In honor of Memorial Day Weekend 2018, I thought this would be the perfect marathon to talk about today.

A few weeks after I ran the 2018 Indy Mega Mini Challenge, I flew to Burlington, Vermont for the 30th Anniversary of the Vermont City Marathon. I picked this marathon to be the next one because I have heard amazing things about the crowd that shows up in support of the runners. But what really sold me on it was that it was during Memorial Day weekend which meant, I didn’t have to miss any work since I was on second shift at the time. As this was my second marathon in 6 months, I felt confident after breaking the two-hour mark on a half marathon. This was was my first time in Vermont and I wanted to enjoy it, so I asked my friend, A, that was working at Yale at the time if they wanted to drive up and meet me in Burlington. Thankfully, they said yes which it gave me that extra push motivation I needed.

Day 1: Arrival

To my luck, their was a direct flight to Burlington from Detroit on the 25th of May, the Friday before the race. Being that it was a race, I made sure to pack everything as carry-on. This meant in my “Personal Item Bag” I had my race apparel & shoes, all my Gus, and my new fabulous Roll Recovery, and the rest of my stuff was packed in the carry-on bag that was overhead. I didn’t pack much for entertainment on the flight, since it was only an hour. At the airport, I learned I was upgraded to “1st Class”. I say this in quotes because it was on a much smaller plane, an Endeavor Air CRJ-900 so the 1st Class amenities where no the same as a cross-country or transatlantic flight. It did serve to be an issue though since I was put in the first row where I had no under seat storage! I had to end up checking my carry-on and putting my personal item bag in the overhead storage compartment.

Once I landed, the first thing I did was take a Lyft to the hotel I was staying the first night – the Fairfield Inn Burlington Williston – and checked in early so I could drop off my bags. I picked this hotel 1) because it was cheap and 2) because the Race Expo was closer to here than the Airbnb I booked in downtown Burlington for the race. Once everything was dropped off, I then Lyfted to the Expo at the DoubleTree by Hilton Burlington Vermont.

Compared to the Race Expo at Disney, this Expo was tiny. The ballroom was relatively small, and most of the venders were local. Since this was 5 years ago not (geesh), I don’t remember too much about the Expo. I remember there was an UnTapped booth, where I tried my first ever race waffle – I now prefer this to be my pre-run fuel, and some pretty cute merch. I bought a running hat, that I ended up wearing the day of the race, and a tank top. I also bought this super cute 30th anniversary pull-over long-sleeve shirt with a hood, that I have since lost 😦 . To finish off the day, I grabbed some dinner at the hotel bar and headed back over to where I was staying for the night.

Day 2: Exploring Burlington

My friend, A, drove up Saturday morning and picked me up from the hotel just before check out. The plan was to head to AirBnB; but we had some time on our hands so we decided to head to the Burton Flagship Store and Headquarters for some shopping (I got some discounted boots and new Snowboard bindings). Then hit up Switchback Brewing Co and Zero Gravity Brewery for lunch. Finally, we stopped and bought a few groceries for the AirBnB – I made sure to grab my jar of pickles for Pickle Juice and some raw potato’s for potassium then made our way to check in. Driving through Vermont was extremely gorgeous. I loved how none of the billboards were allowed to be higher than ground level. Although the whole time we were driving I couldn’t help but think “wow this looks just like in the movie Super Troopers”.

The AirBnB was right downtown on Cherry Street, above the now defunct restaurant Penny Cluse. I picked it since it was only a 10 min walk to Battery Park (start line location) and because the marathon does run down Cherry Street, making it easier for A to see me during the run. But the best part about being on Cherry Street was that it was right next to the Ben and Jerry’s. We didn’t have time to go to the Factory, so this was the next best thing. We headed out for dinner at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill then headed over for some Ben & Jerry’s for dessert. (Which typically is not an ideal food choice before a marathon but when in Vermont)

Day 3: Race Day

We woke up bright and early and made our way to the start line. I honestly was surprised that A planned on seeing me off, but it was nice having someone to talk to while I did my pre-run Sun Salutations to stretch out. The race started at 7:00am, and I was in the second corral so I took off at 7:05. I really wanted to break 4:30 on this run. At the time, my PR was still from my first marathon, The Detroit Free Press Marathon, at 5:02:05. I really wanted to drop 30 minutes off of my time and believed I could, so I decided early on I was going to run with the 4:30 pace group. A stood next me in line until the gun went off, then ran over to Pearl Street to catch me when we circle back around for Mile 3.

I loved running with a Pace Group. It was my first time, but it gave me the motivation to I needed to excel on this run. Not only did I feel confident, I looked confident when I had a group of 5 others running and laughing beside me. However the best part about being in a pace group was that, it allowed me to focus on enjoying the run. The Pacer’s job was to slow us down or speed us up depending on the terrain. When we were headed downhill, we would run a faster pace to gain sometime, then when we would come back uphill, she would slow us down.

Mile 1: 10:28
Mile 2: 10:17
Mile 3: 10:27
Mile 4: 9:53.7
Mile 5: 10:02
Mile 6: 10:28
Mile 7: 10:26
Mile 8: 10:15
Mile 9: 10:16
Mile 11: 10: 27
Mile 12: 10: 21

Half Marathon Time 2:15:11

For the first 10k, we were averaging around a 10:25/mile pace. It was steady and I felt fairly strong. Miles 1 – 8 were all downhill so we ran it a little faster. With miles 4-8 being our highway stretch (checking the 2023 Marathon route, this is no longer a part of the course). It was an out and back on the 127 and while we were on our way out, the elite leader was already on their way back in. The exciting part about this was that we all got to watch Meb Keflezighi run past us on the other side of the road like lightning.

Meb, who raised the green flag at the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon and was quoted on the half marathon medal, was the front man of a 5-person relay team put together by RunVermont. The four other members all wrote to RunVermont essays of inspiration on why they should be able to have the chance to run a relay marathon with Meb. It was a fabulous opportunity for them, but also for those of us running the marathon by ourselves to see an Olympian in action.

At Mile 8, we ran back up the off ramp of the highway and began our second pass through of Cherry Street and down Church Street. My friend, A, was ready right at the corner of Cherry and Church, He yelled and cheered me on, all while snapping a few photos. Then A headed back into the AirBnB before heading out to get their run and workout in for the day. The next time he would see me would be on the mile 15 hill (that was the only thing on every runner’s mind).

We left down down and then headed to the out-and-back loop down south. This took us down Pine Street and we actually passed the two Brewery’s A and I got lunch at the day before. At mile 11.8, we passed an Untapped Fuel station. While most people, including myself, do not advise mixing up your fuel the day of the race, I did loose a few of my gels on the highway stretch… I decided to risk it and eat half of the maple syrup waffle and I soon regretted it as when we reached the turn around point, the half marathon marker, I HAD to run into a port-o-potty for a break. I knew this would mean that I would fall behind my pace group; but I was not about to let this marathon be the one I pooped my pants.

Mile 13: 9:47.7
Mile 14: 9:44.1
Mile 15: 9:58.8
Mile 16: 10:09
Mile 17: 9:56.3
Mile 18: 10: 15
Mile 19: 9:48.8
Mile 20: 9:44.6

35K CPTime 3:34:51

We were maintaining a 10:19/mi pace when I ran into the port-o-potty. I felt that if I just went fast enough (thankfully there was no line) I could get in and get out and catch back up with the group. As you can tell by my times, I was hauling it. I was not about to let the group get away from me and I caught up with them right before we got to the 14 mile marker. Just in time to get back into a groove time at mile 15, and brace ourselves for the hill up Battery St (now it looks like the 2023 course only runs DOWN the Battery St hill…lucky ducks). My Pace group gave ourselves all a good pep talk and braced it head on. Halfway up the hill, right where I expected A to be, he was standing there with my glass of pickle juice I asked for. I snatched it out of his hand with a quick Hey! Thanks! and continued booking it up the hill. First thing I did at the top, chugged the pickle juice to get some more electrolytes into my body.

We were now on our final path out of downtown, this time taking North Ave all the way to the North. Unlike the subdivisions to the south, the subdivisions to the north had newer build homes, and plenty of people cheering us on outside their houses. When we were looping around one of the subdivisions at mile 18, a house was giving out freeze pops cut in half and I couldn’t help but take two. The sun was really starting to shine on us as the sun started coming out, and it raised the temp about 70degs. I was sweating and a freeze pop was just want I needed.

It was around this time we began to loose some of the members of our group. From miles 16-20, one by one we either fell behind, or ran ahead. I choose to try to run ahead, and I did end up regretting it. I was consistently staying around a 10min pace, and I genuinely thought I could maintain that. So after I grabbed the freeze pops, I took off on my own for the next 4 miles.

One thing I did not consider was the strength that the group provided me mentally. As soon as I left, it became increasingly harder to stay motivated, especially as the crowds began to thing out. I managed to stay running through Mile 22. But Mile 23 I started walking. I was starting to feel the pain that I had ignored the pervious miles. Since mile 22 was the final turn around point, and I knew that I had 4.2 miles left to the finish line, I thought I deserved a break. BIG MISTAKE. Instead of walking, I should have just slowed my pace down because then, without the Pace group, I no longer had the motivation to run again. It was on Mile 24 when my original Pace Bunny passed me. That gave the motivation to keep going, but I was slowly falling behind them. I was determined to keep going.

At Mile 25, my Garmin read that I was at a total time of 4:17:28. That meant that I only had 13 minutes left to run 1.2 miles to beat the 4:30:00 time. I started to kick it into high gear. I don’t know where all this energy came from. In hind sight, I probably should of tried running with the 4:00:00 pace group if I still had this much energy left (once the mental block was gone). But never the less, I continue running faster and faster and faster. By the time I finally crossed the finish line, I was averaging a pace of 8:32 and in a full on sprint. (You can see me flying through on the left hand side in the video below). When I finally looked at my Garmin I saw I made my goal. I dropped 30mins off of my previous PR time coming in at a beautiful

4:31:17

Final Thoughts:

This was the happiest day of my life – before I got married. The course was well thought out; however, it appears the current course has been edited to make it slightly easier on the runner. The organization of the event was flawless and like every article I read said, the whole town really does come out to cheer everyone on. The pace team was great, and they did a god job selecting the members. I would recommend this marathon to anyone. Though it wasn’t as exciting as the WDW marathon, I think Vermont is my new favorite marathon.

After I crossed the finish line, I made sure to get my free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; but skipped my beer. I wanted to get back to the Airbnb and shower so I could enjoy the remainder of a beautiful Memorial Day weekend in Burlington, Vermont.