Pennsylvania (Erie Marathon) 9/12/10

After last weeks Quad Buster in Idaho I was looking forward to this race as it is a very flat course. It is run at Presque Isle State Park which offers lots of shade, very little traffic, great views with water on both sides and a nice breeze coming off Lake Erie. The temps at the start of the race were around 60 and never really changed during the race. It was raining at the start but that stopped about an hour into it and the rest of the day remained cloudy. It was a double loop course that had the most aid stations I have ever seen in a marathon. There was one every mile, so for every loop there were 13. My goal for this race was a 3:45 but I fell a little short. The first loop went well and I was on pace for a 3:40 but during the 2nd loop I started having problems with a few muscles getting tight. With the aggressive schedule that I have I decided to back it down and not risk an injury. I would rather lose a little time on 1 marathon and still be able to maintain the schedule. Overall this turned out to be a great day and another great small race. It was the 37th running and it is put on by a local running club with just under 500 finishers. Entry fee was just 40 bucks and you got a long sleeve shirt, hat, and the medal was made out of ceramic. Anyone looking for a race to try and BQ, this one could be that course as long as the weather cooperates. Next up is New York which will be held upstate in the wine country. After reading all the reviews this promises to be another good one. Until then hope everyone is having fun with whatever they are doing.