CIM Marathon First Timer - What to expect

Apparently it’s more hilly than I thought. rolling hills through 16 miles

You can wait on the bus. You can leave your bus and come back to it. School buses. No problems, it’s good.

The buses from downtown and the official hotels are nice—you can stay on them at the start if it’s cold. You can’t stay on the buses that shuttle runners to the start from closer locations, as they do multiple back-and-forths.

There’s nowhere to hang out inside at the start unless you stay on the bus or have access to the VIP tent (or one of the other special tents—Folsom hotels, Elite, official training group, etc).

There are rollers throughout the course until about mile 20, but it’s really the second quarter of the race that is truly hilly/tough. So if you’re trying to max out and ride the red line, you shouldn’t “bank” time, but your first 10k should probably be a little bit faster than your second 10k.

The course really is pancake flat (and actually a very slight downhill—like 10 feet per mile) once you cross the small bridge at 35k.

Once you’re on J St, the countdown of numerical streets is nice, but it can be demoralizing when you get a “named” street instead and realize you have a(t least one) block more than you thought.

Eat at Chando’s Tacos while you’re in Sacramento—although save it until after the race if you have an at all sensitive stomach.

Sac loves running, great crowd support

Fun course

J street bridge (21ish) sneaky tough, flat all the way home after that

Enjoy it

While at the CIM marathon, be on the lookout for ATM machines.

Found the pre-race logistics much easier than big city marathons. Easy ride to the start. Plenty of space to do any warm up or to just stay warm before the race.

The one thing most people say after racing is that they didn't expect the uphills in the first half. CIM is fast. It's a net downhill. But there are some rollers in the front half. Just be patient and go by effort. You'll still be clicking off fast miles but once you get to the last 10k the rollers are gone & it's a gradual downhill to the finish. So if you have legs there it's one of the most favorable closing stretches you could ask for in a marathon.

No matter what pace you're running, you'll have people around you. Tuck in. Conserve energy. Eat/drink. Rip the last 10k.

40 and rain with a slight headwind

I don’t see the headwind? Looks like a fair-to-pretty-good forecast, although that could change (either way) between now and next Sunday, with how heavy and when the rain hits being the main determining factor.

This. It's trending from cool and fair to cool and rain with NW wind. If that trend continues to worsen, could be anywhere from drizzle and 35 to "Boston 2018" proportions. I'm hoping it turns out to be mild. And yes, it's a pretty fast course with long straight roads and few turns. That little bridge at 35k is the last hill so even if you're cooked you can hang on pretty well if you keep pushing.

It will be cold at the start. Plenty of toilets. They take clothes donations in the starting corrals. Bring extra layers. Looks like a year to keep your hat and gloves in the race. There are lots of people to run with at every pace.