2007 Grandfather Mountain Marathon
For my last long training run before a Boston qualifying attempt in San Francisco, I ran the Grandfather Mountain Marathon with fellow running idiot Paul Martino and 458 other crazy mountain goats. It was the beautiful and energizing training run I’ve ever done. I wasn’t running for time, but was very happy with my 3:32, which was good for 39th overall.
We stayed in the Appalachian State dorms, which are very nice as far as dorms go. There appears to have been a lot of money spent on campus recently, but even without all the new buildings the area is beautiful.
Paul wanted pre-race dinner at Cafe Portofino in downtown Boone, which had a number of decent vegetarian offerings. Excellent food, and the owners have their own running and cycling wall of fame.
The course isn’t hilly, it’s mountainous. I wanted a training run to make San Francisco look flat, however, and I got it. All of my Crowder’s Mountain training has left me very strong in this kind of terrain, so I didn’t have much trouble with the ups, and I loved every one of the downs.
The finish was around the track at the Highland Games. You can see the tents from the games at the top of the final hill. I would have thought the combination of the marathon finish with the Games was a cool idea, but the exhausted runners seemed to be more of an inconvenience to the vans and golf carts driven by Games-goers.
Recovery area was bare-bones, but friendly
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a tradition at the recovery tent
I finished seventh in my age group, and with a more dedicated effort I may have a good shot at an award next year. Competition or not, it’s an awesome experience I hope to repeat for years to come.
6 Responses to “2007 Grandfather Mountain Marathon”
Hey, that’s the restaurant where Larry and I ate Sunday brunch. It was pretty good but lots of sprouty stuff. Weird.
Dude! You rock! Congratulations on the strong finish and I am glad to hear the the Crowders trips paid off. We will be thinking of you week after next.
Sweet run! Congratulations!
Thanks folks! I’ll need all the support I can get in SF!
What’s hAPPening » View from the top - July 18, 2007
[...] Grandfather Mountain Marathon participant Bo Jordan posted his great shot of a view from campus on his blog, bojordan.com. Thanks for the photo! [...]
bojordan.com » 2009 Grandfather Mountain Marathon - July 13, 2009
[...] I last ran Grandfather Mountain Marathon in 2007 as a training run, and figured it would again be good for hill training. This time Dan Janick joined Paul Martino and me, and a great time was had by all. [...]
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