As happens with all of my endurance events I went to bed early but I didn't sleep well until just before the alarm sounded at 4:15 AM. I ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt so my body would have time to digest the food before the race. Only one house on the street had an outside light on so it was very dark outside when I looked out the window. It's not raining but it's 65 degrees and humid. It seems strange to apply SPF 50 sunscreen when it's dark outside but I know I'll get burned if I skip the sunscreen. I pinned my bib number to my new sleeveless shirt the night before the race and put the shirt in the car. I'll change shirts when I get to Philadelphia. I decided to wear my Injinji toe socks and my Zensah calf sleeves. I'm hoping the calf sleeves keep me from damaging my calf muscle! I'm not fully recovered from my previous injury so I need to take precautions.
The best thing about these early morning events is the lack of traffic on the highways. The race information said the roads would be closed at 6:00 AM but when I arrived at 5:30 AM the roads were already closed. I found a parking spot next to the park that was just about even with the start / finish line. I brought along my Nathan 2 bottle speed belt but I decided to just carry a water bootle in my hand. I hung out in the car reading a magazine while waiting for the race to begin. At 6:30 I walked over to the starting line.
I picked a center of the road spot in the 8 minute to 10 minute corral and then I turned on my GPS watch so it could start looking for the satellites. Some days the watch takes forever to find the satellites but today it didn't have any trouble with the satellites. The announcer said the race would start on time and the countdown clock showed we had less then one minute to go. The crowd started moving closer to the stating line but it seamed like it took forever to cross the line. Once I crossed the line I started my watch and fought for some room so I could get up to speed. I figured an 8 minute pace would be good for the first mile or two and then I could settle down into a nice 9 minute pace. The road was wide but it was still crowded. I always feel I should start in the previous corral so I don't get bottled up with the slower runners. We just started running when we came to the first water stop which just about everyone skipped.
Did I mention it was hot? I grabbed water at the rest of the water stops but I just poured it over my head to help cool me down. A lot of people dressed in costumes for the ODDyssey. There was a couple dressed as Adam and Eve in barely there flesh colored suits and the two guys dressed up as Mario and Luigi in costumes with long pants and hats. Those guys should have saved the costumes for a race in October or November when it's cooler and you want to stay warm. After running 4 miles we ran down hill to the river. I talked with some other runners about how difficult it will be to run back up the hill after 12+ miles. The road along the river was relatively flat but it seemed to take forever to get from one end to the other end. The last time I was on this road it was during the Philadelphia triathlon and I was on a bicycle. Bike riding is fun, running is hard work!
After running for 12.5 miles it was time to run back up the hill. I was very tired and already slowing down when I got to the hill. I dropped back to a 12 minute pace on the hill but as I got to the top of the hill I picked up my pace when I realized I just might finish the race under 2 hours. I sprinted as hard as I could and got in just under 2 hours! The volunteers handed me a medal, a bag of pretzels, a bottle of water and an empty pint glass. I walked straight to the beer truck and handed the guy my empty glass. He promptly filled the glass with an ice gold lager from the Sly Fox brewery. I never had such a thirst quenching drink in all my life!
