ING Georgia Marathon

Summary: Thrills, Chills, and Hills

The ING Georgia Marathon was held on Sunday, March 30, 2008, just three weeks after a tornado hit the start/finish line area around Centennial Olympic Park. The fact that this race was still able to occur, despite the tornado damage in downtown Atlanta, is a testament to the organizers: they made the necessary adjustments to ensure the race could happen.

The Thrills: the people who came out to cheer us on, especially: the Agnes Scott College women, the Dekalb Police Department, and the Peachtree Tri Club (including my wife, Sarah) at the last, desolate mile.

The Chills: This year, the weather was cold, cloudy, and breezy. There was rain early, around 5:30 am, but it stopped (thank goodness). The temperature was in the 40s. This was the opposite extreme from last year, where it was sunny, and the temperature soared into the 80s.

The Hills: with the changes in the course, I think this year's race was hillier than last year. The course consisted of continuous, rolling hills, with a break in the middle. However, I won't harp on that: I covered most of the course on my training runs, and I knew what I was getting into.

18+ Miles

Today culminated week 12 (counting backwards) of my ING Georgia Marathon training plan. I ran 18 miles this morning, through Buckhead, Midtown, and Downtown Atlanta. It was a beautiful day for a run: sunny and cool, but not overly cold.

The Tourist Encounter

15 miles into my run, I was in Centennial Olympic Park, when two British tourists stopped me and asked me if I knew of anything interesting to do around Downtown. They didn't have a car, so they were bound to walking and maybe transit. I felt bad: I did not have much to recommend to them. Other than the aquarium and the World of Coke, I could think of very little else within walking distance of Centennial Olympic Park that would be interesting for them. (Later I did realize I could have recommended the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, though it would have been a bit of a hike from there.) They also asked about any independent restaurants around Downtown, noting (correctly) that the area was dominated by chain restaurants. I could think of a few (Dailey's, Stats, and Pittypat's Porch), but that was it. I recommended that they take the train to Midtown where they'd have more independent options, but they showed me their tourist map, and the north part of the map cut off at North Avenue! Midtown was not even on their map.

It's pretty sad that Downtown Atlanta has so little to offer tourists. It has improved over the last few years, especially near Centennial Olympic Park, but it has a long way to go.

The best long run ever!

Yesterday culminated week 14 of my ING 2008 training plan (counting backwards--next week is week 13, and the week leading up to the marathon is week 1). I ran a little over 17 miles for my Saturday long run. It was probably one of the best long runs I have ever had: I remained strong throughout the entire run, and I didn't feel the need to collapse at the end like I usually do. The only major difference this week is that I have been on vacation and have been getting plenty of sleep. It reminds me that I need to make sleep a priority when things get hectic again.

Something I don't get...

Between miles 9 and 10 of my run yesterday, as I started crossing North Highland, a car pulled up to the intersection and stopped for the red light in front of the crosswalk. There were three people in the car, all probably in their early 20s. The driver was a young man with a round face--clearly overweight. He rolled down his window, looked directly at me, and started laughing, loud and long, while I crossed in front of his car. It was a fake, belabored laugh--perhaps what you would get if you mixed a department store Santa's "Ho Ho Ho" with the laugh of a villain in a cheesy superhero flick.

I was dumbfounded: why would anyone even bother? Here I was, one of several anonymous runners out for a Saturday run, and this guy took the time to roll down his window, look directly at me, open his fat face, and let out a fake belly laugh! Was he trying to impress his companions in the car? If so, they didn't look impressed.

The only reasonable explanation I can think of is that this guy, being overweight and presumably unhealthy, warped, and miserable, believed he would find salvation in putting down healthy people and their healthy lifestyles. It's sad to think about it. It makes me feel sorry for him.

Of course, at the time, my reaction to him was far from sympathetic. At first, I was surprised, not knowing what to make of this strange, bloated creature cackling at me, so I continued running past the front of his car. But then, I got angry. I turned around and walked back toward his car, yelling, "Do you find something funny? Huh?" But a few seconds later, the light changed, and the coward sped away as fast as his little car could carry his oversized body.

But now, I do feel sorry for him, even though I'm still angry too. Surely, to anyone who witnessed the incident, this guy looked like an idiot. I hope that he will eventually mature and see his unhealthy ways as a threat to his life and happiness. Maybe someday, instead of taking his misery and anger out on healthy people, will use that energy toward making himself healthy and happy.

But who am I to judge?

My faith calls me to love my neighbor, and it further reminds me that everyone is my neighbor. But it is not easy when my neighbors include an occasional miscreant like this guy. Incidents like these remind me that I am far from perfect myself. It would be easy to dismiss this incident as another day, another idiot. But instead, it gives me something more to pray about: not for fewer idiots in the world, but for me to have sympathy for all those who are broken, just like me. This guy showed his brokenness by taunting me, and I showed mine by yelling at him.

A few weeks ago I started training for the 2008 ING Georgia Marathon, which will take place on March 30. On their website, they have posted the new route, which is similar to the 2007 route, but has a few changes, especially in Midtown and Downtown Atlanta. In my training so far, I've run some of the new sections. I list my thoughts on the changes below.

• The start/finish area is moved to Centennial Olympic Park instead of Five Points. I think this will be better: runners and spectators will be able to spread out more. Also, the area around the park has experienced a lot of growth in the last few years, with the aquarium, the new World of Coca Cola, and improvements on Marietta Street.
• The starting line is on Marietta St. between Andrew Young International Blvd. and Centennial Olympic Park Dr. (or for you old timers, between International and Techwood -- why does Atlanta insist on renaming streets to ridiculously-long names?). The course heads southeast on Marietta, turns east on Edgewood, turns north on Piedmont, and then turns east on Baker.
• From Piedmont & Baker, the course looks the same as 2007 until you get close to the Virginia-Highland neighborhood (mile 20-ish?). That means that they have left things in that I wish they would change, namely, all the switchbacks in Druid Hills! I wish instead that they would have extended the course further east, maybe into Avondale Estates. They also kept the out-and-back portion on Freedom Parkway, which many of my friends hated last year. That part did not bother me so much, and I understand why they are keeping it: it's a convenient place to set up aid stations, bleachers, stages, or anything else.
• After Freedom Parkway, the course turns east on North Ave. instead of Ponce de Leon, and then turns north on Highland. That may make it a little easier--at least, there are fewer turns in that section of the course compared to last year. The course continues on the same route as 2007 through Virginia-Highland to Piedmont Park.
• After exiting Piedmont Park on 10th Street, the course turns south on Juniper Street instead of going north on Piedmont. I will not miss last year's hill up Piedmont and continuing up 14th Street.
• Peachtree Street is no longer part of the course (other than to cross it). The only thing I will miss about that is running by the Fox Theatre: it made a great photograph!
• The Georgia Tech campus is now part of the route. From Juniper, the course turns west on 5th Street, going through Technology Square, across the interstate on the new 5th Street bridge/park, turning south on Techwood past the stadium, turning west on North Ave., then north/west on Tech Parkway, to Means St., and back to Marietta Street southbound, which will be roughly the 25 mile marker. It's nice that Tech is added to the course, but I've run this section a few times on my training runs: starting at Techwood, the course is basically a long, gradual, uphill climb, all the way to Means St. This is roughly 1 mile of almost continuous uphill climbing, and what makes it worse is that it is in the 24-25th mile of the course.
• The finish line is on Baker Street, just west of Marietta Street. From Means Street, the course heads south on Marietta Street, turning left on Baker Street to the finish. This final mile of the course is mostly flat (for Atlanta), with the last few hundred yards to the finish line actually downhill.

Overall, even with the changes or lack of them, this is still a great course, and I am looking forward to the race. I really enjoyed running it last year, despite the inaugural difficulties with water stations (which will be corrected, according to Jenny Schmitt, public relations coordinator for this year's race). In my training, I intend to run through the Georgia Tech portion of the course as many times as possible so that I can be prepared for it. My 15-mile run last Saturday included it, as will my 17-mile run tomorrow.