I added this run in pretty late but its a great event and I’ve done it on a number of previous years. It’s actually a double event, there are 5K, half and full marathons New Years Eve and New Years Day but this year I just did the Eve as I’m about to go Disney for the Dopey Challenge and didn’t want to overdo it.
You can read about the event at http://www.newyearsdouble.com/ but boy, this was an act of will power as it was below 30 and with wind chill felt below 20 the entire time!
The organizers are very friendly and its one of the few events that has a Clysdales division (men over 195 lbs) so I actually have a chance of placing. So I wrapped up in multiple layers and went for it.
The course is very flat and for the marathon its 4 loops of a 6.5 mile loop. The only incline/decline is when you go under a road via a little tunnel. There are 4 aid stations on the loop with Gatorade and water.
The event kicked off at 8:40 and pretty much as soon as it started it started to sleet for about the first 2 hours so that really added to the overall pain but all you could really do was laugh 🙂 Even with multiple layers it was cold and the tips of my fingers kept freezing so I was constantly rearranging how I positioned my fingers to alternate between thumb and fingers freezing.
The first three loops were fine but that forth loop was tough. By that point I was really cold to the core, was slowing down and also was pretty much not drinking. At each water stop I’d have a swig of the Gatorade but after 3 loops that was probably only about 3 cups of actual total drink which is really not very much so I made an effort to try and drink more on the forth loop. Each loop I had to run past my car and on that forth loop, I’m not gonna lie, the thought of just hopping in, driving to the next chip timing mat, running over then back in the car was pretty tempting 🙂 They say you only cheat yourself and I think I was almost OK with it but I quickly put that out my head and just buckled down for 6.5 miles of freezing misery. I kept measuring distance as “only 6 one mile runs” and “3.5 loops done so basically finished”. Once you get to two miles left you find that energy and just go for it.
I was slower than Dallas but honestly with the cold, all the layers of clothes I was still pretty happy with my result:
Note that only 89 people actually finished. I think the cold stopped a lot of people. I came in third in my age group and first in the Clysdale (out of 5 🙂 ). But still it got me a great Winner champagne flute.
I got home and my awesome wife ran me a hot bubble bath and brought me hot chocolate! Heaven! Legs were very stiff but as I write this the following day I’m a little sore but not as bad as after Dallas so think I’ll be good for the Disney runs that start with the 5K in 3 days 🙂
Definitely recommend this event if you are anywhere close to Allen, Texas. It’s never crowded, and is really well organized.
Stay warm!!!!!
The Iron Brit 