George Washington's Birthday Marathon

Last Sunday I completed the George Washington's Birthday marathon in 5:17. All-in-all it was a fun time, but there were definitely pros and cons to the event.
* It is a combination three-person relay race and a full marathon. I had run the third leg of the relay about 10 years ago, but I remember it being a mostly flat course. I don't know where i got that idea from because it is certainly not true.
* The course is in Beltsville, MD near the USDA research farms (ignore the nuclear corn stalks). It is definitely rolling farmland - up one hill, down the next. I think there is a flat place around mile 4, but hard to tell for sure.
* The race had I believe a bigger marathon relay contingent than the regular marathon. There were several Reston Runner relay marathon teams there. I had forgotten about their relay team until I ran into a couple of people.
* My finish time is five minutes slower than my Goofy time, but this course was a lot tougher. So I guess I'm happy with the time.
* The race had a very nice bronze or copper-colored finisher medal, and a great looking light blue technical running shirt.
* the course was chilly and fair - about the best weather anyone has a right to expect in Beltsville, MD in February.
* The course has only gatorade and water - it is just a marathon, after all. The after-race food was pretty much picked clean by the time I got there. A few bananas and the odd cookie. They had said they had Hard Times Cafe chili to serve, but apparently some people had several helpings so they ran out.
* the main part of the race is an isosceles triangle, laying on its side. The top part of the course (north part) was a good 8 to 12 degrees colder than the south side. it was shadier and windier too. I could tell for sure because I had taken the watch off at that point and was holding it in my hand, so the watch was recording actual temperatures vs. body temperature.
* I used my new Suunto technology the entire way. Interesting, the watch is losing the signal from the heart rate monitor when i turn my wrist. I need to figure out if this is a battery issue or a user issue. The "training effect" meter pegged me at 5.0 before I was a third of the way through the race. By mile 12 I had definitely hit a wall, and I stumbled through some negative karma until about mile 16, when I really got it all back together. My pace records show it.
* I need to learn to keep an eye on the Suunto numbers and back off my pace when they begin to elevate. I can always put myself into full burn at any time, but it would seem reasonable to save it for later in the race. No point in killing myself for each race - it takes so long to recover, it would be great if i can show incremental progress without the recovery time wasted.
* I saw Tammy M. at the race - she looked great, and told me a fabulous Rocky Racoon story about her huge improvement over last year. I am so thrilled for her!

Next up: Shamrock marathon in Virginia Beach, VA
See you there!