December 2, 2001

My First Marathon

On December 2, 2001, Raleigh hosted the Second Annual Fulcrum Raleigh Marathon. I, along with almost 1000 other marathon runners and almost 2000 1/2 marathon runners, ran through the streets of the Capital City. Prepration for my first marathon had begun back summer. I had followed a training plan consisting of weekly, slow, long runs growing in distance to a peak of 20 miles in early November along with maintenance runs during the week. A 3 week taper in the training had followed so that I was fully rested for the event. I had been eating lots of carbs and drinking tons of water to make sure my supplies were at their max. Physically I had done all I could to be ready. The only thing left was to make those last minute plans.

The Race Plan

Being my first marathon and the the fact that the longest run I had done so far was 20 miles, I made several plans to help me get through the marathon. First, I changed my run/walk interval from the 4 minute run / 1 minute walk program that I had used in training to a 3 minute run / 1 minute walk program. I figured that would give more reserve at the end of the race where I felt I might need it. It turns out that even with more walking, my pace was better than my 20 mile run!

I also decided to start the race in the back so that I would not get swept along by the crowd and run the first few miles too fast. My plan was to start slow to try and save my energy for the second half. As a "secret weapon", I also packed some high energy gel packs for use in the last 6 miles of the run (my mental image was those logs that Doc Brown used in the train in Back to the Future III.

To help watch my pace, I printed out a Pace Band for 6 hours. That way I could track my progress at each mile. I didn't want to run the first half too fast but wanted to know if I was close to making my pace at the end of the race.

The Race

December 2, 2001 was a cool day which alternated between partly cloudy and sunny. The temperature was in the upper 40's to lower 50's when the race started at 7:30 but climbed to about 60 my the end of the race. With the sun going in and out, I had to keep adjusting my clothing (removing ear warmer, gloves, and rolling up sleeves) as the day went on. There was also a good amount of wind (5-10 mph) that would come and go.

Per my plan, I started the race in the back. I waited till I crossed the start line before I started my stopwatch. That would also be the start of my "chip time". Each runner was given a ChampionChip to attach to one of their shoes. These chips would be picked up when the runner crossed these special pads on the roadway. These pads were located at the start, the 10K (6.2 miles), half-way, and finish line. Computer timing would allow the race folks to publish the results in just a few hours as well as give the runners very accurate times. All the splits on the pace chart to the right are in 'chip time' as I determined by my stop watch (which for some reason is off by almost 2 minutes in the second half -- must be user error!).

The gun (an air horn) sounded and we were off. Well, some of us were off. I walked along with the other 2-3000 of us there. It took me over a minute and a half before I got to the start line. Now I was running.

I should have hit the port-a-johns before the race started because about mile 1 or 2 I needed to go. The race materials has said that aid stations at even miles in the first half would have water and bathrooms. The had water, but no bathrooms till I got to about mile 4. It turned out that I and about 10 others had the same idea and there were only two port-a-johns (thus the 16 minute split between mile 4 and 5).

With an empty bladder, I continued on feeling that I had lost a bunch of time. I skipped the next walking break since I had been standing in line for a minute or two. By the time I got to mile 5, I was shocked to see that I was still way ahead of my pace.

I tried to slow down and took all my walking breaks but I continued to gain on the clock through most of the first half. I was well hydrated because I also had to hit the port-a-john just before mile 8.

By the half way point, I was about 7 minutes ahead of my goal and feeling great. My time was a little slower than the Carrabbas Half Marathon I had run back in September (2:41:49) but I was planning on running another 13.1 miles. The race crowd really began to thin out now. Since the half marathoners were done, it was just us slow-poke marathoners left. Another loop through downtown and were are heading out of the city.

I enjoyed talking with other runners, the people at the break stations, and the policemen along the way. There were just a few bystanders now that we were out of the downtown area. Aid for the runners really thinned out now. By the time I got to mile 15, there was no food (gels) in sight. Good thing I packed all I needed. I did drink water at every stop and sometimes the AllSport (Uck!).

All along Rock Quarry Road I needed another bathroom stop but again there were no port-a-johns to be seen at any of the rest stops. Then after we got onto Crosslink, like a miracle from heaven, there it was, there was a port-a-john sitting in the front yard of a lot where a house was being built.

All along the way, I had been nibbling on Cliff Bars, the food that I had used throughout my training runs. I knew that my body would accept this food as long as I had water to wash it down. However, I was also saving my "Secret Weapon" for about mile 20. CliffShots! I was saving them for that extra boost of energy at the end. I figured that I needed every assist I could get to do that last 6 miles. I was sure glad I had them.

[EDITORAL: The reason I picked CliffShots was that I had read on the marathon web site that they were going to had out CliffShots at the aid stations. Therefore I wanted to try them on my long runs to see how my body would deal with them. They worked much better that Powershots that I had tried once before. Also knowing that I wanted to leave nothing to change, I bought enough for me and carried them in the race. Good think I did. When I got my packet from the race, it stated that they were giving out something else! I think that was very wrong of the race folks. People train for months and depend on up front information provided -- you should not change it once published. Maybe it was good I never saw any of these gels.]

Anyway, my Cliffshots helped me make it through 19, 20, 21. About 22, I saw that my lead over the 6 hour pace had dropped to about 2 minutes. I was slowing down and was likely not going to make it in by 6 hours. I was tired but decide that I would cut out walking breaks on all downhill segments. 23 and 24 came and I had gained a minute on my lead. This part of the race was very mental. At the end of each walking break I had to tell myself, out loud, to Run!

About mile 24, I decided that I would turn off my interval timer and just walk when I needed to. In some ways it was harder to start back up than to keep going. I also felt that my running pace was slowing and I needed all the speed I could to make it in under 6 hours. Seeing the skyline of Raleigh near was a big boost and crossing I-40 I knew that I was within reach.

That was when I KNEW that I would finish. Now my total focus shifted to keeping my lead and getting in under 6 hours. Up that hill toward Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, the a left and I could see the McDowell St. exit. I remembered the same hill just before the 13.1 mile so I took my last walking break to build up that last reserve.

Now I could hear the sounds of the race area. I crested the hill and could see the balloons. There was my wife and daughter on the sideline. There was the clock which read 5:59:10. Was I going to make it? I had to do it! I sprinted to the finish line with the crowd cheering. I crossed the line at 5:59:34 and was swept with emotion. I had done it.

My race was not a world record time. My finish time would not qualify me for Boston. I was likely last in my age group. But I did finish. I had set a goal over 6 months before which I had met. It had taken a lot of work, the support from my family, encouragement from Erin Doak and the SAS Marathon Training group, and strength from above. Thanks you all!

Here is a map of the marathon: (click map for larger image)

Photos

Results

• 5:59:35 (Gun Time)
• 5:57:55 (Chip Time)
• 13:43 (average mile pace)
• 860th place overall
• 99th out of 104 in my age group
• 604th out of 638 all men

Mile splits