{"id":32352,"date":"2019-06-03T17:35:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=32352"},"modified":"2019-06-04T03:49:19","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T07:49:19","slug":"salamander-state-marathon-huntington-wv-blue-ridge-series-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=32352","title":{"rendered":"Salamander State Marathon – Huntington, WV – Blue Ridge Series Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dateline: Huntington, WV. I’ve been here before, having run the Marshall University Marathon in 2011. I vaguely recalled bits and pieces of the town itself… and George said part of that marathon course was in this 12 loop course. But I don’t recall running by the babbling brooks. It was a long time ago… and by the loopy loopiness I’m not sure I remembered much of anything.<\/p>\n

My GPS broke toward the end — to the point that whilst running and the clock ticking away, the distance remained locked at just under 24 miles for a very, very long time. In the end, my watch says I ran 25 miles… and I know that’s not right. We were long again today, but much less so than yesterday. I’d peg it at 26.6 miles overall.<\/p>\n

In any case, shots from the trail, starting from when it was really freakin’ early.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

About an hour into the race, the sun came up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And I finished just under the wire of 4 hours, and I can’t even blame the ducks crossing the road.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Post run, I did wander the campus of Marshall. I felt compelled to make a pilgrimage to the memorial fountain for those they lost in that tragic plane crash of November 1970. It was a loss that devastated the town… a loss at least partially soothed by the Marshall football team rising once more, a tale told in McG’s best film ever, We Are Marshall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, much like the Red Cross statues in Geneva, I felt weird smiling for a selfie ats such a contemplative place… even though it is in the heart of the campus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I felt much more comfortable snapping a photo outside of the library. I really shouldn’t mock surnames… “Hanna Barbera,” “Hanna Banana,” and “Hannah” as a palindrome (It’s not a freakin’ palindrome, people! How many times do I have to tell you that?!). But still, on a college campus, I have to imagine there’s A LOT of jokes made about Drinko Library.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I like to imagine some enterprising Improv Group restaged one of the funniest sketches of all time, only introducing Vino Monster hitting the library looking for a bottle of wine:<\/p>\n