The weather report had indicated it’d be raining, and I had set my mind to be ready for the marathon in the rain. However, it turned out to be nice, and I wasn’t ready for it at all.

I woke up at 3:30am, and left home at 4:20am. It took me 2.5 hours, so I was at the start point right before 7am. I always try to be on site as early as possible since it’s nice to park a car near the starting line. It turned out the starting point, Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Complex, had a huge parking space and it wouldn’t have been an issue.

There are very many half-marathon runners, but full marathon runners were less than 10%. The course was the same for both, and the full marathon runners would run the loop twice. As usual, at the start I bumped into a few people I know of from the Marathon Maniacs.

The race started just about on time, and I just went along with the rest. I wore two pairs of t-shirts and even another outer wear on top. Within one mile, I realized I got warmed up within the first mile, and I took off my outer wear and put it in my side pocket. The first 3 miles were pretty much an upslope and it wasn’t too bad for the start. And it’d be a different story for the second lap. The course has a u-turn there, and you go back the way you came pretty much all the way to the starting point. Instead of going back to the starting point by making the right turn, you go straight to the Leavenworth downtown for another mile or so. After a short run on the main street, you go off the main street again, and eventually bump into a trail, maybe part of a park. I actually enjoyed that part, at least for the first lap. It went back on road, and went on. They had an aid station in every couple of miles, and it was a big help. There were a ton of runners, and I eventually finished the first lap.

The good thing about going through the same course multiple times is that you know what’s coming on the second lap. The difference with the first lap and the second lap is that on the second lap, you are much more tired than the first lap. At least that’s the case with me. The uphill was much more tiring and I didn’t enjoy it much. The downhill or the next 3 miles was much better, but my energy pretty much ran out shortly after that. Also, my pace kept dropping, and I ended up finishing the race in over 5 hours. It was the worst record ever of my regular marathons.  However, I am quite happy to finish it, and I think I will continue to be happy with whatever time I am getting before the end of this year. My wish is to bring up my speed from super slow to slow by spring 2010, and hit 4 hours at some time next year. I have 7 more marathons to run for the rest of the year, and the next one is in the end of October.

The Leavenworth Marathon was fun, and I think it’s well organized.