Maine Coast Marathon

The last time I had been in Maine was for Phish's It festival in 2003.  Back then, I was not a runner.  In fact, they held the first Runaway Jim 5K that weekend.  While groggily watching the runners cross the finish line, I wondered why in the world anyone would have wanted to do such a thing.  Funny how things change.

Thirteen years later, I was back in the state solely to run a race - the Shipyard Maine Coast Marathon on Sunday, May 15.  After dealing with an awful lot of traffic in Massachusetts, I made it to Saco, Maine, in time to meet my friends Meredith and John (who also happen to be both Phish phans and runners) for dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.  

Meredith and John ran the half-marathon on Saturday morning and being a spectator for that event gave me a chance to get the lay of the land.  The main event area was on the campus of the University of New England in Biddeford, so parking was plentiful and relatively easy.

The half-marathon was a loop that started and ended at UNE.  One painfully noticeable feature of the course was the long uphill leading back to the campus.  As I cheered the runners in their last mile, I could see extreme fatigue on their faces and in their strides (plus, it was abnormally hot - sunny in the low 70s).  Needless to say, neither of my two friends hit their goal time as a result.  I knew I would be facing that same hill the next day, but at least the weather was supposed to be cooler.

On Saturday afternoon, I drove the entirety of the marathon course and made turn-by-turn notes to put in my pocket in case the signage was unclear.  After some of my experiences, one can never be too cautious about this kind of thing. 

I ate a hearty dinner at Portland Pie Co. in Biddeford, drank a local Maine beer, and called it a night, sleeping surprisingly well in my Saco Econo-Lodge room before waking up at 4:30 a.m. to ensure that I got to the UNE campus in time to catch the 5:55 shuttle to Kennebunk High School for the start...