Last night when I turned on my cell phone after landing in Atlanta I had a voicemail from my cousin Tommy asking me to return his call immediately.
Fearing he wouldn’t be able to get out of Washington, D.C. on his originally scheduled departure date (Thursday) he asked if it would be OK to leave this morning before another 12 to 18 inches of snow fell on our nation’s capital.
Of course I didn’t object, but it did put a wrinkle in my master plan.
Back at the beach for the first time in over three weeks I was going to try and gain an edge on my competition by running different sections of the race course to absorb a little local knowledge. With Tommy set to arrive any minute now I had to modify my plan.
A sideways rainstorm deterred me from an early morning start but once the precipitation subsided I set out for quick drive to get a visual of the race route for several reasons.
After finishing somewhere in the 700s in the 2008 half marathon, last year I improved my time by 13 minutes for a top 9 percent finish much to the credit of my familiarity with the course.
Since the route has marginally changed in 2010 I wanted to see what I was up against.
The track is pretty straight forward, instead of trotting around Broadway at the Beach, halfers will head down to the old Air Force Base (Market Commons) before making their way up Ocean Boulevard en route to Coastal Federal Field.
Fairly flat, strictly straight, not too many obstiacles to overcome unless it rains.
With a standard 30 percent chance of such occurrence for Saturday I documented where water will sit on this course after a quarter of an inch of rainfall was dumped on the Grand Strand this morning. Although the majority of the water had drained off to the sides of the road there were some trouble spots.
Most notably was the stretch along Ocean Boulevard where construction around 3rd Avenue South has the making for a complete mess. Race officials were assured that it would be completed before Saturday but as of today, it is still unfinished. While on The Boulevard be aware of water filled potholes that may be black ice – race time temperatures are expected to be right around freezing.
Another added element could be the wind. After running the same route the past nine years, participants will be heading north not south on Ocean Boulevard. By the way, winds are expected to be out of the north, northwest at 15 mph.
As you kick it into another gear down the backstretch, be cautious because the most water I saw standing in one spot was in the parking lot of Coastal Federal Field - home of the finish line.
Five minutes after five o’clock Tommy just walked through the door. Race officials can be assured that at least one person escaped Megalopolis and will represent the constituents of the District come Saturday.
Safe travels to everyone making the trip to the beach this weekend, we all know that in order to run 13.1 or 26.2 you have a few screws loose. We appreciate the passion, but again your safety is the priority.
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