Boston Marathon

TRIP REPORT
Boston Marathon
4/17 – 4/21/04

The planning, or should I say ‘dreaming’ for this trip and race began over a year ago as I celebrated my 59th birthday. Next year (2004) I would reach the Big 60 and a new age group for racing. Since I would turn 60 just a few weeks before the Boston Marathon it would probably present the best opportunity I would ever have to run competitively at Boston and win one of the coveted crystal awards. So my dream began.

And it truly was a dream at that moment because I was just recovering from a severe hamstring injury and a medical mishap – internal bleeding caused by anti-inflammatories.
I used the summer of 2003 in the Colorado Rocky Mountains to train hard to build my red blood count back up to normal levels and beat my then out-of-condition body back into shape and lose more than 15 pounds.
In Oct my sports manager and I spent the whole month in Europe to run three marathons (and countries) culminating with a 3:20 marathon in Podgorica, Montenegro – my fastest time in the past seven years! Yes! Hard work/training was paving the way for the dream to happen?
But then disaster struck again – another injury in Dec- this time plantar fasciatis that required that I stop running and rest the foot for about three weeks. And just when the foot started to heal I had to travel to India for three weeks for our son’s wedding.

Unfortunately it turned out to be almost impossible to run in India for reasons of safety. I managed to run a total of 37 miles in those three weeks that included a solo marathon in Mumbai (another interesting story). The day I returned from India I ran a very disappointing and painful marathon in Tampa in 4:08. The dream was fading quickly? However there were still 75 days to go till Boston and I was not willing to give up my dream so easily. Thus I asked the Maddog to develop a 75-day ‘Kick Ass and Take No Names’ training program that would enable me to achieve my dream. One month later I ran a surprising 3:25 in New Orleans to win my last race in my old age group. The program was working! So I started the final and most intense phase of the program – speed work and hill training - with some renewed confidence. Soon I was running mile repeats (on the road) at a 6:40 pace! And disaster struck again – with a final blow!

All runners know the expression “Speed Kills”! Yes – it is true. I should have known better but I made a foolish decision to join some running mates on a track to run mile repeats. I strained my left hamstring after 5 or 6 repeats. Since I had planned to run a final tune-up marathon the following weekend I was forced to rest for the week in hopes that the hamstring would recover quickly. Didn’t work! In spite of the rest and other precautions the hamstring tore in the first mile of the Ocean Drive Marathon in Cape May, NJ and I was forced to drop out of a race for the first time in my life. Only three weeks left till Boston and I knew that my dream was shattered and torn just like my hamstring! Of course I was very disappointed and sad and my first reaction was to give up Boston completely for 2004. But some of my running friends were going to Boston this year and I didn’t want to deprive myself of the fun and enjoyment of sharing a Boston Marathon experience with them. Would it be possible to go to Boston and just run the race for fun? Could the hamstring heal quickly enough? Won’t know until I try?

With the help of a physical therapist and a regimen of natural herbs/supplements provided by a good friend the hamstring surprisingly/amazingly responded positively in three short weeks of treatment and rest. After a couple of short runs to test the leg I felt confident that I could run the Boston Marathon without causing further injury to the hamstring if I ran smart and slow. So with that strategy in mind my sports manager and I left for Boston on Sat 4/17 and the actual trip report now begins.

After arriving in Boston and checking into our hotel we headed straight for the expo to pick up my race packet. The expo was huge and yet still a zoo when you have more than 20,000 runners trying to pick up their packets and buy souvenirs/mementos of their big race in Boston! Lots of booths and equipment but I did not find any of the prices to be attractive. Having completed that important task it was time to check with the friends we were meeting in Boston. Dick and Sue were driving down from CT on Sun. Fred had already arrived from TX. They are members of the BBR (BrookBachRock) – an informal running club/group of friends that ran together for several years in Dallas, TX. We have stayed in contact and meet at various places around the world although many of us have moved away from Dallas. The other couple we were meeting were Frank and Jill – friends from Sarasota. All of us had our own plans for Sat night but agreed to get together on Sun.

Although this was my 6th Boston Marathon I had not been back since the 100th Anniversary race in 1996 so my sports manager and I decided to take the ‘hop on – hop off’ tour bus on Sun to reacquaint us with the city. Fred joined us as we toured around the city for more than six hours enjoying the interesting history of the city. The tour included most of the historical sites in Boston and a tour of ‘Old Ironsides’ – the USS Constitution – the oldest commissioned warship in the world!

After an interesting day of touring we met the rest of our group for a traditional pasta dinner and then it was time for bed. Monday which is Patriot’s Day and a holiday in MA is ‘M’ day in Boston. Even though the race starts at noon the logistics of the race requires that everyone be bussed to the start line beginning at 7am. This is the part of the Boston Marathon that sucks and I hate it. But I am willing to suffer through it because the rest of the marathon is so great.

All of us had been keenly following the weather forecast in Boston. Normally it is cool at this time of the year and the forecasts called for pleasant 60F temps on Sun and Tue but Mon was supposed to be an anomaly with temps in the high 80s? We were hoping they were wrong but on race morning the forecast called for temps in the low 70s in Hopkinton at the noon start and mid 80s by the time we reached Boston! Not good! We met in Boston Commons at 7:15 am to catch a bus to the start line in Hopkinton. The buses run from 7 to 9am in order to transfer 20,000+ runners to the start line. It takes about one hour to travel the 26 miles to the start line in Hopkinton. I figured we would arrive about 9am which meant hanging/laying around for three hours waiting for the race to start. From previous years I had remembered how cold it could get and how much energy that could cost so I had decided to buy a sleeping bag to keep me warm. Two of my mates also decided to bring bags. We didn’t think we would need them but took them anyways. Good decision! It was still cool at 9am and downright cold in the open-sided tent where we claimed our territory to wait for the start. While three of us were toasty and comfy in our bags poor old Freddie was covering himself with newspapers and garbage bags in an effort to stay warm. Finally I felt so sorry for him that I opened my bag into a blanket and offered to share it with him. We promised not to tell anyone about this warm, comfy ‘arrangement’ but I know the story is going to get out so I might as well make sure it is told correctly! (and in the right context?)

At 11am we emerged from our cocoons/bags to begin our preparations for the start of the race. When we stepped out of the tent into the sun we were shocked to discover how warm/hot it was already? Definitely singlet weather. Time to make our way towards the baggage buses and the start corrals. Many of you know that Boston is the only marathon in the world that requires a runner to qualify for the race. How do you qualify? You must run a marathon in the year preceding the Boston marathon within a specific time based on your age. This is one of the things that separate Boston from all other races. Every runner at Boston is good. There are no couch potatoes here – you have already proven yourself when you step up to the start line! Although they have relaxed their qualifying standards in recent years to allow more runners to qualify still many runners are never able to qualify. Once you have qualified then you are seeded or given a race number based on your qualification time. The fastest runners are seeded at the front of the race close to the start line. To prevent ‘cheating’ corrals are set up to hold groups of 1000 runners. For example my race number was 7708 so I was in the 7th corral with approximately 7,000 runners in front of me. There were 20+ corrals to hold the 20,000+ runners and my three compadres and I were all in different corrals.

At 12pm the race started (except for the elite women who were started at 11:30 am this year for the first time). It took six minutes for me to reach the official start line. I started my stopwatch as I crossed the start line to coincide with the ‘official’ chip time. To make it fair for all runners the race is timed electronically by a chip tied to your shoe. It records your time when you cross the start and finish lines (as well as other points in the race to prevent cheating)! Because of the huge mass of runners we had to run and walk for the first mile. That was fine with me because I figured it was much better for my hamstring to start out easy. Thus I was quite surprised when we reached the mile mark in 8:08! That was too fast so I slowed down immediately and reached mile 2 in 8:42. By that point I was already hot and I noticed that my heart monitor had climbed to 160 bpm. That is about 15 bpm higher than a normal marathon but about the same level I observe when I run marathons in the Caribbean or near the equator. That told me that this race was going to be tough and ugly and I reaffirmed to myself that I would run smart and slow! By mile 4, I was holding an easy 8:50 pace but already feeling overheated. I started grabbing two cups of water at each water station located at every mile: one to go in me and one to go on me to try to get my body temperature and heart rate down!

This seemed to work as I crossed the Half in 1:54:40. I was still cruising at an 8:50 to 9:00 min pace – the hamstring felt fine and I still felt good. I was on target to finish under my new/revised time goal of 4 hours and for a few brief moments even entertained some silly illusion that I might run a negative split in the 2nd Half? By the time I started climbing Boston’s famous (or infamous) hills at mile 16 I was laboring to hold a 9:10 pace and I was up to three cups of water at each station: one in and two on! When I finally crested Heartbreak Hill at mile 21 in Newton my quads were sore as Hell and screaming at me and I was struggling to hold a 9:30 pace. I had not walked or stopped to that point but it started to cross my mind? I realized that the lack of running/training for the whole month before Boston because of the hamstring injury was catching up to me – along with the heat. It was now 86F! Fortunately the last 5 miles are downhill so I pushed on ignoring the screams and pain coming from my quads. And I was now up to 4 cups of water: one in and three on and I also ran though every water hose along the course in an effort to get my body temperature down. I reached mile 23 in 3:27:52. I had 32 minutes to run/walk/crawl the last 5K. I told myself “All you have to do is run a 10 minute pace and your goal will be achieved”! That seemed to take a lot of pressure off and I just concentrated on keeping my legs moving – and not allowing myself to stop or walk. I didn’t give a shit if the clock read 3:59:59 – there was no need to push the pace to finish sooner! I managed to hold the 9:30 pace and crossed the finish line in 3:58:06. That time wasn’t going to win any awards but I had finished without walking or stopping – my hamstring wasn’t hurting, and I had beaten my time goal and I was alive!

However the moment I crossed the finish line and started walking my quads froze and did not want to work any longer. It was a damn good thing there were volunteers to take the chip off my shoe because I could never have bent down there to do it? It took me almost 30 minutes to walk/limp through the finish area, find and retrieve my baggage and then find the sports manager. After a customary photo at the finish we decided to head back to the hotel. Traffic was totally messed up in Boston so we figured it would be quicker and easier to take the subway.

Good idea but difficult to do. First there were steps down into the subway and my quads were in no mood to do steps! After much crying and screaming and about two minutes per step I made it down into the subway (it’s kind of funny now visualizing that action but I assure you it was not funny then)!. I quickly discovered that every other runner and citizen of Boston was also down there. But we finally made it to a train and crammed on like a Japanese commuter train. I ended up on the top or third step of the train and my sports manager was on the second step. As soon as the train left the station I started to feel bad. By the time it had left the 2nd station I was feeling nauseous and dizzy and knew that I was going to throw up. If I did throw up on the train there was going to be a lot of pissed off passengers because the train was packed. So I told my sports manager that I needed to get off at the next stop to throw up. Mercifully the train soon arrived at the next station and I turned to step down off the train – and the lights went out! The next thing I remember was waking up on the station platform while three strangers were dragging my sorry ass across the platform away from the train? Apparently my circuits shut down and I had passed out/fainted and did a spectacular, perfect score ‘10’ swan dive from the top step of the train down to the station platform? I guess I must have landed on my left side because my left shoulder, arm and keg were all cut, skinned and bruised? However as soon as I woke up I was fine except for being disoriented and having no memory of what had happened. I realized that I was dehydrated and my blood sugar and electrolytes were badly out of whack. And I had too many kind/concerned but bothersome Samaritans swarming all over me wanting to call ambulances and provide medical care. So I reached into the goody bag I had been given at the finish line and found an energy bar and a bottle of water. After a few bites of the bar and some water I was feeling OK and decided we needed to get back on a train and out of there before I was even more embarrassed with ambulances, etc. We made it safely back to our hotel where I was able to administer my normal medicines/cure – a Snickers chocolate bar washed down with a full-octane coke while sitting in a hot scalding bath. Within 30 minutes I was feeling normal again – I could even walk up and down stairs without crying (too much)!

Now it was time to contact my buds to see if they were still alive and how they did? I learned that Dick and Fred had a difficult time with the heat but had survived but Frank had not reached the finish line yet (5 hrs). I advised Jill that he might take close to 6 hours because of the heat. But I was a bit concerned/worried. It was Frank’s dream to run a Boston Marathon in spite of his doctor’s advice/warning not to because of heart problems and three stents. (Are you couch potatoes feeling guilty/ashamed yet? Have you at least got up off the couch and put your running shoes on?) I was one of the few that understood and supported his dream and I had lots of confidence in his ability to finish the race! But I was relieved when Jill called later to inform us that Frank had finished in 5:31 and was OK. I later learned that Frank had been the smartest of us all. He had decided to run and walk very early in the race as soon as he started to become hot. Thus he was able to enjoy the race, the cheering crowds and finish strongly and more importantly complete his dream successfully, safely and healthy!

Time to meet the gang to celebrate and tell war stories over dinner. Frank was too tired to join us but the rest of us met at a seafood restaurant close to their hotel. The subway and I got along much better on the trip over to the restaurant. We quickly told our stories of the race. Dick had run the fastest time as expected but slower than planned because of the heat. Fred probably had the most difficult time during the race. He had become dehydrated and overcome with heat exhaustion by mile 20 and had to walk the last 10K. When he finished the race he had walked back to his hotel and the moment he got on a crowded, hot elevator to go to his room he started to experience the same problems I had on the subway. Luckily he was able to get off at the next floor, spread his mylar blanket on the floor and throw up on the blanket! And of course he had several concerned guests and hotel security staff wanting to call an ambulance, etc? (Is this story just building up an insatiable desire in you to train and run the next Boston Marathon?)
Fred still wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t stand the thought of food/eating so went back to his hotel. That left just Dick, Sue, Maddog and Nicole to enjoy a post-race dinner and continue the race stories.

So it was a typical Boston Marathon experience – exciting, unpredictable, lots of fun, some not-so-much fun – but overall a memorable experience with good friends and fellow runners! We had finished and survived the 2nd hottest Boston Marathon in history!
Many runners had to drop out and there were a record number of medical and ambulance emergencies. Yes – we did quite well and there are certainly memories and stories to laugh about at future meetings.

I am already beginning to dream about Boston 2005. If I can stay healthy, uninjured and train hard I may have one last chance for that coveted crystal award????
Stay tuned!

Mardi Gras Marathon

RACE REPORT
Mardi Gras Marathon
New Orleans
Feb 29/04


This trip/race was unscheduled as late as a few weeks ago. As I was planning the trip to Mrytle Beach I knew that a close friend in Dallas was planning to run the Mardi Gras marathon in New Orleans the weekend after. So I thought “why not do New Orleans also”? Some other running friends from across the USA and even a few from the UK were going to run Mardi Gras so it would be nice to join them?
It was not until last Tue that ‘my friend’ from Dallas informed me that he was not going – so I could have the room he reserved at the Hilton all to myself! Well, I have a size 10 shoe that I am going to repay him with on his fat, lazy butt when I see him next weekend at our son’s wedding in TX.

Since we have relatives visiting from Tundraland I booked a quick trip – fly in Sat, run the race on Sun morning and leave Sun night. I arrived in the ‘Big Easy’ early Sat morning and headed straight to the Hilton. It was the host hotel and is located right on the Mississippi riverfront. Great location but about one mile from the Superdome where the race started and finished. For future reference the closest hotels to the Superdome are the Hyatt, Holiday Inn and Homewood Suites.
After checking in I made the first of many long walks/treks to the Superdome to pick up my race package. Then I visited the expo that had many vendors with some great sales on running shoes and gear. The 50 State Club had a booth at the expo so I stopped and talked to many club members/friends that I have not seen for a few years. By coincidence I bumped into my friend Roger Biggs from the UK at the booth. The club was holding a ‘reunion’ meeting at 4pm so we agreed to meet there later.

Another long trek back to the hotel to call some old (meaning long-time since none of us are really old) friends that I had not seen in many years. Joe and Brenda Treige are from TundraLand but now live in New Orleans. They picked me up at the hotel and took me out for a great pizza lunch as part of my carbo-loading routine. Then we toured around sections of the city that I had not seen/visited as a tourist. It was a short visit but I hope to see them again next weekend when we drive through New Orleans on our way home from TX. They dropped me off at the Superdome for my 4 pm meeting where I met several more running friends from around the US including Edson Sanches, one of the ‘Tres Amigos’. That meant that I would have to defend my ‘Tres Amigos’ championship but Edson had already informed me that he was not in good shape and would not offer any challenge.

After the meeting several of us formed a group to go for the traditional pasta dinner and then it was time for bed. Unfortunately no partying on Sat night in the Big Easy!
Sun was M –Day! The race started at 7am in front of the Superdome. There were 2100+ runners in the Marathon and 6000+ runners in the Half so the Superdome was a great starting area. Although the weather was in the low 50s it was still nice to stay inside the Superdome until the last minute. With 8000+ runners I made sure I was on the start line to avoid all the idiots that go to the front of the race and then run a 10+-minute pace and block all the runners behind. I quickly dropped in behind a pack of half-marathoners running a fast pace and followed them through the first 3 miles in 22:47. The weather forecast called for warm, cloudy weather with strong winds so I wanted a pack of runners to draft behind. I was concerned that the 7:35 pace was a bit too fast for my current conditioning but decided to stick with the pack through the first Half and see what happened.
The course is flat and fast. The roads were completely closed down and traffic control was good. There were distance markers every mile and water/aid stations very two miles.
The wind didn’t seem to be as bad as forecast but I stayed right behind that pack as they pulled me through the first Half in 1:40:53.

I felt OK but was not very confident that I could hold that pace through 26 miles? As the pack of Half-marathon runners peeled off into their finish in the Superdome a pack of young marathoners came by at a good pace and I decided to drop in behind them because the runners had now thinned out drastically. This new pack was running a smooth and constant 7:40 pace so I hung on and let them block the wind as they pulled me through the 20-mile mark in 2:34:25! Damn – if I could hold this pace I would break 3:25!
But alas – not to be! At 20 miles my pack of wind blockers started to fade badly and slow down so I had to sidestep them and surge forward on my own. I managed to run a 7:45 for mile 21 but then the wheels started to fall off. By mile 23 I was struggling to hold an 8:15 pace and I knew ‘the wall’ was not far away? Somehow I managed to dig deep, find some energy fumes and run 8:20s over miles 24 and 25. But the wall was waiting at mile 25! I completely ran out of energy at that point!

My body started to rebel and wanted to give up. But I knew that if I stopped and walked the race would be over for me. So I tried to dig deeper and find something to fuel the old bod for one more mile. But there was nothing left! Thus I had to play mind/psyche games for each and every step. I convinced myself that ‘there was only one more step for all 5280 feet of that last mile’! With only ½ mile left both arms became tingly and numb and from past experience I realized that I was dehydrated and my blood sugar level was out of wack! I was somewhat surprised because I had been drinking my normal amount of water at every water station but I guess I did not realize how warm and humid it had become? The only solution (other than stopping and getting medical attention which was not an option) was to get to the finish line as quickly as possible! It has been a long time since I remember such a painful and long last mile. But somehow I pushed my tormented/screaming body through that last mile in 9:02 although it seemed much longer than that? As I approached mile 26 and could see the entrance to the Superdome the old bod gave me one final shot of adrenaline to help me surge across the finish line inside the Superdome in 3:25:47.

As soon as I crossed the finish line – and I mean about two feet across- the old bod shut down and refused to move. It needed whatever was left just to breathe and wasn’t moving. A concerned race volunteer rushed forward with a wheelchair and asked if I needed assistance? That was all it took. No way was the Maddog’s proud ass going to be wheeled through the finish chute in a wheelchair!! I managed to stumble forward to the end of the finish chute where a cute young volunteer hung a 50-pound ‘finisher’s medal’ (at least it felt like it weighed 50 pounds at that moment??) around my neck. But more importantly another volunteer handed me a bottle of water that I gulped down in about two seconds. I couldn’t believe how thirsty I was and I quickly gulped down two more bottles of water and started to feel better. Now I needed some sugar to raise my blood sugar levels. I realize that my mind and body were only partially functional at that point but I could not find any sugar/food/snacks at the finish line? But I did find a bottle of sports drink that seemed to help some.

I retrieved my warm-up clothes and tried to find the results but they still had not been posted. I figured that my time had at least placed me in my age group. Since I was still hurting and in need of sugar I decided to return to my hotel where a coke, chocolate bar and scaulding hot bath awaited. As I made the long trek back to the hotel and passed the Hyatt a few blocks from the Superdome I was really wishing that I had stayed there?
After a long, slow 25-minute walk I finally made it back and dispensed the needed medical cures/attention. An hour later I was ready to party!!!

But first I had to make yet another trek back to the Superdome to check on the race results. They were finally posted and there were a few pleasant surprises: 1) my official time was indeed 3:25:47 and placed me 119th overall. That is eerie because it is the exact same position I finished in Mrytle Beach the previous week? 2) I placed 1st in my age group- exactly one minute in front of 2nd place who finished exactly one minute in front of 3rd. Obviously if I had given up instead of sucking it up on that last mile I would most certainly have been relegated to 3rd place or lower. There is a lesson or moral to life to be learned from this experience! And NO – it is NOT – to not run marathons! You can figure it out! Unfortunately there was some kind of screw up with the awards so I was told that they would be mailed out this week. I don’t even know what they look like so I guess I will just have to wait and be surprised?

Now it was time to party! A local running club had invited all members of the 50 State Club to a post-race part with lots of free food and beer. Roger was the only person I could find that was interested in going to the party so off we went. There weren’t many 50 State members there but we had a great time meeting with the local runners and certainly enjoyed their Cajun food and beer and hospitality! I am glad that I had to fly home Sun night because if I had stayed I am sure there would have been a wee hangover to contend with on Mon morning?

So I am back home and have no more marathons planned until the end of March. Maddog’s training program (that seems to be working well thus far) calls for a month of speed work and hill training. Hill training you say with a laugh? How can I do hill training in FL you ask? Good question since there are no hills within 150 miles of Sarasota! Fortunately they just built a bridge from Lido Key to Sarasota that is 65 feet high and one mile long. So the plan is to do several mile repeats back and forth over the bridge two times a week. Hope it works?


Finally I want to provide an evaluation and comments about the race for the race director and any running friends thinking about running the Mardi Gras Marathon.
The website is good – lots of information and easy to register on-line. Packet pick up at the Superdome was easy and efficient. The expo, although not large, was good with many vendors and great deals on running gear. Having the start and finish at the Superdome is great as it can accommodate lots of people.
The course is fast and flat and runs through the French quarter and many sections of the city. The roads on the course are completely closed and traffic control is good. There are distance markers every mile and water/aid stations every two miles.
The finish inside the Superdome is a nice touch.
There were a few glitches that should be fixed/improved. No food/snacks, etc at the finish line. Note (Update): I was informed by the race director after he read my report that there was indeed food, etc in the Superdome. Apparently it was on the south side of the Superdome. I believe I exited from the finish chute to the north side and was too tired/delirious to go over to the other side of the finish chute. Will try not to make that mistake again as I really needed that food!
The race results were not released very quickly considering that the race was timed by chips?
There is not much crowd support for a race of that size and a city that big?

Other suggestions that could make the race more memorable and fun:
Provide awards or incentives for the water station volunteers to dress up in Mardi Gras costumes of different themes.
There was only one jazz band along the course in the city of Jazz? In Nashville there are bands at every mile along the course.

John Wallace aka Maddog

RR Tybee Island

Race Report:

Marathon #220
Tybee Island Marathon
Tybee Island, GA
Feb 7/04


The weather was half - nice: sunny and a pleasant 49F as we lined up for the 8am start on the main street. The only negative factor was a brisk, cool wind blowing from the north-east at 15 to 20mph. And as usual it always seemed to be blowing in our faces no matter which direction we ran? Tybee Is is a very small island so the course had to wind up and down the residential streets to make a loop of 13 miles. We lucky marathoners got to run the loop twice! About 300 in the marathon and 700 in the half.

I ran smooth and easy at an 8:10 to 8:15 min pace and felt good throughout the whole race. Managed to finish strong with sub 8s over the last 2 miles to cross the finish line in 3:34:37. That was a surprising 34 minutes faster than my previous marathon thanks to Maddog's training program. Now I am concerned that Maddog will make the program tougher and more intense - but I am pleased and encouraged with the remarkable improvement in just 2 weeks so I will do whatever he says! I think I will run another marathon in a few weeks as another test/evaluation?

Tybee is a very small island and is a summer beach resort for Savannah and other parts of GA. Not much development and very few multi-million dollar mansions as expected?
Savannah is a neat and interesting city. Lots of history. The historical district and riverfront on the Savannah River have been restored and are very nice. The streets are lined with old colonial mansions and canopied with hundred(s)-year old live oak trees and moss. The riverfront has many pubs, restaurants and shops and makes a neat place to tour over the cobblestone streets.
I would definitely like to spend a long weekend in Savannah to explore and enjoy the city and history in more detail.

RR Tampa Marathon

Race report:
Hops Marathon
Tampa, FL
Jan 25/04

As expected the race was very ugly and painful. After running a total of 49 miles (including the Mumbai marathon) in the past 3 weeks what else could I expect?
I did not have much confidence that I could finish the race without hitting 'the wall'. I started out a bit too fast at an 8:30 pace. After crossing the Half in 1:52 I already knew that it was going to get ugly - my legs were tired and trashed. I slowed the pace down to 9 min but by mile 16 I was struggling to run a 9:15 pace. By mile 18 I was hurting and struggling to hold a 9:45 pace. I crossed mile 20 at 2:58 and momentarily had some silly notion that I could hold a 10 min pace for the last 10K and finish under 4 hrs? But that was all it was - a silly notion/illusion! By mile 23 I was running a 10:30 pace and my legs hurt like Hell and my right foot was sending lightning bolts of pain up my leg with every foot plant. I decided to go into 'survival' mode and try to avoid or at least delay the enevitable crash. It did not help much as I ran smack-dab into 'The WALL' at mile 24. After I picked my sorry and sore ass up I had to walk and jog the next mile. I fully intended to walk the last mile too until a pretty young lass ran by me at mile 25. She must know the Maddog because she shouted at me "C'mon you can hurt and do anything for one mile"! She was right unfortunately so I started running and caught up to her. I ran the last mile with her as she encouraged me and dragged my sorry, tired, hurtin old ass across the finish line in 4:08:35.
Without her I would never have finished under 4:10! It was a painful and humbling experience/race but I was not embarassed as I got what I deserved and expected. It is very clear that all the rest during the past 6 weeks due to the foot injury and the trip to India has seriously and negativley affected my marathon conditioning.There is only one solution and about 75 days to get my old, out-of-shape ass back into shape if I want to be competitive at Boston in April. Thus I have asked Maddog to prepare another 'Kick ass and take no names boot camp' to beat my sorry old ass back into shape.It starts tomorrow! I believe it is possible if my foot will hold up to the stress and speedwork? Only time will tell.

TR India

Trip Report

India

01/04 – 01/24/04

 

Mumbai Marathon

Mumbai, India
Tue, Jan 13/04
Marathon # 218 – Country # 65
3:50:55

 When our youngest son, Jason, and his fiancée Ami asked if it was OK if they got married in India we were excited and overjoyed! Although Ami was born and raised in Houston, TX her parents emigrated from Ahmadabad, India and still had most of their family there. Thus they wanted the kids to get married in India so they could share the wedding with their family. We agreed after the kids agreed that we would have another (2^nd) wedding in Houston for their friends and family that could not go to India.

The wedding was planned for early Jan.

 We figured if we were going to go that far for the wedding and since we had never been to India that we should spend at least a few weeks exploring India before and after the wedding. And of course Maddog immediately started scouting for the possibility of running a marathon while there? What luck? An inaugural marathon was scheduled in Mumbai the weekend before the wedding!

 Our oldest son Chris was to be best man at his brother’s wedding. Since Jason and Ami had to travel on a different schedule to be there for the final wedding plans we invited Chris to join us for a one week tour of the ‘Golden Triangle’ the week before the wedding. The Golden Triangle is a tourist circuit which includes: Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. We were concerned about travel and illness so we booked a tour with a private guide and driver and luxury hotels.

 We cashed in ALL our combined Delta air miles to book 1^st class seats!  When we arrived in Delhi our guide and driver picked us up and took us to our hotel to rest and recover from jet lag. The tour would start the next day. That evening as we walked around Delhi near our hotel we were shocked to find people - lots of people - conducting their private duties in the street. That was disgusting! When I woke early the next day to get a short run in before the tour started I encountered the same problem. There were so many people defecating in the street that it was difficult to avoid them and the ‘landmines’ or mess they left behind. They would squat in the street and pull their costume/dress around them and when they stood up and walked away they left a steaming landmine behind. I gave up on trying to do a short run and returned to the hotel.

 Our tour started after breakfast. The first thing our guide explained was that we would be harassed by beggars constantly. We should not talk to them, give them anything and avoid any eye contact. Many of the beggars were pros who were purposely maimed or disfigured to solicit more pity – and money. This tour and visit is off to such a good start?

We began our ‘Golden Triangle’ tour with a tour of Delhi - sightseeing of Old and New Delhi, one city with two distinctive features and culmination of tradition with contemporary. The Old Delhi tour included a visit to the Red Fort or Lal Quila. The fort is a massive construction and an architecture marvel with Diwani Aam and Diwani Khash. Started in 1638 by Shah jahan and completed in the year 1648 it had been part of the Indian history since then. Next stop was Jama Masjid – a typical Mughal architecture, built by Muhammad Ali Shah and is on the western side of the Hussainabad Imambara. The tour of Old Delhi included a visit to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial site the Raj Ghat. The tour continued with New Delhi and a visit to Humayun’s Tomb, one of the earliest Mughal architecture in Delhi. Qutub Minar is one of the focuses in the Delhi tour as it the world’s tallest brick minaret with 72.5 meters in height. Then we drove along the Rajpath past India Gate, Parliament House, President’s Residence and the Diplomatic enclave to finish with a visit to the Lotus Temple before returning to the hotel for the night.  The third day started with an early morning breakfast (I skipped any attempt to run around steaming landmines) and then we departed by car for the renowned city Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. It is difficult to find words to describe this magnificent and breath-taking beautiful structure! The white marble tomb that has found its place in the Seven Wonders of the World was built by Shah Jahan in 1631-1648 for his wife Mamtaz Mahal. The mausoleum is an architecture marvel and the Turkish and Persian influences are eminent in the building. Next we moved on to the Agra Fort, which is situated on the north western side of the Taj Mahal and the white pristine marble building can be seen from one part of the fort, where Shah Jahan spent his old age. In the evening we attempted to go for a pleasant walk near the hotel but they had landmines in Agra too? The next morning we continued on to Jaipur. But before going to the Pink City we stopped at Keoladeo National Park a UNESCO's World Heritage Site, and a former duck-hunting reserve of the Maharajas that is one of the major wintering areas for large numbers of aquatic birds. I thought about doing a short run in the Park since the only landmines there were left by birds. However we continued on to Jaipur for an overnight stay at a hotel in the Pink City. Up to now the meals had been good. Our guide took us to high-end restaurants mainly in luxury hotels so the food was good and safe. But it was mostly Indian food and vegetarian. I needed a steak! But that was hard to find except in a western hotel so I had to make do with chicken! The next day we started the tour of the Pink City with a visit to the Amber Fort. Built in 1592 by Raja Mann Singh and completed by Swai Jai Singh it is a perfect example of the blending of Rajathani architecture with Mughal art. Set on the hugged hills, this red sand stone and white marble fort is something that should be seen. Then we continued on to the City Palace in the heart of the Pink City with Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar and Sheesh Mahal. We enjoyed one more night in Jaipur. By then we had learned not to venture outside the hotel without our guide and driver.

The next day we returned to Delhi and flew to Mumbai to begin the next leg of our adventure.

Did I mention that one week before we left for India I received an email from the race director of the Mumbai Marathon informing me that the race had been postponed two weeks? I responded that I had a wedding to attend – I would be there on the original scheduled date and I expected to run a marathon! I could not delay my trip – and the wedding - by two weeks!

We planned to stay in Mumbai for a few days to run the marathon and then continue on to Ahmadabad. We also planned to meet up with Jason and Ami and Ami’s family in Mumbai to shop for a sari and other items needed for the wedding. We had booked a hotel south of downtown and on the Arabian Sea. I had assumed that I would be able to run along the beach or coast. Wrong! When I went out for a morning run – my first since I had not yet found any place safe from landmines – I tried to run along the beach. The beach was totally occupied by locals doing their morning duties – and leaving behind landmines! Others would walk into the Sea to deposit their landmines. It was disgusting! I returned to the hotel! I guess the actual marathon would be my only run in India? If there was a marathon?

While Nicole joined Ami and her family to shop for a sari I visited the Race Director. I was fortunate to meet with him and Hugh Jones who they had hired to certify the course. I explained that I was there now and could not come back in two weeks. I was going to run the marathon and hopefully the official course with or without their support. Thankfully Hugh was on my side and recommended that they support me. And we compromised on a solution. That evening they were holding an official press conference for the marathon. They requested that I attend the conference and after the conference finished they would provide a team of volunteers and a vehicle to guide and support me to run the official marathon course solo starting at 3 am!

It actually turned out to be a strange and fun(ny) affair. I was invited to the podium along with the governor of the province, the mayor of Mumbai and other dignitaries. I was asked to give a short speech where I thanked the Race director and the city, etc for allowing and supporting me to run the official marathon course later that night. After the conference ended there was pandemonium as TV and newspaper reports descended on Maddog for a story. I spent over two hours giving interviews to the press and TV. The RD provided a room for me at the hotel where the press conference was held. We planned to start the marathon at 3 am. I got to bed at 11:00 pm and a TV station woke me up at 11:30 pm and requested that I go downstairs and run sprints up and down the street in front of the hotel for their camera crew?

I finally got back to bed at midnight and woke up at 2:30 am to get ready for the marathon.
At 3 am I appeared at the front of the hotel. I was besieged again by reporters and a TV film crew. They were going to accompany me on my marathon adventure – the ‘entire’ adventure!  A taxi took the RD and me to the start line where I was joined by two young race volunteers on a moped. They would guide me through the course and provide any support needed such as water and carbo gels. It was a circus. I was followed for the entire marathon by a taxi full of newspaper reporters and photographers who would jump ahead and wait to ask questions and take photos. At the same time a pickup truck with a TV film crew followed me and filmed most of the marathon! I was afraid to stop for a potty break because I was sure they would film it!

My two friends/support team and I developed a friendship and pattern as I ran the entire marathon – on the official course – without a potty break to finish in 3:50:55! Once again there were interviews and finally I was left alone! I returned to the hotel room provided by the race for a short nap. I woke to find my face and the story of Maddog plastered all over the morning TV shows and on the front page of the Mumbai newspaper. You have to admit – Maddog sure knows how to make an entrance!

Now that the marathon # 219 and country #65 was completed I could relax and play tourist and get ready for the wedding. I convinced Nicole to give up shopping for a day to join Chris and I on a tour of the city. The tour started at the Gate to India, one of Mumbai’s most unique landmarks. The colossal structure, constructed in 1924 at the tip of Apollo Bunder, overlooks Mumbai harbor. It was constructed to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay (Mumbai).

We took a ferry from the Gate of India to Elephanta Island to visit the Elephanta Caves where there are mythical stories of Lord Shiva carved out in the rocks of the caves. The caves are a collection of different rock cut mythical figures of Shiva, shrines, ancient Indian architecture, statues of many Hindu Gods and Goddesses carved out of the rocks.

We returned to the Gate of India to tour downtown Mumbai and then drove past the movie studios of Bollywood and along Marine Drive to Kamala Nehru Park that is located at the top of Mumbai's Malabar Hill. It is named after Kamala Nehru, the wife of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. From this garden, one can enjoy the spectacular sight of the Chowpatty Beach and also Marine Drive (Queen's Necklace). Kamala Nehru Park is a shoe-shaped structure, with widespread lush greenery and is famous for a unique structure, called the Old Women's Shoe or Boot House that famously attracts kids.

Our last stop, the Haji Ali Dargah is a mosque and dargah (tomb) located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the Southern part of Mumbai. Near the heart of the city proper, the dargah is one of the most recognizable landmarks of Mumbai. An exquisite example of Indo-Islamic Architecture, associated with legends about doomed lovers, the dargah contains the tomb of Sayed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari.

It was time to move on to the main event – the wedding! We flew to Ahmadabad where we were met by Ami’s family. We were provided accommodations at a wedding compound along with members of Ami’s family. No other Wallace family attended because of the distance and cost. And remember we were planning a 2^nd wedding in TX.

An Indian wedding is quite an experience. It goes on for days and days! There are traditional ceremonies that have to be completed in a specific order. A member of Ami’s family was assigned to babysit us and to explain the ceremonies and culture and to make sure we were in the right place at the right time and what to do and expect.  I don’t remember all the ceremonies but I did make notes on some and of course took hundreds of photos of all the activities. I will try to explain some of the more important ceremonies that can been seen on my photo website.

Sangeet Sanhya: Indian wedding dances that are held the night before the wedding

Haldi ceremony: This ceremony takes place two or three days before the wedding. During Haldi, a paste made of turmeric, gram flour, curd, sandalwood and rose water are applied on the hands, feet and face of the bride and the groom. The yellow color of the paste is believed to brighten the skin color before the wedding ceremony and bring good luck to the bride and the groom.

Mehndi Ceremony: The bride and all of her close family members get the palms of their hands and feet decorated by a professional henna artist. The henna is believed to enhance the bride’s beauty. This ceremony usually takes place a day before the wedding

 Grah Shanti:  A brief ceremony where Lord Ganesh is invited to remove all obstacles from the couple and to bring them happiness and prosperity.

Ganesha Puja: Before the ceremony begins, a Ganesh Puja is performed for good luck. This is important as Ganesh is the destroyer of all obstacles. The ceremony generally involves both the bride’s and the groom's primary family members.

Our hosts and all their family and guests treated us very kindly. The wedding was a fantastic and fun experience. In the USA such an elegant wedding would have cost $250,000 or more. I assume it was much, much less in India. One downside to the wedding was there was no booze and most of the meals were vegetarian! However there is always a way. Our babysitter took us to a ‘special’ store where we could buy beer (that we only drank in our room). The area was ‘dry’ – no booze in hotels or restaurants yet many of the locals seem to have beer in their home? He also snuck us out to a western hotel a few time for a carnivore fix!

I apologize for any important omissions I made in describing this wonderful wedding. One reason I was afraid to write this report was that I didn’t want to hurt any feelings. But now -11 years later- I believe I can write the report and nobody will care if I missed something? Hopefully!

When the wedding was over and the newly married couple left for a honeymoon in the Maldives we thanked our gracious hosts and returned home with a 2-day layover in Singapore. This report is already too long so I won’t bore you with details of Singapore. I will be going back – I need to run a marathon there!

 

 

 

TR - Cayman Islands

TRIP REPORT
Cayman Islands
12/05 to 12/08/03

If you recall my last international trip report (Montenegro) indicated that there wasn’t supposed to be another international trip or marathon until India in Jan 2004.

Well, this trip was a surprise to me also! When I returned from Europe I had two more races planned – Maryland and Florida. But I decided that I needed to run one more race in Dec to keep the old bod tuned up for marathons. I wanted to go to Kiawah Island, SC in mid –Dec but that race had reached its limit and wouldn’t accept any more entries. What to do and where to go now? As I scanned the race calendars I was trying to choose between Jacksonville, FL and Dallas, TX. Jacksonville would be easy and cheap to get to but the course is boring. I have run White Rock in Dallas many times but at least I could run the marathon with some old running buddies from Dallas and visit my brother in Fort Worth?

Then a race caught my eye. The Cayman Islands Marathon on Dec7/03! I didn’t even know that there was a marathon in the Cayman Islands? A quick search for airfares sealed the decision. I found a special/cheap airfare for $239! Heck, it was cheaper to fly to the Caymans than Dallas! And I would need to run the Caymans eventually to complete a ‘soft’ goal of running every country in North America! Might as well do it now because many of these races don’t stay around too long? I asked my sports manager if she wanted to go? She thought about it for 30 seconds and replied “NO”! I was a wee bit surprised since the Caymans are at least a step up from the Balkans. I guess she is serious about not going to any more international marathons?

As the day approached to depart I was very happy about the choice I had made. The weather forecast was calling for another cold front blowing through Florida that weekend (thanks to those damn Canucks in Tundraland). I would miss it!
I arrived in Georgetown – the capital of the Cayman Islands – on Friday afternoon. The race director had sent an email out earlier that week stating that they would provide transportation from the airport to the hotels and to the race for international runners. I accepted their offer because it saved me more than $30 in taxis fares. It was a nice touch/service that isn’t normally provided by a race.

There are three islands in the Caymans: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Grand Cayman is the largest island where the capital and all the businesses and banks are located. There is very little development on the sister islands. My hotel was located on the south end of the famous Seven Mile Beach about 1-½ miles from the center of Georgetown so I was able to walk to most of the shops, restaurants and pubs. I had arrived late afternoon on Friday and quickly determined that the Caymans are like most Caribbean islands – the shops and businesses do not keep long hours. The shops close at 5pm on weekdays, noon on Sat and don’t open on Sunday. Nobody is going to die from work stress in the Caribbean!

I had wanted to do a few dives on Sat because the Caymans are famous for great diving but I was concerned about picking up my race package on Sat and I also wanted to shop for my typical souvenirs. So I had to pass on the dive packages/tours on Sat. At race registration I met the race director and learned that it was a very small race/event. There were three races – a marathon, marathon relay and a half marathon. A total of 200 runners in all three races – only 20 ‘crazies’ running the full marathon! All three races started together in the center of Georgetown at 5am on Sunday. The course ran south from town 6.5 miles then looped back to the start/finish line. The crazies would have to run the loop twice! The weather was forecast to be stormy and windy due to a tropical storm in the Caribbean.

By Sat afternoon I had completed all my chores and toured much of the island on foot. It did not take long to determine that there is not much to do or see in the Caymans other than diving. And the Caymans are very expensive like most of the Caribbean. Restaurants and bars charge big city/US prices. The Cayman dollar is worth $1.25 US so that makes things even more expensive! Instead of eating at the hotels and tourist restaurants I was able to find a few local shacks/diners where the food was great and much more reasonable. I don’t normally eat the pasta dinners provided by the race but decided to join my fellow runners at the host Marriott Hotel for the pre-race pasta dinner on Sat night. As expected it was not very good but I did meet a few runners including a runner from Sweden. He knew a mutual friend of ours from Sweden that I expected to see there but learned that he is injured.

Sunday was M –day! Woke up at 3:30am to catch the 4:15am bus to the start line. I had already established my race strategy – start out at an 8-minute pace to take advantage of the cool temps in the dark, early morning and then just try to hang on and survive when the sun came up! At the 5am start it was dark and the weather was a cool 75F, 100% humidity and windy! We had a few rain sprinkles during the first 5K that seemed to cool us down. There were distance markers and aid/water stations at every mile. The streets in the center of Georgetown had been closed down but after we left town the roads were open to traffic and there was only traffic control at the intersections. However there was very little traffic and the few vehicles using the road were friendly and courteous so there were no problems. Part of the course had streetlights but there were also sections that were so dark that I couldn’t even see the road or my feet! I reached mile 5 in 39:53 – right on schedule. However when we made the turn at 6.5 miles we were running back into a very strong headwind from the north and it got tough especially where there was no protection from the wind!

As expected in such a small race I ran the whole race by myself because I couldn’t find anyone to follow or draft behind. My only consolation was that we were all in the same boat! By mile 8 (1:03:20) my socks and shoes were already soaked and sloshing from sweat and my hear rate was averaging 10bps higher than normal. I ignored the higher rate since I knew it was due to the extra workload on the old ticker trying to keep the old bod cooled down! I reached mile 10 in 1:19:22. By then I had started pouring a bottle of water OVER my body at each water stop to try to cool it down. I passed the finish line for the Half-marathon in 1:44:58. Can’t get much closer than that to an 8-minute pace?
But I already knew that I couldn’t/wouldn’t be able to hold that pace on the second loop. The second loop was even lonelier since there were no longer half-marathoners. As I approached the final turn-around near 20 miles I started counting the marathoners coming back towards the finish line. I counted FOUR! Number 4 was a gent with a head of silver/gray hair and I figured he might be in my age group. But he had at least a ½ mile or 4 to 5 minutes lead on me and he was still running smooth and easy and I didn’t believe I could catch him unless he crashed on the final 10K?

I passed 20 miles in 2:40:38. But as I headed back into town and directly into that fierce headwind from the North I started to slow down. By mile 23 the sun had burned through the clouds. Again I couldn’t really complain as we had been lucky. I had expected the sun much sooner. But the heat of the sun, humidity and wind all combined were making it very tough and I started to struggle. I couldn’t see any runners in front or behind me and there was just no motivation/incentive to hurt like Hell! I t would not change my position/place in the race. I considered slowing down to a jog and cruising the last 5K. But OH NO! The Maddog wasn’t haven’t any of that wimpish/loser attitude or talk! He demanded that I push harder or at least hold the pace to train the old bod how to run through pain and exhaustion. So I tried to hold the pace – 8:40s by now and I couldn’t believe how much it could hurt to run so slow? Finally I turned back into the center of Georgetown and crossed the finish line in 3:33:43.

As I passed through the finish chute I noticed that there was no line at the massage tables so I walked straight over to a table and asked a pretty young masseuse to work on my quads and my right plantar fascia. The plantar had really started to hurt over the last 10K but again I couldn’t complain since I shouldn’t have run the race in the first place. The plantar has been bugging me ever since Europe and it ‘Needs A Rest’ in order to heal! After my wonderful massage I found the race results and discovered that I did know how to count. I had indeed finished in 5th place overall in the marathon. I had only finished one minute behind #4 (Mr. Gray Hair) so he must have faded badly over the last 10K also. He was 50 years old but the age groups were very strange – 55 to 64 – so I had also finished 1st in my age group! Not a bad day?

Since the award ceremony wasn’t being held until 11am I had a volunteer drive me back to the hotel to soak my legs and have a shower. I returned to watch the awards and check the final results. The only disappointment or criticism I have of the race and organization came at this event. The web site initially advertised or stated that there would be age group awards. That is where I noted the strange age groups. But at the award ceremony they only gave out awards/prizes for the first 3 places overall in each race. I overheard many of the runners stating that they were disappointed/upset that no age group awards had been provided as originally advertised on the website? I assume the unannounced change was due to the small number of runners (or lack of sponsors)?

After the race I did consider doing an afternoon dive but decided I was too sore and stiff to dive. Unfortunately the seas were too rough for snorkeling because of the high winds so I was forced to sit around the pool bar and drink strawberry daiquiris all afternoon while watching NFL games. My gosh – those daiquiris were good! Usually after a race I crave red meat and protein but decided that I should eat a nice dinner indigent to the Caymans so I found a lovely restaurant on the beach and enjoyed a great dinner of sea turtle steak and lobster.

I returned home to discover that the weather had been very cool/cold while I was gone. So the only regret that I have about the trip is that I did not schedule enough time to make a few dives.

Now I am going to do something very unusual for me and I don’t care what the Maddog says. I am going to take a week – maybe two - off from running and rest the plantar and a few other minor aches. I need to get healthy again so that I can start serious speed work to get ready for Boston in 2004! Stay tuned!

Race Report - Marathon in the Parks

Race Report
Marathon in the Parks
Rockville ,MD
Nov 9/03
#215

As I mentioned in a previous email this marathon was an extra race inserted into my schedule because of the cancellation of the Washington Marathon last March.
And of course it actually turned out to be an inconvenient race due to the recent long trip to Europe and more importantly the subsequent injury to the plantar fascia in my right foot.
But I was going so I took four days off before the race to rest the foot in the hope that the inflammation would subside.

My sports manager and I left Sarasota on Friday and arrived in Washington, DC that afternoon and made our way to Rockville, MD a northern suburb of Washington, DC. The race started in Rockville and finished in downtown Bethesda, MD – another suburb of Washington. As most of you will know Mother Nature chose this past weekend to send a ‘Blue Northerner’ down the East coast from Tundraland (aka Canada) so that they were expecting record low temperatures. Oh Goody!

On Sat we found our way over to the race registration in Bethesda. Everything is so close there that it is difficult to tell where one city stops and the next starts. After picking up my race package we explored the area around Rockville, Bethesda and Gaithersburg. The marathon started at 7am on Sun in Rockville. I had my sports manager drive me over to the start line in Rockville so that I could get out of the car at the very last moment. The temperature was a chilly 34F. I was wishing that I were back home in Sarasota where the low was 67F! Fortunately I had checked the weather forecast and brought tights and a long sleeve polypro shirt – but it was still friggin cold! The right foot felt OK but there was still some soreness. At this point I was more concerned about how the four days of rest would affect me – I never take that much time off before a race.

The race started on time with about 1100 runners/marathoners. There were no other races. For some reason I thought I had read that the course was downhill and fast so my race strategy was to go out fast (7:30 pace) and see how long I could hold it? By ½ mile we were climbing hills? As I approached mile 4 in 30:59 and was climbing my 5th long hill of the race I figured “something’s wrong in Maryland”? So I asked a fellow runner if he had run the course and what was the rest of the course like? His response was “ we have just run the fast, easy part of the course – the next six miles are very hilly and then the course turns on to the Rock Creek Trail which is twisty/turny and hilly – and then the good news is that the last 4 miles are all uphill”! Oh GOODY – Oh JOY! I immediately revised my race strategy and decided to back off to an 8-min pace and see how long I could hold that. That runner was 100% accurate! By mile 8 I was cursing the sadistic race director and accusing him of looking for every friggin hill in Maryland and then running the course on it. I swear there wasn’t a flat section between miles 4 and 10? I was pleasantly surprised when I reached mile 10 in 1:19:01.

At that point the course turned on to the Rock Creek Trail, a paved and gravel trail that ran along Rock Creek through several parks in Montgomery County from Rockville south to Bethesda, MD. In many sections the trail was flat and fast but there were also many twists and turns as promised and several steep hills. I crossed the Half in1:43:27 but already knew that the 2nd Half would/could not be as fast. But I kept pushing and reached 20 miles in 2:38:36. I did my normal gut check at that point and determined that I still had lots of energy left but 20 miles of hills had destroyed my legs. They were mush and starting to tighten and cramp from the punishment of the hills. I considered backing off the pace and cruising to the finish line – especially since I knew that the last 4 miles were hills. But OH NO! – NO SIRREE! The Maddog was not going to accept a piss-poor, defeatist attitude like that! He started screaming at me “WIMP”, “WOOS”, “QUITTER”, “LOSER”!!!! Then he explained that I had 1 ½ minutes ‘in the bank’ and if I just eased the pace back to 8:15s I could still finish under 3:30 which would be a respectable time for an old fart on this tough course! I knew that there was no sense arguing with the Maddog so I pushed on as best as I could. Mile 21: 8:23 – not good! Push harder! Mile 22 - 8:11 – better. Mile 23 was a slight downhill – 8:04. Good – I am almost back on track. Time –3:03:16! I have 26:43 to run the last 5K. Would normally be doable but remember – the last 5K are all uphill! I continue to push as hard as I can and my heart rate soars to 94% MAX as I push up those hills! Mile 24 – 8:24; mile 25 – 8:24! Not looking good? Time 3:20:05 – 9:44 left to run the last 1.2 miles!
Both legs are starting to cramp – I am not sure if it is due to dehydration, exhaustion or the cold temps(a balmy 40F now) or a combination of all of the above? But it doesn’t matter AND I know it doesn’t matter because I am already expecting the next scream/message from the Maddog – “Any old fart can stand pain for a measly 10 minutes – get your sorry, wimpish ass moving FASTER”!

So I dug deeper, sucked it up, ignored the pain and pushed my heart rate up to 98% MAX as I climbed that last hill and mile in 8:03! As I turned the last corner in downtown Bethesda I could see the finish line about 100+m ahead and the clock read 3:29:20-something! I had less than 30 seconds to reach the finish line. I dug down as deep as I could go and asked the old bod to give me just a wee bit more to sprint to the finish line – but the old bod rebelled. The right hamstring cramped and locked up! But I would not be denied this close to my goal so I dragged that useless (POS) right leg with me the last 100m and across the finish line in 3:29:43!!!!! As soon as I crossed the finish line the adrenaline and endorphins stopped flowing and I was left with one royally screwed-up right leg with a hamstring that was firing constantly which caused the whole leg to go into spasms accompanied by excruciating pain! I figured that I was going to have to get a finish chute volunteer to carry me directly to the medical tent for medical help. But as a kind volunteer was helping me through the finish chute I managed to find a position/stretch that eased the pain and enabled me to massage the hamstring and stop it from firing. Thus I was able to limp out of the finish chute on my own.

At that moment I heard a strange –yet familiar? – voice shouting “John –over here”! I looked up. It was Todd Ayars. Todd is the son of friends in Dallas, TX. I watched him grow up and compete in cross-country and triathlons in high school. Hadn’t seen him since he went of the college. He is now living in MD while he completes his residency in dentistry. He had driven over to Bethesda to watch me finish the race. I limped over to Todd, shook his hand and asked him to excuse my rudeness but I needed to walk/limp around some more and stretch and massage my legs since they were BOTH cramping up now! What I really needed was a massage but the lineup for the massage tables was about 10 runners deep and I knew that I could not stand in line more than 30 seconds! So I stretched and massaged for another 5 minutes and finally managed to get both legs/hamstrings to relax and stop firing. During that time my sports manager found me and I asked her to meet me where Todd was. I joined them and we had a nice – but too-short conversation with Todd before both of my legs started to cramp again. I knew that the only solution was to return to the hotel and get my legs in to the spa/hot tub at the hotel. So we had to say goodbye to Todd and headed back to the hotel for relief. It did work – after an hour of hot soaking and massage the hamstrings were finally relaxed but my legs were still very sore and stiff.

We are back home now and the legs are still very stiff and sore. At least I won’t feel guilty about taking a few more days rest to help the plantar fasciatis – which by the way did not get any worse from the race.

Race critique:
It is definitely a local-type race. It is well organized from the web site and registration right up to race start. The course is closed to traffic and traffic control is good. There are markers every mile and water/aid stations every two miles. The race volunteers are friendly and supportive. The course is almost rural and the trail is very scenic. The only negatives are the hills and there is limited access to the trails so there is not much crowd support. I would not recommend this race if you do not like hills.

Although I considered this marathon to be the toughest course I have run this year except for the Leadville Trail Marathon I also considered it to be an excellent, long, hard training run that will prepare me well for upcoming races/challenges. In fact, compared to this race my next marathon in 3 weeks will seem like a fun run! Stay tuned!

TR Montenegro

TRIP REPORT
Montenegro and UK
10/20 – 10/28/03

Finally, the last installment from the very lonnnggggggggggggg marathon trip to Europe in Oct.
Where were we? Oh yes! An early departure on Mon morning from Belgrade to Podgorica, Montenegro. I had verified before leaving Belgrade that Montenegro did not use the same currency as Serbia so that I would not have too many Serbian Dinars left. Montenegro uses the Euro and I figured that I could get those from an ATM at the airport. Bad Assumption! And our first lesson of many-to-be that there was/is very little infrastructure in Montenegro.
The country only has a total population of 650,000 and almost half of them live in Podgorica, the capital. After all the wars and turmoil in the region (and still going on) the economy is in a shamble. The economy and country need to be rebuilt from the ground up. The UN and other world organizations are working on it but they have a long way to go.

Back to our arrival at the Podgorica airport at 7:30 am. No tourist info center, no ATM and no currency exchange at the airport! I had made no plan or reservations in Montenegro except for hotel reservations for the marathon on the following Sat. In fact the race director had emailed me at the last minute to inform me that they were inviting me to the race as a special guest and would pay my entry fee and hotel. He sent me the name of the hotel they had booked. Our fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants plan was to go directly to the Adriatic Coast for some R&R and return to Podgorica on Sat. But how do we get there? I managed to find a taxi driver who would accept US $ (for which he charged me double the fee) to take us to the bus station in town. Since the main transportation system in the country was the bus surely the station would have an ATM, etc? Wrong again. No ATM, no tourist center and no currency exchange. And to make matters worse the ticket agent refused to accept any payment except cash in Euros for a bus ticket! This leg of the trip was not starting out good?

I had to find another taxi driver who spoke a little English and convince him to drive me into the city to the only working ATM to get some much-needed Euros and back to the bus station. Now we at least had money to buy bus tickets to Budva. Fortunately I had done a wee bit of research to discover that Budva was the most popular beach resort on the Adriatic coast. After an exciting one-hour bus ride through mountains in rain we arrived in Budva. And finally we had some good luck. No ATM, no tourist info center, etc. but at least there was a travel agency located in the bus station and a very kind agent who spoke English was able to provide me with some information and even booked a hotel in town for us. It was off-season so the hotels were half-price. Our hotel was located right on the edge of the Old Walled Town overlooking the Adriatic Sea. We spent the rest of the day exploring the resort town and quickly determined that we would use Budva and our nice hotel as a base and explore the whole coast of Montenegro from there by bus. Besides a great location Budva actually had an ATM and we needed to be near a cash supply since very few businesses accepted credit cards?

The coast is very beautiful and scenic. Coastal mountains rise dramatically from the Adriatic Sea so that the coastline is rocky and rugged. Reminded me very much of the Greek Islands with the desert landscape and rugged coastline.

Budva is small resort village but I could see how it would be very busy during the high tourist season in the summer. Most of the tourists/visitors are from Podgorica and Serbia trying to escape the summer heat. We explored the old walled town, which is over 2500 years old. The first written record of Budva dates back to Sophocles in the 5th century BC, who refers to the Illyric town of Butua. Most of the existing buildings were rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1667. About 20 Km north of Budva is another walled town called Kotor. Kotor is located on Bora Kotorska, the largest fiord on the Mediterranean. This town also dates back more than 2500 years. The Greeks called the area Akurion and the Romans built a settlement named Acruvivium which they inhabited for 6 ½ centuries. Many of the buildings date back to the 8th century. I found it much more spectacular and interesting than Budva. I even spent a few hours climbing a rock path up to the ancient San Djovani fort on St Ivan hill about 500 meters above the walled town. Believe me, my training on the 14ers this past summer was quite helpful on that expedition!

We got very good at using the local bus system to explore the small villages along the coast. The buses ran often and were cheap – about 1 Euro to go to Kotor. There were two types of buses – a large bus like those used in any city and mini-buses or vans. The large buses were in terrible shape. The mini-buses were newer and in better shape but usually charged more. We tried to take the mini-buses whenever possible because the roads were narrow and mountainous/dangerous. We also determined that the bus schedules meant nothing – if a bus was scheduled to leave at 10am you had better be there by 9:30 am because they would normally leave 15 minutes early or whenever the bus was full? We spent two days exploring the coast and then I decided that we should try to go to Ulcinj, which is the closest town to Albania and check to see if it was possible to cross into Albania? We had been asking locals for two days if it was possible to visit Albania and everyone looked at us like we were crazy and said “No’! Apparently there is still a lot of strife/animosity between the two countries and Montenegrins do not travel to Albania. On Wed we set out to go to Ulcinj. We got as far as the bus station – no buses to Ulcinj at this time of the year! So we decided to travel to Bar, the largest resort town near Ulcinj and then travel from there to Ulcinj. Good idea but when we got to Bar we discovered that there were only two buses each day to Ulcinj in the off-season and we would have to wait about 3 hours. Forget it – we wouldn’t get back to Budva until very late. This little story is typical of everything we tried to do. There was essentially no information available and very few locals spoke English, which made it even more difficult to travel around the country.

But there were two good/great things about the coast besides the scenery - the weather was warm for the first time since we left Florida and the seafood was great and cheap!
But I was already starting to get bored and since I couldn’t get to Albania I tried to find a travel agency that would arrange a tour to Tara Canyon. Tara Canyon is located in the northwest part of the country –about 100Km from Budva- and is the second deepest canyon in the world. However nobody would take us because it was off-season and the weather was not good for driving in the mountains. And to make matters worse it rained so hard on Thu that we were trapped in the hotel room for most of the day so we decided if the weather was going to suck we might as well go back to Podgorica early. It was a bigger city and there would be more to do? WRONG! WRONG!

We took a bus back to Podgorica and arrived at our hotel two days early. Podgorica, formerly called Titograd during the Communist era, is the capital and largest city in Montenegro. Because of the many wars and constant turmoil in the region the oldest building still remaining in the city is the ‘clock tower’. It is 200 years old and the only building more than 50 years old in the city. The rest of the city is the standard ugly, large and decaying concrete buildings built by the Soviets. The city has no beauty except for the mountains that surround it! And there is nothing to do in Podgorica!

By coincidence as we were asking if we could check in early, the race director also arrived at the hotel. We explained that we had come early and that we would pay for the extra days at the hotel but he insisted that the race committee would pay for our complete stay including all our meals. Since he spoke very little English he later introduced me to a very cute redhead who would be my escort/translator during the official events of the race. Ummm! Things are looking up? She informed me that I and another runner, Emmanuel Kosgei – a Kenyan whom I had met in Belgrade would be going to a press conference the following morning. Oh No – it is starting already and I wasn’t even supposed to be there until Sat?

She picked us up at 8am and drove us to the TV station. I figured that we were going to tape an interview for the sports news? After we were seated in the studio the race director asked me to take my jacket off to show my’50+DC’ T-shirt. I stood up, took off my jacket and started to walk away to leave my jacket somewhere – and all Hell broke loose! We were about 10 seconds away from going live on something like ‘Good Morning Montenegro’! I got seated back down in time for the live morning TV show. Emmanuel stated that he was going to try to win the race and beat the course record of 2:12 and I gave the same flowery BS that I presented in Belgrade.

I was concerned about how much more ‘official’ BS I would have to put up with but they really didn’t have their act together and they became bogged down with all the elite runners that arrived later that day. So they overlooked or left me alone for the rest of the race events, which was fine with me. On Sat I decided to try again to get to Albania on my own. My sports manager decided not to go since I had no idea how I was going to get there? It was probably a good decision because it was not an easy trip.
First I went to the bus station to check if I could get a bus to the border? No – take a taxi! So I found a taxi driver who spoke a little English and understood what I was trying to do. For 20 Euros he drove me to the border and promised to come back in 3 hours to pick me up. I had to check with the Montenegro border guards, walk to the Albanian border and check with the Albanian border guards. After paying a fee/bribe of 10 Euros they let me across the border. Then I had to find a taxi driver and negotiate a fee (10 Euros) to drive me to Shkroda, the nearest city to the border. As we drove into the city past the donkeys and horses pulling carts, hundreds of burned-out cars and garbage along the side of the road and through a few small poverty-stricken villages, I was coming to the conclusion that Albania was a dump. Finally I arrived in Shkroda. It is a large city still mired in the Russian/Soviet system and looks just like a Soviet city – large, crumbling, concrete buildings that are falling apart. As I walked around I realized that every business on the main street had a portable generator operating in front of their shop? I assumed that blackouts must be a typical occurrence but the power never did come back on during the few hours I visited the city? After only an hour I was ready to leave – get out of there but I still had a few hours to kill so I explored some of the side streets. I had now definitely decided that Albania was/is a DUMP. In fact I used to think that Romania was the shit-hole of Europe but Albania now holds that title. It was time to go back to Podgorica – even Podgorica looked good compared to Shkroda! Fortunately I did not have any problems or additional bribes to pay to get back across the border and my taxi driver was waiting to drive me to the hotel. So for 70 Euros I got to visit Albania for an afternoon. But I considered it a great investment because it provided an interesting adventure and story to tell and I could have spent thousands of dollars to travel there from the US to come to the same conclusion – and I would have had to stay longer?

When I arrived back at the hotel I ran into by new buddies, Emmanuel and Ramzi. Both runners were running the Podgorica marathon after running Belgrade. That is unusual for elite runners. They informed me that I was supposed to pick up my race package at registration in a nearby school. Whatever happened to the race organization? They no longer seemed to exist? None of us had any information on an official pasta party other than we thought it was being held in the hotel at 7pm? So my sports manager and I showed up in the lobby at 7pm but there was no official pasta party so we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. Big mistake! It was the worst pasta I have ever eaten! Later that night the weather turned nasty with thunder, rain and strong winds. Sure hope it clears by morning?

Sunday was M –day! I woke early and decided to eat a light breakfast since the race didn’t start until 10am. I joined Ramzi and a few runners from Moldova for breakfast and we talked about races in Moldova. The runners confirmed what I had learned in Belgrade and invited me to stay with them if I visited Moldova. Nice guys – like all runners! By 9am the rain had stopped and the sun started to shine. It must have been cold the night before because there was a light dusting of snow on the mountains surrounding the city. I was concerned about the cold temps – should I wear a long-sleeve T-shirt for the race? My sports manager and I walked downtown to the main square where the marathon started and finished. There was supposed to be a traditional ceremony at 9:30am before the start. At 9:30am there was nothing happening and hardly any runners at the start? By 9:45 I became very concerned about why nothing was happening? I found a race volunteer who spoke English and asked why? Because it was only 8:45! The clocks had been set back one hour on Sat night. Great! We were probably the only two people in the country who did not know that! Nobody on the race committee had thought of informing us about that little fact? It was probably on all the TV channels and in the newspapers but we only had two local channels in our hotel with no English and we hadn’t seen an English newspaper in 10 days. Well, at least we were early!
I found a park bench to lie down on and rest. Next I had to find an alley or bush to take care of some last-minute duties. Granted it was a small race – only 150 runners in the marathon and another 200 in the Half – but they did not have one single toilet at the start/finish line?

By 10am – the real 10am – it had warmed up significantly. I was now concerned about heat and switched from a long-sleeve T-shirt to a singlet at the last minute. The race started on time. The course was a 42 Km loop south out of the city almost to the Albanian border and back to the city center. After 2 Km and no distance markers I surmised that the markers were only located every 5K, which makes it harder to adjust your pace. I figured I was running a sub 8-minute pace. About that time a group of four Serb runners passed me. Because there was a stiff head wind I decided that it would be smarter/better to follow that group and draft off them even though they were running faster than I wanted to run than waste energy battling the wind on my own. The group pulled me past the 5K marker in 23:09. Damn, that’s a 4:38/Km (7:20/mile) pace – my Half Marathon race pace! I didn’t believe I could hold that pace but I figured that I would try to stay with them through the first half. We reached the Half in 1:39:38 – almost my race pace and much too fast for a marathon.

I still felt strong but did not believe I could hold that pace. But what to do? I was still in the same dilemma – run faster than I should and continue to draft off the group or slow down and waste energy by battling the head wind on my own? I decided – what the Hell? – stay with the group as long as I could. It would either be a fantastic race or it was going to get very ugly and painful over the last 10K! I had the feeling that the group was getting annoyed or pissed off at me because I was drafting all the time and not taking any turns at breaking the wind. So I shouted to them that I was thankful for their fast, smooth pace but I was having difficulty just trying to stay with them. That seemed to break the ice and one of the runners dropped back and started to talk to me.
“Where are you from”?
“America”.
“Oh Yeah – I read about you in the paper. How many marathons have you run”?
“214 today”.
“Didn’t you just run Belgrade last weekend”?
“Yes”
“How old are you”?
“59 – How old are you”?
“50” - Damn he’s in my age group (50 to 59)

This brief conversation seemed to gain me some respect and they no longer cared that I was drafting. Around 28K I got a burst of energy and surged to the front of the group. At that moment we were passing through a small village called Tuzi, near the Albanian border and I think all 2,000 inhabitants were lined up along both sides of the narrow road? Suddenly the crowd starting cheering and applauding loudly? One of the Serbs ran up beside me and said “ all that noise and cheering is for you”!
“Why” I asked?
“They are cheering for the American”!
“How do they know I am an American”?
“ You were on the local TV and there was a big article in the papers about you and your feats”!
“But how do they know I am ‘The American’ “?
“Oh – the papers published your race number”

Great! I hope all the natives are as friendly as these because I am running around the country with a huge number/bulls eye pinned to my chest and designating me as an American! Fortunately everyone was friendly and this scenario was repeated as we passed through a few more villages. I found that it was pumping me up and I wanted to pick up the pace some more. But I wisely decided that I would drop back and draft off the group until 35K. If I still felt good at 35K I would push as hard as I could for the last 7K because I knew that I was running my fastest race in many years. I figured that I would finish somewhere between 3:20 to 3:25?

We reached 35K in 2:48:10 and the group started to slow so I surged ahead. Fortunately one young Serb went with me. We urged each other on and if the wind got strong I would drop behind him and draft. I told him that he was younger and stronger than me and he didn’t seem to mind? At 40K I ran out of energy! But I was only 2K from one of my best finishes/races in years and I was not going to let exhaustion and pain stop me. My young Serb friend wanted to slow the pace down because he could see that I was in trouble/pain. But I urged him to hold the pace and I focused on staying with him as he dragged my sorry, tired, old ass across the finish line in 3:20:48! I immediately shook his hand and thanked him – I would never have finished in that time without his help.

Needless to say I was ecstatic about my time and performance – it was my fastest marathon since White Rock (Dallas, TX) in Dec/96! And I did it without asking the Maddog for help although I knew he was with me all the way. I was also pleased to learn that my friend Emmanuel had won the race in 2:14 (but no course record). Ramzi had to drop out because of a problem with his leg. I tried to find a results list but never did determine how I placed until I returned home and checked the web. My time was only good enough for 6th place – it’s tough to compete against those 50-year old youngsters!
Time to head back to the hotel to soak the old legs. Then my sports manager and I decided to walk downtown and do our 100th+ circuit of the downtown streets. There wasn’t much else to do in Podgorica!

As we did our continuous loops around the downtown area we searched for one of the best restaurants in the city for dinner. No way were we going to eat at our hotel again – even if it was paid for! We had a great dinner – steak, wine, dessert, coffee, liqueur and tip for $25. But we were glad that the trip was almost over. My sports manager commented that she felt like she was trapped and living in that movie ‘Groundhog Day’. “My God”, she cried “Every morning I wake up and I am still in Podgorica”! She also claimed that she was NOT going to the last four marathons/countries in Europe! She had seen enough of the Balkans and former Soviet countries.

Fortunately Monday morning came (but she still woke up in Podgorica!) and we were on our way HOME! We had an early flight back to Belgrade to catch a flight to LHR. There was some disappointing news when we arrived in Belgrade. Yugoslav Airlines (JAT) had cancelled the Monday flight to LHR. I had to find customer service. I believe that they were going to tell us we had to wait in Belgrade for a few days until the next flight was scheduled to LHR. But I forcefully explained that we had a dinner appointment in London that night and a connecting flight to the USA on Tue. So they booked us on Lufthansa via Dusseldorf to LHR. But we now had a 3-hour wait at the Belgrade airport and would arrive in London 4 hours later than planned.

While we were waiting at the airport Emmanuel and Ramzi walked by? They had decided to leave Podgorica and try to get home early. We had a very long and pleasant chat. They invited me to run a marathon in their home towns (Tunis and Nairobi). I invited them to stay with us if they visited the US. Then they asked me if I would consider taking them and a few other elite runners on as a manager and coach? Ummmm? That might be interesting and fun and it could help me pay for my trips to races all around the world? I’m still thinking about that suggestion/request.

We finally arrived in London at 5 pm – 4 hours late. I called one of my friends from the airport – explained the situation and asked them to meet us at our hotel. We barely had time to get to the hotel and have a quick shower before three running mates who live in the London area showed up to take us out on the town for the night. Since they know the city they took us to a ‘real’ pub close to the hotel. We enjoyed a wonderful evening – had lots of great beer, good food (I finally got my cottage pie) and lots of fun. My sports manager and I looked at each other and agreed “we deserve this after spending two weeks in the Balkans’!

But no matter how difficult and frustrating some of the times may have been ALL of the trip was interesting. And it certainly provided good training for our next international trip/marathon/adventure. Where’s that you say?

India – in Jan, 2004.

Stay tuned!