Well, the more I think about it, the more I think I should at least make some effort to start getting in shape to try the half marathon on Nov. 5th. We’ll see how that works out. (A big drawback to the date for a few of us: Nov. 5th is the last day of the Savannah Film Festival.)
The local media gave some nice coverage to the kickoff block party last week on 50th Street next to Fleet Feet, and we’ll all be reading and hearing a lot more about the event before it happens.
The course is here. The course begins at City Hall and then heads west. So there’s a pretty good size hill going over the viaduct, but that won’t be much for out-of-towners used to hills. It’s a curious route early on through West Savannah — doubling back along Augusta Avenue and then through the industrial areas of Louisville Road and a little of Telfair Road before heading back toward the Historic District via Gwinnett Street. I like the neighborhood on the first part of that course and even the city’s industrial west, but I hope the event will prompt some beautification efforts on a couple of those corridors. (Although I don’t know where the money would come from to do that.)
General Oglethorpe and the Panhandlers
The race then heads east to Gordonston, with the half-marathoners running back to the Forsyth Park finish from there, while the full-marathoners will end up on the Truman and neighborhoods around it.
There are stages every mile, and it’s going to be interesting to see which bands play gigs along the route. It’s a pretty safe bet that General Oglethorpe and the Panhandlers will be one of them since they played the kickoff party, but we won’t know anything until there’s a contractor in place to handle the bands. (The Savannah Stopover arranged General O for the block party.)
There will be a headline act too, and I’m intrigued about that. The Philadelphia marathon in September will feature Bret Michaels. I’ll say without embarrassment that for all my love of edgy, indie music, I’d LOVE to see Bret Michaels — outdoors, Forsyth Park, singing “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Or maybe Meat Loaf can be lured back: he did a stellar show at the Oglethorpe Speedway back in 2005. The June marathon in Seattle, by the way, will feature headliner Everclear.
For more info on the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, go here.