The Hamilton Road to Hope Marathon. I signed up for the 1/2 marathon on a whim, after some friends suggested it.
Things I know about it:
- It's in Hamilton
- The course is net downhill!
- Simon Whitfield is going to be running the 1/2
- The course is net downhill!
- It's point-to-point
- The course is net downhill!
Apparently this is the best full marathon in Canada for qualifying for Boston (it produces the highest percentage of qualifiers). I'm only doing the 1/2, but I'm counting on the downhill to help me!
My Strategy
I'm not all that confident... had a run on Sunday that seems to have tweaked something in my knee, looks like IT band is acting up again. I've been icing/stretching/Ibuprofen'ing like crazy, hopefully it's enough to hit the start line healthy.My best 1/2 marathon was 1:49:17 in February of this year, with snow on the ground... in fact I've only ever done 1/2 marathons in February! I'm really hoping to crush that time on Sunday and set a new Personal Best. I feel like there's a 1:45:00 in me waiting to come out, but a lot will have to go right to find it!
8 comments:
Funny, my PB is 1:49:34 from Niagara last year, and I think there's a 1:45:00 in me too... I ran the full there last year and although it's a net downhill you should know there's a 7k stretch where most of that downhill happens. It's something like 3k flat, 7k downhill, 11k flat. Should make for a SMOKING fast half - as long as the wind isn't as bad as last year!
See you there!
Good luck in Hamilton! I might try that one next year.
@Kieran - cool, didn't know you were going. Can you pace me to the 1h45 please!? :) LOL.
Good Luck! Sounds like fun. My first 1/2 was in October. My second is on Thanksgiving. Can't wait.
Go for it! go set a new PB for me to catch up! :-)
Is the full marathon course also downhill?
Yup, full is net downhill.
It's the best BQ course in Canada:
http://www.marathonguide.com/races/BostonMarathonQualifyingRaces.cfm?Year=2008
31.1%!
Honestly, not sure how much of a difference it makes in the marathon... the downhill comes at the start of the second half, and as Kieran says it only really lasts 7k. That leaves 5/6 of the marathon to do, and I read the first part has some rollers.
I'm sure I'll see you guys there. If not, best of luck to you.
@JohnC - see you there! My knee feels better today, so I'll gamble on it.
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