Race Day Traditions and Superstitions

There's no such thing as lucky hats. If the Eagles or the Orioles win every time I wear the same hat to a game, it's just a coincidence. (And that never happens, anyway.) If I always felt smarter, more confident, and luckier on final exam day in college when I was wearing a certain hat, and then aced the test, again, just coincidence.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop believing in the power of my favorite talisman.

(I won this at the York Fair in 1992. It usually brings me luck,
but does not a darn thing for the team.)

I'm not extremely superstitious when it comes to running, though I have a few habits that probably are a little more than traditions:

1. Race day attire -- I never wear the race shirt on race day. Not because it's bad luck, but because that would prevent me from wearing my lucky red singlet. It's become my favorite of all the running shirts I own because its the most comfortable and least chafing, and along the way that seemed to cross the line into "lucky". Hence, I've worn it every long run since August while I've been training for this marathon and I wore it both times I ran the Philly Half. Seems like it would be tempting the fates to not wear it this time, no? I wore a different shirt for Broad Street, since it was 80 degrees I wanted to wear a lighter color and I wore a white shirt (and green shorts) for Shamrock so as to not be the guy running the St. Patrick's Day marathon in a red shirt. I don't have lucky running shorts -- that's just silly. If I wear the same gray and blue Brooks shorts on every long run, it's just because they're the newest and most comfortable.

2. Timepieces -- Every time I wear my Garmin in a long race, I end up wanting to throw it in a river, lake, or ocean. While that sample size is somewhat small, I definitely feel like my watch has some positive mojo in it that the Garmin lacks. I opted for my watch over Garmin during the last Philly Half, and I attribute the better-than-expected PR I set there to choosing the watch over the GPS. Since the lack of satellite reception in downtown Philadelphia would cause Garmin to infuriate me, anyway, wearing the watch is an easy choice. Plus, there's no denying that it's cool.



3. Expowear -- I usually spend more time thinking about what to wear to the expo than what to wear on race day, and I don't think I'm the only one that does this. It's always interesting to see the different race shirts runners wear to the expo. I'm not sure if it's a status symbol contest or if most people are just trying to show that they're not n00bs, but a friend summed up perfectly how I think of it, "You want to show that this isn't your first rodeo."

It's an easy choice to wear my Shamrock Marathon shirt to the Philly Expo, and as an added bonus it matches my lucky hat perfectly. I would probably be crossing the line between projecting myself as a savvy veteran and being a tool if I wear my Shamrock finisher's hat, too. (Right?)

4. Carb-loading -- I know carb-loading is (or should be) a little more complicated than "eat a bunch of pasta the night before the race", but I still prefer pasta the night before. Also, one pre-race beer with dinner to take the edge off a little bit and help me sleep well. Not five, not three, one. That's very important. After the race, par-tay.

5. D-tags -- Not many races have d-tags (disposable timing chip tags that attach to shoes) anymore, as b-tags (disposable timing chip tags that attach to the back of race bibs) have become more prevalent, but I always used to leave the d-tag on my running shoes until I had to take it off for the next race. My last pair of Supernova Glides, which never got recycled as casual-wear sneakers because they're ugly, and instead survive as my biking/lifting shoes, still have the d-tag from the 2010 Jingle Bell Run.



Well, that's about it for me...except for making a burnt offering of Sports Beans to the marathon gods in the hotel lobby on race morning, of course. "Eff you, Jobu. I do it myself."

Race Report: 2011 Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Part 1: The Pre-race

When traveling for a race, the race is only part of the total experience. In this case, the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon proved to be an adventure.

The plan was to eat dinner at the nearby Manchester Cafe, and then make the 5 hour and 45 minute trek to Virginia Beach, so as to miss traffic around DC. We hit a snag instantly when I realized I forgot my pre-race snack, so we got on the road around 6:30. The trip was long, but uneventful, and we arrived at Virginia Beach just before midnight.

On Saturday, we got up early, enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet at "Angelo's By the Sea", an oceanfront restaurant, and then headed to packet pickup at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.



Of all the parts of a race, packet pickup is one of the ones I'm best at. I've never failed to get my race bib and goody bag . Although we narrowly avoided getting line for the craft show instead of the race expo, I eventually got my bib, bag, and some nice Shamrock Marathon merchandise. It was a nice expo, with a good selection of vendors, exhibitors, and representatives from other races around the U.S, and we wandered through twice, the first by ourselves and then a second time with a friend and his family. It wasn't quite as big an expo as the one at the Philadelphia Marathon (and Half Marathon), but it was definitely enjoyable.


After a fruitless search for a soft pretzel, the perfect early afternoon snack for pre-race day, we had some snacks on the boardwalk and then played a round of mini-golf at Top Gun Arcade and Mini Golf, which references the region's military presence with mannequins and vintage recruiting posters.


It was one of the tougher mini-golf courses we've ever played, with every hole being set up on a mound. Miss the hole by inches, and the ball would roll several feet away. We did not make par for the course.

Following golf, Chris and I headed for my favorite part of race weekend and the one I most excel at: the carb-loading dinner. We had a 5:00 reservation at Il Giardino, and Italian restaurant on Atlantic Avenue. We enjoyed Peroni, one of our favorite beers from Italy, and had focaccia bread with oil and Parmesan cheese as an appetizer, and then each had Penne a la vodka as our main course. For dessert, I had chocolate gelato and Chris had the Napoleon. We found that by combining them, we could create an even greater dessert.





It was one of the best meals I've ever had, and I've had a lot of great meals!

Although we were tired from all the walking, and I wanted to turn in early since I would be up early for the race, our adventures were not yet over for the day. On Saturday, the moon was at its closest point to Earth in 18 years, and we had an incredible view!



There are many things photography does just not do justice, and this was one of them. It was an amazing end to very enjoyable day: expo, mini golf, carb loading, and supermoon.

How could the next day possibly live up to that?

Coming up in Part 2: The Not-So-Amazing Race and Aftermath.