So I decided just a few days before this race to sign up.  We could never get our Thanksgiving Day plans finalized, but once we decided that we could stick around for the race, I knew I was game!

Now, my first thoughts were those of nervousness.  I had done pretty well on Silver Comet, but after reading other’s reviews about this course, I thought the hills were going to be killer.  Since my hill training was pretty nonexistent, I was certain that I was going to pass out from exhaustion. 

Another concern dealt with weather.  It had been really nice several days leading up to the race.  But every time I checked the weather, the high seemed lower and lower.  Plus, it seemed like rain was pretty much certain.  I am not rugged by any means.  How was I going to deal with soreness, the cold, and the rain?

We arrived at 6:20 at the start - near the corner of Peachtree Industrial and Clairmont.  Wow, there were a ton of people!!  Nothing like Silver Comet at all.  The temperature was still near 60 and outside of a few sprinkles, no real threat of rain.  I was starting to feel pretty good about the race. 

But, the second the gun went off at 7, buckets starting pouring from the sky and didn’t seem to let up!  No problem we still took off on the course - which winds to Peachtree Street north of Buckhead and continues to midtown, downtown, to finish at Centennial Park and Turner Field.  Initially, the rain felt good and no one seemed to mind.  Even though I was wearing an iPod, I could hear lots of people cheering and screaming trying to get everyone to ignore it.  Plus, there was a group of Marines who ran close to me the entire race chanting in unison and waving their flag.  I have to say that motivation kept my spirits high the entire time.

But the rain kept coming.  By mile 2, my feet were completely soaked and felt like they weighed 20 pounds.  Plus, my iPod quit working!  Instead of just getting over it, I wrestled with the machine while still running for almost 8 minutes until I could get music again (which I am certain had to do with my time :))  But the closer we got to Buckhead, the better the crowd support seemed to be.

The first 6 or 7 miles were flat and fast.  After I stopped worrying about my iPod and the rain, I thought it was really cool to be running a course in my city - to know that we started north of Buckhead and were approaching midtown.  Plus, I didn’t feel tired at all.  The whole experience was so uplifting. 

Speaking of uplifting, the hills started almost exactly halfway in.  Ok, I had read about these and thought I was prepared.  The first couple didn’t seem bad - or at least not bad enough to have names.  But the hill by Piedmont Hospital seemed to go on forever!  I think they built the hospital there just to take care of runners.  I know this is bad to say, but I’m glad that I wasn’t the only person who was struggling.  But, most importantly to me, I didn’t quit running, even though it felt like I was running in place.

The rest of the course seemed like a constant slight incline with multiple small hills along the way.  Except for a few minutes of reprieve here and there, the rain kept coming.   Thank goodness the weather hadn’t taken a turn for the worse.  Surprisingly, I still didn’t feel tired!  I don’t know if it was the crowd support, the city as the backdrop or the good climate, but I felt like I could keep running forever.  It was so amazing approaching midtown and running past the numerous landmarks.  But I hit a little bit of a wall on mile 12.  I thought I had read that the last mile was pretty easy and downhill.  The minute I saw the last hill near the Capital, I was totally unprepared!!  I’m so thankful for the people around me who heard me huffing and puffing and encouraged me to make it up quickly.  Finally, I ran through the Olympic rings and the finish line near Turner Field.

Sure, I finished a little more slowly, but hey, I’m not beating myself up over it given the iPod “debacle,” heavy shoes, and innumerable hills :)

So many things to note about this race outside of the weather and elevation.  It was so cool to run a race in the city!  The whole day I kept reflecting on how far I had run in a city as spread out as Atlanta.  Plus, I’m still nervous about doing a full marathon.  This race proved to me that I am getting close to being ready; at least I wasn’t ready to stop running during this one!  Plus, it was so cool to be in a larger race.  The participants and crowd support (which I was told was small) was so cool and really motivated me to keep going.  I can’t wait to see what it’s like at ING!

Since it was getting cold, continuing to rain, and was Thanksgiving, we didn’t take many pictures and quickly headed home to shower and go see family.  Why is this sport just getting more and more addicting?!?!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are my photos at Marathonfoto.com.