On Saturday, 4 November 2000, I competed in the JFK50 mile race near Hagerstown, Maryland. Here are some insights and thoughts about my experience. I hope you enjoy reading them.
The course begins with an uphill climb on pavement of about 3 miles. Then for the next 13 miles or so, the course follows the Appalachian Trail, which could not be rougher if someone planted the rocks in the ground.
The temperature is 50 degrees at the start, and the skies are overcast.
9.0 miles 1:40:56 (11:13 avg./mile)
I am definitely taking it easy on the Appalachian Trail. Hopefully, since I am taking it easy I will have plenty of legs left when I get down to the towpath.
15.7 miles 1:14:42 (11:09 avg./mile)
This second part of the AT is rougher than the first part, but I get into a good groove navigating through the rocks, and I am able to make decent time. Still, I was hoping to be onto the towpath in 2:48, not 2:55! I had taped my right
ankle for the trail portion, so my support crew cuts off the tape at this point. I also change from my trail
shoes to my DS Trainer (’96 model).
16.7 miles 9:15
Okay, the key on the towpath is to stay consistent and bide my time. My perfect plan would have been to average between 9:30 and 10:00 per mile on the towpath.
17.7 miles 9:09
These mile markers were put in place by the park service and are not official by any means. These miles feel like I am doing okay.
18.7 miles 9:28
All I have to do is maintain this pace for the next 24 miles, and then I can throw down the hammer for the last eight miles.
19.7 miles 8:13
Melissa Belleman surprises me when she comes up behind me. I decide to run a little with her.
20.7 miles 9:37
Melissa is running faster than I think is wise for me, so I let her go ahead of me.
21.7 miles 8:09
I don’t know if my pace was going this fast or if it is just the inaccuracies of the mile markers. I pass Melissa back.
22.7 miles 9:26
Another well paced mile, but I am definitely not in the zone today.
23.7 miles 9:00
A little quick, but the faster I run the sooner I finish.
24.7 miles 11:02
I think an average between this mile and the last one is appropriate because I haven’t altered my pace this much.
25.7 miles 9:43
This is better, and I hope I can hold this until I get off the towpath. I am actually not trying to figure out finishing times at this point.
26.7 miles 9:15
My refueling plan is to eat a lot during the run and as much liquid as possible. I have eaten a couple of bagels and several bananas. At each aid station, I have been drinking two cups of Powerade (not what I prefer, but it is what is being offered). I also have my Camelbak on and have been getting a drink of water every 15 minutes. Furthermore, I ate an Access bar before the start, and then one every two hours.
27.7 miles 9:43
Nothing special, but still where I want to be as far as pace goes.
28.7 miles 9:36
The towpath is flat, except for the fact that we are following the Potomac River, up stream! This fact does not escape me, and I would love some rolling hills about now.
29.7 miles 9:47
Except for the mile 24 aberration, I have kept these towpath miles under 10 minutes.
30.7 miles 9:12
It is at this point that I spot a familiar figure up ahead; it is LtCol McMannis. I pass him and think that he is having a rough day.
31.7 miles 10:00
This is okay, I wanted to make sure I didn’t start going too fast after passing the LtCol.
32.7 miles 9:14
Ideas of throwing the hammer down early creep into my head, but I remind myself that I still have over 17 miles to go.
33.7 miles 9:25
I cannot wait until mile 42 when I get off this towpath. The gravel on the towpath is starting to make my feet hurt.
34.7 miles 10:46
Hopefully, this is just another aberration, but I don’t think so because LtCol. McMannis catches back up to me.
35.7 miles 9:47
I try to pull ahead of the LtCol. again, but he stays close.
36.7 miles 10:41
It is obvious that LtCol. McMannis and I are at a terminal velocity of 10 minutes and change per mile. We begin a serious, unspoken game of cat and mouse.
37.7 miles 11:17
He surges ahead.
38.7 miles 10:15
I cover the gap. I haven’t thought about calculating any possible finishing times because I am totally focused on staying with one person.
39.7 miles 10:13
We stay close as we are both in the same terminal velocity vicinity.
40.7 miles 10:06
Maybe there is something left in these legs of mine. I don’t feel like anything is hurt, but my quads have taken a toll today.
41.7 miles 10:26
As we pull into the last aid station on the towpath. Melissa comes up behind us and tells us to hurry up. Both the LtCol. and I beat her out of the aid station and walk up the hill.
42.2 miles 9:00 *half mile split
I think this is more than a half mile, but it makes the mileage work out right. Also, this split is all up a steep hill coming off of the towpath. Therefore, I walk up it with LtCol. McMannis.
43.2 miles 9:01
When we reach the top of the hill, I start off running very well. I am excited to be on the roads, which is where I do almost all of my training.
44.2 miles 9:20
Okay, the calculations are starting to come to my mind. I essentially left Melissa and LtCol. McMannis when we hit the pavement. If I can stay close to nine flat miles, I still might be able to beat 8:30.
45.2 miles 10:07
Well that was a quickly fleeting thought. I guess I will stick with this terminal velocity. However, Melissa comes flying by me looking very strong.
46.2 miles 10:19
All I have to do is keep Melissa in sight, and hopefully I can out kick her in the last mile. Last year, I ran a 7:22 last mile, so I have a lot of hope.
47.2 miles 9:58
I am trying to maintain sight of Melissa, but she must be running at least nine flat miles!
48.2 miles 10:41
My wonderful support crew informs me that she is four minutes ahead of me. My kick is good, but it isn’t that good.
49.2 miles 10:22
I gather my remaining strength, one last time, for the final mile.
50.2 miles 9:06
Not a bad final mile considering what I have been running. I guess I was successful at losing LtCol. McMannis back at mile 42.
Official Finishing Time 8:36:19
89th out of 703 finishers
Melissa ended up beating me by six minutes, and I beat LtCol. McMannis by two. Phil Young (another of my team members) crosses the line five minutes after me. This time is a 17 minutes
personal best, but I wanted a sub-8:30. The temperature never got above 60 degrees, but the Polarbear prefers at
least 10 degrees lower for ideal conditions. I am not sure what my next marathon will be, but Melissa and I are
planning on running the Vermont 100 in July 2001. I want to thank my dad for providing my support this year.
Darin
It has only been 19 days since I ran the Boston Marathon on the 17th of April, but I feel good and am motivated to run. A sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is going to interview me afterwards to get my thoughts so that she can print them in Monday's paper. The only discouraging thing is that the temperature is supposed to be in the high 80s with high humidity. This is going to be a survival kind of day.
May 7, 2000
Start 0:05
At Boston, it took me 1:52 to cross the start line. Here I start well, near the front. The temperature is already 68 degrees, and the humidity is 84 percent. I am already sweating. I only have on my shorts, shoes, and Access Bar pinned to my shorts. Also, I have on my Oakley sunglasses, even though they won't give me a free pair for endorsement.
Mile 1 7:23
Nice and easy. This is a good first mile, but I don't think I should run this fast for the entire race with real heat coming on. My plan is to take two cups of water at every water stop.
Mile 2 7:37
My legs are feeling a little sluggish as we head slightly uphill. I don't think it is anything to worry about yet, and it is a good thing to feel sluggish early so that I don't take it out too fast.
Mile 3 7:31
There are a lot of people passing me, but I know that I will see them again before this day is over.
Mile 4 7:32
This is a good comfortable pace, but I will probably have to slow down as the temperature goes up. The Heinz pace leader for 3:20 passes me, and I know he is going too fast because I am on a 3:16 pace at this point. However, maybe he is trying to put some minutes in the bank for when it gets hotter.
Mile 5 7:29
This is too fast for such a hot day, but I got a little motivated going up and over the 16th street bridge.
Mile 6 7:24
There is no breeze at this point, and I no longer feel just warm, it is hot! All I can do is keep downing two cups of water at each stop.
Mile 7 7:24
My legs no longer feel sluggish, and I feel like there is pop in them when I want to pick it up. There is a slight twinge on the inside of my left knee, but nothing to worry about.
Mile 8 7:30
I cross over the West End Bridge. There is no shade and no breeze. The air is thick and hot. I need to really hold back. I see a good runner who has decided that it is too hot to run a marathon and drops out.
Mile 9 7:35
The crowd is excellent and highly motivating as I enter the south side into Station Square. There is shade on the right side of the road that I seek out.
Mile 10 7:32
The size of the crowd is increasing, and there are some who are drinking beer. I decide to pour a cup of water over my head as I drink two. The cup of water washes the sweat off the top of my head, and it feels very warm.
Mile 11 7:30
I bide my time as I wait to climb up into Oakland. I am able to maintain this 3:16 pace, but it will be hard to tell when the heat will start to take effect.
Mile 12 7:17
I charge up into Oakland, just like last year (7:16). I pass a lot of runners, some of whom elect to walk up this steep hill. At this mile mark there is a counter that reads I am 235th. A bank clock says the temperature is 76 degrees, and I later find out that the humidity is 87 percent!
Mile 13 7:45
The course is not as steep now, but I am still climbing. As I turn onto Craig Street, I can catch a glimpse of Carnegie Mellon. My halfway time at 13.1 miles is 1:38:28-almost the same time as last year. However, unlike last year, I don't think I will be running the second half in 1:35.
Mile 14 7:45
I am still going uphill as I pass Central Catholic. I start to eat my Mocha Praline Access Bar a little early, and my mouth is pretty dry. However, I manage to get most of it down. Now, I get to see if I can keep it down.
Mile 15 7:29
I head onto Walnut Street. The crowd is deep and loud. I wonder if maybe the heat isn't going to take effect on me, and I can get into a zone from here to the finish. I pass the 3:10 pace leader, who is walking! I don't think he is going to make his goal, not to mention he might not finish.
Mile 16 7:50
This mile is mostly uphill, but with only 10 miles to go, my warm up is over. All I have to do is bring it home. Of course the fact that the temperature is well into the 80s might have something to say about this.
Mile 17 7:41
It is really hot! People all over the place are coming out with garden hoses. I try to get soaked by each one. I realize that the only goal now is to finish decently.
Mile 18 8:14
The heat is oppressive. I am definitely switching to survival mode. There is still a long way to go with temperatures this hot.
Mile 19 8:25
I continue in the survival mode. I think I can maintain this pace to the finish. My legs don't feel bad, and I think they would begin cramping before I suffered too badly from the heat.
Mile 20 8:26
At this point, the course makes it last turn towards the finish. There is now a breeze in my face, and I decide that I have enough water in my gut to only drink one cup at each water stop every mile. I talk to a guy in orange shorts, who also thinks he can finish in less than 3:30. To do this we only need to average around 9 minutes/mile.
Mile 21 8:06
I pass the 3:20 pace leader as I pick it up. He obviously isn't going to make his goal on this hot day. The hay is in the barn (not to mention cool air), and I am going to go get it.
Mile 22 7:45
I am kicking as I head up into Bloomfield. This would really be fun if it weren't so darn hot!
Mile 23 8:04
Not only am I going to finish, but I might be able to look good doing it. The crowd is awesome in Bloomfield.
Mile 24 7:44
This is sharply downhill, and I am still able to turn my legs over. The wind is in my face, and it is keeping me from boiling over.
Mile 25 8:38
The course flattens out for the last two miles. I hope I can just keep these last two splits under 9 minutes/mile. The city seems so close, yet so far away.
Mile 26 8:42
I have managed to survive the hottest marathon of my life. I see Martha as I head into Point State Park. The crowd is awesome here in Pittsburgh. I think I might have to jump in the river to cool off.
Mile 26.2 1:33
This is a real strong finish. I am all alone with nobody in front of me to pass. I begin to wonder if I will feel hotter after I finish.
Final 3:23:56 officially.
The temperature at the finish is close to 90 degrees!
I was 156th of 2,708 finishers. I think there were close to 4,000 entrants in the marathon. I finished 23rd of 285, males 30-34. Therefore, I passed almost 80 runners in the second half of the race, even though I slowed down by seven minutes. There were only 10 women who beat me today.
I feel weirdly okay when I finish, and the best part is that Martha has a 20 oz bottle of Coke (the Real Thing) for me. It is the best thing to drink after a long run. I catch a bus back to my hotel, shower and change, and then head over to the Westin William Penn to the Media center for my interview with JoAnne Harrop of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. She interviews me for over an hour and the story runs in the Tuesday paper. It is very cut down and in the third person, but overall I think it does my effort justice.
At this point, I am not planning on a fall marathon, but will focus solely on the JFK50 miler on the 4th of November.
Never stop running,
Darin
I finally made it to the most historic marathon in the world, and the experience will be remembered for the
rest of my life. Two things are significant about Boston—first, a qualifying time is necessary, and second,
everyone (and their brother) wants to be there.
With this in mind, I first had to race to Boston on Saturday, in order to pick up my race number and packet. The expo closed at 6pm on Saturday, and we left Fredericksburg around 7:30am. Thanks to a long stop at a slow Wendy’s restaurant for lunch, we were driving into town at 5:40pm. We found the convention center and a parking lot and at 5:57pm, I raced to the expo just in time to be the last person on Saturday to pick up a number. If I had been a minute later, I would have had to drive back to Boston from my in-laws on Sunday afternoon. Now, I could relax and rest and do something none stressful on Sunday afternoon, like change the EGR valve on the car (just a little bit of stress).
April 17, 2000
Start 1:52
Unlike my last marathon when I crossed the line four seconds after the gun went off, at Boston I couldn’t even hear the gun go off. The temperature is near 50 and mostly cloudy. There is about a 15mph head wind, which I will face the whole race.
Mile 1 8:46
I cross the start line, but still cannot run for about 200-300 meters. Consequently, this first mile is a little slow—a waste of the first downhill portion of the course.
Mile 2 7:08
I am finally able to run without stepping on the person in front of me, although I am still bumping elbows with the runners on either side of me.
Mile 3 6:59
I really don’t have a pace right not. It is more like moving down the road as one big amoebae—all 18,000 of us.
Mile 4 6:47
Some people warned me about starting out too fast with the crowd, but it is difficult to hold back with the runners beside me moving this fast, and the crowd is dense and vocal.
Mile 5 7:05
All of my body parts feel good, but I am numb all over, and I don’t really know why. I wonder if I might set a personal record today, even with the slow start. This was the first mile that was not downhill.
Mile 6 6:53
My plan was to take it easy during the first half and really save myself for the hills during miles 16-21.
Mile 7 7:06
I need to keep my splits between 7:00 and 7:15. This is a pretty comfortable pace. The course is still really crowded.
Mile 8 7:11
I feel like I am running quick, but the miles aren’t sneaking up on me and surprising me. All I need to do now is maintain this pace, and I will have a new personal record.
Mile 9 7:06
I cross over Lake Cochituate. It is now totally cloudy, and the wind coming off the lake is still in my face.
Mile 10 7:04
Entering Natick, the crowd is still thick on both sides of the road. I don’t think that there have been really any parts of the course where there hasn’t been some crowd cheering us on.
Mile 11 7:13
The water stops are run extremely well. However, I have only been taking one cup each mile and drinking it on the run. Consequently, I have not gotten a full cup. I didn’t think it would be a problem because of the cool weather, but I now feel thirsty, which is not a good sign.
Mile 12 7:02
The miles keep flowing along. I wonder if I have saved enough for heartbreak hill. At this point, I begin to hear a weird sound up ahead.
Mile 13 7:09
The sound is Wellesley College, an all girls school, and I think all of them are out here on the course leaning over the fence trying to high five runners. It will be a day or so before my ears stop ringing.
Mile 14 7:19
This mile is actually uphill slightly, but I am now two miles from the real hills. My mouth is dry as I start to eat my Access Bar.
Mile 15 7:32
I finish my Access Bar, and I am now ready to charge up these hills.
Mile 16 6:49
Ten miles to go—the warm up is over. This is the start of the lower Newton hills as I am crossing the Charles River.
Mile 17 7:25
I am pushing hard as I get up this hill. This first one is steeper than I expected.
Mile 18 7:35
This is a struggle, but if I do nothing else, I am going to run hard up Heartbreak Hill.
Mile 19 7:45
I hope I can keep these miles all under eight minutes per mile. Only another mile and a half to the top.
Mile 20 7:48
These hills are steep and relentless. I now know why they call this Heartbreak Hill. The hill is made even harder by this relentless head wind.
Mile 21 8:10
I have failed to maintain a sub-8 pace, but the hill is now history, and I get to find out if there is anything left in my legs.
Mile 22 7:18
There is some life in my legs, but my energy is fading. I think I am low on water. I see Martha and the kids at a train stop. Amy is not looking when I run by, but Nathan sees me.
Mile 23 8:14
The wall is now in front of me, but thanks to my training runs up to 36 miles, I will be able to continue, and not smack too hard into “the wall.”
Mile 24 8:59
My legs are toast and so is the rest of my body. I conquered Heartbreak Hill, but do not have enough to cruise to Boylston Street.
Mile 25 9:14
In spite of my physical condition, I am able to enjoy the moment. I am coming up on the Citgo sign by Fenway Park.
Mile 26 8:57
The crowd is deep and loud. I am responding to the crowd, and we are feeding off each other.
Mile 26.2 1:48
I am finally finished, but my struggle is just beginning. . .
Final 3:18:17 official chip time, which takes off the 1:52 to cross the start line.
I was the 3,935th finisher of 15,663 finishers. This is really good considering I was seeded 5,575th! Therefore, I gained 1,640 positions on the field on a tough, blustery day. The official temperature for the race was 47 degrees, and winds from the northeast at 10-20mph.
Space Blanket-0.5 miles. After I cross the finish line, it is about a half-mile walk until I get a space blanket. Unfortunately, by this time, any body heat I had is now gone. Shortly after getting the space blanket, I get to turn in my chip timer.
Clothing Bag-0.5 miles. There were over 30 buses used to haul all of the runners’ bags of clothing to the finish. The buses are in reverse order, and mine is number 10. After I finally get to my bus, I have to stand in line for about 15 minutes to get my bag. I am freezing cold and putting on three layers of clothing does not relieve my chills.
Food Bag-0.5 miles. It is another half-mile walk to get a bag of food, which contains a small bag of pretzels and a PowerBar. They also hand me a banana and a bottle of apple juice. I guess $75 doesn’t go as far as it used to.
Family Reunion Area “D”-0.5 miles. I finally get to the reunion spot, but Martha and the kids aren’t there because their train is slow coming from the 22-mile mark. I sit down and eat the contents of my food bag, and then they arrive. Now all I have to do is walk another mile to the parking garage where our car is.
Now, we will see how well I can recover. I am scheduled to run the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 7th, and thankfully, they are limiting the field to 5,000 runners.
Never stop running (or walking after you finish the marathon),
Darin
