2/26/11, Surfside Beach Crazy Hard 50K, Surfside Beach TX

Website: http://surfsidemarathon.sports.officelive.com/

What a nice weekend and great event! .

The trip gets off to a rough start. After being sick with flu symptoms Wednesday and Thursday I awake for the Friday morning flight from Orlando still a bit feverish but decide to just go ahead and if I don't feel good for Saturday's race I'll simply stay at the hotel or perhaps go to the starting line with intention of dropping out at any sign of trouble. What's more I'm still a little stiff from a 4:10 marathon 5 days earlier.

The Southwest Airlines flight to Houston is direct and relatively easy. HOU (Hobby) airport is the closest to the race site. A small unplanned adventure delays me while still within sight of HOU driving away in the rental car. A car-carrier tractor-trailer pulls out of a driveway across two lanes of traffic in front of me to make a wide right turn onto the highway. To avoid a collision I swerve away striking a median curb that causes a blowout of the left front tire. The tire is easy to change but the "doughnut" spare provided is unsuitable for the estimated 140 miles I'll be driving this weekend so I return to the airport to exchange the car. Because I didn't buy the optional additional insurance the flat tire adds $50 to the otherwise inexpensive price. That's certainly better than what could have happened and I pay it gladly. I like the second car better anyway.

Driving towards the site it takes a while to get out of the Houston metro area on Radio Road which is under construction for several miles through an unattractive commercial area. Gradually the scenery changes to a mix of agricultural land and high-end residences. Traffic is sparse. Close to the coast the horizon is dominated by miles of petroleum-related industries. While far from natural it has it's own synthetic beauty especially at night when everything is lit up. The air is surprisingly clear with no detectable odor. The small parcels of undeveloped land appear to be marshy and are home to various water birds.

The Motel 6 in Clute Texas is remarkably nice especially by Motel 6 standards and compared to some I've stayed in. It was just good luck since I had no prior knowledge and took a chance when reserving on line. It's a great value for the price: A large wall-mounted flat screen TV, microwave oven, mini fridge, new fixtures in the bathroom, and free Wi-Fi in the lobby.

There is no expo but I go to the race site about 8 miles from the motel for packet pick-up on Friday about 4: 30pm. For the modest registration fee (about $43 including the unavoidable online surcharge) this event gives a lot of good quality schwag. The event shirt is a nice steel blue-grey with a tasteful logo on the left front chest and no advertising on it anywhere. They also throw in a white technical tee shirt with the colorful race logo emblazoned across the chest. This too has no advertising on it. They give a cool logo-imprinted coaster that appears to be made of sandstone in two shades of beige. Best of all is the large sport bag also bearing the event logo. It's larger than any I have and comes with a second computer bag inside. An impressive feature of all these is that they are event-specific, i.e., even though they offer a half marathon, marathon, and 50K, the shirts, medals, bags, etc. are all designated by event not all alike as is done by many race directors where the shirt displays "Marathon and Half Marathon" and the viewer has to speculate what distance the wearer completed. Add to this the unlimited Texas-style BBQ for the complementary post-race meal and you have some real value here.

Dinner that night was close to the hotel in a small, uncrowded place boasting of Greek-Cajun cuisine. How bad could it be? I order way too much knowing I have a fridge and microwave back at the motel: A gyro platter with Cajun rice and Greek salad and an order of stuffed grape leaves. The food is great (just as the regulars at a nearby table assure me it will be). Folks inside are Texas chatty inquiring about my home and why I'm visiting. They're impressed to hear some of us will be running 31 miles the next morning. One of them calls the Greek owner out from the kitchen and she tells her the story. She explains in a charming accent how she came to Clute to marry her Cajun husband. (That explains the cuisine). Her village in Greece is not far from Marathon where the famous distance event originated. She's delighted when I tell her I ran the commemorative event in 1996 (although she had already moved away by then).

The morning of the race is, as promised, foggy and cool. The check-in for chip pick-up is easy. Parking is on the beach up near the sand dunes. My early arrival puts me within easy walking distance of the start. Also present are several fellow 50 State Marathon Club members and Marathon Maniacs. The always thoughtful and generous Diana Burton has brought me a bottle of non-alcohol Champaign to celebrate last weekend's completing of my 100th marathon. Also here are Steve and Paula Boone, founders of the 50 State Marathon Club and fun folks who live in the Houston area.

The race begins at 7am heading southeast along the beach for a bit more than a mile when we split from the marathoners who continue on the beach to their first turnaround while we turn inland and over a long fairly tall bridge over the Gulf Intracostal Waterway, through a clover leaf and into a long straight out-and-back segment through a neighborhood and area of light industry. There appears to be a lot of marsh and swamp in the area. This segment leads us back over the same bridge and rejoins the marathon route to head northeast along the gulf coast. Mercifully the overcast and sea breeze keep the run cool for nearly the entire day. The sun finally peaks out during my last couple miles but it is still cool enough that weather is not much of a factor. On the way back on the long out-and-back segment that is the last 20 miles of the 31-mile run there are relatively few runners. The half marathoners had an early turn-around and are now long gone. Those remaining are marathoners and 50K runners. Bib numbers are color coded such that at a glance one can see if a person is a 50K (brown) or marathon (blue) participant. In the last five miles I pass several people and am passed only once.

The finish line banner is a welcome sight. The long unencumbered and level course allows one to see the end well before arriving. At least one modest goal is met by finishing under 6 hours (5:58:06). Online results are at:

http://surfsidemarathon.sports.officelive.com/Documents/2011%20Surfside%2050K%20Overall.txt

I drink down a tropical smoothie, change into a dry shirt, and walk up to the pavilion to get what is perhaps the best post-race meal I have experienced. The unlimited barbecue includes beef brisket, chicken, kielbasa, baked beans, salad, bread and drink. While waiting for friends to finish I return to the buffet line several times and eat to capacity.

This is a great event that I recommend heartily

Some race pictures are (were) available at:

http://raceshots.net/app/event/zoomPictures?eventInstanceId=22328&picture=6097252#start