2 Marathons, 1 Week... Part 2! Hatfield-McCoy (#9) The RUNdown

The Challenge, Part 2...
With Sunburst marathon under my belt (and under 4 hours) I have the second half of my challenge coming... race #2: The Hatfield-McCoy Marathon. If you read last week, this will be my first back-to-back marathons weekends and they'll be following only a 2 week break from the marathon just prior (Vermont City). The downside... this is NOT a certified course and thus, NOT a Boston qualifier. It DOES, however, count for the 50 states club! Although, I can't try for Boston, this is a big race for a number of reason, let's take a closer look...

1) This will be my first back-to-back weekends of marathoning! Once I get this under my belt I'll feel more comfortable about attempting to do 2 in 1 weekend in October!

2) If you've read about my Marathon Maniac Goal List then you'll already know that this marathon will allow me to pass into the "Silver" level of Maniac-dom with 6 marathons in 6 consecutive months! ~Disney (Jan), ING Georgia (Mar), Nashville CMM (Apr), Vermont City (May), Sunburst (Jun), Hatfield-McCoy (Jun).

3) This will ALSO allow me to pass into the "Gold" level of Maniac-dom!!! That's right, 2 levels in one week! Gold is 4 marathons in 4 US states in 8 weeks (51 days). That will include the ladder part of the list above.

4) This is a small race and typically the winner women's' times have been right around 3:40! Although it will be unlikely I'll run THAT pace, I could place and win my first marathon... and a trophy!!!

5) After this I have (planned) a MONTH off before the next race... SAN FRANCISCO!!!

6) This is Kyle's first marathon experience-- and he's going to KILL me for putting this on here so shhhh nobody tell and maybe he won't notice. ;) But, I always run better when there are people there cheering me on! Thanks Kyle!!!

The RUNdown...
Date: June 13, 2009~ 7:00am

2008 # Finishers: 210 (68 Female) ~ Smallest race I've ran to date
Expected # of Runners: 300-500
2008 Female Winning Time: 3:36:06
My Age Group: 20-24 (Last year there was ONE person in my age group, 3 in 2007 and 4 in 2006)~ I know they'll be at least 2 this year since Laura will also be running.

Course: "There is one hill between miles 6 & 7 while the rest of the course is flat to rolling..." - David Hatfield, Director. Hopefully these really ARE rolling!!! I hated the flat last weekend...

Weather: It looks like the race will be in the 60's and 70's with a little bit of clouds. I'm banking on the clouds staying longer than expected...

Race Provisions: This race has 25 water stations (about every mile) and I wrote to David (the race director) about "GU" or other Gel provisions. UNfortunately there will be "Carb Boom" provided. I HATE that stuff!!! I'll bring my own GU and if I get desperate I'll think about the Carb Boom.

Race Plan...

Run how I feel tomorrow. With so many marathons in the past month I'm a little spent, but who knows how I'll feel tomorrow. If I have it in me, I'll still try for a 3:40 pace... knowing my luck I'll make it when it CANT count for Boston! Also... i'm gonna try to race fast to get OUT of the hills. This race is based on a festival of the feuding Hatfield-McCoy families in the hills of WV/KY. From the picture I've seen this can be a really interesting area for a girl from NY.