Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon

"He who would leap high must take a long run"
-Danish Proverb

UPDATE! I did it! Rode across the USA on a bicycle! Check out my journal of the adventure here at: Three Spokes and a Mirror

The inaugural running of Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon took place on Saturday December 3, 2005. What a day it was! Starting temperatures hovered around 40 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. Pretty good conditions considering we had mostly cloudy skies all day with a 5 mph wind out of the South. Cold front and rain moved in by late afternoon.

Our local running store- Run For Your Life- resurrected the Charlotte Marathon this year. Previously, the Charlotte Observer was the main sponsor but dropped the race after an embezzlement scandal hit several years ago. While there were over 700 registered for the marathon at packet pick-up on Friday the official race taly indicates there were 686 finishers.

This course was much different than past years. The route had 50 turns! Sounds like an Indy race instead of a stock car race huh? The new course resulted in over 370 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers to man the intersections and keep the runners safe. Heck, even the Chief of Police came out and manned an intersection. How 'bout that for hands on leadership? I'm proud of the local police force and heard many runners give similar compliments.

Now, as far as the course, the first half was rather hilly and traced through familiar running routes including the SouthPark and Dilworth areas. Fabulous homes and beautiful tree lined streets. I was surprised to see my time was 1:57 at mile 13. Smokin' for me. I try to remember to keep a good steady pace since I don't want to repeat the big drop off I had at Marine Corp Marathon on October 30. We'll see how it goes.

As we crossed the halfway point we wander around the Bank of America Stadium before heading North to the North Davidson or "NoDa" section of town. This area has seen new development and quickly became Charlotte's art and cultural section. If you've followed previous posts, you'll know this is were my favorite live music venue is- the Neighborhood Theatre. Spectators were sparse in NoDa except for the concentration of fans at the turn at 35th Street. Music and noise abound! Thanks!

The course now heads toward the Plaza/Midwood area. Funny, I flash back to my childhood as I run here. You see I used to live on Belvedere Ave. This area has revitalized as well. Lots of young professionals moving there and driving the real estate market up. It's not unusual for homes to be priced in the $3-400,000 range. The course snakes through the neigborhood and eventually onto Hawthorne Lane. There is a killer hill along this part of the course but the last hill before the finish.

I'm feeling pretty good and check out my time on the many time clocks on the course. I'm amazed at my pace. By all calculations I'll PR if I can keep it up. The last part of the course provides a fantastic view of the Charlotte skyline. It's all but over now. I turn onto the 2nd street and spot the finish line. I hear our "scream team" president- Wendy- yelling for me and I make it across the line at 4:20. WOOHOO!!! A PR for me.

Depicted above is the Thunder Road medal and picture of friend Ricky Scott from Virginia (L) and me just before the start.

Later,

Marc