2023 Akron marathon & 5th year pin

This year's Akron Marathon was special to me. 

First, it's the 5th marathon that I ran at this race so I was invited to join the loyalty club and attend the pinning ceremony at the expo. 

Second, I signed my husband (P.) up for the half marathon. This is the first year that he got to experience the Akron marathon vibe. 

Third, I talked the Dean into sponsoring the College of Business relay team and I formed a 5-person relay team with other faculty and staff who I knew were runners. Our team name was #ExperienceBusiness Trailblazers. 

The week leading up to the race was not ideal. I had a lot of things going on at work and did not really have the time or energy to do anything else. I went out for a short run for 2 days during the week but I guess it was a good taper? On Friday, I met up with other team members and we walked to the packet pick-up together. It was so much fun to see the race vibe and other folks I knew. At 5pm, I attended the pinning ceremony where they announced the names of those who ran the marathon at this race for 5, 10, and 15 years. I only missed the marathon twice since we moved to Akron. First time was in 2016. I ran the half marathon at this race because that was the longest distance I ran at that time. The second year that I missed was last year because I was doing Ironman Chattanooga on the same weekend.  

Since I will be running both the marathon and the relay, I got to be the first person on the relay team. 

I told my coach (B.) that my expectation for the rest of the year is to stay healthy and have fun. After Ironman Mont Tremblant, I signed up for the Akron marathon, Run with Scissors marathon, and Regal Beagle 50K (I do these 3 races every year to either support the charity or community). I signed P. up for the half marathon because he ran his first half last year at Columbus so I believe he could do another half. In my opinion, a half marathon a year is good for him because the race would motivate him to go outside and do the training runs. 

Race morning was perfect. Since this was the 6th time I ran this race, I knew exactly what to do, where to park, where to use the restroom, etc. P. just followed me LOLWe ran into a couple of friends and took pictures with them. The weather was perfect for a race day. We could not have asked for a better weather. 

The first 13 miles went by really fast. I handed the relay team bracelet off to my colleague, A., at around Mile 5. She took off and I switched my bib to the marathon bib then kept moving forward. It started to get warm after the half marathon point and I slowed down. Mile 13 to 16 were on the Towpath, which was not my favorite part. I passed the 3rd person on my relay team, M., around Mile 14 and took a picture with him. Saw the 4th person on my relay team at the relay exchange at Sand Run. I waved and said hi to her telling her that our teammate was not far behind me. It was nice to see my teammates along the way. 

Mile 17 to 19 were all uphill as we all knew. I slowed down a lot and switched to the run/walk method. After I reached the top of the steep hill on Sand Run road, I ran into two runners who ran their first marathon there. I heard the guy saying that he started to cramp up so I gave him salt tablets. 

When I reached the relay exchange point, I saw another colleague and the last runner on the team. She managed to capture this photo of me (I was slow at that point). 

Of course, I struggled around Mile 21-24 because it was really hot at that time and most of the course had no shade. At some point, C. (my relay teammate) passed me and she told me to run with her. I told her to keep going and not worry about me. But then, once I came out of Portage Path and down Market Street everything was downhill again and I started to speed up. This was pretty much the part of the race that I looked forward to every year. I crossed the finish line with a faster time than I expected. 

P. was waiting for me at the finish line and I also saw my teammates there. It was such a fun experience seeing friends and students at the race. 

Two students from the Akron Tri Club were there to wait for me. I took pictures with them. 

P. said that after he was done he went to wash up in Polsky Building, got coffee, ate the post-race meal, and got some work done while he was waiting for me to finish the marathon LOL He said next year he would bring cloth to change and maybe try to find a shower room nearby. I guess this implies that he will run the half again next year? 

Overall, this year's race was so much fun and special although my time was not the best but who cares? A marathon is a marathon and I'm on my way to get my 10-year pin and certificate at this race :) 

Sydney