Ing Georgia

[Cruella de mom]

Hi Everyone!

I ran in the Inaugural ING Georgia marathon and Half marathon today. I have been fretting about it since I have had some injury issues and my training has not been at the level that I would have liked. Well, I did great. I even beat the Kenyans in. - Seriously, if they show coverage of the race tonight watch closely at the finish. A woman in purple finishes in front of the marathon winner. Thats me finishing my half! Ok so he ran twice as far as I did - but I didn't start until a good 6 minutes after the start clock!

ING Georgia -
Pros: I live in Atlanta and love it here, but this race really showed off the beauty of Atlanta in a brilliant way.
*The expo was the biggest I have ever seen with an incredible variety of merchants. I didn't get to half the booths and still managed to carry away so much free stuff that all my bags were stuffed. I didn't buy anything, but I came away with 3 bags stuffed. My kids thought it was Christmas.
*The course was absolutely beautiful. Even the seedy parts of town seemed to sparkle. Every flower in Atlanta was blooming so it was like running through frosting. I hardly noticed the hills.
* The medals were very nice - They even had separate ones for the half and full.
* The shirts are tech shirts and they have a great design on them.

Cons:
*The water stops were absolutely AWFUL. I mean total disaster. In order to get water, you had to come to a complete stop and elbow your way to a table then fight for one of the cups that they might have filled. Fight your way back out and hope you still had water left in your cup. Powerade was non-existant at all but one stop. Thank God I always carry Jelly Belly sport Beans for just such an emergency.
* not enough portapotties does any race ever have enough?)
* They didn't have signs at the start and finish to tell you where everything was.

All in all, it was a good race. They have some work to do on logistics, but I would still recommend it next year.

 

[Lan]

Congrats Cruella de mom,

My sister ran the 1/2 today also. This was her second 1/2 with the 1st one being Disney. She complained about the water stops also. She finished in 2 hours 43 min. We went to the expo on Friday to pick up her bib.

I didn't particpate because I slowed down on working out after the Disney 1/2. My sister and I have already sent in our Peachtree Road Race entry forms. Will you run in that?

 

[Cruella de mom]

Hi Lan,

Yes, Dh and I sent in applications. We are waiting to see if we were lucky!

Good Luck!

 

[Lan]

I will let you know if we get accepted.

 

[lenshanem]

My DH ran the 1/2, too. He did it in 2 hours and 10 minutes! I'm very proud of him!
This was his first 1/2. He had done the 5K in WDW this past January. We're both now thinking about going down for the Race for the Taste.

 

[CarolA]

OK you left out the HUGE Lines to get your bibb.

My boyfriend ran the half. He had a death in the family and I had to go get his stuff for him. That was a disaster.

He had the exact same issues with water/poweraid. He was also a little miffed that they didn't do any "sorting" at the start. So he was stuck behind the Team in Training walkers who walked FiVE and SIX abreast with walking sticks. (sorry they had no excuse, their "traniers" should have taught them race ettiqute!)

Randy came in at 1:50, he wanted 1:45 but considering the start and the fact that he spent 8 hours driving the day before he was very happy with his result.

We both applied for the PeachTree. (He will get in, he's seeded something like the first group after the pros... We will see about me, my goal is to finish ahead of Clark Howard!)

 

[Lan]

My sister and I were accepted for the Peachtree Road Race. Our checks were cashed on yesterday.

My sister and I went to the expo on Friday morning to get her packet. I think we got there before they opened at 11am. There was a line but it moved quickly. When we left the expo the line was out the door. I wished they would of opened up sooner. I could only imagine what the Saturday line looked like.