2009 Capital City Marathon
I had planned on writing a longer report for this, but time got away from me. So this’ll be a down & dirty report for the 2009 Capital City Marathon, held in Olympia, Washington.
While I first stated Tacoma was #17 for me, I was doing some creative accounting. Rather, this marathon was #17 (#8 for the year) and it ended up being my 5th fastest marathon at 4:20:14. I had hoped to finish in under 4:20, but the heat got to me in the later miles and I had to take a couple of unscheduled walk breaks to shake off the dizzyness. That said, I’m thrilled with my time.
As with most Seattle-area races, it’s a hilly one. However, most of the hills were pretty gradual, although there was a long stretch from mile 22-24 that pretty much sucked (made worse by the heat). I guess I shouldn’t complain TOO much about the heat as we’re talking 65-70, I think; I know many of you have run in far worse conditions.
Although one of my Maniac friends thinks the course “sucks” (he didn’t run it this year), I really liked it. It’s on a lot of back roads through Olympia, and fortunately there were a lot of shady spots. While they let some traffic through, it was never a problem. We received a terrific jacket instead of a running shirt, however, no medal. Instead they let us keep our chip (it had Capital City Marathon on it) and gave us a card to clip it to, along with our race results (which were available on another card within about 30 minutes after finishing). The post-race pizza REALLY hit the spot, as well as provided much-needed salt.
I definitely give this a thumbs-up for anyone needing a Washington state race (although if you’re a Maniac, I’d probably recommend Tacoma next year as that’ll be the Maniac reunion and Dick Beardsley will be the featured speaker).
May 26th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Congrats, Betsy! I’m pretty bummed I got my Washington crossed off with the horrible experience at Seafair – you guys have so many great races. On the other hand, the bad Seafair experience caused me to run one the next weekend and become a Maniac, so I guess everything happens for a reason.
Are you going to any of the other Maniac reunions in the meantime?
May 26th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
8 for the year?! I definitely agree that 65-70 is HOT for a marathon! Cool idea of making the chip the medal.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Laura — I’m not aware of any other reunions other than the one next year at Tacoma. But I typically like to catch up with other Maniacs!
May 27th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Great job with #17.
Beardsley, eh? It might be worth the flight out there.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:43 am
Nitmos, I forgot to mention to you — Dick is one of my Facebook friends now. BWAA HA HA HA!
May 29th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I want to do a Washington marathon next year….preferably before June. IS this the best one to do (in your opinion)? All my marathons seem to be over 70 degrees….I’d love something cooler.
May 29th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Corey — it’s really a tough call. I also really enjoyed the North Olympic Discovery Marathon (I’ll be running it again this year), but as with any Washington state race, weather can be a crapshoot. We had great weather last year, but it could be hot this year. If you want cooler, there’s always the Seattle Marathon in late November!