January 5, 2020 – The Jacksonville Marathon – This Is The Way The Year Begins

A return trip to Jacksonville and a return to Boston seemingly secured.

Not a lot of photos as this turned into a business trip — for close to 17 miles I ran with a guy who “wasn’t trained up” but was hoping to keep it at a 7 minute miles pace. He did. I was at a sub-3 pace at the half and maybe even the 3/4… but things got dicier as the day wore on. Headwinds and this course’s nefarious mile 24.5 detour off the main road to make up mileage before the finish line on the main road played head games… but in the end I was able to get in at just under 3 hours 6 minutes. That’s a Boston Qualifying time for my age group… and hopefully should be enough of a buffer to ensure a bib for the Boston Marathon 2021.

Meanwhile, I’m tired and sore and I’ll keep it short — some quick pre-race photos, one in the middle, and a few finish line pics.

Pre-Race:

This was 30 degrees colder than yesterday. Great running weather… but it was super windy.

There’s a now classic Christopher Walken runner poster that says, “No time for Walken! You Need More Cowbell!”

Moving the start line banner onto the street.

The same directions every year… and while I didn’t record it, still a computer geenrated Aussie women’s PA anouncement mixed in with a CG male American voice.

Looking wrose for lack of sleep… and hitting my mid-40s.

The woman in pink? She helped me. She was also awesome.

Waiting in the Bolles School Gym for the race start.

We who are about to run salute you, Sun!

The start line banner should’ve come with a “Mind Your Head” warning. I think they put it low to minimize the ind effect on the balloons… but had I not ducked, I might have clonked my head and awoken as a CG generated TV personality called Jackson Ville. Max Headroom reference everybody!

Somewhere in the late single digits… I was really motoring… it wouldn’t last though.

This is Danny who waited for me at the finish.

And this is some not-my-thing bean soup thing they always announce as if it’s something to look forward to at the end of the race. I guess it’s warm… but I went with hot chocolate and skipped the, um, not very well plated soup. Top Chef would mark them WAY down.

This is the way the year begins… let’s see what happens next week at RunDisney’s WDW Marathon… albeit the pressure is WAY off to get a BQ in the coming months which helps tremendously.