In 2015, 23 people ran the inaugural Rhinebeck Hudson Valley Full Marathon and 74 people ran the half. A year later, the race tripled the field.
Race packet pickup opened at 6 AM and I assumed that meant the race would start at 7. But sure enough, I had just made an ass of me. The paperwork and website clearly state the race was set to start at 8 AM. Basically, I was at the fair grounds ridiculously early. But I wasn’t alone — amidst the early birds was Larry Macon, a man with over 1500 marathons to his name. I see Larry fairly often but this is the first time I thought to grab a photo with him He is a living legend.
The fairgrounds were actually lovely. Sure, sure. I was there such that the moorish fog hung about the ground but the sun would burn that off in due course.
I was bummed Coppola’s wasn’t open as I can only imagine spaghetti and meatballs on a stick. Sadly, even by race’s end, they STILL weren’t open, prompting a frowny face selfie shot.
In marked contrast to Oz, the yellow stripped road lead to restrooms and I was oddly obsessed with trying to capture it digitally. I probably took fifteen photos of the colored arrowed walkways in the hopes of getting that one perfect shot to encapsulate the feeling. I think I failed, but here’s my best shot:
The starting line was near the fairground’s track and nestled between some church and historical railroad station. As time ticked by and the start got closer, the golden rays of the sun only enhanced the sense of nostalgia and bygone days. I chatted briefly with a guy named Andrew who was up from Long Island. He had that quintessential LI accent and talked about how he should bring his girl here as it’s so beautiful. I hope some day he does bring his girl.
The race itself was two loops with a couple of extra out and backs for the marathoners to hit their 26.2 mileage total. No black cones a la Mainly Marathons, but there were still plenty of orange ones.
Much like many a hotel room I’ve had over the years promising oceanviews but not ocean front, the course provided a glimpse of the Hudson River if you craned your neck and caught the break in the tree line just so. Fleeting but pretty.
In truth, the tree lined country roads were lovely. Though the temperatures and humidity climbed as the sun rose to its zenith, there were enough shady spots and occasional breeze to help make the run easier than had we been in an open field.
I knew what I was getting into with the size of the race and so there wasn’t a lot of spectator support; it was a small town marathon, put on by people who wanted to show off the natural areas and do something for the community. In that regard, I thought it a resounding success.
I didn’t stick around for long after the race as I had to get on the road to the Poconos to pick up my packet for Sunday’s race. I did make a minor detour stop in Hope, NJ, to a place called Land of Make Believe.
If someone asks if I want to go to the Land of Make Believe, I say “yes!” But then the reality of the situation dawns; I find the lack of imagination on the part of the proprietors to be most disturbing. They are strict constructionists that view “summer opening” as meaning “Memorial Day” even if I can manually set the date and time on my phone to be May 30th anytime I want. Secondly, they bill it as a “family adventure park for parents and kids… especially those 8 and younger.” Well, I’ve been told I often act like an 8-year-old so that shouldn’t be a problem either. And yet it is. I guess I’ll just have to pretend I went to the Land of Make Believe. In my dreams, it’s a magical place where I’m a viking… or an astronaut. Or an astronaut viking!
But I digress. Having arrived at the Stroudsburg High School cafeteria, I picked up my packet and was astonished to hear that they were forecasting freezing temperatures at the starting line tomorrow morning. Granted, it’s at the top of a mountain and downhill from there but still — it was 75 degrees as I walked out of the Mountaineers’ Caf. But one shouldn’t assume, as I learned this morning. By the time I got to my hotel a half hour later, it was raining and 55 degrees. Tomorrow might be a cold one. Hopefully the downhill and the temperatures will help spur me onto a possible Boston Qualifying time. It’s a long, long shot… especially since I went out a bit faster today than I had intended. My legs feel okay at the moment but as I’ve said before I’m not sure back-to-back marathons are the best idea when shooting for a first ever BQ.
But what the heck — despite what “people” say, I live in a land of make-believe where what you believe can sometimes make things a reality. Hokum mayhaps but a little hokum never hurt.