Where to begin with this race? With the hills, of course, which are the single most defining feature of the newly renamed Atlanta (formerly Georgia) Marathon. I had heard that it was a hilly course, so I worked in at least one, sometimes multiple hill runs per week throughout the training cycle. Most of those were in Indianapolis, which means options are somewhat limited and there were many reruns on the same hills. I spent a lot of time in Butler Tarkington, Holcomb Gardens, and Crown Hill Cemetery. At one point, I thought I might be overdoing it on the hills—quite a laughable notion now that I’ve crossed the finish line of what I’m told locals call “The Beast.” More on the hills later. They merit more than one mention!
Atlanta Marathon seemed to cater more to locals than travelers. When I arrived at the Hyatt Regency, there was not a “Welcome Runners” sign to be seen, which I’d say is pretty atypical for a host hotel. Expo was nowhere near the rest of the race festivities, and required either a train ride + 15 minutes walk or driving. If you’re trying to keep your feet fresh, a Lyft is a good idea.
It was one of the smallest expos I’ve been to, but I actually appreciated it being compact and simple. They had a great DJ (everyone was dancing), a wall mural you could sign, and all the expected freebies and samples from Clif and others. There was green everywhere, which made it feel festive and worthy of a race on St. Patrick’s Day.
The race both starts and finishes in Centennial Olympic Park, an inspiring spot for a sporting event, framed by skyscrapers, SkyView ferris wheel, and the iconic Olympic Rings. It was just a few minutes walk from my hotel, and I could easily follow the crowd of people in bibs to find the way.
An early start time of 7 a.m. meant we set off in pitch black dark. The first mile moved slow, being pretty congested even with close corral management. I was in the B group, and I think the wave start helped. The field spread out after that first mile.
The darkness actually had a surprising effect. Sunrise wasn’t until 7:46 a.m., so the first 30 minutes were still quite dark. It made those initial miles blur together, like things were just getting started.
I signed up for this race to keep my mileage up, to knock out another state (my twelfth of fifty!), and to psychologically shift my perspective of a marathon. By running this 8 weeks after Louisiana, I hoped 26.2 miles would seem like less of a big deal, to build toward an ultra this fall. I didn’t plan for a PR or have any specific time goal.
That said, my training had gone better than I expected, with personal bests for all distances and the most solid hill running I’ve ever done. My PR of 3:48:27 from Louisiana puts me in striking range of a Boston-qualifying time of 3:40. And while I doubted I’d get it on this hilly course on such a quick turnaround after two big PRs in a row, it seemed silly not to set myself up for it. Just in case.
I started the race with my fellow Oiselle Volée teammate, Janelle. Early on, I realized my GPS was wonky. My watch had our first mile 20 seconds slower than Janelle’s clocked. It made it really hard to find and settle into my pace. It’s easy to blame it on the watch, and while I know it was a factor, I lost my discipline. We ended up going out too fast. Not a good strategy for such a challenging course.
I will say this isn’t a boring course where you just tune out. The hills keep things interesting, and there are some very cool neighborhoods and landmarks along the way. The sun hadn’t fully emerged when we passed Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached.
Downtown, you get to see the aquarium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the gold domed state capitol building. Piedmont Park around mile 9 features stately homes. Five Points has an eclectic vibe with interesting storefronts. Inman Park’s lovely trees were bursting into bloom.
This was one of my favorite aspects of the race. I’d left Indiana with completely bare trees and barely a hint of Spring, so I was delighted by the all of the flowering pink and white. I tried to channel this into feelings of renewal and freshness. To be honest, I conjured up every mental trick and visualization in my toolkit throughout the race. I needed every one of them to keep going.
There are a few really tough spots on the course. At mile 13, it travels back along Centennial Olympic Park, where the half marathon runners break off toward their finish. From about mile 10 through 13, there is a lot of talk on the course about “almost being done” amongst half runners. Having run so many marathons, I wasn’t personally bothered by this, but I thought it might be devastating for a first-timer or someone who was really undertrained. You can actually hear the announcer congratulating runners. For me, the music from the loud speaker was actually a nice energy bump.
The only real flat to speak of comes late in the race, in a track loop at Cheney Stadium around mile 22. This stretch is quickly followed by an especially cruel, mentally challenging out and back on a downhill, with a hairpin turn before heading back up again. It was a very short section, but the sort of feature that helped me understand what one local meant by calling the course “disrespectful.” In total, my watch clocked 1,427 feet of elevation gain, and 1,496 loss. Hills on hills on hills. For comparison, I checked the elevation gain according to my Garmin from Baltimore Marathon, a course others describe as hilly. Elevation gain there was 931 feet, with 957 feet of loss.
In the end, it wasn’t my legs, but my feet that truly suffered and held me back. I have had some off and on foot and heel pain (time to figure this out), and all those incline changes just beat them up. In the final miles, I could no longer net time on the downhills, because every step sent a painful jolt into my feet.
If I could re-do my training for this race, I’d add two hard hill repeat workouts, one long hill run, and foot stretches and strengthening exercises at least a few times a week. If you plan on any race in Atlanta, I can’t stress enough to train for hills, hills, followed by more hills. It truly will be crazy seeing the Olympic Trials run on such challenging terrain.
Despite tanking the last few miles, I was still able to finish under 4 hours, and without succumbing to the growing desire to just walk the rest of the way in.
Finish line food included the classic banana, some delicious poppy seed muffins, and a mozzarella cheese stick. I didn’t really explore what all was going on at the finish because I was eager to reconnect with my Volée teammates. Janelle finished a few minutes after I did, and Yvonne, who paced the half and coordinated some Volée meet ups throughout the weekend, was already awaiting us. Another Volée had recommended a good place for pizza, so we needed to get cleaned up and meet the group there.
Being part of a team really made this weekend for me. I initially joined the Oiselle Volée to connect with other women runners in my own city. Since running Baltimore solo, and now Atlanta, I’ve discovered the beauty in connecting with Volée as I travel the 50 states, one running adventure at a time.
Overall, I’m really happy with how things turned out in Atlanta. And despite its challenges, I found some pep in my step at the finish.
The details:
Atlanta Marathon in Atlanta, Georgia
March 17, 2019
Marathon and state #12
Weather: 43º with mix of sun and clouds
Finish time: 3:58:38