Join this October for the Little Apple Marathon in Manhattan, KS. It will take place at the Tuttle Creek State Park area. The marathon will be 4 loops around the park area. There will also be Half Marathon, 5K and Marathon relay options. The Little Apple Marathon will take place …
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Join this October for the Little Apple Marathon in Manhattan, KS. It will take place at the Tuttle Creek State Park area. The marathon will be 4 loops around the park area. There will also be Half Marathon, 5K and Marathon relay options.
The Little Apple Marathon will take place in the Tuttle Creek State Park and surrounding area. This is a beautiful, fast course. There is only 100 feet of elevation gain in each 6.55 mile loop! The course will be mostly contained in Tuttle Creek State Park. About a 1 mile portion per loop will be on Dyer Rd., which we will have on entire side of the road closed. About 1.5 miles of the loop will be on the Western Heritage Trail (pictured below), which is basically like a sidewalk. So, by 3 miles in, you will want to be in a position you think you like as passing will be a little harder. You can go around in the grass, but the sidewalk is only about 4 feet wide, so you won’t be able to run more than 2 wide at that point. This should only be an issue on the first loop as the field will spread out as the race goes on.
This race will have a participant limit of 1,000 runners between the Marathon, Half Marathon and Marathon Relay. There will be NO cap for the 5K.
Runners in the Marathon will have 6.5 hours of course support. In order to complete the Marathon without being disqualified, you will need a pace of 15 minutes per mile. If you are not to starting the 4th loop by 12:50 pm, you will be asked to stop.
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Nice inaugural event!
This one was easier AND harder than the last one. Easier: course was familiar and relatively flat compared to KC. Harder: I wasn’t properly fueled. A sugar detox is not … MORE
This one was easier AND harder than the last one. Easier: course was familiar and relatively flat compared to KC. Harder: I wasn’t properly fueled. A sugar detox is not something to do before a race. Mentally I was more tired. There were fewer people. There were a lot of times I was alone and that’s never as much fun. It was definitely a mind game to have to see the 18 and 25 mile signs on the first lap. Knowing those are not for me right now. Also the marathon relay teams made it tricky. All the fresh runners around me made me feel even more tired. Especially at the end. I beat the rain!!! Very light sprinkle-y rain, but it would have made mile 26 just that much more miserable. The 3:45 pacer was dressed as a giraffe. Seriously. Leggings, arm sleeves, a headband with little giraffe antennae?! what are giraffe antennae called?!?! First I wanted to BQ. Then as that slipped away, I wanted to beat the giraffe. At mile 20 I couldn’t even see her behind me. But by mile 21.5 she had caught up and by mile 23 she had slipped away from me. But!! The lady who was running with her eventually dropped back at mile 24 or 25… and I didn’t think I could catch her… but I told myself “she might be in my age group! That might be 3rd place!!” And I managed to push past her in the last 0.1 mile and finish before her. No idea if she actually was in my age group or not. But I guess that wasn’t even the point. The point was, I told myself I needed to beat her. And I did. This race qualifies me for marathon maniacs!!