Post by MattCollister on Oct 6, 2010 8:43:42 GMT -5
I ran the Wineglass marathon on Sunday.
This is in western New York, about a 4-1/2 hour drive from Cleveland.
The point-to-point race starts in a town called Bath and ends in Corning. The route is on secondary roads that go roughly parallel to the highway connecting the two towns. But for most of the route, the scenery is very pretty. The relatively flat course is surrounded by rolling hills and peak fall colors (I think New York is a couple weeks ahead of us for fall foliage). We lucked out with the weather--sunny and cool, with a slight breeze.
This is known as a fast race, which didn’t prevent me from running my PW of over 30 marathons (had to happen somewhere, right?). The race also experienced a huge influx of runners this year; compared to years past. I heard people saying “twice as many.” All things considered, I think the organizers did a passable job of handling the influx (see “Grievances” below for exceptions).
The expo was also in Corning, the day before the race. It’s small, but packet/number pickup was easy and they had the requisite discount running gear shop set up in a tent. The swag bag included a small bottle of champagne and, fittingly, a wine glass. I’ve yet to bust into that.
The post race party was ok. The medals were made of glass (pretty cool), and I was able to get my usual post-race meal of cheese pizza, a raisin bagel, a handful of Chips A'hoy cookies, a handful of pretzels, string cheese, a banana, and a Coke. Exactly what I'd been craving for the last four hours.
If you go
You’ll probably stay in Corning. It’s a small, manageable town with all you need to survive for a few days away. There are hotels and restaurants here, along with the world-famous Corning Glass Museum, for all you glass freaks. There were a couple of times when it seemed like the local businesses struggled with all the people descending on the town for the weekend, but we had a roof over our heads and ate three squares a day, so I think the town did ok. I’m not going to complain about the lumpy beds and somewhat-surly staff at the Staybridge Inn--that can happen anywhere.
Grievances
As Ken Beech has pointed out previously, “all I do is whine,” so as usual, I have a few grievances to air. Most of these are about “you people.”
Litterers. Maybe its just how they do things in New York, but people were throwing wrappers, bottles, gloves, clothes, etc., all over the road, shoulder, peoples’ front yards, etc. Do I need to identify the alternate course of action? Recommended penalty: Driven back to the start line and forced to run the course again and pick up all the litter.
Headphones. I know they’re legal, but I wish they weren’t; especially in a race that shares the course with cars. Suck it up and just run; you can listen to your Justin Bieber when the race is over. Recommended penalty: Forced to run for four hours listening to me sing instead.
Dudes who race ahead of you at an aid station, step in front of you, grab a cup of water, and stop dead in their tracks (forcing you to do the same). Recommended penalty: Forced to carry a 75-lb kettlebell from the point of the infraction to the finish.
Latter-mile porto-pot drought. The urge hit me at about mile 16, but I didn’t see any PP’s until mile 23. I almost stepped into a Citgo to, well, go. Recommended penalty: RD should be force-fed a gallon jug of Go-Lightly.
This is in western New York, about a 4-1/2 hour drive from Cleveland.
The point-to-point race starts in a town called Bath and ends in Corning. The route is on secondary roads that go roughly parallel to the highway connecting the two towns. But for most of the route, the scenery is very pretty. The relatively flat course is surrounded by rolling hills and peak fall colors (I think New York is a couple weeks ahead of us for fall foliage). We lucked out with the weather--sunny and cool, with a slight breeze.
This is known as a fast race, which didn’t prevent me from running my PW of over 30 marathons (had to happen somewhere, right?). The race also experienced a huge influx of runners this year; compared to years past. I heard people saying “twice as many.” All things considered, I think the organizers did a passable job of handling the influx (see “Grievances” below for exceptions).
The expo was also in Corning, the day before the race. It’s small, but packet/number pickup was easy and they had the requisite discount running gear shop set up in a tent. The swag bag included a small bottle of champagne and, fittingly, a wine glass. I’ve yet to bust into that.
The post race party was ok. The medals were made of glass (pretty cool), and I was able to get my usual post-race meal of cheese pizza, a raisin bagel, a handful of Chips A'hoy cookies, a handful of pretzels, string cheese, a banana, and a Coke. Exactly what I'd been craving for the last four hours.
If you go
You’ll probably stay in Corning. It’s a small, manageable town with all you need to survive for a few days away. There are hotels and restaurants here, along with the world-famous Corning Glass Museum, for all you glass freaks. There were a couple of times when it seemed like the local businesses struggled with all the people descending on the town for the weekend, but we had a roof over our heads and ate three squares a day, so I think the town did ok. I’m not going to complain about the lumpy beds and somewhat-surly staff at the Staybridge Inn--that can happen anywhere.
Grievances
As Ken Beech has pointed out previously, “all I do is whine,” so as usual, I have a few grievances to air. Most of these are about “you people.”
Litterers. Maybe its just how they do things in New York, but people were throwing wrappers, bottles, gloves, clothes, etc., all over the road, shoulder, peoples’ front yards, etc. Do I need to identify the alternate course of action? Recommended penalty: Driven back to the start line and forced to run the course again and pick up all the litter.
Headphones. I know they’re legal, but I wish they weren’t; especially in a race that shares the course with cars. Suck it up and just run; you can listen to your Justin Bieber when the race is over. Recommended penalty: Forced to run for four hours listening to me sing instead.
Dudes who race ahead of you at an aid station, step in front of you, grab a cup of water, and stop dead in their tracks (forcing you to do the same). Recommended penalty: Forced to carry a 75-lb kettlebell from the point of the infraction to the finish.
Latter-mile porto-pot drought. The urge hit me at about mile 16, but I didn’t see any PP’s until mile 23. I almost stepped into a Citgo to, well, go. Recommended penalty: RD should be force-fed a gallon jug of Go-Lightly.
