Twin Cities Marathon
RACE: Twin Cities Marathon
DATE: Sunday October 6th, 2024
DISTANCE: 26.2 Miles
LOCATION: Minneapolis to St. Paul, MN
WEATHER: Low 50s
START TIME: 8AM
SIZE OF FLOCK: 1
Write up by marathoner Alex G:
"I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 3:22! The Twin Cities Marathon was my 5th marathon, my first other than NYC, and one of those rare days when all the stars align for a great race.
It was a long road to the starting line. Last year’s race was cancelled at the last minute due to heat, and then I caught the flu just before NYC a few weeks later. But I was excited to give TCM another shot. Despite a summer that was busy with travel, work and other commitments, I felt well prepared—but after my last couple of marathons, I also knew that anything could happen on race day.
The weekend got off to a fun start with a shakeout run hosted by Olympian and Minnesotan Dakota Lindwurm. On Sunday morning, the weather was pretty close to perfect: 49 degrees at the start, low humidity, and windy, but more often a tailwind than a headwind.
In the first half of the race I settled into a pace that felt comfortable, even if I had some doubts about whether it was sustainable, but I did my best to push those to the back of my mind. The crowds were amazing, and their energy kept me smiling (I mean, did you even run a marathon if you didn’t high-five some little kids?).
It was somewhere around mile 15, as we passed Minnehaha Falls, that I started to realize I was actually feeling really strong and maybe I could start to pick up the pace. I thought of my coach Elizabeth telling me not to panic. The miles along the Mississippi River, with their gently rolling hills, kept ticking by. I pulled back just a little bit on the climb up from the river, but once I hit the party atmosphere of Summit Avenue I was able to settle back in again, even though it was still an incline. When I finally crested the hill and knew I had only 5K to go, I decided to keep pushing and see what I could do.
The last mile of the course is incredible—first the Cathedral of St. Paul comes into view, then a giant flag suspended by fire trucks over the course, and finally the Capitol straight ahead down the hill. I went all-out for the last quarter mile, and finally looked at my watch after crossing the finish line: 3:22:13, a 7-minute PR and a 3-minute negative split."
