14 of 50 states in the #50in50 done:
NEW YORK 11/4/18: @nycmarathon
NEVADA 11/11/18: @runrocknroll Vegas
PENNSYLVANIA 11/18/18: @Philly_Marathon
WASHINGTON 11/25/18: @seattlemarathon
TENNESSEE 12/1/18: @stjude Memphis
ALABAMA 12/8/18: @irunrocketcity
FLORIDA 1/13/19: @rundisney #wdwmarathon
LOUISIANA 1/20/19: @thelamarathon
MISSISSIPPI 1/26/19: Mississippi blues Marathon
ARIZONA 2/9/19: Mesa-Phoenix Marathon @phxmarathon
TEXAS 2/17/19: Austin marathon @austinmarathon
MASSACHUSETTS 2/24/19: Hyannis Marathon @hyannismarathon
SOUTH CAROLINA 3/2/19: Myrtle Beach marathon @runmbm
ARKANSAS 3/3/19: Little Rock marathon @lrmarathon
MARATHON 13: MYRTLE BEACH, 3/2/2019
I flew into Myrtle Beach on Friday and picked up my bib. The expo was really well-organized and everyone was friendly.
On race morning, I woke up early in Myrtle Beach, SC to run the Myrtle Beach marathon. I planned to meet up with my friend Vicki Dufner to run the whole race together. This was her 30th marathon in 365 days so she qualified for titanium level on Marathon Maniacs. I’m really proud of her.
We started off with the pace group and dropped back little by little. It was slightly warm and got humid as the day went on. We walked here and there.
There are parts of the course that are really scenic along the shoreline. I liked those parts of the course. It’s also fairly flat course.
We ended up finishing in 4:38. Not too bad. I was saving my legs for tomorrow’s marathon in Little Rock. Here are my splits:
The medal is really nice and colorful.
I did an interview with a Alan Blondin of Myrtle Beach Online. It’s a really nice piece.
After the race, I said bye to Vicki and congratulated here and took off. I showered, changed, and went to the airport to go to Little Rock.
I had to change planes in Atlanta, which had a fun walkway between terminals.
I spoke with a Josh Snyder from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette about my participation in the Little Rock marathon. It was also a great piece.
MARATHON # 14 LITTLE ROCK , 3/3/2019
On race morning, I got up a little later than for Myrtle Beach because the race started at 8am.
I drove to the convention center to meet Kit Fox of Runner’s World and his family who were running the half marathon. The marathon has this great little add-on you can purchase called Perks access, which gives you to morning food and drinks, private gear check, and a nice warm place to wait for the start.
I met up with one of my Twitter connections, Mather Chaney, who happened to be pacing at around the pace I was looking for, 4:10.
After hanging out with Kit and family for a bit, I headed to the start line to run with Mather’s pace group. It was a little cold and rainy, but not too bad. After a couple of miles, it started to hail! Small hail, but still hail. It was a fun experience. The course itself is pleasant and scenic with some rolling hills. This was my first time to Arkansas and I didn’t know what kind of course to expect. There were a few bigger hills around mile 14, 18, and 25.
Some of the interesting sites along the way included a cheer station comprised of a huge group of cheerers on bikes, historic Central High School, the Capitol, great nature trails, and a pretty nice downtown Little Rock.
One thing I find interesting about marathons in the south is that there are always several bystanders serving beer and donuts. I haven’t seen that anywhere else except in the south. I stick with water, sport drinks, nutrition packets, and fruit.
I met a runner in the pace group named Eric from Michigan. He was pacing with our group and was running the half marathon. He was running the race as a prep for next month’s Boston marathon. We spoke a lot about different marathons we’ve done and ones we look forward to doing. Mather and I got a chance to speak for a good chunk of time. I feel back around mile 18 when I needed a break. My legs felt a little worn out at that point. after a short break, I started up again. I took a few more short breaks here and there, and at mile 22 I continued running until the end, even at a much slower pace. I ended up finishing in about 4:16.
One important detail about this race is the HUGE medal they give out!
Here are my splits:
After I finished I went to the Perks room to have warm food (pizza, tomato soup and pasta) and pick up my gear bag. I drove to my hotel to shower then headed to the airport to fly home.
Overall it’s a great scenic course with warm, friendly fellow runners and spectators. The course is slightly challenging on some hills along the course. The finisher medals are a huge draw and the race directors do an amazing job pampering runners. I highly recommend this marathon for anyone.
Here are the 2 medals from the weekend:
Once I got to the Little Rock airport, I was surprised that security asked me to take out my medal to scan even though I have TSA Pre and didn’t need me to take anything else out. The medal is that HUGE.
Next marathons/states on the schedule:
3/9 NC (Wilmington)
3/17 GA (Atlanta)
3/21 NM (Clayton)
3/22 OK (Guymon)
3/24 KS (Wichita)
Join me on the #50in50 for the Gweneviere Mann Foundation, with many ways to get involved.
PLEASE DOWNLOAD GWENEVIERE’S SONG
She was excited about releasing an album that she had just finished, but she passed before she could realize that dream, so we just recently released a single "What I Can Be" off of her album for her so that we could fulfill that dream for her. Download it here
Together we will save lives through early detection programs for lung cancer and brain tumors.
I ❤️ you Gwen.
-Yasir