The Columbus Marathon and Half Marathon was two weeks ago on October 19. We’ve been so busy, I just did not have the time to write anything about the race.

The expo was nice, but again, the Competitive Walking booth was in a spot that was not obvious. I was looking for it, so found it easily. A couple of friends missed it. Plus, the sign said something about complaint resolution above the walker information.

It was nice that you could exchange a shirt right there at the expo! You had to pick up the size you ordered, but you could exchange it at a booth next to the packet pick up.

This year the start and finish were in the same location – in a park near the Arena District, right on the river. This made parking so much easier!

It was pretty chilly race morning. Luckily, Deb and I were able to wait in the VIP tent, which was nice and toasty, and had separate port-a-johns.

Long Street, where the race started, was quite a bit narrower than Broad and High, the old start. The corrals felt very tight! There were heaters in the grass near the corrals, with a huge group of people gathered around them. The line of participants curved around a corner, so from corral D we could see across a grassy patch to the starting line. It seemed as if participants had to enter from corral D to get to any of the corrals, but I’m not sure.

The start featured two waves with the national anthem and fireworks for both. It was great having fireworks for both starts, but it was not necessary to sing the national anthem twice. (The singer’s voice was beautiful, though!) Corrals A and B went first with a several minute break before C and D went.

There were tons of people lining the street cheering at the start and for the first mile or so! It was great! In fact, it felt as if there were more people cheering along the entire course than what there have ever been.

We were in corral D, and the race felt very tight even after we reached Broad Street at about mile 1. It was a very long time before it felt as if  the crowd had thinned enough to really move.

The course changed from previous years. There was less Bexley on the west side of Broad, we went by Children’s Hospital, and the route through the east side of Broad was less interesting. (My favorite house in Olde Towne that always has a party in the front yard was not part of the course this year.) I understand wanting to include the hospital, but some of the prettiest parts of the first half are no longer part of the race.

As usual, children who are patients of the hospital lined the streets. They are amazing and help to keep me motivated.

I started the race with Pat, and we kept up a good pace except I occasionally had to remind her to walk faster. Not sure why, but a couple of times we slowed down. We caught up to Steve in German Village, and the three of us sort of walked together for a couple of miles. We turned on to High Street, and I was surprised to see we were at mile 11 already! I felt great, and the course was just different enough I didn’t have a mental picture of where I should be and how I should feel. I tried to pick up the pace (I lost Steve and Pat), and walked hard. At about mile 12, I realized if I was going to PR I was going to have to really walk hard. I was not confident I could do it, but I walked as fast as I could possibly walk — which at the end of a half marathon, was difficult. I walked that last full mile in 12:19!

Throughout the race it seemed as if there was a line for every single port-a-john along the course! Luckily I never had to stop this year.

The finish line had changed, so we went past the Arena District to North Bank Park. My finish time was 2:52:13 – 20 seconds short of the PR I was hoping for. (Darn!) My pace ranged from 13:37 to 12:19 with my average 13:03.

The chute to exit felt very long. It took a while to find water, I had to ask for a blanket and my medal was handed to me in a plastic bag*. Pat was not far behind me, so we had our picture taken together. We went to the tent to turn in our competitive walking bib, but it was just a person standing there with a clipboard.

We were handed a bag with a bagel, chips and a granola bar. We were also handed a chocolate milk (warm), banana and maybe an orange. Again it was awful trying to leave the athlete area. Everyone was jammed into the exit area, waiting for their athletes to leave. I heard gear check was bad, too. We had arranged to meet at the family reunion area near A-C and eventually found nearly everyone.

The party area was nuts! It was very crowded. A cool thing was the PR Gong! Lots of people were in line to hit it — unfortunately, I did not PR this year.

I feel very conflicted about this race. Over the last few years, it has been one of my favorite races! Darris Blackford and his staff have done a great job making the race fun and a must do for many Ohio athletes. This year the start was too crowded, the course wasn’t as pretty, there were lines at every port-a-john, and the after party was way too crowded.

I love the half marathon shirts! The women’s shirts are bright blue and with the athletic fit, a medium is perfect. I like the medals, too. The full marathon shirts were gray, which was not pretty.

If I had never done this race before, I would not have been impressed and might not do it again. But because I know this race well, and I know the race director, I am confident the race staff will work out these issues and make it better next year.

*Note: There was an issue with the arrival of the race medals. The medals were still en route as the race started. Many fast people did not receive a medal as they finished. By the time I crossed the finish line, the medals were there, but they did not have time to unwrap them. We did not learn the whole story until later in the day.

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