B&A Trail Marathon

An update to my comments of April 4, 2019: E-mail sent out by the organizers said 'A very well-meaning volunteer gave a bad course direction. We immediately recognized it and made some "on the fly" adjustments to the course based upon some very fast calculations, we were confident at the time that every runner ran a full 26.2 miles. However we needed to re-certify the course to validate the results.' Another e-mail was sent by the organizers a day or two later stating 'I am thrilled to report your times count "AS-IS" no time adjustments necessary. Our mid-race change was long enough (just). And we are certified without qualifications or exceptions.' A PDF copy of the approval letter was attached to the e-mail. Quick action by the organizers. They are a class act.

This was my 5th B&A trail marathon. I love it because it's local, flat (relatively) and well organized (usually). The weather can be unpredictable but usually is good for running a marathon. I've BQ'd twice there. This year I was disappointed though. There was a lack of course marshals and/or timing mats that afforded the opportunity for cutting several minutes off one's time by accident or, if so inclined, on purpose. Also, as a matter of principle, at least put the correct date on the shirt rather than last year's date.

This was my 11th running of this race. Most years have been pretty good, but I have to ask why would a race have last year's date on the shirt, especially after charging a significant amount to enter. In year's past some great swag was given. A really nice running bag one year. Very nice running pants or heavy duty shirt or a vest in other years in addition to the race shirt. Unfortunately at their mile 1 marker my GPS read 0.64 as did several other runners near me. Someone familiar with the course said the elite runners missed a turn in the first mile. Apparently no one was stationed at the turn to direct them. Maybe they were short on volunteers. I empathize however making turns going through town are very important. To their credit it appears that the organizers mostly corrected for the error by adding distance at the first turn around and possibly else where in the race since my GPS watch ended with 26.22 miles. GPS watches are not perfect though and I have seen mine occasionally add distance in other races. Another complaint I have is that this race has gone back to having you tie your chip to your shoe. Not a big burden, but most race nowadays have a strip on your bib number. I assume this is a cost saving activity, but given the great swag they used to give out what happened to all the registration fee dollars collected this year? I don't want to be overly disparaging. You will never find a nicer pre-race staging area. The new high school is beautiful and has plenty of room in the cafeteria to prepare for the race. You just walk out the door and a couple of hundred feet to the start line. There is loads of parking available as well as food and drink after the race. Seeing all the Naval Academy students that come out to run the race is very inspiring. In spite of my grumbling I will be back next year. It really is a nice size with a pretty nice course even if a bit boring at times. And I don't need lots of folks cheering me on. It's just nice to see a few smiling faces and encouraging volunteers at the aid stations of which there were plenty. The B&A volunteers are wonderful.