The Lower Potomac River Marathon of 2013

The 9th LPRM by the Chesapeake Bay Runners Club was held on March 10, 2013 in Piney Point, St. Mary's County, Maryland under the capable hands of Race Director Liza Recto. The start & finish was near the front of the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship.

On a partly cloudy Sunday of 41 degrees, Fahrenheit temperature, about 200 runners started at 7:15 a.m. The first miles up to 7.9 was going to St. George Island via Route 249 South and back. All flat except on the bridge connecting the island to Piney Point, I felt lousy and sluggish at the beginning until about mile 10. It was tough for me to stay close to the rest of the runners. I had to keep a 10 to 11 minute per mile pace. My heart rate went as high as 171 beats per minute. This was all due to not doing my pre-race warm up routines of exercises and stretches, walking and light jogging. Nobody's fault but mine, I came late. Amazingly and eventually, I adjusted to the hang of things and was able to continue on after a hard struggle.

Mile 7.9 is back on the bridge (Route 249 N) then a left turn going to the Lighthouse Area (mile 12.5) where we turned around and came back to Route 249, the main portion of tbe marathon route. And incidentally, Route 249 is a 2-lane highway with 12-foot shoulders on both sides. This is where we ran, always keeping left. The traffic was light during the race. After about 2 hours plus, I came to the half-marathon point. I was running fairly well with an average pace of 11.5 minutes per mile and a comfortable heart rate.

Came to mile 15, where a gradual incline begins, passed the Post Office(about mile 16) followed by another
uphill leading to the turn-around at mile 18.8. Now, heading back south bound on Route 249, it was mostly going downhill until it leveled out at about mile 20 to the finish. I kept a 10 to 13 minute per mile pace and averaged 140 beats per minute heart rate all the way to the finish. Not fast as I was weary and tired but moving on along. I did some walking in between along the way especially at the water stops. And even with hurting sides of my right foot shin, butts and lower back, I focused on completing the marathon.

Finally, after an arduous run, I finished in 5:03:54, better than my last month's marathon time. Got a finisher's medal then walked into the School of Seamanship for a sumptuous buffet lunch (courtesy of the culinary staff of the Paul Hall Center) and the awards presentation. My overall place was 158 of 173 finishers and 1 of 2 in age group men 70 and over. This will be my number 56 marathon done and hopefully still more to come. It is great to be able to run a marathon and finish. Thanks to God for watching over me.