Oak Island Marathon

First LIVE marathon in nearly a year since the covid pandemic started and we were excited!

My wife and I found a getaway race to North Carolina for yet another race. Marathon for me and half for her. Training had been sparse due to the colder temperatures in December and January, but we hoped that enthusiasm for being “near” people was going to motivate us.

Once the date got closer it appeared that the cold temperatures, even further south, wasn’t going to happen. Worse yet was the rain. The forecast was 100% chancel showers. The weather prophets were accurate this time. 100% accurate!

A great casual drive down from Virginia Beach and yes....rain the whole time. Race bib pick up...rain. Dinner the evening before....more rain.

This race had a few new hurdles to overcome.

1. Distance from one another.

2. Carry all your water and fuel.

3. Mask at start and finish.

4. And of course....lots of rain. Cold rain!

We welcomed the challenges just to run a LIVE event.

The rain that morning was a complete downpour. Massive rain! I was bundled up but eventually I’d be soaked. A casual pace was planned and that’s what I was able to manage. Thankfully I ran a pretty consistent (slow) pace for the first 21 miles.

The bridge came onto the otherwise flat course....how rude! I had to walk up...legs were shredded but still managed to push a walk/run pave to keep moving....again ....people being around made me hustle a bit more. And the fear of being last....lol.

My hurdles during the race:

1. Started listening the Long Run by Matthew Long and at mile 12 my phone stopped working....too wet! The next 14 miles to listen to only myself....arrrr.

2. No control over my measurement of sugars. Dexcom still hasn’t got their device to catch up with the lastest iPhone update....arrrr.

3. My pump, although turned off, still beeped every few minutes....arrrr

4. Did I also mention being wet.....arrrrr!

Despite all of the obstacles I successfully managed to run faster and more consistently than any of my self virtual races. Roughly 55 minutes faster. But I was doing very poorly before. So now I have a goal to keep pushing.

Completed: Marathon #57 - 5 in the 55 Challenge