Best and Worst of Racing History Linkup

Guess what? It’s my first link-up. I hope you participate!

So, on the “50 States, 50 Marathons “ tab, you can see a map of the marathons I have completed. As I approach my 17th marathon, I have been reflecting on my previous races and I thought it might be fun to put together 16 questions based on my 16 marathons. I’m hoping you will link up and share your own “Best (or Worst) of My Racing History!”

Now, I know most people don’t necessarily have 16 marathons to pull from, so please pull from ANY race distances- 1 mile, 5k, half marathon, whatever you want to share!

The link up icon and code are at the bottom of this post. All you have to do is copy and paste the html code onto your blog for the above link-up picture!

Rules?
You can answer as many or as few as you would like, or you can add your own questions! Then comment on the blog with a link to your post with the answers. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to just answer them in the comments. It definitely does not have to be about marathons; it can be any race distance! Just tell me about your Best (or Worst) Racing Experiences! Looking forward to reading them.

Best Finisher’s Shirt
I’m going to go with the Newport Marathon. Their finisher’s shirt was a zippered long sleeve. It’s army green, so not my usual color choice, but it’s perfect for a fall run and I end up wearing it way more than I thought I would.

Otherwise I would go with the Berlin Marathon finisher’s shirt. I sported that shirt on #FinisherShirtFriday so it’s clearly one of my favorites.

Worst Finisher’s Shirt
The oversized green t-shirts from the Marathon-to-Marathon in Iowa were pretty hideous.

However, the shirts from Twin Cities Marathon 2005 were pretty bad as well. I ran that marathon with my sister and we were definitely at the back of the pack. By the time we got to the finish, only XXL cotton tees were left. It was basically a dress on me and the pee yellow was not my best shade.

Best Finish Line
Twin Cities. It gets me every time. I absolutely love the grandeur and beauty of coming over that last hill on Summit and seeing the capitol below- the colors, the people, the noise- it’s so amazing.The second best finish line would be at the Berlin Marathon. Finishing under the Brandenburg Gate was pretty darn cool.

Best Overall SWAG/Gear

I’m sure the best gear is at Boston, but I haven’t run it yet, so I’ll have to go with the Flying Pig marathon. Their expo had a lot of really cool gear. Every year they give every participant something unique- this year it was a waterproof bag, which we have used camping and my husband used it tubing with some buddies. I just loved how they carried the pig theme throughout the whole race. It was cute.

Best Crowd Support
Berlin was definitely great, but like I mentioned in my recap of that marathon, not everyone cheered for you if you weren’t from their country. I think I’ll go with Twin Cities. I mean..best spectators ever, right?

The Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA also had pretty great spectators.

Hottest Race

I have run a lot of HOT marathons: Chicago 2007, Go! St. Louis in 2011, and the Marathon-to-Marathon in Marathon, Iowa. The first two were complete and utter disasters. However, even though my time didn’t show it, I ran the Marathon-to-Marathon a lot smarter (read my recap here). I adjusted for the heat and didn’t fall apart. The St. George marathon was also warm (in the 80’s when we finished) but you start very early and at altitude so it didn’t feel as bad.

In terms of actual temperature, I think Chicago and the Marathon-to-Marathon both were nearly 90 degrees when I finished.

Coldest Race
The coldest marathon I ran was the Grand Rapids, MI marathon. I think the high temperature was in the mid-30s, but what made it crazy cold was the wind. I actually lost a contact lense at this race it was so windy (this was pre-Lasik surgery). This is the only marathon that I have run in pants.

Most Beautiful Course:
Tough call. The Big Sur Marathon runs along the Pacific Coastal highway and really is stunning. The St. George Marathon runs through the breathtaking Snow Canyon and other amazing sites in the southwest. However, I might have to go with Twin Cities on this one. The fall colors are just too pretty…AND it’s my hometown race. What can I say? I’m biased.

Hilliest Course
Big Sur was probably the hilliest. St. George had a ton of hills in the first half and then a lot of downhill in the second half that really tore up my quads.

Big Sur Marathon

Race That Took the Most Mental Strength
Definitely the Marathon-to-Marathon Running 26.2 miles on deserted country roads in very rural Iowa, with virtually no spectators and only 200 total runners was a challenge.

Most Disappointing Finish
I’ll vote for Flying Pig because its still the most “fresh” in my memory. My training went so well for that race, yet I fell apart and ran a 4:11 when I had really hoped for something in the 3:4X’s.

Best Start Line:
Any start line where you get to wait inside is awesome, so that would include the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, Steamtown Marathon, Grand Rapids, and it used to include Twin Cities. However, the St. George Marathon probably had one of the coolest start lines with bonfires, music, plenty of coffee/water, and more.

Most Organized
Definitely the St. George Marathon. Absolutely flawless organization.

Flattest Course
The Chicago Marathon, the Marathon-to-Marathon in Iowa, or Berlin. They were all very flat.

Best Finish Line Food:
St. Jude Memphis Marathon– They had pizza, chili, beer, yogurt, freezy pops, soda, and of course all the regular stuff like bananas, gatorade, etc. Just an amazing spread.

Coolest Medal:
Either Newport (handblown glass) or St. George (granite)

Most Emotional Finish
Gosh, they are all emotional. I suppose one particular emotional moment was at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle marathon when I finally went under four hours. That’s me in the corner there breaking down in tears.

I look forward to hearing about your Best and Worst race memories! Link up below:

1. erin at sweet sweat life Read erin’s post HERE
2. Hyedi at Finding a Balance Read Hyedi’s post HERE

3. Jennifer at Kinetic Fix Read Jennifer’s post HERE

4. Katie at Prairie Ponderings Read Katie’s post HERE

5. Allison at The Running Princess Read Allison’s post HERE

6. Steve at Dream Believe Run Read Steve’s post HERE

7. Danielle at Eat Primal, Run Hard Read Danielle’s post HERE

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Katie Renee

10 years ago

So… the Link-Up thing is new to me, so I want to make sure that I understand. I copy and paste the link into my blog, then write a post answering the questions that you have (or other questions, if I want). Then, I also comment on this post with a link to my blog? Did I get that right?

I’m excited to do this… right after I get to work on a post about helping hunting dogs train themselves! 😉

Right Fits

Reply to Katie Renee

Honestly, it’s new to me too, but I figured I’d give it a shot! I’d love if you did it. So basically, with eblogger, you can copy and paste the code above and switch to html when drafting your post, paste the code and then switch back, and it should show the picture that I created. Its a great way for your audience to learn about the Right Fits and then I’ll be able to share your post on my blog (I think I’ll add your link up to the actual post, but if you post it to the comments… Read more »

Just to clarify, you want to the code under the picture, that starts with <div align etc and then the actual picture will show up on YOUR blog linking back to my blog…if you have any questions, just email me at right.fit.sisters@gmail.com!

Tony S.

Wow! After reading about your many marathon experiences, I definitely don’t feel experienced enough to answer any of these questions! And I may have been spoiled by running Twin Cities as my first 26.2! I mean, how can you beat the fall colors, fan support and race finish? On that note, I think I have decided to run at least another marathon so maybe when your next link up I will have something more to add! Hope you enjoyed yesterday’s weather!

Reply to Tony S.

Thanks for reading and commenting Tony! Yes, Twin Cities is one of the best, so you may have been a little spoiled, but each marathon is unique and memorable for its own reasons..that’s what I was trying to capture a bit with my questions and reflections. Even some of the “worst” ones were still interesting experiences where I learned something.

Excited to hear you have caught the marathon bug. Do you know which one you will do next?

Allison

I love this idea and it really made me think about my racing history.
Here’s the link to my post:
http://runningprincess78.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/best-or-worst-of-my-racing-history-link-up/

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Jessie Benson

Reply to Allison

Thanks again for linking up Allison! I’m so glad you did as I really enjoyed reading about all your fun race experiences.

Reply to Jessie Benson

Thanks! It was fun 🙂

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Steven

I loved the idea of this also after my wife, Allison (comment above), introduced me to it. It’s great to look back on all the races I’ve done but also to realise how far I’ve come in all the years of running.

Here’s the link to my post http://stevebonthronept.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/best-or-worst-of-my-racing-history/

Thanks 🙂

Reply to Steven

This is great Steve! I love that you and your wife both have running blogs. The Loch Ness marathon sounds phenomenal! I have added both of your links to this post:http://www.therightfits.com/2014/10/fitting-remarks-best-or-worst-of-my-racing-history-link-up/

Thanks so much for linking up; it was very fun to read your post!