This was the 9
th annual Ogden Marathon. Besides the marathon, this race includes a marathon relay, half marathon, 5K, and
KidsK. I ran the half this year. I also put a niece and a nephew in the
KidsK. This was both my first half ever and my first full marathon. So far it remains my favorite race because of a beautiful course and the dedication of the organizers.
The Start:
The race starts at Eden Park, up Ogden canyon on the North side of Pineview Reservoir. The main road in and out of the Huntsville Valley is closed for the race so there are shuttles for all of the race starting locations. All shuttles leave at 5:00 AM. All races start at 7:00 AM.
Some people find this a bit early to wait around 1 1/2 hours at the half start and will drive up there using an alternate route. I've never done this because it's too much of a hassle to have to wait until the canyon is reopened hours later and get a ride up to get my car.
The worst part of the race is waiting at the start line. It was in the 40's Saturday morning. Way too warm for spandex. This makes it tricky planning your attire because you need to be much warmer at the top than at the bottom. It was in the 70's in Ogden City when I finished. That's a 30 degree difference. While not comfortable to wait in for over an hour, you can complain or just have fun with it. Many people buy thrift store sweats that you can just throw away right before the start. They have the regular drop off bags for stuff you want back an huge bins for donated clothes you're tossing.
To help remedy the cold, they also have fire pits at the starting lines. If you're not up first, you won't get a prime spot next to a fire. I just squeeze my way into the middle of a couple of pits and suck up the residual warmth from the multiple fires and hundreds of bodies. It blocks the wind too.
This year someone stole half the TP from the porta potties at the half start. Not cool. Not cool at all. The organizers had a guy running for the store and brought some up as fast as they could but not before they got a lot of complaints. To whoever stole the TP, shame on you. It really irks me that the GOAL foundation goes to so much hard work to have some stupid punks even cause this kind of a problem. These people work too hard to have to run around buying TP at 5:00 in the morning. A couple of years ago they had some other vandals push porta potties over and steal water. If anyone does know who did this, please turn them in. I promise not to put a mob of angry runners together and dunk them in the porta potty if they get caught. All I want is a sincere apology to the race organizers.
Half Course:
The first mile is relatively flat. Then you hit the only major hill on the course. It's about 1/2 mile long and fairly gradual. Then it's about 3 slightly rolling but mostly flat scenic miles of lakeside and mountain views to the
Pineview Dam. At the dam it's 5 miles of downhill. The first part and near the end are quite steep. Some people find their quads tighten up on this section. If you're tightening up, just pull over and stretch it out for a bit. The last about 4 miles is a pretty flat section along the Ogden River Parkway with the last mile going along Grant Avenue to the finish line.
I took the first two miles nice and easy. I find on courses that start with a downhill, I push too hard at the beginning. Since I knew a hill was coming, I didn't push very hard. The hill was a lot easier than I remembered. Of course I've been training for the Wasatch Back Relay and that has up mountain routes, so maybe I'm just better trained for the hills. I picked up my pace a bit on the section to the dam. Through the canyon I just let myself go and cruised through there. There are a few short spots that feel like they go up just a bit and I pushed to keep my pace on those too.
As soon as I got out of the Canyon I realized I was close to the 2 hour mark so I kept pushing the final miles. My previous PR was about 2:08 on the Provo River 1/2 and I performed terribly on the Moab 1/2 this year so I was pretty excited about this improvement. I think I got a bit of an adrenaline burst from that which help me push through to the end.
I called my parents on the final block of the race which is the final chute to the finish line. A bunch of people on the side were laughing and pointing cause I was on the phone. I wasn't conversing, I just mostly just breathing heavy. My dad has never been able to come to any of my races because of health problems. He was actually in the middle of a dialysis treatment at the time. It meant a lot to me to have him there even if it was just on the phone.
Pros/Cons
Cons
Very cold at the race start (can't control the weather)
Very early shuttle times (logistically this is necessary to start by 7:00 and get done before it gets hot)
A lot of downhill (not for some people's knees or hips)
Pros
Beautiful route (if you like lakes, snow capped mountains, rumbling rivers, towering waterfalls, parks, etc.)
Race is put on by a group of volunteers who genuinely care about the runners have the best experience possible
Well organized (see previous pro)
A lot of downhill (I do very well downhill, no knee problems ever on this race, so I love it)
Dedicated sponsors (not just monetarily, a lot of the sponsors have people involved in putting on the race)
My results
I had originally signed up for the 5K because the half and the full filled up so quickly this year (it's become a very popular race). I volunteered at the race expo on Friday and ran into an elementary school friend. Her sister's husband was signed up with them for the half but he got called into active duty that week. I took his bib and timing chip and ran in his place.
I got the 5k & the half chips confused, so I ended up wearing them both. Worst 5k time ever, best half. :) My final chip time was 2:01:35. Broke my previous PR by 7 minutes. I placed 753rd out of 1974 that completed (about 2,200 registered, what happened the other 200?) This is the first time I have been in the top half. I'm usually near the middle but just into the 2
nd half. Needless to say, I am very happy with my results.
KidsK
The KidsK runs from 18th street to the finish line along Grant Avenue. It's the last mile of the race. It starts at 12:30 so most of the runners have finished by then.
Sadly only my niece was able to run it. The nephew took a fall almost in front of the starting line. His sunglasses gave him a one inch gouge on his forehead which required 5 stitches. Poor little fellow. The two kids had been talking about the race for the past two weeks. It broke my heart to see him get hurt. I felt totally responsible too since I registered him.
A giant thank you to the runners who stopped (after 5 1/2 hours of running, within sight of the finish) and tried to help out. One runner stayed with my mom & nephew for almost ten minutes until they got an ambulance there. Runners are good people.
About 15 minutes to start we saw my brother-in-law walking back with the niece. He told us what happened. She still wanted to do the race, so I threw her on my back and tried to trot back to the starting line as fast as I could at that point (not that fast). Daddy took son (who wanted his mommy) and my mom & I took the niece to the start (sans sunglasses as this point).
There were a few hundred kids in the KidsK. The purpose is to raise interest in recreation and fitness in kids and to raise money to enter kids who can't afford to participate. Also, they support fitness programs in schools around the county. All causes I approve of.
The niece was a bit wary at the first where everyone was crowded cause she's 3 and that's a lot of people. She had a blast though. She kept saying, "we're winning, we're winning." She'd sprint a bit and get tired. That's how the little ones seemed to all be doing it. We had to carry her for a couple of the blocks. We put her down the last two blocks though.
The kids all got finisher's cowbells. They gave us one for the nephew even though he didn't even get to start. The point is to get kids excited for fitness not emotionally or physically scare them for life. They had treats too--apples and carmel dip, bananas, chocolate milk, cookies, water, etc. I think McDonald's supplied all the kids' treats.
The nephew was doing fine after the stitches. Both kids can't wait to do another race.