Here's the pace chart for Shamrock, along with that for Rock 'n' Roll USA 2013 and Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) 2013, with race times of, respectively, 4:20, 4:22, and 4:24. I ran MCM conservatively, because it was three weeks after I'd run the Wineglass Marathon in early October 2013. MCM was my only generally negative split marathon, but it was at a relatively slow pace.
These charts, along with my not achieving those more than "minimal" goals at Shamrock, are instructive. The main observation is that I ran Shamrock similarly to how I ran RNR, but with a more even pace over the first 21 miles. In fact, if I were to eyeball a smooth curve through the RNR plot, I'd end up with something close to the Shamrock plot, which is quite interesting. The other observation is that the slow-down after Mile 21 came 2-3 miles later into the race. I attribute the latter improvement to the changes I'd made to my training, especially to the long runs, after Wineglass. So, in my current (shortened) training cycle for an end-of-May marathon, I'm extending those changes--basically longer and faster. I'll come back to this, in a later post-race analysis.
Shamrock weekend had three races (marathon, half, and 8K), well organized by J&A Racing. Porta potties seemed to be plenty; though, with the marathon start line less than two blocks away from my hotel and the finish line located just behind the hotel, I didn't need to use the potties at all. Here's the view from my hotel balcony of the finish line (for all 3 races), on the "boardwalk" (actually concrete) along the beach. The leading finishers of the Saturday morning 8K can be seen (just over 23:00!). There were some porta potties located
on the beach, off the "boardwalk," which meant runners had to walk on sand to get to the potties. J&A should have provided some temporary "board walk" access. There were plenty of water/gatorade stops, every couple miles; Gu at two stops; plus another stop with bananas and pretzels, at around Mile 23. The course was fairly scenic. The boardwalk section was quite windy, though someone said 2013 was even windier. So, that's probably a "feature" of the race. There were basically two loops, a southern loop for the first half and a northern loop for the second half, with the mid-point right around the start line. The course was mostly flat, with the only elevation being the two approaches to the bridge over Rudee Inlet on General Booth Boulevard, in the southern loop. On the return from the latter, part of the course winded through a military base, with lots of uniformed cheering! Actually, except for Miles 17-21, there were lots of enthusiastic spectator support. Miles 17-21 were through a wooded section of US 60 (Shore Dr) and parts of Fort Story, another military base, including the Cape Henry Lighthouse. At the east gate of the base, on the way out, there was a very nice uniformed send-off back onto US 60. Racing through military bases was a first for me. I suppose that'd be one way to ensure the safety of races. :)
There were 42 runners who finished under 3:00. As I was nearing Mile 14, heading north on US 60, just past the mid-point (and start and finish lines), I finally caught up with the first place finisher, Kennedy Kemei (2:18:24). Too bad he was going the other way! That was as close as I've ever gotten to rubbing shoulders with an elite! And, speaking of elites, on checking into the hotel Friday evening, as I was asking the person at the front desk about late checkout after the marathon (so I could take a shower), this J&A person came up and asked if I had any questions and was I Charlie something, one of the elites he was waiting for. I mean, I knew my training had gone well--but, this well? The front desk person didn't have an answer. The next day, when I asked again (different person), I was told it'd cost an extra half day ($60). The front desk person then asked--it happened again :)--if I was an elite, by which I think she meant elites can check out late without extra charge. I said to her, if I were an elite, I wouldn't need a late checkout! $60 for a shower certainly was not worth it, so I decided to not do the late checkout and, instead, to just let everything evaporate and change into a clean set of clothing for the drive home.
My legs definitely felt fatigued from Mile 22 on, though I don't quite consider it as bonking--just borderline delirium. :) That otherworldly feeling, especially the last two miles. The 4:15 pace group caught up with me around Mile 22, and I ran with them for about half a mile, at which point I stopped to get some water. I've wondered about this quite a bit afterwards. If, instead of stopping, I'd continued to run with that group, would I have been able to keep up and, thus, ended up five minutes faster.
Both the finisher's medal and the post-race warming towel are quite nice. The medal has a bottle opener on the top. The towel is a nice change from the usual space blanket; though, at the time, on the boardwalk, with that wind, the latter probably would have been warmer!
Overall, a very good race experience. I definitely recommend it. And, I highly recommend to reserve a hotel close to 31th Street and Atlantic Avenue!
