Stewart, Hunt, Margie and I met at Hunt's at 5:30AM and headed through Lancaster, met Harry Smith and some other Buzzards in a field off Manheim Pike, caravanned to a Holiday Inn near Hershey, then to some PA State Game Lands. Race start was shortly after 8. maybe 50 people.
Snow was just patchy at the start, but as we headed north up an absolutely straight utility cut, what seemed like the longest damn hill I have ever run because you can see all the way to the top, it got deeper and deeper, slower and slower, our legs just "post-holing" through 1-2 feet of heavy snow. This was supposed to be a long-slow for Boston, but it's the antithesis of "specificity of training" for a road marathon. Over the first goddamn mountain at the bottom there's a cable bridge, walk on one wire and hang onto the other. Actually there are two of these "bridges;" the newer one shown here (3 reasonably tight wires, and actual steps to climb up--for sissies waiting in line) and the older one Hunt and I used (2 really wobbly wires, no steps--for impatient morons like us). It's further across than the picture suggests. I watched Hunt go first, hanging backward, damn near horizontal, would have given 2:1 he would deck on the creek bottom. But we got it figured out. The trick is to lean forward onto the upper wire. We are gonna have to devise some stupid shit like this for the Buzzards when they do our HUMP run. After the cable bridge we have another incredibly long slog up the next hill, then right along the ridge in heavy deep snow, running was really laborious and barely faster than walking. Down the north face from the ridge, then up a third hill, then down again past the big reservoir that supplies Harrisburg which I didnt' even notice, I was just trying not to fall down.
At the bottom we hit the AT and the course's only aid station at ~16 miles. Hunt was a little behind me, Stewart and Margie a little further back. Stewart could have finished, but decided at the aid station he'd had the workout he wanted. By then I'd learned to sort of ski my shoes into the snow, so running was actually faster than walking except in the really deep stuff. West on the AT for a while, then up the steepest of the hills with lots of slipping backward in the snow. Back on a ridge my heel is really hurting (plantar fasciitis) so I actually prefer the cushioning of the snow to the better traction of occasional clear patches. The ridge trail merges with a gravel road, I stumble and take a dive into the snow, the road does a loooong descent back to the cable bridge. From there you see straight to the top of the last mountain returning south along the utility cut, but it takes a damn half hour to get up there, flailing in the sloppy snow, then down the other side and a final mile or so the the finish. 6:18:02--a new PR, and I didn't get lost once! Stewart is there; we quaff some heavy-duty homebrew and engage in manly palaver with various Buzzards, RATS and VHTRC people and I stick my heel in some snow. Some people ran the whole thing, some people shortcut the hell out of it, nobody cares either way. After Margie and Hunt finish we all head over to a roadhouse for quick beer and burgers with RATS and Buzzards, very congenial group, then home.
On a scale of one to five I'd have to give this marathon an A. Course: thumbs up! Crowd support: 9. People pay money for this kind of shit, but here we got to run this swell marathon for free, put on by Buzzards who did this out of the goodness of their sadistic little hearts. It will be even more fun to run this when you can see the rocks and stuff, and there is traction so that running results in actual forward motion. I will definitely do this one again! Thanks Harry & Co. for a great outing!
--John
Buzzards Marathon was a dream come true type of run this year. I always wondered what it would be like to run the course in the snow. It was a warm day but it wasn't warm enough to melt the snow up in Harrisburg, PA. The non-event race director, Harry Smith, warned us of "post holes" and a fair amount of snow left up on the course. We soon found out what he meant. No wonder he and his buzzard friends decided to cut out the old logging road and the primitive mountain stream sections. The snow made the course tough enough without those two sections.
After the tough 1st climb and the cable bridge, I was looking forward to stretching out my legs on the gravel access road. Not so. It was more like trudging than running. It made me think to myself that I'm more of a "hiker" than a "runner" now. Stewart and I could only laugh at ourselves for getting up so early in the morning, meeting Hunt and John, driving 2 hours to run with so many other trail running enthusists. A large showing from the Buzzards, VHTRC and RATS were there to make us feel right at home. It seems that some folks were very familiar with the course. They either ran an out and back or took a secret shortcut back to the start.
I carried 80oz. and was determined to finish it. Stewart keep me company for the 1st 15 miles until we came to the one and only aid station. The cheerful, friendly women nicknamed "Fluffy" was there to greet us and provide the much needed water and food stuff. Thank you Fluffy!! Stewart, using his good sense, decided to play it safe and catch a ride back to the finish with her.
Fluffy told us that Hunt is 15 minutes ahead. Humm I decided I have to try and catch him. I eassured Stewart that I would be okay, that I have a course turn sheet, know the course and more importantly feel good. Harry Smith was the sweeper. So I knew I'd be okay. Funny, I kept looking over my shoulder thinking that Harry should be right behind me any minute now as slow as I was running today.
I finally caught up to Hunt on the final climb just after crossing back over the cable bridge. Thank Goodness. Buzzards Marathon was just what I needed to get outside and enjoy such a beautiful day. Thank you Buzzards for putting on such a fine non-event!
--Margie
Caesar Rodney--Sunday March 16, 2003, Wilmington DE
This years News-Journal coverage was really disappointing, particularly since I'd talked with Kevin Tresolini, the NJ sportswriter and given him contact info for several Dawgs who'd be running the race. And the Lin-Mark website makes it hard to find all the Dawgs who ran. Anyway...
CONGRAGULATIONS to (sorry if this is incomplete): Pete (47th in 1:25:00--a 6:30 pace!), Erin, Tom T., Carl, Mary (who said she wasn't gonna do it but did), Dave R., Loren, Connie (who beat Tom Carper), Jill, Larry, and Carl's son Jeff! Dave McCorquodale also finished, but his name's not in the results. (Some goose-stepping ditto-head deleted him because he ran with a "No War" sign?)