Running marathons can be a good way to visit and experience a lot of different places. My wife and I have run marathons in Richmond, the Outer Banks, Wisconsin, Washington, D.C., and Charleston. Friends of ours have run races in such locales as Hawaii, Alaska, Greece, and Peru.
Our latest running excursion, two weekends ago, took us to Scranton, Pa., for the Steamtown Marathon. We were hoping, as usual, to have a good trip and have good finishing times – a good time and a good time.
The first good time is a lot easier. Even if the runs don’t go as well as we hope, the trips have always been enjoyable. Northern Wisconsin had great fall colors and community charm for our 2008 marathon, we got to see the crowds from Jon Stewart’s rally in Washington on our 2010 marathon trip, and we got engaged at the Outer Banks on our 2006 marathon trip. On our trip to Charleston for our January marathon, we stayed with friends on Kiawah Island and walked with them on the beach on the day after the marathon.
Neither of us had been to Scranton before our marathon there. Many of our running friends had done that marathon and recommended it to us. Supposedly it’s a “fast” marathon course with a lot of downhill. Several of our running friends decided to run it this year.
We got up there late Friday afternoon before the Sunday race. We had dinner that night with some of our running friends. The next day we were going to go to the marathon expo and look around Scranton a little.
Downtown Scranton was more interesting than I expected. They do a nice job of preserving their older buildings, and there was some unique architecture, particularly the county courthouse, city hall, and civic center (which used to be a Masonic temple). I wish we would have had time to go back and tour the civic center, but we tried to walk from downtown to the expo and had a hard time finding it. Later that afternoon, we did make it to the Steamtown historic park, a train museum. That was well worth our time.
As for the race itself, Carolyn had some heat and stomach problems and was disappointed with her time. The recurring foot problems I’ve had this season cropped back up around mile 18. I was well off of my goal time, three hours and 30 minutes, but my finish of 3:51 was still a good time. If I could have stayed with my pacer, I would have made my goal. She ended up with a 3:32.
Carolyn and I still enjoyed the race. It’s one of the best-run that I’ve done. Everything is well-organized, and there’s a lot of community support along the course. The course takes you through several small communities before you get to Scranton. I enjoyed seeing that part of northeastern Pennsylvania. My pacer said she, her husband, and a running friend enjoyed visiting some nearby antique shops on the day before the race.
There are some limits on what you can do on a marathon trip. You don’t want to tire yourself out before the race, and after the race you don’t feel like walking around much. You can see a lot of a city and area during the race. I try to enjoy the scenery and take it in as much as I can.
I’ve started looking to see where we can go for next fall’s marathon. We want somewhere that’s not likely to be warm on race day. A “fast” course and a well-run race would be preferrable. And a nice place to visit (without spending too much money) would be good, too. So far I like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Lowell, Mass. (near Boston), and Toronto. I’m leaning toward Toronto. I’ve never been to Canada, except for a day trip to Victoria (near Seattle).
