Kara Cook's Staging Area

This race is beautiful from start to finish. The roads are nice and the scenery was amazing. Unfortunately, it was a super hot day, so the water stations had a hard time keeping up. To the credit of the organization, we did get some ice cold Gatorade off one of the marathon trucks in the last few miles and it made a huge difference. They were driving up and down and checking on us and it was appreciated. I’d love to do this one again in 50 degree weather.

With a forecasted high of 41 degrees for the day, wind and 100% chance of rain, I went into this marathon expecting it to be nothing more than a lesson in grit and endurance. I was pleasantly surprised with every aspect of the marathon and despite getting my worst time of the year, this was my favorite to run, rain, cold and all.

This is the first race where we signed up for the pasta dinner the night before. The food was good. The speaker was wonderful and so inspiring. And, best of all, everything was just a short walk from our hotel room. It was well organized and definitely worth attending.

Marathon morning was wet, cold and windy as promised. We were able to stay in the Von Braun center, where the race finishes indoors, right up until a few minutes before the start. This was very nice and meant we started dry and happy.

The first half of the marathon is relatively flat. The course was very well marked and traffic control was flawless. The course winds through several neighborhoods of Huntsville, some quite lavish, and the miles flew by as we made our way downtown again.

The second half of the course was much more challenging. The rain and wind picked up and the temperature dropped. And there were hills…some were significant and others I might not have felt at all if I’d been running on fresher legs. But, in all their wisdom, the race directors used miles 17 through 20 (always the hardest for me) to show off the best of Huntsville. First, we ran through the Space center surrounded by rockets and cool military aircraft. Next were the miles through the Botanical Gardens which were lit up with an amazing animated Christmas light display. I felt like I was running through a winter wonderland and these miles flew by. After that, it was a bit of a journey back downtown, and I was cold and wet, but by the time I had a chance to start dwelling on it, I was only a few miles from the end.

We finished in the Von Braun center and after being wrapped up in a Mylar blanket and getting our super cool sparkle-y metal and finisher’s hat, we were escorted to a hall full of food, lots and lots of food. Given the conditions of the day, the warm soup was a heaven sent and we loved the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Seriously…these should be offered at every race.

This is marathon #9 for me and it was amazing and definitely one to have on your bucket list. Great job Huntsville Alabama, your attention to detail and southern hospitality were evident from start to finish.

This was a terrible race day for me and many others, but it had nothing to do with the amazing organization and great volunteers. I think the race organizers were in a tough spot when the temperature and humidity got out of control and the safety of participants was in question. I was pulled off the course at 21 miles when the race was cancelled, but was bussed to the finish and allowed to complete the race and receive a medal. In addition, I was offered a complimentary registration for next year. I’ll be back as I’d love to experience this race in less extreme conditions.