As the 4-hour pacer group passed me between miles 18 and 19, just after the turn off West Main Street and onto Arthur Ashe Boulevard, I stopped to hug my mom and sister seated in lawn chairs and ringing cowbells across from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
The goal for Saturday’s Allianz Partners Richmond Marathon was to finish in under 4 hours, but, most importantly, to finish at all. I ran my first half marathon last year, but had never before completed a full.
So as I slipped behind my desired pace and felt my body hitting the dreaded “wall,” where putting one foot in front of the other no longer becomes a matter of willpower, but one of muscular functionality, the emotions of the race dubbed “America’s friendliest marathon” started to set in.
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“It’s America’s friendliest marathon, and you feel that running through the streets with people coming out and cheering, all the support you receive along the way,” Richmond’s biggest professional running star, Keira D’Amato, told me last week leading up to a race that holds a special place in her heart.
That communal support was evident from the start line to the finish line — up West Broad Street, Monument Avenue, Grove Avenue and River Road, across the Huguenot Bridge, down Riverside Drive, past Pony Pasture, along Forest Hill and Semmes avenues, back across the James River on the Lee Bridge, up West Main, Arthur Ashe and then Hermitage Road, then back down through North Side on Brook Road and, finally, onto Lombardy Street before the downtown turn onto West Grace Street for the homestretch.
A capacity 6,200 runners made that 26.2-mile trek with me. Sports Backers announced last week that a record 20,939 participants were signed up to run on Saturday between the marathon, CarMax Richmond Half Marathon — which sold out at 10,000 runners — and the 8K, which got close to its 5,000-participant cap.
Nan Callahan, PR and communications manager with Sports Backers, began her day at the start line and helped hold the finish line marker as Richmonder Robert Mazzanti won the race in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 12 seconds…