Another marathon. Another state. A fun, cold day running. Gotta love it!
I ran a marathon in my 10th U.S. state on Saturday: Mountain Home, Arkansas. The Mountain Home Marathon is a "run for missions" of it's own which made me very interested in learning about it and checking it out. The run benefits a village in Kenya called Katito, which the churches of Mountain Home have spiritually partnered with over the last several years, bringing hope, clean water, improved education and other resources through World Vision. The marathon helps in their annual fund raising process. (I'm taking notes...)
I ran for a while with an old guy, Tom, 69 years old(!), but couldn't keep up with him and in the end and he beat me by a minute and a half! Northwestern Arkansas is beautiful this time of year with all of the semi-ozark rolling hills.
I finished in 3:57:59, which I was very pleased with as I worked hard to break the four hour mark and with even 3 miles left to go it didn't look likely. But I turned up a gear (don't know where this came from!?) running a 8:00 minute mile 25 and then a 7:34 mile 26 and continued my sprint to the finish line! The course had constant significant hills and it was cold. Mid to upper 30s most of the way with a strong cold north wind. A few times we even saw snow flakes and sleet - that was funny! I finished 9th overall and 7th male. First in my age division, males 20-29, but then again I was the only one!
I ran for a while with an old guy, Tom, 69 years old(!), but couldn't keep up with him and in the end and he beat me by a minute and a half! Northwestern Arkansas is beautiful this time of year with all of the semi-ozark rolling hills.
To see race results: http://www.mountainhomemarathon.info/21.html
