Marathon Training = About the Race

     The first thing for me to consider for my first marathon was which race to run.  I wanted to keep it fairly local just for the fact that I wanted to limit as much stress as possible.  I felt like if I had to figure out logistics in an unfamiliar city that just might add to an already stressful day.  At first I thought about the Glass City Marathon here in my home town, but it is a spring race and I didn’t really want to do all this training for the first time in the middle of winter, which this year turned out to be a great idea!  I chose a fall race so I had a better chance of getting the time off from work and the chances of it being extremely hot or cold on race day is a lot less in October than say a mid summer race.  After talking with a friend of mine about her first marathon experience in Columbus, I felt like it was the best choice for what I was looking for.  The course is mostly flat, its in mid October, I have friends that live there so I am somewhat familiar with the city and members from my running club will be there running as well.

To provide you all with some background info on the race I visited their website and here are a few facts I came across:

-  This year is the 35th anniversary of the race

- Roughly 18,000 athletes participate each year

- 100+ bands and entertainers perform while adding extra cheer.

- A 27-member organizing team and 11-member board of directors putting in more than 10,000 hours of planning.

- More than 60,000 people attend the Health & Fitness Expo each year.

- 100,000-plus spectators cheering on athletes along the race course.

The Supplies

- 250,000 White Castle cups of water, plus 250,000 cups of Lemon-Lime Gatorade (approximately 11,600 gallons) to keep thirsty athletes hydrated.

- 18,000 servings each of granola bars, pretzels, chips, yogurt, bananas and chocolate milk to replenish the race finishers.

- 550 portable bathrooms for relief.

- 24,000 Clif Shot energy gels to refuel (chocolate, raspberry and citrus flavored!)

- 96 portable generators to power the music on the course.

The Course

- 10,000 feet of fencing (nearly 2 miles) along various parts of the course.

- 201,600 watt sound system revving up runners at the Start Line and bringing them across the Finish Line.

- 27 permits throughout five different police jurisdictions allowing us to close down 26.2 miles of Columbus-area roads.

Here is the course map from 2013 as a 2014 map is not yet available 

Here are a few pictures I though I would share from their Facebook page

     By the looks of it, the race is well organized with an established history and should play host to many of first time marathoners like myself.  I am excited to begin this journey and with lots of time, training, effort and a little luck I will be able to cross the finish line and join the brothers and sisters who call themselves Marathoners.

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header