2009 Callaway Gardens Marathon

I was running like a super hero; blazing with the lead pack. Turn after turn, up and down the small rolling hills by the lakes through the woods my sonic boom could be heard! Feet on fire, I issued out a battle cry. Unfortunately, the wheels would fall off this ride before the day was through, but it was a good roller coaster until then!

After my hour drive from the house to Callaway Gardens, I got myself adjusted to the chilly 38 degree air by walking around Robin Lake. Then I went to the large Circus Tent that still had Christmas candy cane decorations on it. If they'd have been playing circus music as I entered for my packet pick-up, I'd have turned around and headed home! Inside, I think it was cooler but I still browsed the running supplies set up by Dig Me Sports from near St. Petersburg, FL. The volunteers were very friendly and packet pick-up was well marked, with more lanes set up for the majority of people that would be running the half marathon. Also in the circus tent were two tables of brochures from races, mostly 5K's, across GA promoting the Run and See Georgia program.

For a small, home-town feel race, I was surprised that the race packet included a technical running jacket with zippered pockets and reflective stripe around the collar. It's embroidered with the Callaway Gardens logo and it's bright lime-green in color, so you can hopefully be seen by motorists (or in my case, cyclists and golfers) on cooler winter days while out running.

While walking around outside, I ran into fellow Disney Running, forum writer Andrew "tighurt" who was wearing his DR.com orange hat. He was going for the Iridium award level of the Marathon Maniacs, as this was his 4th marathon in as many weeks. (He would achieve his accomplishment!)

I also meet Joe from Chicago who was wearing a "50 States" hat. He was here with his wife and we were trying to separate his rental car keys so his wife would have a copy as she was running the half and he was running the full. I knew that he had to have at least 10 states under his belt and asked him about how many he'd done. A grin came to his face and he looked up saying, "Oh, I'm done. I completed it." I hope my jaw didn't hit the ground.

The "gun" for the 5K was on time, and I ditched my toss-away sweatshirt at my car and walked over to the starting line. We were briefed well by Dave Johnson about the course and all important notes.

There was one wheelchair athlete who was released 5 minutes prior to the start of the marathon and half marathon. In my never ending search for knowledge in the Spartan School of Race Training, I moved up in the pack to be within the 3 people away from the start. *Future Lesson learned

At 8 AM we were released onto the turning, lightly rolling hills in the woods of the Gardens. Most of the course was on the asphalt roads of Callaway Gardens, but a little more than 10 % of the course would be on the paved bike trails. The course was a complete loop with one out and back section for the half marathon which was repeated for the full marathon.

It was a well marked course with big signs at every mile outlined in black and orange. The mind screw to that was that the mileage between the half and the marathon was just slightly off, so you pass a marker for 14 miles then about 50 meters farther you would hit the 1 mile marker. The good thing was, even with the twisting course, you knew where you were mileage wise and you knew if you were on course.

Water stations were briefed as to have water and "Gatorade" alternating at each station, but I found most of the water stations had both. The sports drink was orange flavored, but was mixed as to not having the best taste for a sports drink. I was about 5 miles in that I thought it would have been a good idea to have parked closer to the road at the start/half-way point so that I could have taken my own drink bottle on the course. *Future Lesson learned

Water and sports drink stations were about every 2 miles apart, which was pretty good for the day's run ending up being around 48 degrees when I finished. There was only a light wind, and it could barely be felt because of the large amount of tree coverage.

The only down side to it being a winter race was that the Gardens themselves were not in season, so the only real flowers that could be seen were near the start finish area of the circus tent. The good thing was that there were plenty of evergreens and the underbrush was dead and gone so you could look through the woods and see other runners on sections of the course that came close together.

To sum up the 2009 Callaway Gardens:
The course was well enough marked, scenic, clean, certified and mostly easy to navigate. It had a few tight turns, but ran smooth for the most part. There were lightly rolling hills along most of the course, and a couple of real hills and down hills to add a bit of a challenge.

The volunteers were helpful at packet pick-up and all the water station personnel were in good moods. The chutes were well staffed by two ladies handing out the medals and giving the runners their finishing cards to turn in at the circus tent. Dave Johnson was on the PA announcing names and times, and running the computers, while his father Dave, was yelling out encouragement to the runners coming in.

There was only one vendor at the race, which was fine for this race which almost had the feel of a well done, down home local 5K. Dig Me Sports had a lot of Brooks' running gear, shoes, and Fuel Belts. They also had the seemingly required GU gels, Clif shots and Body Glide roll-on.

On previous race reports on Marathon Guide, I have read people slam the finishing medal. Though the medal for this race doesn't effect my opinion of what I consider a great race destination, I must admit that a medal that states "Half-Marathon/Marathon" is a little disheartening and is an area that they could improve on.

There are no crowds along this race, except for a few pockets of families or friends scattered here and there like they were sprinkled lightly from the clouds, but I was able to give a "shaka" to all these people and pump them up, which kept me pumped.

355 people raced the half-marathon and after most of them were done, it made for a lonely second loop.

Next up: My Personal Race Report and Grade Card.