If you don't mind dear reader, please read the post below this one first, if you haven't already.
I mentioned in my previous post about a few things that bothered me about this marathon. One was, that you couldn't hear the P A announcer. I actually thought I heard them say something about the course being in the process of recertification, and we would be running at least a marathon distance. I didn't post about it, because I wasn't sure what I heard. The next thing was the race started 15 minutes late, and I didn't know why. And finally I didn't know why my Gamin and their mile markers were so different. Well I now have those answers. The paragraph below is from an email I received today. By the way, there is no mention of this at the official web site.
"For those of you who were at the start line Sunday morning, we thank you for your patience as the full marathon route had to be changed at the last minute because of a structure fire along the final stretch of the Marathon route. The three-alarm fire sparked about an hour and a half before the scheduled start of the Marathon, and three houses involved in the fire were destroyed. The Marathon staff thanks the Cincinnati Police and Fire departments for acting so quickly to re-route the Marathon runners, with the safety of the runners, the fire fighters and the residents at the forefront. Because of the change in the route, the course will be re-certified. According to Marathon Executive Director Iris Simpson-Bush, after the new distance is measured, "we can deduct runner's times by determining their pace and then apply it to a 26.2-mile distance. Then we will check with USATF to get it recertified."
Ok, stuff happens. I understand their job is extremely difficult under circumstances like these. My BQ attempt pales in comparison to the people who lost their homes and belongings that day, and the people who put their lives on the line to try to protect everyone involved. Here is the good news from a Cincinnati newspaper "There were no injuries and fire officials estimated damage at $200,000." So I'm not really concerned about what my "true marathon" time will be.
3 comments:
I'm scared of you, 3:52:32!! Congrat's on the new PR. Maybe running that 50 miler made 26.2 miles not seem so far :) Keep it up
MJ
Wow you had a lot of excitement in this one. Great job on the PR, who knows what you actually ran. Like you, I have been troubled lately with walkers who start at the front of a race. I just don't get that, it really causes frustration.
Trader Joe's is awesome! I love that place and make a point of getting to one anytime I'm near. I've heard that they won't come to OK because of the restrictive alcohol laws but that may be just a rumor. I wish we had one.
Sorry I missed you guys on Saturday, I would have liked to heard the story first-hand. See you at the Sooner Games this weekend??
Nice job on the PR! A friend of mine ran the Flying Pig as her first marathon. She was supposed to do Chicago, but got pulled off at mile 16because of the heat wave and no water. Now this. Maybe she is a marathon jinx. ;o)
Thank God no one was hurt in the fires. I hear there was some pretty tough hills. Great job PR'ing on a tough course.
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