2021 Brunswick Marathon

Here's the story of my 2021 Brunswick Marathon, hazard by hazard.

Hazard 1 - Cops: Curfew ends at 5:00 AM, yet I want to start earlier than that. Even though it’s unlikely that cops would bother with busting a runner, I thought they might want to question a guy pulling in and parking his car in an otherwise empty lot near Panera (which is also adjacent to Panini’s bar) this early on New Year’s Day morning. Therefore there was a change in plans. Instead of parking there, I jogged a mile from home, over to the course, where I deposited my blue bag of water, making that spot on Jefferson Street my aid station. In retrospect, I probably should have worried more about cops pulling me over for wearing tights like these. It turned out that I did see some cops on foot near the high school. (“Watch out for the ice,” they said. “Okay, thanks,” I replied.) Other cops were driving around, but there wasn't much in the way of other traffic.

Hazard 2 - Drunks: I was conscious and aware that any drivers who aren’t cops that are out so early on New Year’s Day are likely to be drunk from the night before. And so when a car went by slowly, honking and with someone yelling loudly out the window at me (this was on 303, just after I’d crossed over), I thought they were probably just out from the night before. Later, when I stopped and talked with Andy and Michelle Wolff, they asked if I saw them go by, yelling and screaming at me. So it wasn’t drunk people after all. At least, I don’t think they were in such a state just before their own run.

Hazard 3 – Other Runners: I reversed course for every one of my four 6.55-mile loops, and I managed to spot Andy and Michelle going the opposite direction several times. I also saw Larry Orwin and Pete Kostelnick a couple of times. There may have been others.

Hazard 4 – Goose Poopsicles: The road in the back of the high school was not icy this year. Except for the frozen goose turdsicles. The stuff was prolific for a third of a mile or so, and it made the dance to avoid them kind of fun. Kind of. I didn’t see all that many geese during the run, but there were deer galore. Most were around Brunswick Lake.

Hazard 5 – Ice: The weather wasn’t too bad (upper 20s), and by starting so early, I managed to beat the freezing rain that started around 10:00 AM. Although there were a couple of icy spots, most of the course was dry. Except for Hopkins Park. It was especially unsafe for that half-mile.

Hazard 6 – Slowness: This, of course, is the worst hazard of all. I started and finished slowly, but I also ran slowly during the middle of the run. It turned out that my 6.55-mile loop times were fairly consistent, but not in a good way. I think my time (4:55) is probably a personal worst. Never mind that my aid station and necessity stops probably account for thirty or so minutes of that. Even so, I’m not entirely unhappy with the run. And the best part, as they say, is that it’s over.

Returning home with my blue aid-station bag of water, after the cool-down jog from the course.
Thankfully, I wasn't pulled over by the cops for wearing tights like these. 

Day 61: Half-Way Through 2020 and Half-Way Through GVRAT

Danny Boy starts his Tuesday morning run at a slow, easy pace. And then he slows down some more. And then some more. And by the way, it isn’t all that easy, anyway. Oh, okay. He’ll grudgingly admit that some of the middle miles, whilst doing laps around Brunswick Lake, aren’t all that awful. It’s only the beginning and the end that are ugly. And much of the middle. At least it’s ten. Again.

Since it’s June 30, it’s time to add up Danny Boy’s mileage for the first half of 2020. Danny Boy loves numbers, and has been heard to say, Data is my life. So please excuse all the detail, but he will be having fun with this. He suggests you don’t take any of it too seriously.

...

All of these figures include walking miles for the months of May and June. Prior to that, I did not include walking. How much was walking and how much was running? Read on.

• Mileage January 1, 2020 through June 30, 2020: 1,879.81 (possibly the most ever for any six-month period).
• Average pace for those 1,879.81 miles: 5.4 MPH or 11:07 minutes per mile (close to the slowest ever for any six-month period).
• Included in the above totals are three marathons (one of them virtual) with times of 4:37, 3:59, and 4:15 (not outstanding, but the 3:59 is okay). Also included are a small handful of other races, that all went about as expected.
• May and June's mileage also counts as part of the Great Virtual Run Across Tennessee. I’ve crossed from West to East, and now I’m headed back to my car. GVRAT caused the inclusion of walking mileage and also a general running mileage increase. Total miles for these two months are: 394.34 for May and 400.34 for June (794.68 altogether).
• GVRAT continues throughout July and August, and I now have only about 473 miles to go. Let’s just hope the creek don’t rise.
• Of those May and June miles, 94.68 were designated as walking miles. Thus, the total running mileage for these two months is close to 700. This means that I’d be ahead of schedule for finishing GVRAT in both directions even without including the walking. But I’m going to keep including it for now, and then later determine whether to continue to include it.

And here's some more date. Enjoy!