OK, we did the list: Races to Run Someday. What marathons should one attempt to do to feel like they’ve gotten a rounded out marathon career and an interesting travel experience to boot. Here goes:
I. Winter Marathon Season. You could consider the new Phoenix Rock n’ Roll Marathon (mid January), the Houston Marathon (mid January), the Las Vegas Marathon (late January), the Austin Marathon (mid Febraury), the New Orlean’s Madi Gras Marathon (late February), or even the Los Angeles Marathon (early March) at this time of year. But seriously, why spend the time and money on these away trips, when we have some of the nicest marathons in our own back yards.
Disney World Marathon - Orlando, Florida - mid January. A great way to mix the marathon experience with the theme park experience. Very well organized, if you don’t mind getting to the start area at 4 AM.
Bank of America Marathon - Tampa, Florida- late January/early February. The home town run with all the beauty of the Gasparilla 15K, plus. I’ve heard too many people using this as their B.Q. (Boston Qualifier) not to give this one a go.
Miami Marathon- Miami, Florida - late January/Early February. Another home town favorite. First half along beautiful Miami Beach, second half in Coconut Grove. Don’t feel up to the full marathon, the ½ marathon gives you the prettiest part of the course.
II. Spring Marathons. Don’t know if I’ll ever run a Spring marathon, since I would want to leave the door open for Boston. But, if you haven’t made that Boston Qualifier, and your going to mess with your short race season, you better make it a real travel experience. Go for a European adventure marathon in a year the exchange rate makes sense (not this year). The Big Sur Marathon is included as a State-side alternative to Boston that sounds like a unique visual experience. It appears the applications for these marathons become available in late August or September.
Rome Marathon - Rome, Italy- mid-March. This probably will always conflict with the short season of 5 Ks & 10 Ks. This may be a good thing as I hear you run on cobbled streets a lot and its hard on your legs. But it is Rome. You probably can’t beat Rome or Paris for a travel experience.
Paris Marathon -Paris France- mid April. Not going to Boston? Run the week before in Paris. Although I’ve heard you end up in some narrow city streets with crowding.
Boston Marathon - Boston, Massachusetts-late April (Patriot’s Day). The grand-daddy of them all and the only must qualify to run event. You can retire after this one.
London Marathon - London, England late April. Didn’t qualify for Boston? This is the best back up and advertized as the world’s largest. Tour London and run with the world’s best. A lottery situation for locals. A travel marathon for Americans.
Big Sur Marathon - Big Sur, California - late April. This has a reputation for rough gravel roads, but the most scenic marathon. Run along the Pacific Coast Highway south of Carmel, there is unique entertainment along the route, like a concert pianist along the road. Fills up early, so apply in the fall.
IV. Summer Marathons. If your going to train for a Summer marathon, it should be either to a unique place (Alaska), or to a neat city (San Francisco). Grandma’s just has a big reputation.
Mayor’s Midnight Run Marathon - Anchorage, Alaska - late June (Summer Solstice). Run partly on trails, why not combine a trip to Alaska with a marathon. You could combine this with the Runner’s World Cruise, but this gets pricey. However, if your going to ever do the pricey cruise through Alaska, the marathon would be a memorable addition to the trip. Alternatively, bag the cruise, and get to Anchorage solely for the marathon. You might be able to find a cheaper way to see Glasser Bay without the cruise expense.
Grandma’s Marathon - Duluth, Minnesota - late June. Don’t know much about this point to point course, other than its got a great reputation. Closes out early. Check early for registration in September.
San Francisco Marathon- San Francisco, CA - late-August. It’s San Francisco. The course looks interesting, but you’ve gotta figure its hilly. A great city to visit.
IV. Fall Marathons. The Big 3 State-side (Chicago, Marine Corp, NYC), and the 3 highly touted European marathons (Berlin, Dublin, Athens) make the fall season “Marathon Season”. Too bad we have to train for these in the Summer heat.
Berlin Marathon - Berlin, Germany - late September. Along with Paris and London, this rounds out the big three in Europe as far as world class runners trying to break world records.
Chicago Marathon - Chicago, Illinois - mid-October. Along with Marine Corp and NYC, one of the big three not counting Boston.
Marine Corp Marathon - Washington, D.C. late October. Beautiful way to see the nations capital. Great crowd support. Just don’t hit the museums until the day after the race.
Dublin Marathon - Dublin, Ireland - late October. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to about this one says its one of the best. With my Irish heritage, I feel I need to get there some day. Beside, the Irish are friendly and drink Guinness.
New York City Marathon - New York, New York - early November. The biggest outside of Boston, with a truly world class of runners showing up.
Athens Marathon - Athens, Greece - early November. Usually the same day as NYC, this is a true touring experience. See the battleground at Marathon where it all started. A hilly course though. The tour offered through the American based travel agency is pretty good, taking you to all the main sites. Jeff Gallaway acts as your coach and lecturer. Alternatively, you can do the Athens sites on your own.
IV. December Marathons. Didn’t train well for a fall marathon and needed a little more time to get ready to run, here’s the one.
Honolulu Marathon - Honolulu, Hawaii - mid December. Don’t know if I’ll ever get to Hawaii, but this would be the thing that would tip the balance towards going that distance. Might also conflict with ski season. A huge marathon crowd due to the large number of Japanese runners/tourists.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Friday, May 21, 2004
Races to Run Someday
One day, my brother Dave and I were talking about the Bolder Boulder 10K and the Utica Boilermaker 15K as possible road trips to noted road races. We had run the Peachtree 10K for the first time the summer before and we had a memorable time. I’ve experienced similar feelings of having gotten to see a locale plus adding in other memorable events to my marathon experiences. This got me to thinking about special event races like the Peachtree 10K that would be fun to do someday. So, I did a little research on the internet and came up with a list of events that I believe would be nice to do someday. I figure runners could target one special event every year or so depending on schedules and desire. I’ve listed them in order of the time of year they fall, not by priority. My general view is that if a trip could be arranged with an inexpensive flight and accommodations, it would be a worthwhile endeavor. Here goes:
1. Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K - Tampa, Florida- late January/early February. This one I’ve always considered the hometown race, but being across Tampa Bay from Clearwater, it just qualifies as a road trip to me (more so, since I’ve lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida the last 20 years). This 15K should be run for the beauty of running along Tampa Bay. Pretty much the entire route on this out and back course is along the waterfront. You get the added thrill of seeing the leaders come back on your way out. May conflict with plans to run a winter marathon, or a good tune up to a mid to late February marathon.
2. World’s Best 10K- San Juan, Puerto Rico - late February. This race attracts world class runners. The lady’s race has pushed the world record lower in the last few years. Looks interesting, but I’m not sure what the cost of doing this trip would be, given air fare and hotel accommodations. Seems designed for the northern traveler looking for some winter fun. Might be an interesting way to check out Pueto Rico if cheep air fare can be arranged.
3. Gate River 15K- Jacksonville, FL - mid-March. This one’s a no brainer. This race is the U.S. 15K Championship and therefore attracts many elite runners. This is a race that I heard about for many years from my law school roommate. A large crowd attends and the course goes over a suspension bridge in downtown Jacksonville. This one would be a “drive to” weekend trip for me, with the only cost being a one night hotel stay. I think we should shoot for this one next year.
4. Cherry Blossom 10 Miler -Washington, D.C.-early April. This race is part of the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) race circuit which along with the Lilac Bloomsday 12K and Peachtree 10K are the Triple Crown of road racing. This 10 Miler is mostly run alongside of the Potomac River and is supposed to show off the Cherry Blossom bloom in the spring. Apparently a tough race to get admitted to, you need to get a self addressed envelope or e-mail to the race organizers for an application to be mailed out in December or early January prior to the April race. Given that we recently ran the Marine Corp Marathon in 2003, this can probably wait.
5. 7 Mile Bridge Run- Marathon Key, Florida- late April. I include this race only because you missed it this year and this race belongs in any list of races to try to run someday. (I would also include the Gasparilla 15K and the Peachtree 10K in this list if we hadn’t both done these at one point or other). Limited to 1,500 runners, this one is hard to get into. Applications must be filled out and mailed back on the day they are received, and even this in no guarantee that you will get in. The race is entirely over the 6.8 mile span of the bridge on A-1A linking Marathon Key to Big Pine Key. A point to point race, you take a bus back across the bridge for a beer party with live music back at the start area. This makes a great weekend get away and can be combined with a trip to Key West to see the Southern Most Point of the U.S. and the crazy’s that live so far from the rest of the world.
6. Bloomsday 12K- Spokane, Washington-early May. This race attracts a huge crowd of 50 to 60,000 runners and is part of the PRRO Triple Crown. It’s called the Lilac “Bloomsday Run,” which I assume means its run during a bloom period for the local Lilac flowers. The only problem I see with this race is its remote location in Eastern Washington State, which may impact on the cost of air fares. I don’t know how realistic this one is given the remote locale. I think one would need to plan a week trip to explore Eastern Washington or the Seattle area to make this a worthwhile trip. It is a 4 hour drive from Seattle to Spokane.
7. Bay to Breakers -7.46 Mile Run-San Francisco, CA- mid-May. Another legendary and very popular run. I’d read about this one in Runner’s World back in the late 70's. This race starts on the bay side of the San Francisco peninsula and ends on the Pacific Ocean side. I’ve often wondered whether if you go all the way to San Francisco for a race you shouldn’t make it the San Francisco Marathon held in early August, but this race has some real character. More than 70,000 people run this race annually. It is the longest consecutively run race in the world, which goes back to 1912 (the Boston Marathon missed the World War I year of 1918). There is costume division where people not only dress up as various characters like Elvis or Superman, but a centipede division where a group runs together in a connected costume. There is also an unofficial nude runners division which is technically illegal, but the police apparently look the other way. Either race would be a great opportunity to get to see San Francisco. Fairly reasonable air fares can be found.
8. Bolder Boulder 10K -Boulder, Colorado-late May (Memorial Day). This is one you turned me onto and it looks like another huge event, both for the numbers running and the party atmosphere. As you know, you finish in the University of Colorado football stadium. There is an air-force fly-by and parachute jump into the stadium after the race. Boulder, Colorado is a beautiful college town, and you could also visit downtown Denver in a long weekend. I would recommend getting to Denver a couple of days ahead of the race to acclimate to the elevation (over 5,100 feet above sea level). They don’t call Denver the “Mile High City” for nothing. Even with an acclimation period, my guess is we sea level runners will end up breathing heavy to make up for the thinner oxygen level. It may be best to treat this as a fun run, and enjoy the sights of the weekend.
9. Peachtree 10K - Atlanta, Georgia- July 4th. Run on July 4th each year since Jeff Gallaway won it in its inaugural year of 1970, this race goes from the fashionable Buckhead area north of downtown Atlanta and ends in Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. The park area ends up full of the 50,000 plus runners sharing Coca-Cola and getting their finishing pictures taken, before heading back to the Buckhead area by bus. The Buckhead 4th of July fireworks display is said to be a show not to be missed.
10. Boilermaker 15K - Utica, New York- mid-July. This 15K race is run in Utica, New York on the weekend the Runners Hall of Fame inducts its new members into the hall. The inductees typically run the race and events are held the whole weekend. This would be an opportunity to visit the Runners Hall of Fame and possibly the Baseball hall of Fame in nearby Cooperstown, New York (a one hour drive). As I mentioned to you, it appears to be a 6 hour drive from Hanover, Pennsylvania.
11. Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K - Cape Elizabeth, Maine - early August. This is a 10K race founded by 1984 Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson in her home town. The race starts at a beach area and finishes at a famous lighthouse, the Portland Head Light, the nation’s first commissioned lighthouse. This race attracts world class competition. Main in August is a nice place to be. I would recommend trying to combine this race with the next race on this list, the Falmoth Road Race in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. You could fly into Boston, run the Falmoth Road Race the first weekend, visit the Boston area and travel up the coast to Maine for this race for the bookend run for the trip.
12. Falmoth Road Race - 7.3 Miles- Falmouth, Massachusetts - mid-August. This 7.3 mile race goes back to the 1972 Olympics, when a Boston bartender, Tommy Leonard watched Frank Shorter win the marathon. The race was established on Cape Cod the following year and is another race that attracts world class runners. This is another lottery race, so you probably need to get accepted to this race first and plan a trip around this and the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K the preceding weekend.
13. Annapolis 10 Mile Run - Annapolis, Mariland - late August. Possible tune up to a fall marathon, this event is in its 29th year. Starting and finishing at the Naval Academy stadium, the course is in the sun for the 1st 5 miles, and in shaded, but hill neighborhoods for the second 5 miles.
14. Rock n’ Roll ½ Marathon - Virginia Beach, Virginia - Labor Day. A holiday weekend at the beach and a fall marathon tune up. Unfortunately, a 15 hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa. Also, it looks to be a Team-In-Training event, so look out for first timers running side by side blocking the way.
15. Philadelphia ½ Marathon - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - mid-September. Yet another possible fall marathon tune up depending on the date of your fall marathon. This one gets a lot of positive press. Again, the difficult decision: run this half marathon in September or the Philedelphia Marathon in late November. You may want to do both in different years.
16. Chicago ½ Marathon - Chicago, Illinois - mid-September. The final fall marathon tune up race. Probably not done in the same year as the Chicago Marathon held in mid October.
1. Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K - Tampa, Florida- late January/early February. This one I’ve always considered the hometown race, but being across Tampa Bay from Clearwater, it just qualifies as a road trip to me (more so, since I’ve lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida the last 20 years). This 15K should be run for the beauty of running along Tampa Bay. Pretty much the entire route on this out and back course is along the waterfront. You get the added thrill of seeing the leaders come back on your way out. May conflict with plans to run a winter marathon, or a good tune up to a mid to late February marathon.
2. World’s Best 10K- San Juan, Puerto Rico - late February. This race attracts world class runners. The lady’s race has pushed the world record lower in the last few years. Looks interesting, but I’m not sure what the cost of doing this trip would be, given air fare and hotel accommodations. Seems designed for the northern traveler looking for some winter fun. Might be an interesting way to check out Pueto Rico if cheep air fare can be arranged.
3. Gate River 15K- Jacksonville, FL - mid-March. This one’s a no brainer. This race is the U.S. 15K Championship and therefore attracts many elite runners. This is a race that I heard about for many years from my law school roommate. A large crowd attends and the course goes over a suspension bridge in downtown Jacksonville. This one would be a “drive to” weekend trip for me, with the only cost being a one night hotel stay. I think we should shoot for this one next year.
4. Cherry Blossom 10 Miler -Washington, D.C.-early April. This race is part of the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) race circuit which along with the Lilac Bloomsday 12K and Peachtree 10K are the Triple Crown of road racing. This 10 Miler is mostly run alongside of the Potomac River and is supposed to show off the Cherry Blossom bloom in the spring. Apparently a tough race to get admitted to, you need to get a self addressed envelope or e-mail to the race organizers for an application to be mailed out in December or early January prior to the April race. Given that we recently ran the Marine Corp Marathon in 2003, this can probably wait.
5. 7 Mile Bridge Run- Marathon Key, Florida- late April. I include this race only because you missed it this year and this race belongs in any list of races to try to run someday. (I would also include the Gasparilla 15K and the Peachtree 10K in this list if we hadn’t both done these at one point or other). Limited to 1,500 runners, this one is hard to get into. Applications must be filled out and mailed back on the day they are received, and even this in no guarantee that you will get in. The race is entirely over the 6.8 mile span of the bridge on A-1A linking Marathon Key to Big Pine Key. A point to point race, you take a bus back across the bridge for a beer party with live music back at the start area. This makes a great weekend get away and can be combined with a trip to Key West to see the Southern Most Point of the U.S. and the crazy’s that live so far from the rest of the world.
6. Bloomsday 12K- Spokane, Washington-early May. This race attracts a huge crowd of 50 to 60,000 runners and is part of the PRRO Triple Crown. It’s called the Lilac “Bloomsday Run,” which I assume means its run during a bloom period for the local Lilac flowers. The only problem I see with this race is its remote location in Eastern Washington State, which may impact on the cost of air fares. I don’t know how realistic this one is given the remote locale. I think one would need to plan a week trip to explore Eastern Washington or the Seattle area to make this a worthwhile trip. It is a 4 hour drive from Seattle to Spokane.
7. Bay to Breakers -7.46 Mile Run-San Francisco, CA- mid-May. Another legendary and very popular run. I’d read about this one in Runner’s World back in the late 70's. This race starts on the bay side of the San Francisco peninsula and ends on the Pacific Ocean side. I’ve often wondered whether if you go all the way to San Francisco for a race you shouldn’t make it the San Francisco Marathon held in early August, but this race has some real character. More than 70,000 people run this race annually. It is the longest consecutively run race in the world, which goes back to 1912 (the Boston Marathon missed the World War I year of 1918). There is costume division where people not only dress up as various characters like Elvis or Superman, but a centipede division where a group runs together in a connected costume. There is also an unofficial nude runners division which is technically illegal, but the police apparently look the other way. Either race would be a great opportunity to get to see San Francisco. Fairly reasonable air fares can be found.
8. Bolder Boulder 10K -Boulder, Colorado-late May (Memorial Day). This is one you turned me onto and it looks like another huge event, both for the numbers running and the party atmosphere. As you know, you finish in the University of Colorado football stadium. There is an air-force fly-by and parachute jump into the stadium after the race. Boulder, Colorado is a beautiful college town, and you could also visit downtown Denver in a long weekend. I would recommend getting to Denver a couple of days ahead of the race to acclimate to the elevation (over 5,100 feet above sea level). They don’t call Denver the “Mile High City” for nothing. Even with an acclimation period, my guess is we sea level runners will end up breathing heavy to make up for the thinner oxygen level. It may be best to treat this as a fun run, and enjoy the sights of the weekend.
9. Peachtree 10K - Atlanta, Georgia- July 4th. Run on July 4th each year since Jeff Gallaway won it in its inaugural year of 1970, this race goes from the fashionable Buckhead area north of downtown Atlanta and ends in Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. The park area ends up full of the 50,000 plus runners sharing Coca-Cola and getting their finishing pictures taken, before heading back to the Buckhead area by bus. The Buckhead 4th of July fireworks display is said to be a show not to be missed.
10. Boilermaker 15K - Utica, New York- mid-July. This 15K race is run in Utica, New York on the weekend the Runners Hall of Fame inducts its new members into the hall. The inductees typically run the race and events are held the whole weekend. This would be an opportunity to visit the Runners Hall of Fame and possibly the Baseball hall of Fame in nearby Cooperstown, New York (a one hour drive). As I mentioned to you, it appears to be a 6 hour drive from Hanover, Pennsylvania.
11. Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K - Cape Elizabeth, Maine - early August. This is a 10K race founded by 1984 Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson in her home town. The race starts at a beach area and finishes at a famous lighthouse, the Portland Head Light, the nation’s first commissioned lighthouse. This race attracts world class competition. Main in August is a nice place to be. I would recommend trying to combine this race with the next race on this list, the Falmoth Road Race in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. You could fly into Boston, run the Falmoth Road Race the first weekend, visit the Boston area and travel up the coast to Maine for this race for the bookend run for the trip.
12. Falmoth Road Race - 7.3 Miles- Falmouth, Massachusetts - mid-August. This 7.3 mile race goes back to the 1972 Olympics, when a Boston bartender, Tommy Leonard watched Frank Shorter win the marathon. The race was established on Cape Cod the following year and is another race that attracts world class runners. This is another lottery race, so you probably need to get accepted to this race first and plan a trip around this and the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K the preceding weekend.
13. Annapolis 10 Mile Run - Annapolis, Mariland - late August. Possible tune up to a fall marathon, this event is in its 29th year. Starting and finishing at the Naval Academy stadium, the course is in the sun for the 1st 5 miles, and in shaded, but hill neighborhoods for the second 5 miles.
14. Rock n’ Roll ½ Marathon - Virginia Beach, Virginia - Labor Day. A holiday weekend at the beach and a fall marathon tune up. Unfortunately, a 15 hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa. Also, it looks to be a Team-In-Training event, so look out for first timers running side by side blocking the way.
15. Philadelphia ½ Marathon - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - mid-September. Yet another possible fall marathon tune up depending on the date of your fall marathon. This one gets a lot of positive press. Again, the difficult decision: run this half marathon in September or the Philedelphia Marathon in late November. You may want to do both in different years.
16. Chicago ½ Marathon - Chicago, Illinois - mid-September. The final fall marathon tune up race. Probably not done in the same year as the Chicago Marathon held in mid October.
Saturday, November 02, 2002
The Athens Marathon
The Athens Marathon was my first marathon. In my prior post, I discuss how I came to sign up for and train for this event. The week prior to our departure was the name day dance for our local Greek Church. During the dance, the parish priest, Father Chris, calls us up before the congregation to announce our departure for Greece to run the Athens Marathon. Afterwards, an older member of the church comes up to us to tell us of his running the Athens Marathon in his youth. He wishes us good luck and we are honored to meet the gentleman. Another friend comes up to me and tells me that I will not be able to run the marathon. Thanks Van, that's just the kind of encouragement I need heading off to run my first marathon.
The Athens Marathon trip was a great travel experience and set me on my way to running marathons and other road races. The trip was through Apostolos Greek Tours. Paul Samaras, the owner of the tour company does a great job of providing side trips that give runners a good experience in Greece. Not only did he arrange for trips to Plaka and the Acropolis, but he arranges a bus tour of the course MCed by running expert Jeff Gallaway. Jeff is an Olympic runner from the 1972 Munich Olympics and an creator of the "Run/Walk" method of running. During our various tours, Jeff gave talks on nutrition, training and running the marathon. Jeff and his wife were also very generous with their personal time during the week for anyone who wanted to talk about running.
My wife Salome came along on the trip. Being fluent in Greek, she was a great help to all who went with us to restaurants or bakeries. Since my Greek wife had family in the Athens area, we went "a la carte" for some of the tours so that we could cut out and visit various aunts, uncles and cousins.
The tour had us staying in a hotel in Voulagmeni, a resort town on the coast about 10 miles south of Athens. After checking into our hotel, I went for a 6 mile run and met a nice couple from Philadelphia, Susan and Bill. They were both good runners and put me through a nice pace to shake my legs out. Later that day, we had a briefing from Jeff and Paul as to what was in store for the week and the marathon. Salome & I had a client who was a part time travel writer for the Sun Sentinel. Salome had arranged an introduction to Paul and the writer and her husband arranged to come along for the trip. Our running buddy John, who had instigated the whole trip was also part of our Ft. Lauderdale group.
The next day, Saturday, the group was given a tour of the course by bus. We drove out to Marathon and drove the course back into Athens getting tips along the way from Jeff. That night, we were served a traditional pasta feed along with salad and bread. At the end of the meal, waiters brought out desserts of chocolate mouse. Of course, we snapped these up and started eagerly eating these treats before Jeff got up and announced that the desserts were for those that were not running the marathon in the morning. Oh well, they were tasty anyway.
Our friend John had forgot to reset his watch to Athens time. He set his Alarm to wake himself at 4AM. However, with the time mix up, the alarm went off at midnight. Having gone to bed early, he didn't seem to notice that he hadn't gotten that much sleep. Thinking it being 4AM and time to get ready, he did just that. Now, I don't know why some people shower and shave before going out to sweat for several hours running a marathon, but this is what my buddy John does. He shaved, showered, got dressing in his running gear, and headed down to the lobby. When he didn't find anyone in the lobby at 1AM, he went to the lower lobby conference hall where we had met the day before. He hears the beat of dance music, which he assumes to be music to pump up the runners before the marathon. He enters the room to find himself as the only one dressed out for a marathon at a wedding reception. After well wishes to the bride and groom, he heads back to his room.
John at 1AM, showered, shaved and ready to run...3 hours early!
I awake at 4 AM and get dressed for the marathon. Salome gets up and comes down to the buses to see us off. She will see us hours later at the finish line in Panathinaiko Stadium, the Olympic stadium built for the first modern Olympic in 1896 on the site of an ancient stadium.
On the bus ride out to Marathon, John and I talk about diving and I learn that he is also certified as a dive instructor. As he runs through some of his spiel on various aspects of diving, I realize that I want him to be the one to teach and certify my son, John the following summer.
The start area is a bit of an unorganized mob scene. There is a track where we see a number of Kenyan runners and other professional runners warming up. We head to the port-a-potties and get in line. John get into a stall and realizes his potty is out of toilet paper. He starts a hilarious routine of asking around a la Sienfeld if any of the runners has a square to spare. Soon, we are lining up for the race and the starting gun is fired. Off we go.
The course headed east from Marathon to add an additional 1.2 miles to the course before heading south on the course that is believed to be the probably path that Phedippedes ran on his way from the battlefield at Marathon on his way to Athens to tell the people that the Athenians were victorious over the Persians. The extra 1.2 mile was added in the 1908 London Olympics at the request of the Queen to have the marathon start at Buckingham Palace. Thus, we run this extra section of the course and all other marathons in honor of the Queen of England.
My buddy John having run 3 previous marathons is well ahead of me at a pace to finish in the 3:45 range. As a newbie marathoner, I simply want to finish and take it at a slower pace. I have no time goal, but would like to finish under 5 hours.
As I come to the first water stop, I note that they are handing out full bottles of water instead of paper cups. This seems a big waste as most runners only take a few sips and toss the bottle. I keep my bottle not wanting to create undue waste. I keep a bottle until I've used it up, skipping several water stops.
After about the 10 mile mark, we hit the hills crossing over the mountain range separating Marathon from Athens. I unexpectedly find the hills to not be a problem for me. While I come from the flat coastal area of southeastern Florida, I find that I've got a natural knack for hill running. Who knew? I simply shortened my stride on the uphills and opened up a bit and let my pace naturally pick up on the downhills so as not to unnecessarily brake, which pounds the quad muscles. I note other runners having a problem with the hills and use those portions of the route to pass other runners.
Bill around mile 13 feeling fresh and light on the hills.
I come across a couple of pretty old guys who have numbers like 300 and 700 on their running jerseys. I can't believe it, but it appears these runners have run 300 and 700 marathons. As a first timer, I can't quite believe my eyes. Upon inquiry these old, fit guys inform me that "yes" they've run over 300 and 700 marathons respectively. I have no intention of repeating their feats.
As we come into Athens, around mile 20, I hit the infamous wall, the point at which the glycogen stored in our muscles is completely depleted. You ache. You've gone beyond the body's natural limit for running. From here on in, its mind over matter. Never having gone beyond this point in training, I'm in uncharted territory. I come across one of the charity fund raising runners who is running for Joints in Motions, an Arthritis Foundation organization. As I pass her, the runner says almost under her breath, "Everything hurts." "You said it," I reply.
Now, you have to know that as a boy of about 7 I was working with my older brother trying to fix my bike. We dropped a piece and couldn't find it. I prayed to God that we would find this missing piece. I wanted my bike fixed so bad, I vowed to God that if we found this missing bike piece, I would never bother God with such petty requests again. Ever. For the rest of my life. Of course, we shortly found it. But, I had given my word to God and never asked for personal assistance from him again. Of course, I would pray for the health of loved ones, but I would never seek personal assistance for something I could control. Thus, when I was running at mile 21 and my legs wanted to cramp up, I felt I couldn't ask God or Jesus for intervention. A mile later, I start to pray to the Virgin Mary. Thank God for loopholes and my training as an attorney to find them.
I note that the police have the streets properly blocked from cross traffic. However, the local Greek drivers will have none of this nonsense on their Sunday morning and shout and curse at the police to let them through. Fortunately, the traffic cops turn a deaf ear to these pleas. Unfortunately, as I cross a very crowded intersection on a 6 lane cross street about a mile from the stadium, no other runners are close behind me. The cops decide to let some traffic in behind me. One of the problems with the streets of Athens is that they are so crowded that guys in their 20s ride motorcycles like bats out of Hell so they can waive between the cars and get places faster. They are thus experts at getting to the front of a line of traffic and barreling across intersections as lights change from red to green. Several motorcycles have just been given the green light to cross the intersection I've not finished crossing. As I look up to see several motorcyclist tearing across the street towards me, I lurch to try to get out of their way. This act of lurching causes my right hamstring to cramp. I nearly die trying to limp out of the way of the impatient motorcyclists.
I now limp for several yards and stop to stretch my hamstring so I can finish the last mile of the marathon. As I approach the stadium, I must cross a ramp that raises over the barrier from the sidewalk onto the stadium track. That simple one foot rise causes me hamstring to cramp again. My travel writer friend chooses this moment to take a picture of me grabbing my cramping leg. My dignity will not be spared.
Bill about to cross into Panathinaiko Stadium and cramping up one last time.
I message the cramp out and finish the last hundred yards to the finish. As I cross the finish in 4 hours and 27 minutes. I drop my head and tear up. I raise both arms in victory signs. I hear my wife Salome yelling out from the stands. I stop and get me medal. I've completed my first marathon.
Bill crossing the finish line at the Athens Marathon.
After I walk the circular track, I feel great. I work my way over to where our group is sitting in the stands and meet up with my wife Salome, her cousin John and running buddy John. We are handed huge pretzels as after race recovery food, presumably for the salt content. One bit reveals that these are like sawdust, sucking any moisture from your mouth. We immediately spit out the bit. Perhaps it was an intelligence test to see if we had our wits about us enough to know to reject this "food."
After a bus ride back to the hotel, John and I have celebratory Greek beers. I recall my buddy Van's statement and curse his sentiment. We arrange for messages from the hotel and relax. That evening, we attend a dinner and celebration of our completion of the marathon. Jeff Gallaway is the master of ceremonies and crowns us with olive branch laurels like they did in at the ancient Olympics. Jeff tells us that we now belong to a group that is less than 1% of the world population. We are marathon runners.
The Athens Marathon trip was a great travel experience and set me on my way to running marathons and other road races. The trip was through Apostolos Greek Tours. Paul Samaras, the owner of the tour company does a great job of providing side trips that give runners a good experience in Greece. Not only did he arrange for trips to Plaka and the Acropolis, but he arranges a bus tour of the course MCed by running expert Jeff Gallaway. Jeff is an Olympic runner from the 1972 Munich Olympics and an creator of the "Run/Walk" method of running. During our various tours, Jeff gave talks on nutrition, training and running the marathon. Jeff and his wife were also very generous with their personal time during the week for anyone who wanted to talk about running.
My wife Salome came along on the trip. Being fluent in Greek, she was a great help to all who went with us to restaurants or bakeries. Since my Greek wife had family in the Athens area, we went "a la carte" for some of the tours so that we could cut out and visit various aunts, uncles and cousins.
The tour had us staying in a hotel in Voulagmeni, a resort town on the coast about 10 miles south of Athens. After checking into our hotel, I went for a 6 mile run and met a nice couple from Philadelphia, Susan and Bill. They were both good runners and put me through a nice pace to shake my legs out. Later that day, we had a briefing from Jeff and Paul as to what was in store for the week and the marathon. Salome & I had a client who was a part time travel writer for the Sun Sentinel. Salome had arranged an introduction to Paul and the writer and her husband arranged to come along for the trip. Our running buddy John, who had instigated the whole trip was also part of our Ft. Lauderdale group.
The next day, Saturday, the group was given a tour of the course by bus. We drove out to Marathon and drove the course back into Athens getting tips along the way from Jeff. That night, we were served a traditional pasta feed along with salad and bread. At the end of the meal, waiters brought out desserts of chocolate mouse. Of course, we snapped these up and started eagerly eating these treats before Jeff got up and announced that the desserts were for those that were not running the marathon in the morning. Oh well, they were tasty anyway.
Our friend John had forgot to reset his watch to Athens time. He set his Alarm to wake himself at 4AM. However, with the time mix up, the alarm went off at midnight. Having gone to bed early, he didn't seem to notice that he hadn't gotten that much sleep. Thinking it being 4AM and time to get ready, he did just that. Now, I don't know why some people shower and shave before going out to sweat for several hours running a marathon, but this is what my buddy John does. He shaved, showered, got dressing in his running gear, and headed down to the lobby. When he didn't find anyone in the lobby at 1AM, he went to the lower lobby conference hall where we had met the day before. He hears the beat of dance music, which he assumes to be music to pump up the runners before the marathon. He enters the room to find himself as the only one dressed out for a marathon at a wedding reception. After well wishes to the bride and groom, he heads back to his room.
John at 1AM, showered, shaved and ready to run...3 hours early!I awake at 4 AM and get dressed for the marathon. Salome gets up and comes down to the buses to see us off. She will see us hours later at the finish line in Panathinaiko Stadium, the Olympic stadium built for the first modern Olympic in 1896 on the site of an ancient stadium.
On the bus ride out to Marathon, John and I talk about diving and I learn that he is also certified as a dive instructor. As he runs through some of his spiel on various aspects of diving, I realize that I want him to be the one to teach and certify my son, John the following summer.
The start area is a bit of an unorganized mob scene. There is a track where we see a number of Kenyan runners and other professional runners warming up. We head to the port-a-potties and get in line. John get into a stall and realizes his potty is out of toilet paper. He starts a hilarious routine of asking around a la Sienfeld if any of the runners has a square to spare. Soon, we are lining up for the race and the starting gun is fired. Off we go.
The course headed east from Marathon to add an additional 1.2 miles to the course before heading south on the course that is believed to be the probably path that Phedippedes ran on his way from the battlefield at Marathon on his way to Athens to tell the people that the Athenians were victorious over the Persians. The extra 1.2 mile was added in the 1908 London Olympics at the request of the Queen to have the marathon start at Buckingham Palace. Thus, we run this extra section of the course and all other marathons in honor of the Queen of England.
My buddy John having run 3 previous marathons is well ahead of me at a pace to finish in the 3:45 range. As a newbie marathoner, I simply want to finish and take it at a slower pace. I have no time goal, but would like to finish under 5 hours.
As I come to the first water stop, I note that they are handing out full bottles of water instead of paper cups. This seems a big waste as most runners only take a few sips and toss the bottle. I keep my bottle not wanting to create undue waste. I keep a bottle until I've used it up, skipping several water stops.
After about the 10 mile mark, we hit the hills crossing over the mountain range separating Marathon from Athens. I unexpectedly find the hills to not be a problem for me. While I come from the flat coastal area of southeastern Florida, I find that I've got a natural knack for hill running. Who knew? I simply shortened my stride on the uphills and opened up a bit and let my pace naturally pick up on the downhills so as not to unnecessarily brake, which pounds the quad muscles. I note other runners having a problem with the hills and use those portions of the route to pass other runners.
Bill around mile 13 feeling fresh and light on the hills. I come across a couple of pretty old guys who have numbers like 300 and 700 on their running jerseys. I can't believe it, but it appears these runners have run 300 and 700 marathons. As a first timer, I can't quite believe my eyes. Upon inquiry these old, fit guys inform me that "yes" they've run over 300 and 700 marathons respectively. I have no intention of repeating their feats.
As we come into Athens, around mile 20, I hit the infamous wall, the point at which the glycogen stored in our muscles is completely depleted. You ache. You've gone beyond the body's natural limit for running. From here on in, its mind over matter. Never having gone beyond this point in training, I'm in uncharted territory. I come across one of the charity fund raising runners who is running for Joints in Motions, an Arthritis Foundation organization. As I pass her, the runner says almost under her breath, "Everything hurts." "You said it," I reply.
Now, you have to know that as a boy of about 7 I was working with my older brother trying to fix my bike. We dropped a piece and couldn't find it. I prayed to God that we would find this missing piece. I wanted my bike fixed so bad, I vowed to God that if we found this missing bike piece, I would never bother God with such petty requests again. Ever. For the rest of my life. Of course, we shortly found it. But, I had given my word to God and never asked for personal assistance from him again. Of course, I would pray for the health of loved ones, but I would never seek personal assistance for something I could control. Thus, when I was running at mile 21 and my legs wanted to cramp up, I felt I couldn't ask God or Jesus for intervention. A mile later, I start to pray to the Virgin Mary. Thank God for loopholes and my training as an attorney to find them.
I note that the police have the streets properly blocked from cross traffic. However, the local Greek drivers will have none of this nonsense on their Sunday morning and shout and curse at the police to let them through. Fortunately, the traffic cops turn a deaf ear to these pleas. Unfortunately, as I cross a very crowded intersection on a 6 lane cross street about a mile from the stadium, no other runners are close behind me. The cops decide to let some traffic in behind me. One of the problems with the streets of Athens is that they are so crowded that guys in their 20s ride motorcycles like bats out of Hell so they can waive between the cars and get places faster. They are thus experts at getting to the front of a line of traffic and barreling across intersections as lights change from red to green. Several motorcycles have just been given the green light to cross the intersection I've not finished crossing. As I look up to see several motorcyclist tearing across the street towards me, I lurch to try to get out of their way. This act of lurching causes my right hamstring to cramp. I nearly die trying to limp out of the way of the impatient motorcyclists.
I now limp for several yards and stop to stretch my hamstring so I can finish the last mile of the marathon. As I approach the stadium, I must cross a ramp that raises over the barrier from the sidewalk onto the stadium track. That simple one foot rise causes me hamstring to cramp again. My travel writer friend chooses this moment to take a picture of me grabbing my cramping leg. My dignity will not be spared.
Bill about to cross into Panathinaiko Stadium and cramping up one last time.I message the cramp out and finish the last hundred yards to the finish. As I cross the finish in 4 hours and 27 minutes. I drop my head and tear up. I raise both arms in victory signs. I hear my wife Salome yelling out from the stands. I stop and get me medal. I've completed my first marathon.
Bill crossing the finish line at the Athens Marathon.After I walk the circular track, I feel great. I work my way over to where our group is sitting in the stands and meet up with my wife Salome, her cousin John and running buddy John. We are handed huge pretzels as after race recovery food, presumably for the salt content. One bit reveals that these are like sawdust, sucking any moisture from your mouth. We immediately spit out the bit. Perhaps it was an intelligence test to see if we had our wits about us enough to know to reject this "food."
After a bus ride back to the hotel, John and I have celebratory Greek beers. I recall my buddy Van's statement and curse his sentiment. We arrange for messages from the hotel and relax. That evening, we attend a dinner and celebration of our completion of the marathon. Jeff Gallaway is the master of ceremonies and crowns us with olive branch laurels like they did in at the ancient Olympics. Jeff tells us that we now belong to a group that is less than 1% of the world population. We are marathon runners.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Getting Ready for My First Marathon
The Athens Marathon was my first marathon. How did I even get signed up for this event? It was a journey of many years. Back in 1982, I read Jim Fixx's The Complete Book of Running. That book first sparked an awareness and interest in the marathon. I had previously followed the careers of Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar. I was amazed by the feats of both of these runners. I still am.
Given the high level at which these guys, and the average marathon runner of that day, ran, I had no realistic thought that I could run a marathon. I was happy to be able to run for fun and do a 10K or 15K race. During the10 year period starting in 1995 when my brother Dave and I ran the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 10K in memory of our deceased older brother Jim, we would talk about the idea of one day running a marathon. However, neither of us took any steps towards that goal.
It was in the fall of 2001 that I notice how fit my fellow church council member John looked. When I inquired what he did to keep in such shape, he informed me that he was training for the New York City Marathon. John had run the Disney Marathon twice before and New York would be his third marathon. New York was especially meaningful since John grew up in New York and the events of 9/11 had recently occurred. On his return from New York, John told a moving story of the running of that marathon. Hopefully, he will one day reduce that story to writing.
In the next few months, he talked about his next planned marathon: the Athens Marathon. As an avid reader of ancient history and a lover of the Greek culture, my interest was piqued. If I was ever to run a marathon, the idea of running the historic course that the Greek messenger Phiddippedes had supposedly run from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens appealed to me.
My wife, Salome and another women running friend, Sherry, both chimed in that they wanted to run the Athens Marathon. "You have no idea what you are contemplating," I told them both. I had run a half marathon in my early 20s and remembered getting to about mile 10 and just wanting to stop running. There seemed to be no reason to be running this far. I only completed the distance to be done with it. I had never run that far since, sticking mostly to my annual 10K Turkey Trot. The Athens Marathon also had a reputation as being a hard course. Since we had a family trip to Greece scheduled for June, we decided to check out the course before committing to running the marathon.
When we were visiting Greece in June, 2002, we drove the course from Athens out to the town of Marathon. The drove took us through a series of downward rolling hills. As we continued rolling down these hills in our rental car, Salome said, "This doesn't look so bad. Look, the course is rolling downhill." "I know," I replied, "Unfortunately, the course runs in the other direction. Those rolling downhills are actually rolling uphills." "Oh," Salome soberly responds. As we complete our drive to the town of Marathon, we don't feel so good about this concept.
The people in the town of Marathon did not add to our confidence. As we walk around the town inquiring about the marathon, none of the locals seem to know what we are talking about. "Marathon? Yes, you are in Marathon." "No," we repeat, "The Athens Marathon. The marathon run from Marathon to Athens in November. Do you know where the start is or where we can get information about the race?" No one in Marathon seems to have a clue. We finally stop by the local police station. Yes, they've know of the marathon, but have no idea of how to register. We are directed to the start area and drive out the the track where the race starts. Other than a memorial plack, the start area was unspectacular.
In spite of our experience in Marathon, Salome, our friend Sherry, and I decide to train over the summer for the November 2, 2002 Athens Marathon. Unfortunately, Salome started to have a problem during her training runs in the month of July. She had a couple of falls while running. One morning, she left for a run from the condo we lived in. I was ready to drive to work. However, about 10 minutes after she left the condo, I receive a phone call from a women. She tells me, "Your wife fell. But don't worry, the ambulance is on the way." "What?" I reply somewhat shocked, "What do you mean, an ambulance is on its way?" I rush out of the condo and drive a half mile north where I come across Salome lying in the street with a couple of paramedics putting a neck collar on her and blood in the street. Apparently, Salome had tripped again while running, had hit her head on the ground, and was bleeding from a cut from the fall. The paramedics, taking no chances, immobilized her neck with the collar, rolled her onto a board, lifted her to a gurney and drove her off in an ambulance to the hospital.
As we waited for the results of test which all turned out fine, I told Salome that she was off of training for the marathon. In fact, until we could figure out what was causing her to fall while running, I advised her to stop running altogether. It was during our time in Athens that we figured out that Salome had gotten used to running with our baby, Alex, in a jogging stroller and had gotten used to leaning forward and down towards the jogging stroller. When jogging without the stroller, she was still leaning forward and slightly down. Thus, a slight stumble that most runners would recover from resulted in Salome losing her balance and down she would go. However, during the summer months prior to the Athens Marathon, we did not have the problem figured out. So, Salome was out of training for Athens.
Shortly thereafter, our friend Sherry's knees started to give her trouble. Thus, my two other rookie marathoners, who were both more excited and committed to training for the marathon, were out of the event. By early August, I was training for Athens alone.
I learned how difficult it is to train for a fall marathon living in South Florida. The months of August and September are simply too hot to run long distances without becoming dehydrated. I had a 10 mile run scheduled for August. I started to have real problems from mile 7 on in. I was getting too hot and my back would get achy, a sign of dehydration. It is simply too hot and once you get behind the dehydration curve, there is no ability to recover.
In September, I up the long run distance to 13 miles. While I get thought the 10 mile mark easier by working to improve my hydration, the last 3 miles are again agony. Its so hot, I duck under the beach showers to cool off, so that I can complete the distance. In the following weeks, I try to increase the long run, but can't seem to be able to get beyond the 13 mile mark before crashing out. As it becomes early October, I start to worry whether I can get in the 20 mile training run that the running books say I'll need to be marathon ready.
I turn to John for advice. He suggests I try using a goo to get beyond the 13 mile mark. I also start working in walk breaks, running 10 minutes and walking for 1 minute. I also switch to night running. It seems to make the runs more manageable, but I still can't seem to get beyond a 13 mile run before the heat and humidity stop me dead in my tracks. Salome starts suggesting that I fly up to North Carolina to train in less humid conditions. Finally, with only 2 weeks before the departure date for Athens, we get a break in the hot weather and I'm able to struggle to complete a 20 mile run. Jumping directly from a 13 mile training run to a 20 mile run was not according to the recommended training schedules. Thus, after struggling through my 20 mile training run, I was still not confident that I could complete the marathon distance. Perhaps I needed longer to train for a marathon. Perhaps it was a mistake to train for a fall marathon forcing me to train in our hottest and most humid months.
In the paper those 2 weeks before the Athens Marathon, I read in the paper the announcement of the new Miami Marathon. As I read the description of the route, I think the race organizers have set out the perfect course starting in downtown Miami, crossing over to South Beach and back through downtown on its way to Coconut Grove and finally back to downtown. This was exactly the course that I would take by car to show off the Miami area. I decide I have my insurance for the Athens marathon and register for my second marathon before I depart for my first marathon. If I failed to finish in Athens in November, I vowed to keep training and run the inaugural Miami Marathon on February 2, 2003.
Given the high level at which these guys, and the average marathon runner of that day, ran, I had no realistic thought that I could run a marathon. I was happy to be able to run for fun and do a 10K or 15K race. During the10 year period starting in 1995 when my brother Dave and I ran the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 10K in memory of our deceased older brother Jim, we would talk about the idea of one day running a marathon. However, neither of us took any steps towards that goal.
It was in the fall of 2001 that I notice how fit my fellow church council member John looked. When I inquired what he did to keep in such shape, he informed me that he was training for the New York City Marathon. John had run the Disney Marathon twice before and New York would be his third marathon. New York was especially meaningful since John grew up in New York and the events of 9/11 had recently occurred. On his return from New York, John told a moving story of the running of that marathon. Hopefully, he will one day reduce that story to writing.
In the next few months, he talked about his next planned marathon: the Athens Marathon. As an avid reader of ancient history and a lover of the Greek culture, my interest was piqued. If I was ever to run a marathon, the idea of running the historic course that the Greek messenger Phiddippedes had supposedly run from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens appealed to me.
My wife, Salome and another women running friend, Sherry, both chimed in that they wanted to run the Athens Marathon. "You have no idea what you are contemplating," I told them both. I had run a half marathon in my early 20s and remembered getting to about mile 10 and just wanting to stop running. There seemed to be no reason to be running this far. I only completed the distance to be done with it. I had never run that far since, sticking mostly to my annual 10K Turkey Trot. The Athens Marathon also had a reputation as being a hard course. Since we had a family trip to Greece scheduled for June, we decided to check out the course before committing to running the marathon.
When we were visiting Greece in June, 2002, we drove the course from Athens out to the town of Marathon. The drove took us through a series of downward rolling hills. As we continued rolling down these hills in our rental car, Salome said, "This doesn't look so bad. Look, the course is rolling downhill." "I know," I replied, "Unfortunately, the course runs in the other direction. Those rolling downhills are actually rolling uphills." "Oh," Salome soberly responds. As we complete our drive to the town of Marathon, we don't feel so good about this concept.
The people in the town of Marathon did not add to our confidence. As we walk around the town inquiring about the marathon, none of the locals seem to know what we are talking about. "Marathon? Yes, you are in Marathon." "No," we repeat, "The Athens Marathon. The marathon run from Marathon to Athens in November. Do you know where the start is or where we can get information about the race?" No one in Marathon seems to have a clue. We finally stop by the local police station. Yes, they've know of the marathon, but have no idea of how to register. We are directed to the start area and drive out the the track where the race starts. Other than a memorial plack, the start area was unspectacular.
In spite of our experience in Marathon, Salome, our friend Sherry, and I decide to train over the summer for the November 2, 2002 Athens Marathon. Unfortunately, Salome started to have a problem during her training runs in the month of July. She had a couple of falls while running. One morning, she left for a run from the condo we lived in. I was ready to drive to work. However, about 10 minutes after she left the condo, I receive a phone call from a women. She tells me, "Your wife fell. But don't worry, the ambulance is on the way." "What?" I reply somewhat shocked, "What do you mean, an ambulance is on its way?" I rush out of the condo and drive a half mile north where I come across Salome lying in the street with a couple of paramedics putting a neck collar on her and blood in the street. Apparently, Salome had tripped again while running, had hit her head on the ground, and was bleeding from a cut from the fall. The paramedics, taking no chances, immobilized her neck with the collar, rolled her onto a board, lifted her to a gurney and drove her off in an ambulance to the hospital.
As we waited for the results of test which all turned out fine, I told Salome that she was off of training for the marathon. In fact, until we could figure out what was causing her to fall while running, I advised her to stop running altogether. It was during our time in Athens that we figured out that Salome had gotten used to running with our baby, Alex, in a jogging stroller and had gotten used to leaning forward and down towards the jogging stroller. When jogging without the stroller, she was still leaning forward and slightly down. Thus, a slight stumble that most runners would recover from resulted in Salome losing her balance and down she would go. However, during the summer months prior to the Athens Marathon, we did not have the problem figured out. So, Salome was out of training for Athens.
Shortly thereafter, our friend Sherry's knees started to give her trouble. Thus, my two other rookie marathoners, who were both more excited and committed to training for the marathon, were out of the event. By early August, I was training for Athens alone.
I learned how difficult it is to train for a fall marathon living in South Florida. The months of August and September are simply too hot to run long distances without becoming dehydrated. I had a 10 mile run scheduled for August. I started to have real problems from mile 7 on in. I was getting too hot and my back would get achy, a sign of dehydration. It is simply too hot and once you get behind the dehydration curve, there is no ability to recover.
In September, I up the long run distance to 13 miles. While I get thought the 10 mile mark easier by working to improve my hydration, the last 3 miles are again agony. Its so hot, I duck under the beach showers to cool off, so that I can complete the distance. In the following weeks, I try to increase the long run, but can't seem to be able to get beyond the 13 mile mark before crashing out. As it becomes early October, I start to worry whether I can get in the 20 mile training run that the running books say I'll need to be marathon ready.
I turn to John for advice. He suggests I try using a goo to get beyond the 13 mile mark. I also start working in walk breaks, running 10 minutes and walking for 1 minute. I also switch to night running. It seems to make the runs more manageable, but I still can't seem to get beyond a 13 mile run before the heat and humidity stop me dead in my tracks. Salome starts suggesting that I fly up to North Carolina to train in less humid conditions. Finally, with only 2 weeks before the departure date for Athens, we get a break in the hot weather and I'm able to struggle to complete a 20 mile run. Jumping directly from a 13 mile training run to a 20 mile run was not according to the recommended training schedules. Thus, after struggling through my 20 mile training run, I was still not confident that I could complete the marathon distance. Perhaps I needed longer to train for a marathon. Perhaps it was a mistake to train for a fall marathon forcing me to train in our hottest and most humid months.
In the paper those 2 weeks before the Athens Marathon, I read in the paper the announcement of the new Miami Marathon. As I read the description of the route, I think the race organizers have set out the perfect course starting in downtown Miami, crossing over to South Beach and back through downtown on its way to Coconut Grove and finally back to downtown. This was exactly the course that I would take by car to show off the Miami area. I decide I have my insurance for the Athens marathon and register for my second marathon before I depart for my first marathon. If I failed to finish in Athens in November, I vowed to keep training and run the inaugural Miami Marathon on February 2, 2003.
Friday, November 24, 2000
The St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 10K
The St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 10K was my first 10K race. The first year I ran it was in 1982. My older brother Jim had gotten me into running some road races. It was around this time that I read Jim Fixx's The Complete Book of Running, and got into road racing. My brother was competitive and he and his buddies ran this race for time. His efforts got me to try to run this race the best that I could.
The St. Pete Times Turkey Trot has a 1 mile walking event, a 5K run and a 10K run. When I was first running this event, 10K events were all the rage. Today, 5K races are the most common racing events and the 5K crowd has eclipsed the 10K crowd at the Turkey Trot. But for me, the 10K event was and always will be the main event. Part of the charm of this event is that it is staged from Jack Russell Stadium, my old high school football stadium where I once played football and did the pole vault during track season. The races start a half mile away on Keene Road, a large 5 lane road that has plenty of room for a large race start. The 5 lane straight road goes for almost 3 miles before turning off smaller 2 lane side streets through neighborhoods for the second half of the race as runners space out according to their pace. The race then finished back at Clearwater High School, with the last stretch of around a 100 yards on the staduim track.
The Keene Road stretch was exciting in part because the road has some early rolling hills. Thus, as the large crowd of several thousand runners takes off, you can see the leaders take off down the road ahead of you and watch the crowd of slightly faster runners funnel back to the main body of runners. A cool look and one that gets your dogs running. It is on this course that I learned my tendancy to go out too hard early in a race.
The other nice thing about the Keene Road section of the course is that it goes right by the old neighborhood where I grew up. Every year until recently, my parents would walk out to the corner of Keene road and Nursery Road and cheer us on as my brothers and I ran by. They would take our pictures and we would wave and shout greetings to each other.
My parents take a picture of me and brother Dave at the 2004 Turkey Trot
While there is a super large turn out for this race and the Keene Road section is eye catching from a runners perspective, this is not what I consider a pretty course. It is run through typical Florida neighborhoods lined with fences and ficus hedges. In fact it is from comparisons of this mundane "anywhere in the world" neighborhood look from which I adopted my motto/advice regarding running: Run in Beautiful Places. While I will always cherish this race the way you might cherish your first kiss, it is not a beautiful course. Not ugly, but nothing to write home about either.
The tee shirts for this event fall in a similar category. We would always proudly wear our Turkey Trot Tee shirts that afternoon wherever my family was gathering for our Thanksgiving meal, usually managing to get an extra shirt to my father. We felt wearing the shirt was a badge of honor. We had run the Turkey Trot that morning and had earned our right to over-eat at Thanksgiving Dinner. The other reason we wore the shirts that day is they were invariably the ugliest running shirts you ever saw. Being a Thanksgiving race, the logo always involved a picture of a large turkey in some running pose. Invariably, the color was some florescent green, yellow or orange. You had better wear it that day, because you wouldn't be caught dead in the thing any other day of the year. You might wear it to cut the lawn or paint the house, but that was it. It was from these race tees that I judge all other race tee shirts. If they are of the caliber of the Turkey Trot tee shirts, I've sometimes just passed on taking the shirt. However, the Turkey Trot shirts had their place of honor on Thanksgiving day.
I would do the Times Turkey trot on and off over my years in law school and later as I returned with my wife Salome to visit my family for Thanksgiving. During my years after law school, I ran mostly as a fitness runner and would only do the Turkey Trot every other year or so.
When my brother Jim died of esophageal cancer in the summer of 1995, my brother Dave and I decided to run it as a tribute to our fallen brother. Thereafter, we both ran it for the next 10 years. During our annual get togethers, bother Dave and I would talk about how it would be cool to one day run a marathon. However, neither of us took serious steps toward the goal. It was like when we were kids and would have fantasy talks about what we would like to become one day. It would be cool to be a race car driver or an astronaut. The marathon talk fit that same wistful thinking. Yeah, it would be cool to run a marathon some day. Only through other means would I ultimately be coaxed into a serious commitment to the marathon.
Brother Dave would fall out of shape and have to gear up in the fall to get ready for the Turkey Trot. My wife Salome started running the 5K event and eventually worked her way up to the 10K main event. She would typically come in behind both of us, with me coming in first. One year brother Dave got really out of shape and added some real weight. The dude had gotten down right hefty. However, he managed to get into minimal running condition. At about mile 4, Salome passes Dave for the first time ever in a road race. She thought he was clowning around with her, but soon realized he was simply out of shape. This was the low point for my brother.
As he heard I was training for a marathon in 2002, he decided it was time to get in shape. I think he was afraid we would do the marathon experience without him and he would totally miss out. Thus, he started training regularly. He and I ran the Gaspirilla 15K that January and he ran his first marathon on February 2, 2003. After that, both he and his wife, Dianna got into shape and started getting into road racing.
For the next year, I was still faster than Dave. The thing you must know about my younger brother is that whatever I've gotten into as we were growing up, Dave would come along and do that same thing, only better than me. I was a good chess player, he came along and worked so hard at it that he became a near master. I could no longer sit down with the guy. He studied and knew classic moves from reading chess books. I went out for football in high school; he comes along years later to be a much better player than me. Now, with running, he started closing in on me. Dave started running races every weekend. He started running races on the weekend and during the week. His times were getting faster and faster.
I think it was Thanksgiving 2003 that Dave finally beat me in the Turkey Trot. I had gone out hard and had dropped him at the 1 mile mark. He kept at it. With about a half mile to go, he sees me up ahead of him. I have no idea where he is. He keeps reeling me in as we approach the track for the last 100 yards. I guy to my right side tries to kick past me. I turn my head right to keep an eye on him as I pick up pace to keep him from edging me at the line. Dave take that moment to kick hard past me on my left. I never see him pass. As I work my way down the finish shoot, he stands there to greet me. "Where the heck did you come from?" I ask. He smiles a Cheshire Cat smile at me as he tells me about his passing me on the left.
The next year, Dave continues to improve and is the first of us to run sub 45 for the 10K. I get a PR coming in 46 minutes. Dave has surpassed most of my records since, except I still own the marathon record. I'm sure if he reads this post, that record will fall in the next couple of years. But I've come to accept that my records are a mark for a younger brother always trying to prove his worth to me. I love him as a brother and as a running buddy. I don't begrudge his need to try to surpass whatever mark I make. Those markers mean much more to him than they do to me. I run for the joy of running.
P.S. After completing the 10 year streak of running the Turkey Trot in memory of my deceased older brother, I took the family to New York City to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In part, the trip was a planned break of the streak. After 10 years, how many years do you go for? 15? 20? 25? I really don't want to think about it. While this race will always hold a special place in my heart for several reasons, I don't want do running streaks. I've decided that there are just too many beautiful places to run. Running steaks can crowd out your events calender if you let them.
Brother Dave continues the Turkey Trot streak at age 45 with the streak at 14. He had a tough year last year coming off of a divorce. I was not in town and his family who usually ran one of the events with him were absent. I've run an event solo before and I relate to his expression that it was a weird felling to be running in a large group with no one to relate to or gather with at the start or finish. He ran it anyway as an act of redemption and was glad he did. Unlike me, I think he'll keep running the Turkey Trot until he can't run anymore. I hope his streak reaches 50.
The St. Pete Times Turkey Trot has a 1 mile walking event, a 5K run and a 10K run. When I was first running this event, 10K events were all the rage. Today, 5K races are the most common racing events and the 5K crowd has eclipsed the 10K crowd at the Turkey Trot. But for me, the 10K event was and always will be the main event. Part of the charm of this event is that it is staged from Jack Russell Stadium, my old high school football stadium where I once played football and did the pole vault during track season. The races start a half mile away on Keene Road, a large 5 lane road that has plenty of room for a large race start. The 5 lane straight road goes for almost 3 miles before turning off smaller 2 lane side streets through neighborhoods for the second half of the race as runners space out according to their pace. The race then finished back at Clearwater High School, with the last stretch of around a 100 yards on the staduim track.
The Keene Road stretch was exciting in part because the road has some early rolling hills. Thus, as the large crowd of several thousand runners takes off, you can see the leaders take off down the road ahead of you and watch the crowd of slightly faster runners funnel back to the main body of runners. A cool look and one that gets your dogs running. It is on this course that I learned my tendancy to go out too hard early in a race.
The other nice thing about the Keene Road section of the course is that it goes right by the old neighborhood where I grew up. Every year until recently, my parents would walk out to the corner of Keene road and Nursery Road and cheer us on as my brothers and I ran by. They would take our pictures and we would wave and shout greetings to each other.
My parents take a picture of me and brother Dave at the 2004 Turkey TrotWhile there is a super large turn out for this race and the Keene Road section is eye catching from a runners perspective, this is not what I consider a pretty course. It is run through typical Florida neighborhoods lined with fences and ficus hedges. In fact it is from comparisons of this mundane "anywhere in the world" neighborhood look from which I adopted my motto/advice regarding running: Run in Beautiful Places. While I will always cherish this race the way you might cherish your first kiss, it is not a beautiful course. Not ugly, but nothing to write home about either.
The tee shirts for this event fall in a similar category. We would always proudly wear our Turkey Trot Tee shirts that afternoon wherever my family was gathering for our Thanksgiving meal, usually managing to get an extra shirt to my father. We felt wearing the shirt was a badge of honor. We had run the Turkey Trot that morning and had earned our right to over-eat at Thanksgiving Dinner. The other reason we wore the shirts that day is they were invariably the ugliest running shirts you ever saw. Being a Thanksgiving race, the logo always involved a picture of a large turkey in some running pose. Invariably, the color was some florescent green, yellow or orange. You had better wear it that day, because you wouldn't be caught dead in the thing any other day of the year. You might wear it to cut the lawn or paint the house, but that was it. It was from these race tees that I judge all other race tee shirts. If they are of the caliber of the Turkey Trot tee shirts, I've sometimes just passed on taking the shirt. However, the Turkey Trot shirts had their place of honor on Thanksgiving day.
I would do the Times Turkey trot on and off over my years in law school and later as I returned with my wife Salome to visit my family for Thanksgiving. During my years after law school, I ran mostly as a fitness runner and would only do the Turkey Trot every other year or so.
When my brother Jim died of esophageal cancer in the summer of 1995, my brother Dave and I decided to run it as a tribute to our fallen brother. Thereafter, we both ran it for the next 10 years. During our annual get togethers, bother Dave and I would talk about how it would be cool to one day run a marathon. However, neither of us took serious steps toward the goal. It was like when we were kids and would have fantasy talks about what we would like to become one day. It would be cool to be a race car driver or an astronaut. The marathon talk fit that same wistful thinking. Yeah, it would be cool to run a marathon some day. Only through other means would I ultimately be coaxed into a serious commitment to the marathon.
Brother Dave would fall out of shape and have to gear up in the fall to get ready for the Turkey Trot. My wife Salome started running the 5K event and eventually worked her way up to the 10K main event. She would typically come in behind both of us, with me coming in first. One year brother Dave got really out of shape and added some real weight. The dude had gotten down right hefty. However, he managed to get into minimal running condition. At about mile 4, Salome passes Dave for the first time ever in a road race. She thought he was clowning around with her, but soon realized he was simply out of shape. This was the low point for my brother.
As he heard I was training for a marathon in 2002, he decided it was time to get in shape. I think he was afraid we would do the marathon experience without him and he would totally miss out. Thus, he started training regularly. He and I ran the Gaspirilla 15K that January and he ran his first marathon on February 2, 2003. After that, both he and his wife, Dianna got into shape and started getting into road racing.
For the next year, I was still faster than Dave. The thing you must know about my younger brother is that whatever I've gotten into as we were growing up, Dave would come along and do that same thing, only better than me. I was a good chess player, he came along and worked so hard at it that he became a near master. I could no longer sit down with the guy. He studied and knew classic moves from reading chess books. I went out for football in high school; he comes along years later to be a much better player than me. Now, with running, he started closing in on me. Dave started running races every weekend. He started running races on the weekend and during the week. His times were getting faster and faster.
I think it was Thanksgiving 2003 that Dave finally beat me in the Turkey Trot. I had gone out hard and had dropped him at the 1 mile mark. He kept at it. With about a half mile to go, he sees me up ahead of him. I have no idea where he is. He keeps reeling me in as we approach the track for the last 100 yards. I guy to my right side tries to kick past me. I turn my head right to keep an eye on him as I pick up pace to keep him from edging me at the line. Dave take that moment to kick hard past me on my left. I never see him pass. As I work my way down the finish shoot, he stands there to greet me. "Where the heck did you come from?" I ask. He smiles a Cheshire Cat smile at me as he tells me about his passing me on the left.
The next year, Dave continues to improve and is the first of us to run sub 45 for the 10K. I get a PR coming in 46 minutes. Dave has surpassed most of my records since, except I still own the marathon record. I'm sure if he reads this post, that record will fall in the next couple of years. But I've come to accept that my records are a mark for a younger brother always trying to prove his worth to me. I love him as a brother and as a running buddy. I don't begrudge his need to try to surpass whatever mark I make. Those markers mean much more to him than they do to me. I run for the joy of running.
P.S. After completing the 10 year streak of running the Turkey Trot in memory of my deceased older brother, I took the family to New York City to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In part, the trip was a planned break of the streak. After 10 years, how many years do you go for? 15? 20? 25? I really don't want to think about it. While this race will always hold a special place in my heart for several reasons, I don't want do running streaks. I've decided that there are just too many beautiful places to run. Running steaks can crowd out your events calender if you let them.
Brother Dave continues the Turkey Trot streak at age 45 with the streak at 14. He had a tough year last year coming off of a divorce. I was not in town and his family who usually ran one of the events with him were absent. I've run an event solo before and I relate to his expression that it was a weird felling to be running in a large group with no one to relate to or gather with at the start or finish. He ran it anyway as an act of redemption and was glad he did. Unlike me, I think he'll keep running the Turkey Trot until he can't run anymore. I hope his streak reaches 50.
Saturday, January 01, 2000
Running in My 20s
When I was in high school, I played football and did the pole vault during track season.
As a pole vaulter, I would see the overly skinny cross country runners, who ran the mile, 800 and 400 events, and think they looked emaciated. At one point, I considered trying cross country, but saw the cross country runners over the summer wearing tee shirts that read 100 mile club. This meant that they were running 100 mile weeks over the summer to get ready for fall cross country season. I figured I carried too much weight to run competitively with these spaghetti armed waifs and stuck to my more gymnastic vaulting. These guys just did not look manly to me. Oh, I knew I could never get near them in a distance race, but who wanted to look like these guys?
I had an older brother, Jim, who had tried football as a freshman, quickly decided it wasn't for him and got involved in the local bicycle scene. He was so into bicycling that he and his riding buddies followed the exploits of Eddie Merckx before there was any televised coverage of the Tour de France. From there, he started into running and eventually triathlons were thrown into the mix. During my college years, my brother arraigned for me to buy his buddies road bike and took me occassionally on some mid-range rides. On my return to Clearwater after college, he got me to start running. I ran my first 10K race event in 1982, the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot. My brother and his buddies were competitive. I was happy just to complete the course.
Brother Jim running a faster 10K time than I could ever hope to achieve.
I recall the first time I ran for my first long run in the 10 mile range. It was my first of only a couple of times in my life that I really felt the runners high. I remember just cruising along feeling great. I felt like I could run forever. Unfortunately, this feeling of a true runners high comes about once a decade.
The winter, my brother convinced me to run a half marathon at Sand Key Park in St. Petersburg. I wasn't sure I could run a distance that long, but I'd give it a try. I have two strong memories of that event. The first was getting to the 10 mile marker and thinking, "Why am I doing this? No one is paying me to run this long. I'm not being forced to run this far. What exactly is the point of all this?"
The second memory was of approaching the finish line and a spectator off to the side was smoking a cigarette. I caught a whiff of his smoke. To my oxygen sensitive lungs that whiff of smoke felt like a room full of smoke. I felt great resentment towards this spectator for smoking next to the route. I'm sure he had no idea of the discomfort he was causing the runners going by him. After finishing the half marathon, I was proud of my achievement, but had no desire to run that far again.
After that I ran the Gasparilla Distance Classic, a 15K road race run along Bay Shore Drive in Tampa. That run was nice because it the route is an out and back route next to Tampa Bay. You can see the leaders coming back as you approach the turn around point. I also ran a midnight 4th of July 5K run.
After working a couple of years as a CPA in Tampa, I returned to UF in the fall of 1986 for law school. I ran the Homecoming 5K a race from UF down University Avenue west into downtown Gainesville. It was festive run since it was run on the course and right before the homecoming parade. In the Spring of my first year, a bunch of us turned out for the Law Day 5K, which a few professors who were runners would show up and run with/against the students. My Civil Procedure professor, Dennis Slobogan had been a college track runner and he smoke the lot of us. My Torts professor, Richard Pearson was a tall, lean, but grey marathon runner who gave us a run for our money. I don't recall who beat whom at the end, but I recall it was a close finish.
I had a roommate, Tip Tomberlin who was a somewhat overweight guy from Jacksonville, who had run the Gate River Run. That spring we ran several road races outside of Gainesville. I don't recall the distances, but remember they had nice country side courses that we ran. I seem to recall running an event before a strawberry festival once. During my Law School years, I would return to Clearwater and run the Times Turkey Trot.
After law school and marriage to my wife Salome, we settled in Fort Lauderdale. I fell away from the road running circuit and never really hooked into the races in the area. I would run for general fitness, but would go long periods of not running at all. When I was 28, we started to go skiing once or twice a season. Thus, I tended to slack off during the summer months and start running enough in the fall to get in shape for the Turkey Trot and ski season. Salome & I entered the Zakaria 10K Heart Run in the late 1990s and ran that a couple of years in a row. It was a race sponsored by a local heart surgeon. However, an older runner died of a heart attack on the course in 1998 and the race was cancelled after that incident. I again returned to fitness running, but always felt it was a shame the race was cancelled most likely because of liability concerns.
As a pole vaulter, I would see the overly skinny cross country runners, who ran the mile, 800 and 400 events, and think they looked emaciated. At one point, I considered trying cross country, but saw the cross country runners over the summer wearing tee shirts that read 100 mile club. This meant that they were running 100 mile weeks over the summer to get ready for fall cross country season. I figured I carried too much weight to run competitively with these spaghetti armed waifs and stuck to my more gymnastic vaulting. These guys just did not look manly to me. Oh, I knew I could never get near them in a distance race, but who wanted to look like these guys?I had an older brother, Jim, who had tried football as a freshman, quickly decided it wasn't for him and got involved in the local bicycle scene. He was so into bicycling that he and his riding buddies followed the exploits of Eddie Merckx before there was any televised coverage of the Tour de France. From there, he started into running and eventually triathlons were thrown into the mix. During my college years, my brother arraigned for me to buy his buddies road bike and took me occassionally on some mid-range rides. On my return to Clearwater after college, he got me to start running. I ran my first 10K race event in 1982, the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot. My brother and his buddies were competitive. I was happy just to complete the course.
Brother Jim running a faster 10K time than I could ever hope to achieve. I recall the first time I ran for my first long run in the 10 mile range. It was my first of only a couple of times in my life that I really felt the runners high. I remember just cruising along feeling great. I felt like I could run forever. Unfortunately, this feeling of a true runners high comes about once a decade.
The winter, my brother convinced me to run a half marathon at Sand Key Park in St. Petersburg. I wasn't sure I could run a distance that long, but I'd give it a try. I have two strong memories of that event. The first was getting to the 10 mile marker and thinking, "Why am I doing this? No one is paying me to run this long. I'm not being forced to run this far. What exactly is the point of all this?"
The second memory was of approaching the finish line and a spectator off to the side was smoking a cigarette. I caught a whiff of his smoke. To my oxygen sensitive lungs that whiff of smoke felt like a room full of smoke. I felt great resentment towards this spectator for smoking next to the route. I'm sure he had no idea of the discomfort he was causing the runners going by him. After finishing the half marathon, I was proud of my achievement, but had no desire to run that far again.
After that I ran the Gasparilla Distance Classic, a 15K road race run along Bay Shore Drive in Tampa. That run was nice because it the route is an out and back route next to Tampa Bay. You can see the leaders coming back as you approach the turn around point. I also ran a midnight 4th of July 5K run.
After working a couple of years as a CPA in Tampa, I returned to UF in the fall of 1986 for law school. I ran the Homecoming 5K a race from UF down University Avenue west into downtown Gainesville. It was festive run since it was run on the course and right before the homecoming parade. In the Spring of my first year, a bunch of us turned out for the Law Day 5K, which a few professors who were runners would show up and run with/against the students. My Civil Procedure professor, Dennis Slobogan had been a college track runner and he smoke the lot of us. My Torts professor, Richard Pearson was a tall, lean, but grey marathon runner who gave us a run for our money. I don't recall who beat whom at the end, but I recall it was a close finish.
I had a roommate, Tip Tomberlin who was a somewhat overweight guy from Jacksonville, who had run the Gate River Run. That spring we ran several road races outside of Gainesville. I don't recall the distances, but remember they had nice country side courses that we ran. I seem to recall running an event before a strawberry festival once. During my Law School years, I would return to Clearwater and run the Times Turkey Trot.
After law school and marriage to my wife Salome, we settled in Fort Lauderdale. I fell away from the road running circuit and never really hooked into the races in the area. I would run for general fitness, but would go long periods of not running at all. When I was 28, we started to go skiing once or twice a season. Thus, I tended to slack off during the summer months and start running enough in the fall to get in shape for the Turkey Trot and ski season. Salome & I entered the Zakaria 10K Heart Run in the late 1990s and ran that a couple of years in a row. It was a race sponsored by a local heart surgeon. However, an older runner died of a heart attack on the course in 1998 and the race was cancelled after that incident. I again returned to fitness running, but always felt it was a shame the race was cancelled most likely because of liability concerns.
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