Race Reports

I ran the St. Jude?s Children Hospital Memphis Marathon on Saturday, 5 December 2015 in a chip time of 4:31:26. They did not record my clock time, which would have been about 4:47. I was 1086th of 2,512 runners, 719th of 1,359 men, and 21st of 43 men aged 60 to 64. For once my start was rather slow as there was a lot of congestion. This surprised me as there were only about 11,000 runners (full, half, relay) at any one time. However, it was really hard to find running room until the full/half split at mile 11. I received some interval splits via scanned barcode after the race and my fastest splits were in the middle of the marathon. The weather did cooperate as the temperatures were cool, maybe 40 at the start, just short of 60 by the end. The race featured hydration stations at mile 1.5 and then every mile beginning at mile 3, so dehydration was not a concern of mine. For the fourth straight marathon the finish was at or in the local minor league ballpark. Memphians really support the hospital and races, and this marathon featured the most spectators I have ever seen. The bands which played were better as a group than the bands I have seen at any of my four Rock n Roll marathons. The only downside was the long beer line after the race. Nonetheless I am really glad I ran this marathon.