Ellerbe Marathon 2011
By: Landon Dunn
Leo and I headed to Ellerbe on Friday to volunteer for the Ellerbe Springs Marathon. I really wanted to run this race but had committed to run the Wrightsville Beach Marathon the next weekend. We arrived at the Ellerbe Springs Inn in time for the pre-race pasta dinner. We camped in our little teardrop camper behind the inn. I had planned to get in a run the next day and had packed some running clothes. After much persuasion from veteran runners I decided to run the marathon. The race director donated the necessary gu. I discovered during the race that double espresso does keep those legs moving!!! After a great night’s sleep (ha, ha) wondering what the heck had I gotten myself into, I found myself at the start. Daniel Lieb a member of our running group was there. He’s a veteran runner of this race and has his own permanent race number! The race was an interesting mix of people – 4 to 1 ratio of men to women with a great number of men from age 60 -70. There were several people who were attempting to run all fifty states. We ran up a dirt road and then up and out into the beautiful countryside of Richmond County. The course is very hilly with a mile to mile and ½ climbs and then of course long down hill runs. After a while it’s the pattern of walk the up hills, run the down hills. The weather was perfect with the temperature in the low fifties. The last mile or so of the course was a long uphill which was challenging at the end of a 26.2 mile race. Soon I was at the finish with medal, beer, and chicken and dumplings!!! I finished in 4 hours and 30 minutes and with a small group of runners (approximately 110 and few women in my age group) I won a pottery bowl for 1st place in my age group. Now the real question – can I still run Wrightsville and become a Marathon Maniac????
