Friday, December 3, 2010

Dallas White Rock Marathon ~ Race RUNdown (#45)

Inspiration Points...
Marathon #50!, State #45!
1. My 50th Marathon! This is my 50th lifetime marathon/ultramrathon! 
2. Last Marathon :( ... of this year! Don't worry, I have 5 more states to go... plus a few extras!
3. Texas and Cowboys! I LOVE the Dallas Cowboys (yes, even with their current terrible seasons) and this will be my first time visiting their stadium. Unfortunately this race got moved and no longer falls on a home game. Darn!
4. Maniacs!!!! There are going to be a lot of maniacs at this race even though Vegas is the same weekend and a lot of my favs will be over there. :(
TX Race RUNdown...
Dallas White Rock Marathon ~ Sunday December 5, 2010. (#45) 8:00am Marathon Start
Dallas, TX ~ Fair Park
Registration Fees: $100-$125 Early ($150 late) Availability: Marathon Only (Currently at 96% capacity). Register: here.
Year Running: 41st!
Races Available: Full, Half, Relay, and 5K
2010 Expected Field: 7000 cap (currently at 96%) + 5000 in the relay (cap met)
2009 Field:  4453... Females: 1598  ... Age Group: 284 (F25-29)
2009 Avg. Finish Time: 4:27:02 *Note: New Course!*
Certified Course/BQ Certified?: Yes/Yes
Cutoff Time and Early Start Option: 6.5-Hr Cut-off time. No indication of an early start?
Weather Update: Currently we're looking at a mostly sunny day with a low of 34 and a high of 53. However, I'm guessing a Texas "53" is much warmer than an Ohio "53." Packing lots of race option for this one, especially since the 2 days before are in the 60s and 70's!

Course:
MarathonGuide Rating: *New Course for 2010!*
The course has been changed to accommodate the growing number of runners in this race. It now starts and ends in Fair Park and runs on an estimated 80% of the prior marathon (including, of course, the white rock lake), but they've made some changed to cut out hills and such. We'll be running the first part of the race with the half marathoners until they split off between miles 8 and 9. From the course map it appears to be a lot of winding roads through the whole course. There doesn't appear to be any elevation charts available. 


This is the description the website provides...
"The course begins and ends in Fair Park near the north end of the Cotton Bowl and runs to and around scenic White Rock Lake, with so much course entertainment that you might forget you're running a marathon! The 26.2-mile certified course is mostly flat with some rolling hills. Along the way, runners pass through the downtown Dallas Arts District, through the hip Uptown area, along majestic Turtle Creek, through prestigious Highland Park, around White Rock Lake, through beautiful Lakewood and down the Swiss Avenue historical district back to the finish within Fair Park."


Race 411:
~ Top 100 Rewards? Last year they gave out hats to the top 100 runners. I NEED to be one of these runners!!! Now top 100 is still usually around a 3:10 time, however there was a note on marathonguide from a 3:30 runner who got a top 100 hat. Hmmmmm...
~ Cliff Shot Gel There is only 1 aid station with cliff shot gels available between 20 and 21. BYOG!
~ 20+ Aid Stations! That's a LOT of aid stations, which is great in case of a hot day in Dallas! Each will have gatorade endurance formula in lemon-lime (ew). 
~ Entertainment! The start will have bands, fireworks, military jet flyover, and confetti. Every mile has a band (listed here). And the finish line has a huge post race party with bands. 
~ Major Expo! 85+ vendors at this one and advertised as one of the biggest! 
~ $20 Pasta?? That must be some good ziti! Some of these pasta dinners are getting unbelievably expensive.
~Post Race Food? Apparently they have a very limited post-race food availability in the past... hopefully they have improved here. 

Race Plan:
No set race plans for this one. It's my last one of the year so if I feel good I'll try and go fast, but keep in mind it's also my 27th marathon of the year, so I don't know how fast that will be. 

Throw Back! Bring it back now ya'll...
Reverse the Countdown!
This is my 45th marathon-state, meaning I have 6 to go including this race. What was going on around state #6!?!? I was running the 2009 Nashville Country Music Marathon! And how did that go?... It was a HOT one! And at this point I was naive enough to think you could go out hard in 80 degree weather and not break down... ha! Stupid girl. I ran a 4:17 in this race, but I was ok with that as it means I get to go BACK to TN!!! I <3 Nashville!

This time in 2009...
This time last year I was DONE with marathons for the year. It's the only month in 2009 and 2010 that I went without running a marathon. 

Meet up Info: 
Hopefully we'll be having some sort of marathon maniac gathering for a picture before the race! 
Carina I'm emailing you back today to figure out a place to meet :) 
Any other bloggers jumping on the White Rock bandwagon??? Let me know and we'll meet at the expo or start!

Happy Racing!
Stephanie
"Run to Win"-Meb

7 comments:

  1. good luck! My wife and I ran the Dallas marathon in 2007, and we really enjoyed the experience. Overall it's a pretty flat course, there is a nasty hill right around mile 20 though. Looks like they kept that hill in the new course too! If you get past that hill it should be smooth sailing to the finish. Good luck! We've been following your exploits since we ran with you at the Kansas mud-fest!

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  2. HOLY COW 50!!! You are amazing. I love all the information you offer about your races!!!

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  3. Here is the elevation...

    http://www.runtherock.com/Race-Info/Marathon/Test2.aspx

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  4. Girl, you are amazing! Good luck on #50 (state #45) - can't wait to hear how it goes. I hope you get a hat! ;-)

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  5. WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO, 50th marathon this weekend!!! You go crazy marathon girl!!!

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  6. See you tomorrow! I'm heading to the expo in about an hour.

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  7. I just found your blog, what an amazing resource for those of us with the same goal, namely, running a marathon in every state. I'm relatively new to running, and as such, have completed 3 marathons in Minnesota. However, I'll be checking your race reports to determine which out-of-state marathons I'd like to run! Happy running!

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