Hartford Marathon

The course was beautiful, the aid was sufficient, the whole event was well-organized, and I got to take a mum from the finish line with me on the the plane home which was cool. However, and it's a big however, it was all for nothing. I had an unfortunate situation back home that I required my attention via phone during the race for 1.5hrs. I'm already on the slower end of the spectrum, so I ended up worriedly asking race officials no less than 5 times if I would be allowed to finish. They were very kind and one even stayed with me for a time to make sure I was safe crossing the street after they took down course support. Every time I asked, they repeatedly assured me I would be allowed to finish. I finished, I was given a medal, and I grabbed a mum before hobbling back to the hotel. I got an email congratulating me on my finish, but there was no time on the virtual certificate, which was weird, but I chalked it up to a technical error. I went into the results and saw my times for the last two check points were missing. Ok, that's fine, maybe something funky happened with the chip, so I email the organizers asking about it and tell them I can supplement whatever data they're missing with my gps. They tell me it was not an error, that they had not published the results because it was after the time limit. My heart immediately sinks and I'm frustrated that they all insisted for several miles that I would be allowed to finish, but I recognize they maybe didn't know that they wouldn't publish the results and were just being supportive in the best way they knew how. ...except then I see several times officially published that were after the cutoff time, and so now I feel cheated. I don't want their times tossed, but I don't see why they would publish some and not others, especially when they have the data. I ask if they can make an exception, explain that I'm trying to do all 50 states, and that it won't count if my time isn't published. They politely refused, but offered to write a letter to say that I did officially finish. The whole exchange just felt like a slap in the face and left a bad taste in my mouth, but it is what it is. It should have been my 29th state, 31st marathon total, but the whole hostage situation with my results means I'll have to fly back and try again. Probably not this one even though I know I'd finish with no problem on a normal day, but my feelings are hurt, so I will most likely do a different one to check CT off my list.

This showed enough of the city and then had a scenic out and back, which I liked. It got warm, and the sports drink is Nuun (neither is good for me personally). Hartford is a pretty decent city, with a lovely capitol building and the grounds - highly recommend the carousel!!

I ran a couple marathons earlier this year and they turned out to be pretty tough due to weather and the courses, so I was really hoping for a great experience in Hartford. I was not disappointed. This should be your Connecticut race if you share with me the 50-state goal. It was quite easy to get from the airport to my hotel and back to the airport again after the race. The city is easy to get around and it was easy for me to find the food and supplies I needed to be ready for a race. Note: The Capitol Hotel is right by the race start, but they do not offer a late checkout for some reason!! General Strengths: * The race organizers offered to mail runners their packets (for a fee) so they could skip the expo. That's a huge plus for anyone coming in from out of town. * Lots of support and volunteers along the course. I would say the water cups could have been a little fuller, but the water stations seemed to be more frequent than your average race so it balanced out. * Nice long sleeve tee and medal. * The course was mostly flat and generally pleasant, running along the Connecticut River, in the area of the capitol, and through different parks. We had good running weather--about 50 and sunny. October races are the best. Opportunities for Improvement: * I think when a race gets to be a certain size, you need to split up the marathon and the half marathon at the start. It's just so crowded for the first couple of miles. Maybe stagger the coral start times? It's hard to get into a groove when you're shoulder-to-shoulder with people. * There needed to be more port o potties near the start line. You shouldn't have to wait in line for 20 minutes before a race right before you run a marathon.