Cameron Laramee's Staging Area

I truly enjoyed my experience at the MDI marathon this year! Check in was quick and easy on Saturday afternoon, and there were some really good deals from vendors at the expo. The quarter zip pullover was perfect swag, something I’ll actually use instead of ending up in the drawer with all the other tech tees. The start was very accessible from anywhere in Bar Harbor, from my B&B it was a 5 minute walk. The start was energetic but laid back, spectators can stand on the sidewalk all the way up to the start line, and the self seeding seemed to work will even with ~700 runners. Started right on time and we were out of the city and in the woods (and going up the first of many hills) in no time. It was quite foggy for the first 45 mins to an hour, but once it cleared, you couldn’t ask for a better view. Every turn had beautiful fall colors interspersed with quaint villages and plentiful ocean views. The highlight of the course was Seargent drive coming out of Northeast Harbor; the road was completely closed off from traffic, had near complete tree cover, and gorgeous views across the sound. After mile 20 or so, the running got little more precarious since the road was much busier and I was starting to pass some of the half marathon runners who started at the halfway point 30 mins after us. Drivers were generally quite good about giving us room though, and there were more great views over the lake. The last rolling uphill from about mile 21-24.5 was pretty brutal, but after that it was downhill to 26 and then just a slight rise to the finish. I spent a LOT of time training hills for this race and that made all the difference. They weren’t as bad as I expected, but without the training I think my quads would have been shredded halfway through and I would have lost a lot of time in that final hill. The finish area was well equipped with a variety of food and drinks to recover. -1 for production for a few minor complaints. Very few bathrooms/porta potties on the route, I didn’t count exactly, but it wasn’t many and the ones near relay exchange zones were generally monopolized by the relay runners starting there. Additionally, the bus transportation back to the start had some staffing issues, so there was a very long line that moved very slowly. Overall, I’m leaving Maine very satisfied with my new PR and this awesome race!