Where We Be
MDI Marathon -- Bar Harbor, Maine
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At the starting line in Bar Harbor, just moments before the 7 am start
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Great marathon! Great day with friends and family!
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This is one of the prettiest stretches of the whole marathon
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We wore our green MDI Marathon jackets at the start to stay warm
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Our main goal was just to have fun
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Our other main goal was just to finish!
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The number 13 is LUCKY in the marathon world since it represents the halfway mark (13.1 to be exact). Halfway done!
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We turned north and headed along Sargents Drive, hugging the shoreline of beautiful Somes Sound
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Somesville is located at the top of the two "lungs" that constitute Mount Desert
Island. From here we turned south and headed towards Southwest Harbor.
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Mile 23 is where our friend Alan jokingly said the race "stopped being fun."
It's the site of the "Big Hill" that climbs continually until Mile 25.
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Robin's mom and her sister Winnie cheer us on near Mile 26 (taken on the run, so a bit blurry)
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And there's the finish line in Southwest Harbor!
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Hooray! On the far side of the finish line, looking back at our finish time
(you have to add an hour, since walkers started an hour earlier at 7 am)
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We celebrated that evening with a birthday cake / "1st marathon cake" for Robert
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Now we're back on the main road towards Somesville, sharing the marathon route with cars again.
Robin had some free "Goo" (an energy gel) around Mile 16 and it gave her quite an energy boost -- I had to half-jog to keep up with her!
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Jogging backwards, waiting for the camera to click
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This pretty back road leads to Somesville and Mile 20. Robin's wondering
why I can't keep up. I'm wondering how to keep her away from any more Goo!
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Pretty view snapped along the way on the outskirts of Somesville
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People were very supportive all along the route -- even for complete strangers
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Robin looks strong after a few sips of Gatorade
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Water and Gatorade stations were set up every 2 miles, with friendly volunteers of all ages handing out drinks
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We met our friends Alan and Robert at the 12-mile mark (around 10 am). Getting to share the race with them made it
even more special. They were running and we were walking, but we jogged along with them for a hundred yards or so.
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We passed through the quaint village of Northeast Harbor
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Near Seal Harbor (at the southern tip of the island), we reached a beautiful stretch of Maine coastline
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We passed through quaint villages and harbors dotted with sailboats and lobster boats
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Supporters gathered at key points in the race to root for family, friends, and strangers alike
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The MDI Marathon has been listed as the most scenic in the country by Runner's World Magazine
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Each bib has the person's first name on it so people can root for you by name!
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Today we completed our first marathon! Okay,
we only walked it, but still, how cool is that! We
participated in what's listed in Runner's World
Magazine as the Most Scenic marathon in the
country (runner-up for Best Overall).
The 10th Annual Mount Desert Island (MDI)
Marathon took place on October 16 when the
Maine foliage was near its peak. The 26.2-mile
event started at 7 am for walkers and 8 am for
runners. The official posting shows we kept a
walking pace of 14:48 minutes per mile --
slightly better than our goal of 15 minutes per
mile, or 4 miles per hour. We were very tired
and our legs and feet extremely sore by the
end, but we made it.
The course itself was beautiful. Beginning in
Bar Harbor, it headed south through Acadia
National Park to Seal Harbor, at the southeast
tip of the island. It tracked west along the coast,
then wound through the streets of Northeast
Harbor before turning north and following
Sargents Drive along Somes Sound -- the only
true fjord on the Atlantic Coast. Turning south
again at the town of Somesville, we climbed the
"Big Hill" at Mile 23 and finished the race in
Southwest Harbor. We sprinted across the
finish line at 1:27 pm, feeling euphoric!
Can you believe we're almost there?!
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Crossing the finish line at the 10th Annual Mount Desert Island (MDI) Marathon
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Our "Green Medal" for finishing
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The 26.2-mile course begins in Bar Harbor and ends in Southwest Harbor
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These signs were posted all along the route
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Sargents Drive is closed to traffic during the marathon, so it's just us runners and walkers. Sweet!
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Alan and Robert cross the finish line together;
I love the look of sheer joy on their faces! [Not my photo]
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