Wilmington, NC
April 17, 2021
4:42:55 257/332 Overall 2/2 in 70+
I ran the Wilmington NC Marathon in 4:43:17 (4:42:55 on my Garmin), my post heart surgery PR by over 5 minutes and got 2d in my age group. It was marathon #171 and the 33rd state that I’ve done at least twice. The course was mostly flat with a few steep hills that you had to run up twice since it was two 13.1 loops. The race started at 6am in the dark (my wave was 6:10) and it was great running weather with 55 at the start, 64 at the end, but overcast and just a bit of cooling wind. I increased my running intervals and decreased by walking ones to see how it would go. I went from 4/1 to 5/.30seconds and felt good getting a lot of miles in the 10:30 and under range. My watch had me at 10:41 overall average. Thanks to Jodi who keeps me going with the early morning training and motivation. I missed having her on the trip, but this was going to be a full week trip.
After an ice bath and burger &
fries at 5 guys, I did the walking tour of a battleship from WWII, the North
Carolina. Way more walking including going up & down a lot of ladders than
I expected. Maybe not the brightest thing to do after a marathon. Lol But I saw
and learned a lot and took some pretty interesting photos. After the tour I was
looking forward to a Blizzard. I went to a Dairy Queen, but it was closed. Fortunately,
they had another one in town, so I was saved!
Since the race started at 6AM, it
was 3AM in CA and I had had to get up at 1:30 CA time. I got a good night’s
sleep Sunday night. The next morning I headed to Roxboro, NC which is near
Raleigh/Durham and not far from the Virginia border. On the way there I stopped
at Duke University and saw fabled Cameron Arena where the Blue Devils play basketball,
saw their football stadium and even saw a women’s tennis team match in
progress.
I went to Roxboro to see Randy and
Linda Pugh who I went to Calistoga High School with over 50 years ago. Randy
and I played golf together whenever I was in Calistoga over the years. After
Randy retired a few years ago, they moved to NC to be near their daughters and
their families. It was great to spend time with them and catch-up and see where
they live. Randy and I played golf at 3 different courses and had fun competing
against each as we’ve done for so many years. One afternoon Linda took me to
see Berry Hill in Virginia which is an old southern mansion and plantation. She
also showed me Tunnel Creek Vineyards where her son-in-law works. It was a
great time with them and a great week in North Carolina.
This was Marathon #171; 33 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian
provinces.
Marathon
photos: VIEW PHOTOS
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mentioned in the write-up.
