Veterans Marathon

Veterans Marathon

Veterans Marathon

( 4 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Columbia City,
    Indiana,
    United States
  • November
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Mark Davidhizar

Elkhart, Indiana, United States
55 81
2015
"A Mental Challenge"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Mark Davidhizar's thoughts:

This is the second year that I have ran in one of the Veterans races in Columbia City, IN. This year I was taking on the full marathon. The course is the exact same as the full marathon except you do the course twice which adds a mental aspect to the race. It allows for a lot of second thoughts about wanting to do a second lap and you also know what's in front of you as you head out the second time (can be good or bad.
Before the race is a nice tribute to all veterans of the armed forces who are running in the race. Also prior to the race there were two moments of silence, 1 for those we have lost in war and 1 for those we lost in Paris the previous night. The national anthem was played and a loud cannon was fired to start the half marathon and full marathon together. The course heads east out of town and from
About mile 1-12, you are in the country. I like running in the country, but if the wind is blowing hard, it makes for a real tough run. Luckily on this day, it wasn't too bad. There are a lot of rolling hill sections on the course with the worst ring at miles 11 and 23.
One of the improvements needed on this course is change in aid stations. The volunteers were great at the aid stations but there just are not enough stations. The first aid station was at mile 2, then 4.5, 5.5, and not again until 8.75, 9.75, 11.25, 12.5, and 13.1 and at same locations for lap 2. Would love to see another between 5.5 and 8.75. Gatorade and water were at all stations plus gel one of the aid stations that you passed 4 times.
If your doing the full marathon, be ready to be running alone. The runners really thin out after you run the first lap as the half runners finish.

Swag: this year, the shirt provider switched from New Balance to Brooks. Got to say, I liked my New Balance jacket last year. The long sleeve Brooks shirt is nice though. Also given to half and full runners were given a pair of BrooksDash Gloves which came in handy on the cold race morning. The first 200 entries (no matter the distance) got a free pint glass from Nrooks. It's nice, just wish it had the race logo on it (but it was free).

Medals: the medals were nice. Once again in the shape of Indiana and had a Navy emblem on them. Every year they choose a different branch of service to represent. Also the race chooses a different charity that supports vets to support. This year it was Veterans Auto Racing Team.

This is a small town race. It's small in numbers, small in crowd support, but a great cause and we'll run race.

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