A scenic four-hour drive north of San Francisco will take you to one of the most unusual and scenic marathon courses in the country. The Avenue Of The Giants, more commonly referred to by the locals as the AVENUE, runs entirely within the Humboldt National Forest. Registration fee for the Avenue is $60, which is fairly high for a relatively small marathon. The post marathon amenities (food and drinks) were minimal, stale peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fig bars, oranges, bananas and popsicles. The finishers medals were adequate, however, they had Relay, Marathon and 10K written on the medal. This is no major problem, but for a $60 registration fee I would expect a 'marathon' medal. The only other thing I did not like was they only went 1 deep in age group awards. Since I placed second this hit home a little more then it would other wise. I am not really into awards, but they did give very nice age group awards. It was an 8 1/2 by 14 inch color rendition of the very nice artwork that was on the marathon shirt. The artwork was sandwiched within Plexiglas. I did email the race director and voiced my opinion, and, based on her response I realized this race is a major fundraiser for the 3 Rivers Running Club. I am talking a minimum of $10,000 proceeds and probably closer to $20,000.
The marathon itself was worth $60. The start of the race is in one of the few sections of the course that is not under the canopy of the giant redwoods. Within a couple of hundred yards on Bull Creek Road you go from a very sunny, bright California sky to dusk conditions. It was like near sunrise conditions with scattered streaks of bright sunlight breaking through the trees. The first of two out and back loops is 7 miles (14 round trip) and is slightly uphill gaining about 150 feet going out. The asphalt road was winding with continuous small hills. The hills were not challenging and in fact added to the beauty of the course. The last 1/2 mile of the first out going loop was outside of the canopy. I planned on running this marathon a little slower then usual since I had another marathon schedule four weeks later. However, I felt comfortable in the cool shade of the redwoods enjoying the scenery and ran the first half in 1:45:00. After the 700 plus marathoners were able to spread out of the tight pack at the start, I found a pace that allowed me to run as much of the marathon by myself. I normally enjoy listening to other people's conversations during the marathon, but in the Avenue, I wanted to enjoy the solitude of the forest.
The second out and back loop is run on the Avenue of the Giants road itself. This loop is a little flatter, wider road, and although a few less hills the hills were a little longer. With the exception of crossing the Eel Rriver at the start of the second loop, the rest of the loop was under the canopy of the redwoods. I started struggling at mile 24 and had to walk a couple of times between 24 and 25 and again from 25 to 26. I guess the small hills finally took their toll. Since I wasn't trying to run any certain pace and I was still enjoying the giant redwoods and the forest itself, I had no problem, physiologically speaking, walking.
I finished in 3:33:06, only three minutes off from an even half marathon split. Although not racing and running comfortably, and as I stated above, I happened to place second, 14 minutes behind the first place 55 to 59 year old. I finished 70th out of 674 marathons, still not to bad for an old man.
If you plan to run this marathon let me know and I will give you some valuable information on where to stay. I have heard there was nothing in Weott or the immediate area near the start finish lines. This is absolutely the case. The nearest restaurant is 20 miles from Weott. However, there are three very nice towns within 30 miles. Except for the $60 registration fee and lack of 2nd and 3rd place age groups awards, I highly recommend the AVENUE.
Rest if you must, just don't quit,