Wow, what a 'beast' of a race course. Easily the toughest race I have ever run. Rob and I had planned to run together, with Rob pacing me to hopefully finish with a sub-3 hour marathon for the first time. I was a little concerned about the course on Saturday when we went up to the start to run the first few miles to get an idea about what I'd be facing on the downhill on Monday. My legs were fatigued after only 4 miles and I let Rob know that I wasn't so sure how the marathon would go.
On race morning, as planned, we clipped off 6 min miles for the first 4-5 miles with Rob pushing the pace a bit up in front of me. When the road would level a bit, he would continue on the same pace, whereas I would slow to my normal aerobic pace. I was not feeling all that great and noticed a hotspot on my left foot that I knew was a blister forming. I have never had a blister in a race and I run in those shoes all the time - so I figured the steep downhill and the camber of the road caused the friction.
Anyway, as Rob got out ahead of me, he picked up the drinks and gels his wife Ann was waiting to deliver at mile 6 just before we started the climb up Little Mountain. Rob handed me the gatorade and assured me the course would get easier. He pushed out ahead again and motored up the mountain, and my Florida boy legs simply settled in for the grind to the top. I think one of those miles was probably 8:45. I got to the top and felt very good, even though I had been passed by about a dozen runners up the hill and I saw my pace per mile average was down to 6:57. So, I decided to do my best to get the pace down to a 6:51 or better as we went down the Canyon.
I immediately passed three runners and then saw Rob coming out of the short out and back at about mile 10. He looked at me and asked if I was ok, and I said I was good - and did not expect him to wait or anything...I could see he was feeling good and possibly was weighing his options to race the rest of the way.
Slowly but surely I began to move the average pace per mile downward until about mile 15 where it was showing 6:51 as I began to exit the Canyon. I hoped that I could maintain that pace for the last 10 miles.
I saw Ann and the kids just before mile 16 and she said I looked good, and was still running well as I grabbed a bottle of gatorade from her. The short hill at the zoo slowed my pace to 7:02 and I hoped I would be able to get things back under 6:51 after that, but that stretch on Foothill to almost mile 20 is really difficult with some uneven pavement, rollers, and speed bumps and I slowly began losing time. I never got discouraged though, and kept hoping that I would start to feel better as the course turned downhill again past the stadium. Indeed I had a few good miles until mile 24 where I think I ran 6:48 and had a slight glimmer of hope that I could get close to 3 hours.
Unfortunately, I got confused on where to turn left from South Temple and ran past the turn. The course was not really marked there and I saw no race volunteers or officials directing runners. There was no one in front of me, and the runner immediately behind me followed me until I reached the parade route where a police officer told me I had run off the course. He said I could stay on that road until I reached "30th" which meant nothing to me. I let the female runner behind me catch up and let her know that we were off course. I thought I just needed to find a turn to go back to the street that paralleled the one I was on. So, when I found a break in the spectators lined up for the parade, I headed back on course.
Eventually, I found my way to the last mile where I saw Rob, who ran with me for a little bit, and said I was doing well. He then told me I had about 400 yards to the finish and alerted me that a female runner was bearing down on me - so I kicked it in to the finish - hoping not to stumble and fall because my legs were just about shot. I was able to hold her off and finished at 3:08. I think I lost about a half mile when I doubled back onto the course, so I may have run 3:05 or so - which I confirmed on my Garmin and on Runkeeper was the case for 26.2 miles (3:05:14) which does not include the time I lost when I had to speak to the cop and the slowed pace whilst I got my bearings.
This was a very difficult course in my opinion and though I did not run sub 3 - I was pleased with my effort and that I never got discouraged, even when I went off course. I would not however, expect to run this one again!
Thanks to Rob and Ann and their kids for allowing me to bunk at their house this weekend and for the kind hospitility (and medical care for the blister!).
I was also glad that I got to meet a few folks from the blog and the winner of the race John Kotter.
Hats off to Rob for a negative split and his master's win. | 