The Marshall University football stadium and finish line. I was looking forward to crossing the goal line in a couple of hours.

My last race for 2023, the Marshall University Half Marathon in Huntington West Virginia earlier this month (November 5). So it’s now time to reflect not only on that race but my year of running.

Destination Criteria

So why the Marshall University Half Marathon as a destination event. Well, it has been highly regarded by some of my local running friends and perhaps none more so than longtime 501 running club member Mary Ann. But it was also a race that met all of my criteria for this year’s fall destination event. Most runners in the metro Detroit area close their fall season by running either Detroit’s full or the half marathon in mid-October. I have run these races numerous times in the past and was seeking to extend my fall running season. I was seeking a race date in early November.

Other criteria included a destination location that was less than a day’s drive from home, a location that included some form of scenery or historic destination, lodging at a unique location and preferably with a scenic view, and of course a race that represented a competitive field. There were a few other options such as the Indy Monumental, but Indianapolis did not offer the vacation type venue I was hoping for. So, Marshall University Half Marathon here I run!

The Marshall Story

You likely need to be near my age to recall the unfortunate story of the 1970 Marshall football team. I remember hearing the news story of an entire college football team and support staff being killed late in the season in a plane crash! In an instant, not only many precious lives were lost but so was the school’s entire football program!

On the evening of November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 chartered by Marshall University to transport the Thundering Herd football team back to Huntington, West Virginia following their 17–14 defeat to the East Carolina University Pirates, clips trees on a ridge just one mile short of the runway at Tri-State Airport in Ceredo, West Virginia, and crashes into a nearby gully, killing all 75 people aboard.

On the Marshall University campus, memorial to those lost in November 1970.

The deceased include the 37 players; head coach and five members of his coaching staff; Marshall's athletic director; team athletic trainer and his assistant, sports information director and radio play-by-play announcer 25 boosters; and five crew members.

The event was memorialized the movie “We Are Marshall” staring Matthew McConaughey tells the story of how the football program re-emerged from the tragedy and ultimately return to a special kind of prominence and gave birth to the call of “We Are Marshall”.

The Cozy Cabin

We were fortunate to find a somewhat isolated yet nearby “Cozy Cabin” just across the state line in Kentucky via Airbnb to stay. It featured vast acreage, friendly horses, and a neighborhood dog that promised a visit too. It was easy to find and more importantly was easy to get to the race start in the very early morning hours. Our hosts, Teresa and Terry lived just down the road. They also stocked the cabin with everything anyone would need too! They even arranged for absolutely perfect weather for the weekend too!

First Cochis meanders over to welcome to his home. He’s expecting an apple of course.

Next Peanut tries his luck at begging for an apple. Later boys, we’ll see you each again before we leave.

Nothing like “horsing around” with neighbors Peanut and Cochis too! The two very friendly horses roaming their very large fenced in yard. They came an went several times throughout the day. We simply had to stand by the fence and they would slowly meander their way to us. We learned that they loved to be fed apples and we were happy to oblige too.

As I was outside grilling our steaks, who quietly comes around the corner to greet us? The local friendly neighborhood dog we called Milo because he was the spitting image of our daughter’s family dog, Milo.

In addition, there was a very friendly large black lab dog that decided to pay us a visit one evening too. I am not sure if he smelled the grille warming up or was simply interested in meeting the newbies in the cabin. Regardless, he was a very friendly dog who apparently lives just down the road and has a history of visiting visitors here.

Race Prep

Well, ready or not, here I run. Nothing more I can do except to get to the race on time.

When travelling to any destination race I highly recommend arriving in town a day ahead of the race. Typically you need to get to the race expo to pick up your bib, swag, and gather any tips about the race too. I also find one of the event’s volunteers and ask about pre-race logistics. Where to park, when to arrive, and most importantly where will the porta-johns be located! I received some excellent advice, and it not only relieved my pre-race anxiety but also allowed me to sleep in an extra 30 minutes than I had anticipated race morning.

The ritual of gathering everything ahead of time the night before the race.

On the way to the expo I drove the path to where I needed to be on race morning. Good thing too because when I left the cabin for the race at 5:30 AM it was pitch black which meant my normal visual clues to find the express way were no longer visible. Not a problem, again that rehearsal drive to the race the day before paid huge dividends this morning.

The Half Marathon

Both the full and half marathons start and finish at the same location just outside of the Marshall University Football Stadium. The marathon route is a double loop of the half marathon route and both distances finish at the goal line within the stadium. More on that later. There are a total of nearly 1,500 runners for both races. The 7:00AM start may seem like it should be dark this early on a November morning but this is also the first day of coming off of daylight saving time so actually our body feels like it’s 8:00AM if you care to play that game. Regardless, there is more than enough daylight prior the race and good thing too. Parts of the road in the first two miles were old paved bricks (reminded me of the Crim finish in Flint), and I nearly stumbled very early in the race. I can only imagine how many might trip if it were still dark at the start.

Local MC leads runners in “We Are Marshall” chant just prior to the race start.

I found much of the early miles of the course to remind me of running the Crim in Flint. Yes, there was that brief stretch of road with bricks but most of the town reminded me of the industrial feel of Flint. Most of these same early miles were also basically flat terrain as advertised by the race organizers. However, their published elevation chart of the course showed some interesting hills beginning somewhere around mile six. So I purposely held back my effort so I could survive these series of hills. As it turns out yes, there were a few inclines but nothing to drain one’s energy levels.

After passing the 6 mile mark the scenery changed from the industrial images to a very nice park setting with a mixture of larger and very fine older homes. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was suddenly some crowd support in this area and for the next several miles. I was feeling challenged at this point and I could feel myself transitioning from a so called “relaxed” pace to having to now work a little harder if I wanted to keep my pace which was by the way somewhere around the 8:45 mark. While I felt great about this pace I also was guessing as to how long I could maintain it too! At the very start, my goal was to simply attempt to finish a bit faster than 9-minute pace and hope that that would earn me a spot on the age group award podium.

Nearly 5 miles into my half marathon I found myself surrounded by runners in the marathon event. Always thankful for the volunteers working aid stations too.

A few more miles later we turned off the park loop and started our trek to the finish line. This route is what some refer to as a “lollypop” route. Meaning there is a single path that leads to a loop area and the loop returns at some point to the initial single path, running of course now in the opposite direction. We were approaching the magic 10 mile point in the half marathon. It’s magic because most half marathoners convince themselves they only have a 5K to the finish line. While this is true, the problem with that logic is that the runner has probably just ran a hard 10 miles and now they expect to believe the 5K will be as easy as a well rested 5K. It’s also the point in the half marathon where the mind really needs to take charge over the runner if the runner aims to do well in the race.

I can begin to smell the finish line now! Just over two miles to go !

My mind certainly was playing tricks on me too! My body was telling me to slow down, take a walk break Lee! Fortunately, today my mind won! I continued onward. I also had a moment of special inspiration too! Some sort of karma type thing maybe? For as I really wanted to take a walk break, I heard music from a runner somewhere behind me. I heard one of my favorite tunes that I run to in my training! It had to be some sort of spiritual sign? There was Bob Seger singing Katmandu behind me. So I began to stride in sync with Seger and kept that tune playing in my head as I struggled to the finish.

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard Seger’s Katmandu playing behind me! For sure it had to be a magic sign of some sort?

The Finish

The finish was tough for me. Mostly because I was not familiar with landmarks near the finish area. I knew I only had a bit more than a mile to run. I kept my head up looking for the stadium. Up ahead I saw runners turning off the main road leading to the stadium! Dang! did they tease us by letting us see the stadium only to have to run farther to finish in it?

Well, by the time I reached where the runners ahead were turning I realized these runners were competing in the marathon. They were the ones being directed to a slight course variation. Thankfully the half marathoners were being waived ahead and toward the stadium. By now the stadium and its tall lights were clearly visible. There were certainly many runners ahead of me but actually there were also many more yet behind me too, it was a matter of how many of them were 70 years old or older? So, leaving nothing to chance, I started to run a bit faster for the final couple of blocks.

Finally ! The finish line I couldn’t wait to cross very early this morning is here! 1:55:34 later.

Then came the turn into the stadium FINALLY! I was greeted by a rather short and overly steep ramp down from street level to the playing turf. I actually felt the need to slow down on this ramp! It was only a few seconds and I gave it my best Barry Sanders imitation as someone pretending to be a quarterback held out a real live actual football. I took the handoff easily and sprinted from the back of a goal line 90 yard to the far 20-yard line, made a “football cut” and continued to sprint to the goal line (aka Finish Line).

Unfortunately, runners do not get to keep this football, they collect the balls and recycle them to other runners. I walked around the field taking in the sights of the stadium as an athlete’s view. The announcers were celebrating the runners finishing. The sun was shining bright, I could not ask for better running conditions. Finally, after a bit of a recovery I found the scorer’s table and asked if I had placed in my age group. They asked my name and age. When I told the young lady I was 71 she said “no you’re not! You don’t look like you are over 70!” Well, thank you mam but yes I am. Yep, she found my listing and told me congratulations and presented me with a small football featuring Marshall University’s team colors. I next asked where did I place within age group? She told me I had won! Awesome! Now the day really is perfect!

Age Group award winners receive a miniature Marshall football and a very large finishers medal!

Post Race

Thanks to the lady at the race expo, I was able to park at a spot that was very near to the start and the finish areas. So, I returned to my car, called and briefed my wife about my results and next had to figure out how to find my way back to the cabin as most of the roads around me were closed for the ongoing marathon. Organizers had this figured out too for as soon as I got to the exit of the parking area there were volunteers directing traffic to the main road that lead to the expressway and eventually back to the cabin.

The official results. First in 70+ AG and 210 of 875 overall. My only complaint is that the event fails to maintain 5 year age divisions after age 70.

One of the most underrated things about running either a full or half marathon is the meal you can now eat and not worry about training. We had brought along a couple of nice steaks for this occasion. Of course, with these steaks it was now also ok to share a bottle of nice red wine too. The Lions had this Sunday off so did we now, simply roam around the grounds, recover, nap, and keep warm by the wood burner in the Cozy Kentucky Cabin.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. To the runners out there, I highly recommend looking into running the Marshall University Full or Half Marathon as well as our lodging location in Kentucky. I would also like to again thank long time running bud from the 501 Running Club, Mary Ann for constantly urging me to run this event. She was right, I was not disappointed.

Please leave a comment below and check back soon for my next post. Thanks again.

Coach Lee