The Altis group does about a dozen different small marathons, primarily using the "trails" within suburban parks. The race was held at Lake Accotink park in northern Virginia (Springfield). I live about 2 hours south, so we drove up on the morning of the race. I was interested because I work for a company that recognizes Veteran's Day as a holiday and I thought it would be fun to run a marathon in the middle of the week.

We arrived early to get our bibs and t-shirts. The line was long (about 20 people), but efficient processing put us back in the car within 10 minutes. The t-shirt is simple white with the race logo on the left breast. It's nice, but since it's not a technical shirt, it won't get a lot of wear.

The course had to be adjusted this year due to some park maintenance to the trail. It included a short section (less than a mile) along a crushed gravel trail across rolling (small) hills - very pretty, but a tougher surface than the other 3 1/4 mile section of the trail which is blacktop. None of the course are technical trails.

Fellow runners were very friendly. With the looping and out & back nature of the course - there are many opportunities to run with or cheer-on people - developing a community as the race goes on. The field included 44 marathoners & 107 half finishers. The first two laps with more than 150 people running were fun and went by quickly. Three aid stations were manned by students from nearby Lee High School - with the day off, they volunteered in exchange for a donation to a school in South Africa. They were very cheerful and enthusiastic. The aid stations had cookies, pretzels, soda (Mountain Dew, Coke, Diet Coke), as well as water and Gatorade.

MM#2045

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