It wasn’t but a couple weeks ago that a buddy of mine asked several of us to join him in a Marine Corps Marathon event called the 17.75k. I went back and forth on whether I wanted to take part or not. You see, I had never purposefully run more than around 6 miles before. After inviting an old friend who was in the area, we decided to run the event.
17.75km equates to about 11 miles. That’s nearly a half marathon!
The morning of the event started at 4:30am. We arrived at the parking and shuttle area at 5:20am so we could catch the bus to the starting location. Many booths were open at the starting location which afforded us the opportunity to renew our free National Parks passes, eat a small snack, store our stuff, and prepare for the run. We started the race at 7am sharp.
I am by no means a fast funner. Heck, I don’t even love running! Nowadays I do it for the cardio aspect and because it’s easy to put on shoes and go. The first couple miles started off at around a 9:30 pace. According to the run data recorded by my watch, I spent the next five miles at a sub nine-minute pace. Not too shabby! However, the ending had many, many hills which slowed my pace for four miles. Finally, the homestretch was upon us and it was now raining.
Legs and knees hurting, I crossed the finish line officially clocking in at 1:43:15. Is that good? I don’t know. According to the data, I wasn’t last in my age group so that’s cool. My legs were hurting during the run, but that didn’t compare to how much they hurt afterwards. When the race was over, we headed to Cracker Barrel for a feast of champions. Walking from the car to the table was its own event.
Running 11 miles was not fun. Was it worth doing? For sure! The trail we ran was in the Prince William National Forest which afforded us the opportunity to see the vastness and beauty of creation. Will I do it again? Probably not. If there is a next time, maybe it will be a half marathon instead.
Signing off from Triangle, VA.
A Couple New Things 
Leave a comment