ATTQOTD: I despise expos. Although I love WDW, I get nervous in large crowds- which really doesn't make sense, must be the pixie dust. So a large crowd inside a venue almost makes me nauseous. There's normally tight walkways too. And I really hate the expos that make you walk through the vendors to get your stuff. This question reminds me to review my race this weekend...
Newport News One City Maritime 8K (I think this is the title):
So I did the 8K, my husband ran the full. This is the 4th year it has been put on, but first time we've done it. It's 2 weeks out from the big local race weekend (Shamrock), so I think that's a major turn-off for some. There's also no half option, however there is a 2 and 4 person marathon relay option.
I cannot call what we went to an Expo. It was a bib pick-up. There were a handful of vendors, but they were banks, timeshares, Lularoe, orthopedists, etc. I've never actually been approached by a vendor while walking and I was twice here; it felt like the people at the mall kiosks. It felt a little aggressive. We only spent about 10 minutes here, but it took an hour to get there and an hour to get home. I was also not thrilled with the email communication; if you're not a local and know the streets, their instructions are confusing. I don't go to this part of our area often, so I didn't like that.
I had to drop my husband off at the marathon start line shuttle at 6 AM. Security shut down a road 30 minutes early, so that was fun trying to navigate.
The 8K was fine. I was in Corral 1, but only because there were 2 corrals: first was for 10-minute and under miles, second was for anything slower. I did start towards the back and to the right because I was scared everyone was going to be much faster. The course itself was boring. We still had some of the high gusts from the nor'easter (thankfully we never had rain or snow, just high winds). The first mile included 2 overpasses. That first hill nearly killed me, it was so hard when you're not used to any incline! The wind was blowing from the north so it was pushing me over to the right. The first mile marker was at the top of the second overpass. It was pretty hard to control my breath so I switched to 2/1 intervals for miles 2-4. Still kept a good pace and was able to get comfortable. Miles 1-3 the wind was against us, then it was on our back 3-finish so I had good splits at the end. There were 3 water stops, but I had my handheld so I never needed them. The finish line party was on the water, but it was so cold. They did have patio heaters up which was nice. Since I had to wait around, I got some food then watched the marathon finish line. I got to see the winner and then lots of BQs! I love watching people BQ, it's really emotional.
One of my complaints about the marathon is the timing of the kids final mile race. They use the same finish line as the marathoners. The lanes were coned, but a lot of children did not obey the cones and were running into the marathon lane where people were pushing at the end. The final mile began at the 3 hour mark for the marathon, i.e. prime BQ time. I would have been livid if I was pushing for a BQ at the finish and had to dodge kids. This definitely needs to be reworked.
My husband said the marathon course was really boring, but luckily a friend ran with him until the last few miles.
Also, our times are off by a few seconds. Mine is 14 seconds slower, his might be about 30. Not a big deal. I don't think either of us would do this race again, it was okay, but there's far better options this time of year.
