BBRRrrrr...A Seashore Marathon Race Report

(From left) Laura, James, Dominic, Keene, Lori, Joel, and Valliant celebrate, space-blanket style, after the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon on Saturday, November 22.

Earlier this year, many of our Rise Up Runners didn't know each other, and certainly hadn't run together. Completing the Tuckahoe 10-mile loop in the spring was the first time Joel had run more than eight miles. And after his first or second run around Easton in the dark, Dominic coolly said, "Yeah, I might be game for trying a fall marathon..."

Fast forward to this past Saturday. Friendships forged on the roads and trails and Keene and Joel comprised a marathon relay team, with Joel voicing his goal of running a sub 2-hour half-marathon. A recent move to the Eastern Shore and James Woodring was one-half of a team with Katherine Binder, who found herself having to pull out due to a car accident (we hope Katherine continues her recuperation), but thanks to Megan Cook, Laura Divjak was able to step in at the last minute and keep Team Woody on track.

Meanwhile, the speedy Dominic came into race day after a much needed taper with lofty goals for himself; marathon veteran Lori stepped up to give the First State's inaugural Seashore Marathon a go; and Valliant was gunning for a sub 4-hour effort after a strong summer and fall of running.

The speedy James Woodring (center) bursts past the competition between loud YAWPS! of enthusiasm and pouncing on unsuspecting RURs as he passed them.

The weekend was made a number of ways: 1) Dominic headed up the house hunting brigade and landed a posh pad for crashing the night before the race, as well as post-race showers, recouping, and family time, 2) The chance to run together, get to know each other and spend some time chilling, and 3) the fact that everyone accomplished their individual goals.

I encourage anyone who wants to write up a report to do so, and we'll post various takes up here. But there were some common factors worth relating. The start temperature was roughly 27 degrees with winds up to 20 mph. It was cold and with the wind it was damn cold.

The course was beautiful, well marked, excellent support, flat, though a couple sneaky hills found their way in, and the Breakwater Trail is running nirvana on most counts. Dominic's skills as a meteorologist are questionable ;), and the post-race party was stellar--a great spread of food (world's best mac and cheese), free Dogfish Head Ale for runners, massages, etc.

Valliant shows his strength by crushing an ice and water filled paper cup, while Lori tries to deny that she knows any of the Rise Up Runners around her.

There are a few weekend photos posted in the story here, but let us never forget how nice it is to have our pal DDP Joel Shilliday as RUR photographer. The full smattering of Joel's photos can be viewed here.

Dominic imagines seahorses as he crosses the finish line on the boardwalk in 3:29 and change. Hey, is that an Atayne shirt he's wearing? :)

The photos are worth their weight in Clif Shots (which are tough to get down when they are frozen). On top of that, a search of the official results yields some cool information:

Dominic made his marathon debut in just under 3:30. Wow!
Joel and Keene combined for a 3:36 or so, with Joel running a 1:53 for his half
James and Laura netted a cool 3:47 relay time
Lori motored to a 3:51 and change...as speedy and consistent a marathoner as you'll find
Valliant notched a 3:52 and change, breaking under the 4:00 mark, goal accomplished

SCRATCH MY BACK WITH A HACKSAW...DOWN THE CHUTE COMES SHILLIDAY!!

Keene comes through the arches in a 1:42 half-marathon time, wondering if the guy on the left stole his watch...

Laura speeds down the boardwalk to a stellar half-marathon finish. The funny thing is, just 24 hours before finishing the race, she didn't even know she was going to be running it!!

My parting words here are, if you are looking for a nearby fall marathon, you couldn't do better than the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon. Flat, certified course with scenery and multiple surfaces, great support, winning festivities after the race. Look for the Rise Up Runners to return next year, with an even bigger posse, and maybe even a house along the course for party central for friends and family.

As for more story lines from this year's race... I'll let someone else bust out the deer hunter. Do what? Look through the photos...that's not in there by mistake. Thanks to all the RURs for a great race weekend!