Molly On the Run

Category: 2026 Marathon Recaps

  • Buffalo Marathon #8

    Let’s go Buff-a-lo! I am so excited to write this recap because Buffalo is one of the best races and that is a hill I will die on. I was born and raised in Buffalo before moving to Connecticut at the age of seven. Since my family still lives there, I’ve made many trips back and forth over the years. My first half marathon was in Buffalo, and it made such a lasting impression on me that I feel it’s truly where my running journey began. I ran the half marathon a second time in 2025, shaving 28 minutes off my time in just 2 years! After that, I immediately decided to sign up for the full.

    The Buffalo marathon always takes place on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. This is extra special to me because it always falls on my grandmother’s birthday, so I get to sneak in a visit with her in Buffalo and run in the best city. Marathon weekend consists of about 10,000 runners over the course of the events. They have the 5k and kid’s races on Saturday morning, and the half and full marathons on Sunday. I’d say the half marathon attracts significantly more runners than the full marathon. The race starts in downtown Buffalo, bringing you up along Delaware Ave through the historic mansion district. You continue along Lake Erie with views of the waterfront and Erie Basin Marina. You pass by Keybank Area, where the Buffalo Sabres play until the half marathon and full break apart at mile 13. After that you continue through the art district in Allentown and back up north into Delaware Park where the runners circle the park. There are a few more turns through the north end of Buffalo until the course brings you back towards the finish near Niagara Square.

    A few important things about this race that I love include: The energy. We all know Bills Mafia, they bring that same energy to the marathon. Crowd support is one of the biggest things that gets me through and this race is up there on the list. Also, race logistics. I have never been to a race where bib pick up, parking, and runner’s village is so quick, efficient and organized. There are also so many photographers on the course, I always get the best race photos here.

    Buffalo is about a 5.5 hour drive from my home in Connecticut. My sister and I packed up her two little ones and hit the road Friday evening and made the trek to our grandmother’s house in Buffalo in the dark, with plenty of road trip snacks. We would be staying with more family once we arrived.

    Expo: Saturday morning, my brother and I drove downtown to check out the expo and pick up my bib. This was when NYC was flooding, and we seemed to be getting all that rain Northwest because it was an absolute monsoon. I was praying that this weather would end before Sunday. I had all my rain gear packed just in case. The expo is held on the top floor of the Buffalo Convention Center. As I said previously, parking is so easy and bib pick up was so quick. We made our way to the second floor and checked out a few vendors. Buffalo Marathon always has so much nice swag and a variety of all sorts of vendors. I saw a “Buffalove” vendor and immediately had to grab some merch. I grabbed an American flag Buffalo sweatshirt for myself, a sticker and a “Buffalove” onesie for my sister’s little one she is expecting. After that I grabbed my bib and we headed back to the car. Our race swag included a really nice technical hoodie with a Bison on it, an electrolyte drink mix and a little snack. Buffalo always has had great swag in their bags.

    The rest of the day was spent hanging with family indoors, as I watched the rain come down in buckets. I really thought there was no way this rain would end. I tried my best to carb load throughout the day, but ultimately by the end of the night I still had not eaten enough, and I ended up sneaking a pizza into the house with my siblings at 9pm.

    Race morning: Another thing I love about this race is that you can easily pull up and park, quickly walk to Runner’s Village and use the porta potty all within an hour before race start. It also starts early at 6:30 which I love, because you still get your entire day after you are done running. The morning started with a 4am wakeup call but lying in bed until 4:30. The rain had finally stopped at 4am that morning. I got dressed, put on my glitter and had my usual pre-race breakfast of half a bagel and coffee. My mother and I headed out the door at 5:30 and made the 15-minute drive downtown where she dropped me off near the start. I headed towards the porta-potty lines which were moving super quickly and then made my way into my corral.

    I headed into this race aiming for a 3:50 finish. This would shave 5 minutes off my PR time. Buffalo is a flat course that allows for even splits without having to leave a cushion for hills. This meant keeping a steady 8:46 pace. I knew I was capable, but holding a pace for that distance was overwhelming to me and I was not sure I was confident in my training; I had just paced the Mystic Half Marathon that past weekend at a 10:15 pace and felt like my body was stuck there. I had a plan to stick with the 3:50 pacer, and I had also printed a pace band for myself that would bring me in at a 3:49 finish if I followed it. The morning was perfect at 60 degrees and pure overcast with a slight drizzle, but nothing uncomfortable. The gun went off and we crossed the start line. I followed with the pace group for about 2 miles. I started getting annoyed because everyone was running close together, swinging their elbows and almost hitting me in the eye. I sped up to pass the group and kept the pacer at a comfortable distance behind me.

    I felt really strong for the first few miles and tried not to let race energy take me too fast. I had a playlist going, but there is so much live music and energy on the course that I paused my music while running through those sections so I could take it all in and enjoy it. One of my favorite sections is the first 6 miles when you are running up the first section of Delaware Ave at the turn around. The crowd support is great and there are so many signs. At mile 13, we head back towards Niagara Square and the full and half marathons split ways to continue their race. The majority of runners are half marathoners, so this is where the group begins to thin quite a bit and the race gets a little quieter.

    There are so many water stops on this course, and I took advantage of every one and found myself having to use the porta potty at mile 16. I was just so thankful that my stomach was feeling good. When I stepped out, the 3:50 pacer was running past as I was taking in some salt. I shouted, “I’ll catch up!” as he spotted me and I raced ahead until I settled back in pace with them.

    I was starting to feel the usual aches and pains around miles 17 and 18 but I was relieved that I still had energy and was not starting to hit the wall. My brother, his wife and their 3 kids told me that they would be cheering me on around Mile 20 and I was holding on to that to get me through. I started searching for them around Mile 19 and saw nothing, so I waited for Mile 20. When I got to Mile 21 and still could not find them, I figured they either were at the finish line or couldn’t make it out of the house in time. As I crossed the corner at Mile 22, I immediately spotted them across the road and threw my hands up waving. They were standing there with a sign that said, “Go Auntie M, Go!” That was exactly what I needed to keep me going. I would find out after the race that my brother was at Mile 21 shouting at me, but I never saw him. Oops.

    Miles 23 and 24 I could feel myself starting to get into my own head. I wanted nothing more than to walk/run the last few miles. I knew I would be so disappointed if I didn’t reach my goal time though. I looked at my watch and knew I had a little bit of cushion with my pace, so I dropped back into the pace group and sort of floated with their pace until my heart rate went down, zoning out into my music. I reached Mile 25 and knew I had enough left in me, I said my usual mantra to myself: “You can do anything for one mile.” I took off from the pace group for my finish.

    The end of the marathon is at Niagara Square and you run back into all the energy. I crossed the finish line with a time of 3:47:40. I was in total shock. That was an entire 8 minutes off my PR time in just seven months! I have no idea how I did it, but I think this course just has some sort of magic to it. This won’t be my last Buffalo marathon.

    Fuel: Huma gel every 45 minutes

    Pre race dinner: Pizza and wings

    Pre race fuel: Coffee and half a bagel

    Favorite signs on course:

    “You should still go to therapy.”

    “Why?”

    “Hurry, your beer is getting cold.”

  • Hudson Valley Marathon #7

    Lucky #7! The Hudson Valley Marathon wasn’t originally on my list for the year, but I’ve had my eye on it for a while since it’s so close to home. With my 22-mile training run for Buffalo coming up, I figured a flat, fast course would be perfect to get the miles in while taking advantage of the bathrooms and water stops. My plan was to run the 22 miles at an easy pace and, if necessary, walk or run the last 4 miles.

    Originally, I was looking to sign up for Maine Coast Marathon. After procrastinating, I realized the race was sold out. Hudson Valley was the same weekend, so I quickly signed up without second thought.

    I’d been dealing with a slight pain in my left foot and hip for the past few weeks, so I was nervous about tackling 26 miles before Buffalo. I also had a 5k planned with my niece for her Girls on the Run program, plus pacing the 2:15 mark in the Mystic Half Marathon before Buffalo. Thankfully, after Cheshire, my foot felt good. My main goal for Hudson Valley was simply to log the miles and finish comfortably without injury.

    Hudson Valley is a small race. The course includes a 5k, half marathon, and full marathon. The majority of runners make up the half marathon group. The course runs over the Hudson Valley Walkway with beautiful scenic views of the Hudson River and Mid-Hudson Bridge. It continues onto the Dutchess Rail Trail where we turn around at the 13.1 mark, with the half marathoners turning around at the 6.55 mark. There is little crowd support and the majority of the race you are in the woods on a paved path. If you know me, then this is a course nightmare for me. In and out, bike path, and no crowd support. HA!

    Bib Pick Up: The race is hosted by Alpha Win. We had 2 options for bib pick up. We could pick up Saturday afternoon at the Vendor Expo, or as they strongly encouraged, we could pick up Friday afternoon at the Poughkeepsie Fleet Feet. I had a rare Saturday off from work and wanted to enjoy the day relaxing so I opted for the Friday bib pick up. I worked a half day and made the hour trek out to Fleet Feet. I figured I would run in, grab my bib, purchase some gels, head back and be home before 5pm. Wrong. The line for bib pick up was out the door and circled down the sidewalk. I waited in line for over an hour to get through the door. Halfway through my wait, I started chatting with the girl behind me. She was a new runner and running the 5k. She had just told me she finally reached 6 miles and wanted to keep pushing her distance. I recommended a few good half marathons for her to look into. I did not see her Sunday morning, but I hope she did well!

    I want to point out that Fleet Feet had no involvement with this race other than providing space for bib pick-up. I’ve never experienced such a long line for bib pick-up before, and when I finally reached the front, there was just one poor girl handling check-ins, t-shirts, and bags for everyone. Hopefully, they can recruit more volunteers in the future to make the process faster.

    Our swag included a nice race day t-shirt, a 26.2 sticker and an energy drink. I love my t-shirt! I grabbed my things, grabbed some fuel and headed back home in upstate traffic.

    Race Morning: The Hudson Valley Walkway is about an hour and 5 min from my house. I wanted to give myself plenty of time to find parking, use the restroom and drop off my gear bag. I woke up at 4am and did my normal race morning routine. The night before, we had an event catered at our local Fire Department. As soon as we got home, I had to use the bathroom and was nervous I would be in trouble for the race. However, everything seemed normal as the morning went on.

    I headed out the door just before 5am and made the drive out to Hudson by myself. As sad as it sounds, I chose not to have anyone come with me. I really wanted to run and take my time, especially at the finish and not worry about rushing to find family and friends. I wanted my free beer and to take my time. I put the walkway address into my GPS; they warned us that the parking lot is filled by 6:30 so I wanted to make sure I left plenty of time to get a space. Well, I think everyone else had the same thought because as soon I as approached the race traffic, they were directing everyone to turn back and park at the Tractor Supply. It was about a mile walk to the start and all I could think was that the big downhill I was walking was not going to be fun on the way back after 26 miles.

    The morning started off chilly at about 35 degrees. Luckily, I always keep a heat shield in my gear check bag, so I pulled that out and wrapped myself up for the walk. I walked into Runner’s Village and made my way to the porta-potties. Surprisingly there was no line, and the toilets were new and clean! I hung around and kept warm for a bit then made my way over to gear check. I thought I would quickly drop off my bag and get into my corral. Wrong again. I looked back and there is another line leading out the tent. It was 20 minutes to start, and the line did not seem to be moving. Other runners around me were getting nervous as well. I saw people stashing their bags in the woods and running to their corral. Soon enough, the line moved. I really don’t understand what the holdup was because I was out in 2 seconds. Again, hopefully they can recruit some more volunteers for next year.

    The start line is an open corral with options for different times ranging hour to hour. I stuck myself in the 4:00-5:00 corral knowing I was going to take it slow. I stood there shivering, while I look to my left and see a man next to me wearing a bib with the number “1111”. I had been seeing angel numbers all morning and knew that was a final sign that my dad was wishing me luck that morning. My race jitters instantly eased.

    The race starts at 7am with 1.28 miles over the Hudson Walkway. You get a beautiful view over the water and in the early morning you get to see the Mid-Hudson bridge lit up. After we crossed the walkway, I turned on my playlist and eased into my pace. It is so easy to get caught up in the race pace of others and I knew I did not want to go fast so I had to keep myself from feeding off the energy.

    I watched as the pacers sped past me, with others running by at a pace I knew I could match. It’s a strange feeling to hold yourself back, especially in race; but it made me realize that every runner is out there for their own reason, moving at a pace for reasons we can’t truly know.

    The miles went by slow and very boring. I am a runner that tends to need turns and views in my courses to keep my mind busy. This race was lots of woods for 13 straight miles. That also left little crowd support to get you through. I broke my distance into chunks of my fueling distance. I knew I was going to take a gel every 45-50 minutes, so I kept telling myself, “Just another 5 miles”. I also knew there was a water stop every 2 miles, so I used that as another trick to break the distance into chunks.

    I stopped twice to use the bathroom and luckily with there being so few marathoners, the bathrooms were pretty much clean and no lines at all which helped with my time.

    It felt like forever to get to the halfway mark but once we hit the turnaround, I took a short break to take some salt and stretch out my hips that were beginning to get tight. At this point I was starting to see others walking and starting to cramp up. I tried not to let my own thoughts get to me and took off.

    I counted down as my watch finally hit 22 miles. I knew at this point, my training miles were complete, and I could handle the last 4 however I chose. I started off walking the first 2 min and running the rest of the mile until around mile 24.5. A guy I had been pacing behind for quite some time turned to see me walking and fist bumped me and said “Less than 2 miles left, we got this! Let’s go!” I’m thinking to myself, I don’t need to do this but then said to myself, “You know what? Hell yeah.” So, I picked up the pace and ran towards the walkway.

    The race ends the same way it began, by crossing over the walkway to the finish line. The walkway at this point was opened to the public. There were multiple spectators left cheering on runners: “Just get over the walkway and you’re done!” I came up behind a girl with who I assume was her boyfriend/husband who ran beside her, holding a sign for her, right to the finish. This wasn’t my race, so I backed off my pace to make sure they got a good photo at the end.

    I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 4:13:26. The end of Runner’s Village was filled with free beers and vendors. I grabbed a free beer, bought a cozy Run Upstate sweatshirt and got my picture taken by someone standing by. I love my new sweatshirt!

    I made the mile trek back to the Tractor Supply parking lot. The walk back up the hill did indeed suck as much as I was anticipating.

    Would I run this race again? Maybe again for a training run or a qualifying time. I would be interested in the half marathon just for a fun race. Next up: Buffalove!

    Fuel: Huma Gel every 45-50 minutes

    Pre race dinner: Rice pilaf, prime rib, dinner roll catered event

    Pre race AM fuel: Coffee and half bagel with butter

    Favorite sign on course: “My mom’s not a regular mom, she’s a fast mom!”