Anthem Richmond Marathon 2013: race report

At a glance

I registered to the Richmond Marathon being held in Richmond in November 2013.

The race started when it was raining. The weather was ok, a little bit chilly. The course goes all over the city and pass by the woods and over several bridges. It makes you discover Richmond and its different aspects. On the overall, the course itself is beautiful, especially when you pass by Belle Isle and see the rivers and the small waterfalls.

The organization of the event was well done. The package pick-up was in the middle of nowhere but offers decent parking options. It was easy to get the packet, park and enjoy the rest of the day. The packet contains a nice tech-shirt and the usual stuff (food samples, etc.). You can take a bus that gives you a ride over the course to see where you are suppose to run. This is very nice, especially because you can see the elevation profile, how the road looks like and how you will run it !

The water stops are located every two miles, so, you do not need to bring water with you. Also, for the food stop, there are some gels but all the Richmond folks also gives food all over the race. This is why makes this marathon the most friendly: Richmond communities cheer runners all over the race, offer food, opportunity to stop by, have some recovery and continue later. There are the so-called junk food stop where you can get bagels/Mms or donuts with some beers. I did not take the opportunity to try, especially because there are pizza at the finish at at mile 21, you rather want to finish soon than enjoying beers with other folks. For all these reasons, Richmond is definitively a nice and friendly race !

When finishing, you receive a nice medal and a blanket. The finish line was well organized: no congestion, food trucks with not crowded, etc. Everything goes smoothly. In addition, to go there, there are some special deal to park next to the starting and finish line ($5 for the event).

Pros and cons

Pros

• Organization: water stop, aid station, parking, etc.
• Nice route to discover Richmond
• Friendly race
• Packet content: tech shirt, medal, etc.

Cons

• Ugh ?

Let’s do it ?

Sure ! This is a very nice and friendly race. You can see this race from different perspectives: if you want to make it very friendly, just go there, enjoy the neighborhood, the food, stop sometimes and you will have a great time ! If you want to make a new performance, then, just go ahead, run and enjoy this flat race with some very nice spots over a beautiful city ! So, definitively, there are many reasons for doing Richmond !