Great Smoky Mountains Half Marathon-September 9, 2017
I have been visiting the Smoky Mountain National Park for over 30 years. When I saw this marathon advertised I jumped at the opportunity. It was put on by Vacation Races, an organization whose
by-line is "Run Somewhere Breathtaking." They have half marathons, ultras and trail runs near National Parks. While a little pricey, there were a lot of extras with the signup and you can save considerable by signing up very early.
This was to be my second half ever and I was hoping to finish in under two hours after finishing my first one in 2:02 on a downhill course. This course was net 727 feet uphill but I had ran a lot on hills getting ready. My wife recently went to be with The Lord and is buried nearby and I often run there and back which has 429 feet of ascent in the four miles.
We had to be at the finish line by 5:30 AM to catch a bus to the start. At 7 AM 1400 of us lined up on a beautiful cool morning to begin. Everything was on time, there were plenty of Porta Potties, snacks and most importantly, coffee. The course was a narrow road which was open to traffic but was not very busy. My experience was like my previous half, the miles just seemed to click by easily. There were always people around and because
I had, for some reason decided to start in the 2 hour 15 minute wave, to pass a lot of people to stay on a two hour pace. Due to congestion, my first mile was a 9:17 but after that I was able to put in the next five miles in the 8:30 to 8:45 range. I wanted to stay there knowing I would probably wear down quicker than I did previously of the all downhill course. My slowest mile was at mile 9 and was 9:18. around then we came off of the road to finish up in the town of Townsend on an asphalt walking path. The only physical issues I had in my lst half was soreness on the outside and backs on my knees which completely disappeared after two days. This time I noticed quickly that the steeply banked road was going to cause the same issue but only on my left knee. I've never ran on a road like this, it was like a race car track. By the time I got on the flat path at the bottom, I was pretty sore but had no other problems, no cramps, muscle soreness, etc. Then the path started having a drop off and then a step up at every driveway; that got old real quick but was to be the pattern for the last 4 miles or so. The finish line was pretty awesome, the announcers were announcing names and the crowds were vocal.
I finished in 1 hour 57 minutes and 13 seconds. I was very pleased with the 8:57 pace on an uphill course. I finished 218 of 1408 finishers and 9th of 52 in my age group. There were plenty of snacks and drinks, oppertunities for massages and etc. Over all it was a great morning and then I had the rest of the day to explore my favorite spots in the park, even if a little stiff legged.
The finisher medal was one of the things that caught my attention when I first saw this race. It and the shirt are very cool.
by-line is "Run Somewhere Breathtaking." They have half marathons, ultras and trail runs near National Parks. While a little pricey, there were a lot of extras with the signup and you can save considerable by signing up very early.
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| Great Smoky Mountains Half Marathon Course |
We had to be at the finish line by 5:30 AM to catch a bus to the start. At 7 AM 1400 of us lined up on a beautiful cool morning to begin. Everything was on time, there were plenty of Porta Potties, snacks and most importantly, coffee. The course was a narrow road which was open to traffic but was not very busy. My experience was like my previous half, the miles just seemed to click by easily. There were always people around and because
I had, for some reason decided to start in the 2 hour 15 minute wave, to pass a lot of people to stay on a two hour pace. Due to congestion, my first mile was a 9:17 but after that I was able to put in the next five miles in the 8:30 to 8:45 range. I wanted to stay there knowing I would probably wear down quicker than I did previously of the all downhill course. My slowest mile was at mile 9 and was 9:18. around then we came off of the road to finish up in the town of Townsend on an asphalt walking path. The only physical issues I had in my lst half was soreness on the outside and backs on my knees which completely disappeared after two days. This time I noticed quickly that the steeply banked road was going to cause the same issue but only on my left knee. I've never ran on a road like this, it was like a race car track. By the time I got on the flat path at the bottom, I was pretty sore but had no other problems, no cramps, muscle soreness, etc. Then the path started having a drop off and then a step up at every driveway; that got old real quick but was to be the pattern for the last 4 miles or so. The finish line was pretty awesome, the announcers were announcing names and the crowds were vocal.
I finished in 1 hour 57 minutes and 13 seconds. I was very pleased with the 8:57 pace on an uphill course. I finished 218 of 1408 finishers and 9th of 52 in my age group. There were plenty of snacks and drinks, oppertunities for massages and etc. Over all it was a great morning and then I had the rest of the day to explore my favorite spots in the park, even if a little stiff legged.The finisher medal was one of the things that caught my attention when I first saw this race. It and the shirt are very cool.
I enjoy this distance and plan to run more in the future, next on my list is the "Finish Breast Cancer Donna" Half in Jacksonville in February 2018. I have family there and am looking forward to a warm weather event while my home in West Virginia is snow covered.
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