Grandfather Mountain Marathon race report

With thousands of spectators cheering, along with the sound of bagpipes, at the finish of the Grandfather Mountain Marathon (GMM), I had to look good for that final lap around the track! So what if most of the spectators were there, at McRae Meadows, not for us marathoners but for the ongoing Highland Games (2nd largest in the world)! :) That finish was still the best part of a marathon that didn't disappoint, both in the sense of the advertised "One of America's Toughest Marathons" and of a race well run (in both senses of that word).

The GMM is a relatively small one, capped at 500 entrants. It has been run for over 40 years. The race begins in Boone, NC, on the track of the Kidd Brewer Stadium of Appalachian State University (ASU) (see photo), at 3,333 ft. After two laps around the track, the course heads out of the stadium, goes along the southern edge of Boone for couple miles, and then begins the long winding climb through the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains up to Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC, at 4,279 ft. (see photo for course profile). It was, by far, the toughest marathon I've run to date. There were downhill stretches, but those uphills were unrelenting! The weather largely cooperated; it was overcast, breezy, in the 50s at the start and 70s at the finish, although the humidity was ~100%.



Because of GMM's advertised toughness, and because I didn't know quite what to expect (other than running up a mountain!), my race plan was pretty conservative. Don't go out too fast. Check. I began at 10:00/mi and kept reminding myself that the race doesn't start until Mile 20. Stop at every water/Gatorade stop (every 2-3 mi). Check. Take Gu (on the run) just before stops around Miles 8, 13, 19, and 23, followed by water at those stops. Check. So, every stop, including those with Gu, took no more than 30 sec. Keep a steady pace. Ur, well, didn't quite do that! But, it was steady in the sense that I didn't do what

some at around my pace did, which was to alternate between running and walking. My main race goal was to not to have to walk. So, for most of the race, those runners and I kept passing each other. Basically, an episodic jack rabbit vs. continuing tortoise strategy. :) I think we all pretty much finished at about the same time. There were two times when I momentarily panicked. At around Mile 19, I felt a tightening in my lower left calf. Except for the Blue Ridge Parkway section, many of the roads the course was on had fairly high center crowns. As we were running on the left side, facing the traffic, the left leg was affected more. That's my theory. Anyway, I slowed down a bit, moved to the center of the road, and the tightness went away. Also, for the last 10K, something was sloshing around in the stomach. Fortunately, that was all that was. :)

The reason I really wanted to run the race for the entire length was that, for the three previous marathons (MCM, Baltimore, Rock 'n' Roll USA), I had to do a lot of walking for the last 10K, even though Rock 'n' Roll (most recent one) was a 23-min improvement. For MCM in 2011, I had to almost literally crawl across the finish line. That I didn't want to do--I had to look good! :) There were three sections of the course where I did walk, because the uphill was such that running was not that much faster than a fast walk. Those were the 14+ min miles in the pace chart. But, the important thing, for me, was that I could have run those sections. So, this is why, although my finish time of 5:10 was, as my son termed it, my PW (personal worst), I feel this was my best run marathon; I followed my race plan, and I felt in control the entire way.

GMM was also a well-run race. Efficient packet pickup. Clearly marked course. Friendly volunteers at each of the water/Gatorade stops. Those stops were welcomed oases, especially towards the finish, even though I spent just a few seconds at each. Plentiful parking at the ASU stadium, for the start as well as packet pickup. And, of course, the coordination with the Highland Games. I particularly appreciated the ASU dorm option for the lodging (single room w/ BA plus shared kitchen), which was only about a mile from the stadium and cheaper than motels in Boone. My only complaint was the long wait for the shuttle bus to go back to Boone. The shuttle was for the Highland Games and not specifically for GMM. But, at $5 per ride, which included the entrance fee to the Games, this is a minor complaint. Some of the runners stayed on to watch the Games. I couldn't because I needed to get back to the dorm to clean up and get on the road.

This was a race of opportunity, i.e., I was in the general area (Chapel Hill) for a work-related conference, and this race in Boone was a reasonably close 3-hour drive away one day after the conference ended. I'm really glad I found this race. It was a great experience, and I had fun running it. Because I ran it conservatively, I probably didn't use everything up by the end. Now that I know the course, I can recalibrate the next time. I would go back to GMM just for the race.