The Enders Harrisburg YMCA had a great response this year, welcoming runners from 25 states and Canada. That’s a great turnout, given the number of big name fall marathons in our region.

The course is a double loop, with 1/2 marathoners completing the course once, full marathoners completing a second loop. There is also the option of joining a 4-person relay.

Harrisburg has a beautiful course along the Susquehanna River (photos courtesy YMCA/Skerpon Photography).

Congrats to some of the top finishers, including:

first overall finisher Matthew Fick (2:24:40) of West Chester PA.

first overall female finisher Laurel Sheffield Leroy (3:01:17) Charlottesville VA,

first masters Charles (Fred) Joslyn (2:46:53) Boiling Springs PA, and

first female masters Carolyn Smith (3:21:19) Pittsburgh PA

And then, dropping down to the senior age groups you will find me and a few of my favorite running friends.

When schedule and training work out, I try to run this marathon most years. It’s great to see familiar faces among other runners and the volunteers. I’m not crazy about the double loop course, but hey, the marathon is now a tradition for me.

I’ve run this race 10 times with a single DNF along the way, In my younger day I worked packet pickup thinking runners picking up packets were a bit unhinged. Didn’t they see the ice storm coming in as they arrived? Now, it all seems so normal.

From there, I’ve volunteered as a course monitor, bundled up with hat and gloves and one of those lovely orange safety vests. Then for several years, I chaired the pre-marathon spaghetti dinner (a warmer gig than working the course). Finally, I found a place in my life to actually get the training in and at the age of 54 – or was it 55? – I lined up for my first marathon and my first Harrisburg Marathon. It took a long tim to develop the dicipline to run that first marathon. Now, I can’t seem to stop.

Which brings me to this year. The best I can say is that I had higher hopes. For the first time, I followed a Runna training plan. I was fairly faithful to it, opting out of only a couple of workouts and getting several 20 and 22-mile long runs.

The weather was as good as you’re going to get for a Pennsylvania November marathon. With a 7:30 a.m. start at 48 degrees under cloudy skies, I started and maintained the recommended pace, about 11:15. I stayed with that pace through about mile 11 where my ankles began to hurt a bit. If there is such a thing as starting too slow, that is how my body felt.

Even feeling like I was moving the pace of a snail, I felt good through Mile 20. By mile 21, I was floundering, surprised that my energy had left me as I had been using my goos on schedule. I had packed a couple of orange slices and pulled them out at Mile 21. One gave me a nice pickup, I accidentally dropped the other along Mile 22. So it goes.

At mile 23, crossing the bridge over the Susquehanna for the fourth time, my glutes were freezing. Above, Clay Shaw‘s photo would be coming off the bridge at about mile 23 or 24 into the second loop (did I mention how I feel about double loops). I don’t know if this actually occurred, but It felt like the temperature had dropped about ten degrees. I shuffled my way through the next two miles, then was able to pick it up close to race pace during Mile 26.

Having finished last year’s Harrisburg Marathon at 4:57 and this year’s finish at 5:12, that final stretch felt very different. Last year, I had plenty of company on that last mile. This year, on my final loop of City Island, there was a portion of the route where no-one else was in sight. Running can sometimes be a lonely sport.

Never fear. Thankfully, there were familiar faces of family and friends at the finish line. Reflections are over. Learn what you can from the experience and plan for a better race in the future.

Thanks to the YMCA Harrisburg Marathon and all its volunteers. You did a great job.