San Francisco Marathon
July 28, 2024
5:15AM Pacific
Marathon Background
Post-college assuming I could stay healthy, my plan was to race a fall half marathon in 2022, then transition to the full marathon in 2023. The half went well enough that I felt comfortable moving forward and committing to a full marathon in late 2023. I had originally targeted an October marathon date, but given where my training was and relocation to Southern California I opted for the Honolulu Marathon in December 2023. Originally my plan was just to use this debut to feel it out, given it was my first marathon and Honolulu is always hot/humid. Fast forward to November and I had an excellent training block behind me with the highlight being a 1:10:20 half marathon at Berkeley on a hilly course. There were also plenty of hot days in Thousand Oaks that I felt fine on, convincing me I would be well acclimated for Honolulu. I suddenly got very confident and a little cocky and thought I could run a 2:32. I was definitely overshooting as the heat certainly affected me, and I faded to a disappointing 2:39.
While I was disappointed with the result, it was my first marathon and the heat was definitely a factor. Being in the Los Angeles metro area, I had planned on racing the Los Angeles marathon with no excuses this time around. I had concerns about the turnaround being too short and not having enough time to train, but I ended up having a phenomenal training block with the best workouts of my life to date. I ended up overtraining a bit and feeling pretty flat in the last few weeks leading up to race day, but this was a non-factor during the race. I had wanted to run in the 2:32-2:34 range with a fairly hard hilly course and crushed it with a 2:32:35. Not a perfect race as I still had a 3.5 minute positive split and faded over the last 10K, but a huge step forward. I actually felt content enough with this that I'd be okay with not racing another marathon, but I had already signed up for San Francisco.
Why SF?
I chose San Francisco marathon for two reasons 1) it had loosely been on my radar for some time and was a bucket list race, and 2) it was conveniently located near me. Unlike Honolulu and Los Angeles which I only ran due to my location, San Francisco was one I wanted to do eventually even if I was on the East Coast. The downside was I'd be running 3 marathon blocks in succession with little rest, I'd have to wait on a trail season until the fall, and I'd have to train in the summer heat. But it seemed like a no brainer to get it done this year when in California. New England summers will likely mean trail for me going forward, so if I didn't cross it off this year I may never do so. While Los Angeles was difficult with 950' of elevation gain, San Francisco was on another level with 1,300' with much of that concentrated in the middle of the race having a flat start and finish. This meant much bigger, steeper climbs than Los Angeles which could be a big wildcard. I got myself into excellent shape off a 12 week Los Angeles block, so I thought even if the course runs 1-2 minutes slower I could get into even better shape and shoot for a 2:31-2:32 at SF.
Training
I laid out a 16 week training block for San Francisco with an emphasis on long runs and hills. I pretty much had to get right back into it after Los Angeles, taking a week off and trying to do workouts not too long after that. I did an April track season which wasn't super successful but my long runs were very good. I was confident mid-way through the block getting through 2 of the 4 20 milers and having another excellent long run workout. Things seemed like they'd really click in this block.
Mid-block I had a trio of races doing the Great Bear 5K, Ottawa 10K, and Rock 'n' San Diego Half Marathon. I hadn't raced well on the track but I expected this to be a turning point for me as I regarded each as a PR opportunity. Instead it ended up being a big setback as I didn't run well at the 5K and got a sore lower calf after. I ended up doing the Ottawa 10K as a workout due to calf concerns, but still ended up pulling the muscle badly and had to take a very easy week just to get back into it which meant a DNS at San Diego.
While I successfully got back into workouts, the next few weeks were not encouraging as I bombed a major workout/long run of the block. My next race was the Vancouver Half marathon which I saw a sub-1:10 opportunity with a net downhill, but I really struggled with flat legs like Las Vegas and could only manage a 1:11. I felt pretty fatigued after the race and significantly modified my schedule going forward, cutting back on goal workouts and mileage. I had serious doubts about the race in June and definitely considered at points either not racing or running the half. My motivation was really low compared to the last two blocks.
I was able to turn things around nicely in the last month, as every single workout went really well and I had my second best race of the year on a really hilly 10K course, affirming that I was very fit and in great uphill shape. But my training concerns meant I didn't have the confidence to chase a PR and I'd be shooting for 2:34-2:35 with the acknowledgement that it could go much worse.
Unlike the first two marathons where I overtrained and didn't feel great until the race came around, I felt very fresh and ready to go here. The week of the race wasn't terribly enjoyable as I got really bad allergies early in the week then the top of my foot started bothered me later in the week. But both seemed under control headed into race day.
The Course
One of the main reasons I was interested in the San Francisco marathon was it's a great city tour course. San Francisco has great parks and scenery, and this really hits the highlights. Run through the Presidio, across the Golden Gate bridge into Sausalito, through golden gate park and onto the famous Embarcadero. I had always been really excited to race this course. Until a few weeks before when I did some further studying to find out the Golden Gate bridge is not closed for the race, but instead we have to run on the cement sidewalk. This was the worst part, but there were also sections that look like they don't go on the road but instead run on the cement pedestrian paths. Also a few gravel sections. This was a bummer as Los Angeles and Honolulu were 100% wide closed roads, but there were still a lot of nice sections to run.
As for the hills profile, the first 10K was very flat with a 100' bump in mile 3. Then a 250' climb up to the bridge and a big descent on the other side. Another 250' climb up to the bridge in Sausalito, and a big gradual climb going up to Golden Gate Park. After 17, it's largely downhill and flat to the finish. But those hills would be a real test as Los Angeles was just small constant rollers. If I got to 17 in one piece, I could probably hold it together. But there was a chance I'd fall off before then or be completely trashed by that point and fade badly.
Pre-race
Headed up to San Francisco Friday. This had been a source of stress for me the last two months as I had a scheduled 6PM class that evening. It was unclear if this would be in person or online, and fortunately I got confirmation that it was online a week before. I had considered either skipping the class and dealing with the consequences of that or driving up to Atascadero very late on Friday post-class. Neither was a good option, so it was fortunate that I was able to head up early on Friday. I slept terrible (5 hours) Friday as I'm used to a late bedtime/wakeup and drove up to San Jose to take CalTrain to San Francisco. I was running 20 minutes or so behind which unfortunately meant I had just missed two trains. I ended up missing another because the train was not on the track that the board showed it was on, and took the 4th train which now had me running very close to class time. I had to run from the hotel instead of heading to a park which was disappointing as Andrew and I ran on the Embarcadero which is cement and very crowded. Made it class 5 minute late and hungry/weak, so not the best day one.
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| View from Fort Hancock on Friday's Run |
Slept much better on Saturday. Headed to the expo and got in a nice pre-race run in the Presidio. It did feel pretty windy which was a little concerning. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as we ate our meals and went to bed around 8pm. I slept horribly, and about 3.5 hours total. With a 5:15 start, this meant a super early wakeup of 2:15. I'm used to going to bed at 12/1 so not ideal at all for me. It didn't take long to feel decent again but I had two other concerns- achy legs, and the top of the foot discomfort was bad. I did some stretching/rolling to try and manage these, but they did not go away.
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| Nice run in the Presidio |
We ran over to the start at 4AM and did a mile warm-up. I got separated from Andrew and was on my own after that. I could not find the pre-race water which was a bummer. I tried to go to the bathroom multiple times being fearful of a repeat of Los Angeles where I had to stop to poop during the race. I ended up seeing Andrew while doing strides. Found the pre-race water at the last minute and since the bathroom lines were way too long at this point, I peed in the water cup while faced into a corner.
It wasn't terribly hard to get up to the front of the start, but disappointing there was no separate elite/seeded section as clearly there were a bunch of amateurs there. I'm generally very relaxed/not nervous at starts but I was a little bit nervous today as my leg achiness had not gone away and I still had top of the foot discomfort. I had felt truly relaxed and physically excellent at the start of the previous marathons and clearly that wouldn't be the case today. I tried my best to dismiss it, but it certainly wasn't a good thing. 30 seconds before the start, the announcer stated that the horn is just for the wheelchair athlete and runners would be started a minute later. Of course, the goofballs wearing long sleeves and headphones ran out with the wheelchair prompting confusion from the rest of the us. I didn't know what was going on, until the announcer said okay, just go and we started very abruptly/suddenly.
The Race
In Honolulu, the start was pretty crowded and took half a mile to spread out. Los Angeles was more comfortable but still plenty of people in the first half mile. Not the case here as 200m into the race I had plenty of room. The 50 mile world record holder, Charlie Lawrence, took it out pretty hard and he had a few takers. There were a few other guys behind him, and then I stayed around the next group. It was dark but well lit. I noticed I was at low 5s pace and allowed myself to gradually slow. Passed one guy and caught up to and sat behind another. I hit the mile around 5:40 as planned, but it didn't feel anywhere near as easy as Honolulu or Los Angeles which was not a good sign at all.
I joined a small pack of two other guys as we headed down towards the end of the Embarcadero and onto Jefferson street. I did notice my pace was displayed as 5:30s which was a touch faster than I wanted. The effort didn't feel super hard but it felt a lot closer to half marathon effort than marathon and there certainly wouldn't be any easy, coasting miles today. My stomach was already bothering me and I was getting some weird cramps as well. Definitely felt like the beginning of a bad day, but I just kept the pace even and tried to not to focus on it too much. Mile 2 was again around 5:40. I allowed myself to drift just off these guys and we headed off the road and onto a cement path along the shore for a brief bit before returning onto the road through Fort Hancock, the first hill on the day. Just a brief bump up to 60' and back down immediately. Took water at this first stop but the guy got too close to me and the cup hit my chest and got my singlet pretty wet. Was able to get it from the end of the stop. I've run several races starting in the dark by now (Detroit, Honolulu) but those were well lit enough I never worried about tripping. Here, I couldn't see anything with no lights at all. I immediately caught up to the two guys again as I was running much faster uphill. The uphill didn't feel terribly forced but didn't feel great either as my stomach was bothering. The first big uphill after 10K would be a better test of things. It was so dark it looked like the road just ended up ahead so I started to drift towards the left for a turn before realizing the road continued. I easily got ground on these guys on the next downhill and moved into 4th back on the road. About a 5:45 mile 3, so not much of a slow down with the hill.
Now a 2.5 mile flat stretch on Mason street into the Presidio. This road was nice, and my concerns about the wind yesterday were unfounded as the air was calm. I got into a nice groove here and felt decent running in the low to mid-5:40s as my bizarre cramping and stomach discomfort went away. I enjoyed this section up until Mile 5 when the course went off the road and onto a dirt path. The dirt was probably 10s mile slower, but the real issue was it was dark and there was divets in the paths, so I had to really concentrate to make sure I didn't fall. Stumbled once. The winner noted in a video that he almost "ate shit" in this section. Midway through this section, the path split into two directions and it wasn't marked at all so I took my best guess and went right which fortunately was the correct way. Now an out and back on Marine drive which was kind of nice as I could see the top runner coming the other way. This road was pretty wet and bit slippery. The cone turnaround was a bit tough as well. The fort point fortress right under the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty cool as I only seen that before in movies and video games. I was incorrect about being in 4th as I was actually in 6th and the next two guys were comfortably ahead of me, although I had put some distance on 7th. Saw Andrew in 20th or so and started the first big climb of 250' just before the end of the mile.
Mile 6 was slightly slower with the dirt and turnaround. Today I'd attempt to take 4 gels given I had nothing the last 10K of Honolulu and Los Angeles. So I took my first here and had no issues. The first part of this climb was pretty nice on a wide road with some big trees, then shifted to a bike path which was also fine other than a tight turn. I felt pretty strong on the climb and it never got super hard. Some pretty tight turns at 6.5 to get onto the golden gate bridge. Here was the dreaded sidewalk portion, and it was even worse than I expected. The cement was wet and slippery so I didn't have the traction and comfort of before. The worst part was the bridge support beams as it was very tight and awkward going around these. I still managed a solid pace and ran mid-5:30s on the bridge after hitting the uphill mile in a 6:10 (5:20 GAP).
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| Midway through first climb, Mile 6 |
The turn coming off the bridge was essentially a cone turnaround and the worst turn of the race. Fortunately at marathon effort those don't feel awful but definitely awkward. It was super windy after that turn which might have been concerning but once I turned again the other way the wind was gone. This part was not good essentially just running around the parking lot and then getting onto a sidewalk before a bike path. A lot of jumping onto and off of curbs in this race. I had looked forward to this next section running in Sausalito, but only the shoulder was coned off for running and it was slanted which made for uncomfortable running. I had a new concern that my quads felt quite heavy running downhill and perhaps I had gone too hard on that first uphill. Another really tight turn back towards the bridge and a few more downhills. We now had the whole road to run on and this section was really nice. Much of the course was lacking with crowd support but there was a brief section here of people (veterans?) who were cheering loudly.
Now the second 250' climb back up to the bridge. Unlike the first which felt pretty easy, this was one just felt brutal. My pace slowed all the way to 6:50s here but it was short and we were soon back on the bridge. I could see the gap slowly closing to 5th, who had been dropped. The bridge running wasn't any more fun going back into SF but I could at least focus on catching this next guy. Took my gel. I had some concerns about maybe having to poop, but this worry went away shortly. I passed into 5th towards the end of the bridge and he didn't go with me. Hit the half seemingly in 1:15:30 or so, but I think this was likely around 1:16:00 given likely watch error. Uphill mile in 6:20, then the bridge mile in 5:45.
Short section of gravel trail again which was tough with a slight uphill. Onto Lincoln Boulevard, which was the highlight of the race, a windy rolling road with great ocean views through the Presidio. I could now focus on 4th place who was slowly coming back to me. The race outcome was starting to look at a lot better. I was hitting good splits, I was coming up to 16/10 to go, and I felt decent. Not great, I had a slight weakness through much of the race, and my legs were a little heavy. But I was maintaining pace and making progress without things falling off a cliff or seeming to approach that. 5:55 off the bridge for 14 and 5:38 with the downhill. Finally on some SF streets away from the coast for the first time. Another climb, but this one was much more gradual and over a few miles. My pace seemed a little slower than it should be, but I was in control and passed into 4th. Into Golden Gate Park.
A pair of 5:50s for uphill mile 16 and 17. Saw the winner Charlie Lawrence one mile ahead of me as he came out of the Stow Lake loop. This section was pretty nice but dragged on and I was starting to feel a bit weak coming out of it. Surprisingly I saw Andrew coming out of the lake loop (very short section of overlap). I was on a good pace, and started to chunk the race down. Right now, my goal/focus was to get to 18 miles so I could take my third gel. Golden Gate Park was great running until mile 19 when we were directed onto a narrow bike path. Super tight near 180 turn again which was especially awkward as the lead wheelchair racer was right behind me. He passed me and then on the subsequent uphill was struggling and barely moving. We went through a tunnel which was dark and I nearly tripped. Now hit mile 20, out of the park and city streets. 5:43, 5:37, 5:52 miles 18-20 in the park.
Next mental block was to get to Mile 23 and only have 5K left. I was starting to do some mental calculations on time, and I had a good shot at a PR. Unlike Honolulu and Los Angeles where I was really struggling at 20 and had to be mentally tough, I still felt decent plus I had a downhill boost for the next four miles. This streets reminded of the wide roads in Los Angeles. Nice running here, although some long stretches. There were a few really steep downhills that I had to be careful on not to destroy my quads. Around Mile 21 someone yelled out I was in 3th, which meant someone dropped out in front. That had me excited as 3rd place would be a huge result and unlike Honolulu/Los Angeles I didn't feel like I was going to have nothing the last 10K meaning I had a good chance of holding onto it.
I felt a little weak again going through 23 and had my gel. Another series of turns and all of sudden I was at 24 with two to go. With the downhills, I was running my best splits of the race 5:32-5:27-5:46 for 21-23. I did start to slow a bit in 24 despite not feeling that much worse with a 6:01. Based off the cheering, clearly I didn't have a big gap behind me. After feeling reasonably good through 24, it finally got to me and I felt pretty weak and drained for the remainder of the race. But feeling bad for 2 miles was a much easier prospect than feeling bad for 6 or 10. I drifted at around 6:00 pace and it was clear the guy behind me was coming for me. I hit Mile 25 in 5:54 and was looking at a 2:31. Unfortunately 3rd place was gone as the guy was closing like a train and I had nothing. Came up to the final water stop and they yelled I was right behind him (I wasn't) and he accelerated further putting the race away (he would close in a 5:15). Did my best to hold on, and of course the final half mile felt endless on one stretch of road. I thought okay now I'm coming up on the finish, and it just wasn't there. This was made worse by mile markers all day being too early so the stretch from 25 (the marker) to the finish was actually 1.5 miles instead of 1.2. I was sure I had a PR in the bag, but that unexpected distance was just enough to put me over as I crossed in 4th, 2:32:41.
Okay, I missed a PR by 6 seconds but definitely from expectations coming in that went so much better than even a best scenario, easily a better performance than Los Angeles which was already the biggest race of my life. This one went as well as it possibly could have. Like the last two marathons, and despite feeling better finishing, I was totally drained at the finish. Similarly to Los Angeles I felt like crying because I felt totally depleted and it was a struggle just to walk. There was barely any finish line food at all and after the finish section ended there was nothing and it was totally unclear where to go. I had to cross the road in front of a crowded 10K which was difficult because my quads were shredded. It took a while to find the finisher jackets and gear check as there were no signs or clear directions for anything. Fist bumped a few of the guys who finished around me, but I felt really bad and didn't want to sit down, so I opted not to wait for Andrew (who ran well in 2:43) and shuffled back to the hotel.
After checking the results, I had completely forgotten about the start issue, which meant by chip time I was 9 seconds faster and actually had a 3 second PR of 2:32:32. That was a nice surprise! It was slightly disappointed to be passed for 3rd, but overall this was an A+ performance and absolutely went as well as it could have. I think I was expecting 2:34-mid on a good day and just to get top 10.
Full results here. More thoughts below.
Performance Analysis
Some takeaways:
1. Marathon #3 went super well, like #2. Again this was way ahead of my expectations. I was super happy with Los Angeles and would be have totally happy to end the year with that as my top result. To come here and be 2/3 doing well in marathons is a nice touch and huge confidence booster.
2. I improved upon many issues of Los Angeles. Los Angeles went really well, but was far from perfect. I had to stop to poop. My legs felt really trashed after 16. And I gave up 3 minutes the last 10K where I faded quite a bit. I had none of those issues today, which is a great sign the training and cumulative experience is working well.
3. This was by far my best paced and most even marathon. 5.5 minute positive split in Honolulu and fading throughout the second half. 3.5 minute positive split in Los Angeles and fading the last 10K. Only about a 30 seconds or so positive split here, which is great for a marathon. I knew I could cut down on the L.A. split but didn't think I'd be so close to even. It's worth noting the second half of the course is probably a minute faster than the first, so this is more like a 1.5 minute positive split on a flat course.
4. I felt much better and held up much better late in the race. Instead of drooling on myself and wondering if I was going to finish late, I was still running 5:50s at the end. Just so much stronger late into this one, clearly I've gotten much better through each block.
5. I was in fantastic hill shape. This course has 1,300' of gain and some big climbs. Few US marathons are harder than this one. It didn't matter, as I was in excellent hill form and was still able to get a PR despite the course running 1-2 minutes slower than Los Angeles, already a difficult course.
6. The injury/training setbacks ended up not mattering. I readjusted my goal from 2:31/2:32 to 2:34/2:35 and noted the potential for a really bad day. I missed some significant training. Clearly being the third time around boosted my strength considerably, as I had more than enough fitness to get it done on the day.
7. Potential for a big day in Boston. I thought 2:29 would be a great goal for Boston, I think based off this run, there's the potential for 2:27/2:28. If I can optimize training and racing, get in a great block and build off this on a faster course, lots of time to come off. Of course, just hoping for a good weather day in Boston.
8. Not sure why the pre-race/early miles felt so bad. It was not ideal to wake up with achy legs and foot discomfort. And then stomach issues and cramping in the first 5K. Fortunately this subsided but I was truly relaxed and at ease at the start of Los Angeles and Honolulu, this was not the case here. It didn't matter but something I need to be cautious about going forward.
9. 4 gels is the way to go. No argument here, I bonked big time in the first two marathons on three gels, I only bonked a little here on 4.
10. Still room for improvement. While this went as well as it could have for me, of course the ideal marathon is a perfectly even split. So this was not a perfect run by any means. I also have yet to run in a pack smartly at one of these, so that should cut off time/effort as well.
11. This was the least miserable marathon of the three. Up until July 27th, I might have thought the marathon is always going to a miserable, brutal experience. I didn't suffer all that much in this one, only the last 2.5 miles were pretty rough. The best races are going to be the ones that feel the best, and while this was really never easy, very little of it felt brutal and unmanageable.
Organization
I have to address the organization of the race, which was poor in many areas. This had long been a bucket list race for me, and it was disappointing in so many ways. I'll start off by highlighting the positives. First, I got free entry into this race. You get a bunch of gear, so to have it all included was nice. I'm always grateful for free entry standards. I think there were several really nice spots along the course, especially Lincoln Boulevard in the presidio, Golden Gate Park and much of the last 10K. Additionally, while not an organizational control, the weather was near-perfect with mid-50s and allowed me to run well.
Now onto the issues. While I received free entry, this marathon is ridiculously expensive as it was $330 when I signed up and $500+ (!) at time of closing. They like to pretend the cost is justified as they note the cost of the gear you're getting (all significantly higher than they likely actually cost), and run discounts frequently like 20% off. Instead of always having 20% off like they're doing everyone a favor, why not just readjust the price?
There were some start line issues for sure. I couldn't find the pre-race water as it was not set up until just before the start, and not in the location displayed on the map. While I don't expect to receive the excellent treatment I got at Los Angeles, the "elite" placement at the front was non-existent. I had to shuffle my way through the crowd (not bad compared to other races) and there were plenty of rookies wearing long sleeves and headphones starting on the lines. Not good for a race with 5,000 people. And the bigger issue was clearly there was no coordination with the start, as the people shouldn't have been on the start line started when they shouldn't have, and instead of directing us as to when we would start, we got the "just go" treatment.
Course and mile markers. I think this course has the potential to be fantastic. San Francisco is super scenic and iconic. However, there were just so many sections here where instead of getting to run in the road, we ran on cement, pedestrian paths, or even dirt. I'll point every individual course issue here. Mile 3- stepping off a curb, and pitch black on next path/hard to see. Mile 4- stepping off a curb. Mile 5- gravel in the dark, and unmarked. Mile 6- cone turnaround. Mile 7- 2-3 tight awkward turns going onto a bike path and onto the bridge path. Going around bridge barriers. Mile 8-10- cone turnaround off the bridge, stepping onto a curb, only getting 1/3 of the road which was slanted. Mile 12- awkward turn onto the bridge. going around bridge barriers. Mile 13- another tight turn, and gravel. Mile 20- stepping onto off/a curb, near 180 turn, running through dark tunnel. Mile 25- stepping onto a curb. The sheer of amount of super tight, awkward turns in this course is so high it's hard to count. Perhaps some are unavoidable, but with 5,000 runners it makes a lot more sense to close the roads instead of constantly redirecting onto bike paths, or even gravel paths where those turns are required. The biggest part by far was not closing the golden gate bridge to traffic, and forcing everyone onto the cement sidewalk which was slippery and introduced many turns. I probably would be okay with the course issues if we could have run on the road for the bridge portions. As for the mile markers, only mile 1, 2 and 26 were accurate. Every other mile marker was short by a significant amount which really threw off the splits. There were no race clocks, no 5K markers, and no halfway marker. Again, not good for a marathon with 5,000 people.
Finish line was an issue. Barely any food. I know most big events don't have much food, but this was truly the bare minimum- one bar, one 100 calorie bag of pretzels, and a tiny pack of granola. That's it. Horrible organization at the end as I wandering around weak unclear where anything was. And I don't think it's good for a marathoner who can barely walk to have to cross the 10Kers path.
And I haven't even talked about the biggest issue! First, I'll mention that the course is claimed to be certified but I could not find the USATF certification - again, really bad for a marathon with 5,000 people. I'm not worried about it being short as I got 26.4 on my watch, but the USATF certification should be easily accessible. I was worried this would not get me into Boston, but it seems like they will indeed accept it. The biggest issue was that the two half marathons they put were significantly short, by about half a mile. Completely inexcusable, and ruined the day of thousands. I'm glad I wasn't in either of those races. The organization hasn't really taken responsibility and never got back to me about my certification question.
One more thing is that there were zero prizes. I'm not expecting much, but the top three runners not getting prize money is unheard of, but that's the case here. Instead of at least getting something, instead they'll be emailed digital badges.
Small note- the electrolyte cups were really small and given the inevitable splashing upon grabbing them, there were only 1-2 ounces left. The water cups were fine, but the electrolyte and water areas were too close together so it was a challenge to get both. I dropped a lot of cups trying to rush grabbing the second one.
Crowd support was pretty much nonexistent. Not entirely on the organizers, but if they fixed some of the above issues/tried to improve their reputation, perhaps more people would watch. Some of it is the early start time, but Honolulu was even earlier and had screaming crowds at the finish.
What's Next
I'm glad to be done with that and next will focus on the Boston Marathon April 21st with an A goal of 2:27-2:28 but certainly want to be under 2:30. I think this is totally doable, coming off that result and especially so fixing some training errors. I should have more time to build a base, a mistake this time around, not race so much aimlessly, and hopefully stay completely healthy to not miss any training. Trails for the fall. Will need to figure how to incorporate regular hills into my routine living in Rhode Island/Massachusetts.
