That’s a Lot of Runners
By: Mr. Wilson on
May 4, 2009
“Lincoln has such a great reputation, I had to run here, and I had a ball,” said Matt Dewald, a Vermillion, S.D., runner who won the men’s marathon in a near-record time of 2 hours, 25 minutes, 37 seconds. “The cops were great, the guy riding a bike alongside was phenomenal and this city made me feel like running my best,” Dewald said. The same feeling hit women’s marathon winner Ashley Tousley. “I had so much fun here,” the Des Moines, Iowa, native said. “Friends had been talking to me about running here, and it was perfect. I’ve been in the lead of the Des Moines marathon twice, but got sick both times and didn’t win. “This is my first win and I feel great. Must be my day and my kind of town,” said Tousley, who will graduate from Drake Law School in two weeks.I really enjoy being part of the crowds that watch the marathoners every year. This year The Wilsons sat on the curb outside LaMar's, munching on donuts. (Nope, I didn't feel so much as a twinge of guilt!) At that point, roughly 5.5 miles into the race, most of the runners were still capable of smiling. And there were lots of smiles. There was also a woman dressed like a cat, and a man running while carrying what appeared to be a very heavy hiking backpack. Odd! The decline in National Guard runners was noticeable; I remember seeing only one such runner. The Missus used to run the marathon so she knows plenty of regular runners. Unfortunately, a couple got shut out this year thanks to the record number of sign-ups. I wonder what can be done about that? The start could be staggered more, but that won't do any favors to Sunday morning traffic. Organizers could flip-flop the two halves of the race, but that would make the 1/2 marathon route the less scenic and varied portion of the race. I wonder if that would negatively affect sign-ups? Did any of you folks run in yesterday's race? Were any of you trapped for ages in traffic?
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...I “unofficially” ran the half yesterday, as I didn’t think it’d be filled up so early. It was my first half marathon, and I had a great time. I would have run past you around the same time as the tiger woman and the backpack guy.
After looking at the LJS map Saturday and thinking I should plot my way from 9th & South to UNL, I completely forgot about it Sunday morning. By the time I got to 33rd $ Neb Hwy, there was plenty of room to get across. Got to tour a few alleyways and street I hadn’t been on before.
I ran the full marathon, my first. I was actually pretty close to the guy with the backpack, and also to Jeff Galloway’s group. It was really fun—Lincoln residents are so supportive of the runners! And the volunteers were awesome.
Oops, I just read the article linked above…there must have been more than one “backpack guy”...the National Guard guy in the article wasn’t the one I saw. 😊
I should answer your question though. I didn’t have any issues with traffic—the police and National Guardsmen did a really good job. They did narrow the starting corral to slow down the start. It took me a full 15 minutes to get over the starting mat. They did it to manage the number of runners at the Highway 2 bike path. From my perspective, it worked—the bike path wasn’t too crowded. Then again, I’m not a really fast runner.
The only real problem caused by the number of runners is along the Highway 2 bike trail. I twisted my ankles and knees for a couple miles there having to run almost the whole way in the grass alongside the path.
What’s frustrating is that it could largely be solved by common sense and courtesy
my almost-missus (this saturday!) got to 48th and normal to see some of the 10:30-13:00 mile-pace runners. it was a great day to watch. there were a couple ladies handing out ice in that spot, but they had to leave so left us with the ice. we enjoyed being able to cool off some of the runners, but felt pretty bad when we ran out.
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