WE ARE MARSHALL
Sunday's Marshall University Marathon was a good one but did get brutal. Temps started at 42 degrees and ended at 72 degrees when I finished. We picked Marshall to memorialize the 75 football players/coaches that died in a plane crash in 1970. You probably remember this from the movie We Are Marshall. During the race you get to place a rose on the Memorial Fountain (if you so wish to give up precious time) or you can hand your rose off to a volunteer to place it for you. The last 100 yards you actually run on the Thundering Herd's Football Field and carry a football to the finish line.
I went with 3 Fasttrackers: Tom Chaves (created my website), Keith Straw (the fairy), and Elden Monday who wanted to beat 3:15 and qualify for Boston. My friend and chiropractor, Andy Harris, went with us too. Andy ran for ALS.
With the temperatures low during the first half of the race everyone was on pace for a PR. Keith , a 3:12 marathoner paced Elden and they had a 90 minute half marathon. Amazing. Keith finished with a PR of 3:10 and 3rd place for 50-54. Elden got his BQ with a 3:13. Yeah! Please see picture of Elden #112 temporarily beating the fairy:
Tom has to get a 3:30 to qualify, he usually runs a 3:40. He ran an on target 1:40 half and managed to finish under 4 hours -- the heat got to him. The heat got to me and Andy as well. I ran a 1:53 first half, felt easy. I thought I kept the same effort the second half but finished with a 4:01:37. Andy ran a 1:59 half and finished with a 4:44. Andy, built for football more than running usually runs 4:15. He came in half naked, put his ALS shirt on before carrying the football the last 100 yards on Marshall's football field.
I witnessed 3 collapses on the course due to cramps. First a girl at 20 miles, I gave her all my Tums for calcium. At mile 21 a 50 year old man's legs gave out and he landed straight back on the towpath, volunteers helped him up. While waiting for Andy to finish, I saw a man in his fifties at the 30 yard line raise the football over his head and his legs gave out and he landed straight back on the turf. Other runners carrying their footballs ran over and around him, not kidding. Then 2 big guy volunteers helped the man up and he eventually hobbled over the finish line killing 2 minutes of his time.
Keith was in his hay-day. When he got to the starting line in his fairy costume people took pictures of him, told him it was a "pleasure" to meet him, recognized him in Oct and Dec. Runner's World . Elden said guys were bitching during the race ,"We can't let the fairy beat us!" Keith beat them. After the race we all ate at The Marshall Cafe and tons of people came over to meet Keith (in regular clothes now) and took pictures. We were all gagging of course
REMEMBER THE ALAMO
San Antonio was a great city to visit. I did all the touristy things: Alamo,
River Walk, Tower of the Americas, Buckhorn Saloon, Menger Hotel. I learned a
lot about the great history of Texas. I really appreciate the Lone Star
State. Here's my marathon story:
Sunday morning was the marathon. It was anticlimactic compared to my great
tourist experience. Although it was sunny and warm for the most part on Friday
and Saturday, Sunday decided to be cold. I thought the marathon would be fun
since it was called a Rock ‘n Roll Marathon and rock bands were supposed to line
the course every mile.
I was extremely disappointed with the bands. There really weren't that many as
advertised and when I ran by them they were not playing half the time.
Sometimes people would yell “Play something!"; "Shut up and sing!" I thought
it was just the pace I was running. But it turns out most people said they
didn't hear that much music.
There were also shuttle problems and freeway traffic jams before the race. Many
people didn't make it to the start on time. The race was supposed to start at
7:30am. It started 10 minutes late and my corral started 10 minutes after
that. And runners still missed the start time. I was frozen by the time I ran.
My toes were numb and hurt until about miles 4-6. By then I could finally spring
off my toes. It was 35 degrees standing and waiting. When the sun came out it
was strong and felt good. I think it was 57 degrees when I finished. The race
was advertised as a fast flat course. It really wasn't flat like Detroit or
Marshall. There were many inclines, not hills per se but noticeable inclines on
my bad hamstring. Even the ramp at the end to finish in Parking lot C at the
Alamodome was a pain in the legs. Many people stopped dead in their tracks,
cramping up trying to get up the last ramp. I bet they added 10 minutes to their
time. Luckily I didn't cramp up.
I finished in 4 hours 3 minutes. I told my friend, Jack, I would run it in about
4 hours and I would meet him at the Family Gathering area under the letter “P”
flag. No one told the spectators that the race started so late. They could
have informed family/friends what time each corral started. Not good. Jack was
worried when I didn’t come in and checked with the Medical Tent 3 times. He was
happy to finally see me walking to the “P” flag. Well, at least I have my Texas
finisher’s medal: #17. It has the Alamo and 2 guitars on it. Appropriate!
So that’s my San Antonio story.
