Over the weekend I flew down to Virginia for my eighth marathon: the Anthem Richmond Marathon! (Also known as America's Friendliest Marathon!) I was super nervous to run this race because my training for a fall marathon was pretty bad, but it actually turned out to be a really excellent race and experience! I would highly recommend Richmond for anyone who is looking for a Virginia race because I had a great time!
I left for Richmond early in the morning on Friday. My flight out out of Boston was at 7AM so I was on the road by 4 to make my trek to Logan. I'm glad I left as early as I did because the security lines were insane and TSA seemed to be holding up folks for every possible reason. I did make it through security with about an hour before I boarded, though, which was great because time is always a huge stress factor for me! I waited in a mile-long Dunkies line for a bagel and a coffee and settled in for my long journey south.
I did have about a 2 hour layover at Laguardia on the way down, which I honestly don't mind. I really enjoy the process of traveling most of the time and I often see layovers as forced chill time XD. I spent time reading my book and relaxing a bit before grabbing my next flight to Richmond. The plane down to VA was SO TINY that we had to walk out onto the tarmac and climb up some stairs into the plan itself. I did get the exit row, though, so I was pretty pumped about my extra leg room!
I arrived in Richmond around noon and caught a Lyft to the marathon expo! My Lyft driver was super friendly and we had a great chat. He had apparently been driving a lot of runners around and we had a good chat about running as we made our way to the expo. Such a great welcome to Richmond! When I got to the expo I picked up my bib and wandered around a bit. I picked up the gels and the blocks I would be using for the race from one of the vendors, my t-shirt from the expo volunteers, and a cowbell for Erin and Estee who would be cheering me on during the race!
I was fairly hungry at that point so I walked to a restaurant called Lunch and Supper (ha!) for lunch. It was a cute little place that had a lot of sandwich options. I could tell I was in the South because EVERYTHING had bacon on it. XD I opted for a sandwich called the Jimmy K which was basically a turkey club sandwich with avocado, which I had with no bacon. It was really yummy and hit the spot!
After lunch I ventured to a nearby grocery story to pick up some snacks (even though it was POURING out) and then I took a Lyft to my AirBNB to finally relax. I took a nice hot shower which was so needed after being completely soaked through in the rain, made my flat runner, and relaxed on the couch with some Friends on Netflix. It was fairly relaxing for the rest of the day. I ordered in a pasta dinner with steamed broccoli, and accidentally passed out on the couch and stranded poor Erin outside for a couple minutes (sorry, girl!). She arrived around 10:15pm and chatted for a bit before PASSING OUT. It was a long day and we had things to do in the morning. ;)
After a fitful night's sleep for both of us, we got up to get ready for the big race! I shoved a peanut butter bagel and a ton of water down my throat for breakfast and we made our way to the starting line. We were supposed to meet up with Estee at the start, but as the entire city was shut down for the race, it was really hard for her to make her way to us, so Erin and I just decided to park and then make our way to the start!
Courtesy of Erin's InstaStory
The morning seemed to be flying by and before I knew it the race had begun! Erin walked with me for a bit in the corral as we made our way to the starting line. Unfortunately I couldn't convince her to run with me :P but it was so great to have a friendly face there with me to calm the nerves! I was underway around 7:55am and was excited to get moving because it was COLD!
For this race, I was doing the run/walk interval method. I would run for 5 minutes and walk for 1. I had my Garmin set to alert me of every interval so I really didn't have to think about it that much which was nice! A lot of folks around me in my corral were doing the same thing so I felt comforted that I wasn't the only runner taking this route. It was my first race using this method so i was little nervous about how I'd feel, but it honestly helped my race so much!
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| Crossing the first bridge over the James River around mile 7 |
The course itself was so great. There were a few rolling hills but it was fairly flat for the most part but the hills here and there really kept things interesting. There was a lot of different scenery to take in, including the James River (above), a stretch of wooded back road along the river, city portions, neighborhoods - pretty much everything! I will say that I definitely wasn't bored while running this race because there was just so much to look at.
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| This was along the back road that wound next to the river. So beautiful! |
The crowds on this course were so great! There were a few stretches where there weren't a lot of folks around, but when there were people cheering on the course they were SO INTO IT! I saw people dressed up as T-Rexes, flamingos, and event Santa Claus was there cheering the runners on. So many folks from the community (beyond the race volunteers) came out to hand out water, snacks, candy, and even booze to the runners. I know that running + booze doesn't tend to mix well for me, but there was a house that had a mimosa station and ya girl was TEMPTED. XD I also really loved the party zones and the junk food stops along the course. The crowd's energy really helped me through the tough miles and kept a smile plastered on my face!
One of my absolute favorite things about this races were the "coaches" they had out on the course. There was a whole slew of runners in bright orange singlets whose sole purpose it seemed was to keep runners amped up and excited to be running the race. So many of them were wearing silly hats and costumes, were cheering the whole 26.2 miles, were giving high fives, and running with people to keep them motivated through the tough miles. I honestly think this is the reason the race has earned the title of "America's Friendliest Marathon". It seemed like their main priorities was to see you smile and to see you cross the finish line and I absolutely love that. I wish they were at every marathon! :D
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| Crossing the second bridge with the view of the Richmond skyline around mile 16 |
The only issue that I had this race is a big bout of nausea that hit me from mile 16 to mile 21. The above photo is right before it really hit me. That was not fun. Running on a wonky stomach is never fun because you can't really do anything about it except hope for it to pass. Luckily it did around mile 21 so I cranked up my tunes and kept pushing! Originally Erin and Estee were going to try to meet me at mile 17 but I ended up seeing their text too late too let them know where I was at in the race, but I was ultimately happy that they missed me then because I felt AWFUL! D:
We did manage to arrange to meet at mile 24, though, and it was so great to see them! They were hanging out with a large group of people who were blasting music and dancing and it was just such a fun corner to finally see them and especially at that point of the race, that boost of energy was exactly what I wanted to push through the final two miles! I saw them again at mile 26 which was also so great! I'm honestly so impressed that they were able to get there so quickly XD but it was great to see them at the very end of the race.
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| Crossing the finish at top speed! |
Mile 26 to the finish is 100% DOWN HILL and the hill is honestly no joke. I honestly think I probably would have slipped and fallen if it had been raining XD But it was a welcome end to the race. I'm pretty sure I just let my body go as fast as it wanted all the way across the finish line. You know, solid running technique. XD
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| Finish line selfie! |
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| Rocking all my finisher swag! |
I was honestly so surprised that I did not have any leg pain this entire race. Usually my legs cramp up in the later miles or my hips or ankles give me serious grief. That wasn't the case this time around, which I really attribute to the run/walk method. I was super happy with how good my body felt through the whole race (minus the nausea) and I will definitely continue doing the run/walk method for future races! It wasn't until I stopped running and was walking to our grassy area to sit that all the pain and cramping came crashing down on me. XD
The only downfall of a downhill finish is that you have to walk all the way back up the hill to get back to your cars! D: So after about 15-20 minutes of hanging out on the grass/getting food from the finishers tent (pizzaaaaa) we made our way (verrrryyyy slowly) up the hill to head to Secret Sandwich Society for lunch! My stomach was still feeling kind of blah so I just ordered the butternut squash soup and some french fries and honestly it hit the spot! It's always good to have a nice warm meal after spending the majority of the day in some cool, breezy weather.
We headed back to our AirBNB to relax for a couple hours post-marathon before venturing out for ice cream and to meet up with Estee's sister. We also made a stop at a local brewery for Erin to pick up a couple bottles for Cullen (she's such a great wife!). We were all so pooped by the end of the day, though, and had to be out the door by 4AM to catch flights and head home, so we decided to call it a night fairly early. It was honestly so much fun wandering around Richmond with them, even if it was only for a little while!
Overall I had a really wonderful experience running Richmond for my Virginia Marathon. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I was really nervous about toeing the line at another 26.2 but I think this was the perfect marathon to take on this goal once again. I felt so welcomed and encouraged by the community and the runners of this race and I loved that I was able to run with a smile on my face for the majority of the race! I would highly recommend choosing this race if you're looking to run in Virginia. The event was incredible, the people of Richmond were amazing to the runners, the weather was gorgeous, and I honestly have no complaints! :)
OH, and for those curious about my times:
