete our first marathon together.


We saw '1 mile to go' sign and coaches showing up to encourage for a good finish. Then we saw the final turn, the slope for sprint to finish. We made the final push and finished together hand in hand. Tammy was there to give out the medals. We finished just before 6:30 which was the perfect result we wished for.

The experience of running/walking together for 6:30 hrs to finish a goal was just fascinating. It was an amazing feeling which is hard to put in words. 

And we are done. First marathon together

This was my 10th marathon, and I decided to take a break from anything more than 10K, and for my wife, she said it's going to be her first and last, so i am glad that we did it together.