To BQ, but not be at Boston.
13, 108...that's my Boston Qualifier marathon in seconds. Sure, it's spread out over 3 hours, 38 minutes and 28 seconds along a trail that was 26.2 miles long, but that's still a lot of seconds.
Turns out that my first BQ was six seconds too many.
It started out in 2008 at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. I was in great shape, for me that is. Shooting for a finishing time of 3:35.59 or less, my recent 20 miler and a couple of tune up 5k's said this was a very doable time. Funny how so many things can crop up on race day.
As the race was about to start I realized the guy that passed my at mile 18 in the 20 miler was standing a couple feet away. We talked about goals and I thought I could just pace behind him for a while and see how it goes. Feeling good, as most of us do at the start, I kept within 50 yards or so for the first mile. Bad move, I was a minute ahead of pace! Ugh, what was he doing running so fast? I backed off and as I tried to regroup I noticed I had been pulling my running shorts up the whole time. What the heck? Oh, the weight of the five gel packs I had pinned to my waistband was pulling them down. So there I am, running too fast, holding the drawstring with one hand, trying to slow my pace down. Not a good sight.
At mile 7 my family saw me run by and I looked good. Friend Kevin, too, thought I looked great. And I did, it was only mile 7 for goodness sake. Just a mile before the deluge. Yep, big 'ol rain drops began to pelt the runners. Nice and cold, too. Holy crap, it rained for miles and my quads began to fill not with water but a heavy, wet cement. The rest of my now numbing body slowly chilled to the core. Passing family and friends around the half way point they knew something was up, how could it not be? Cold, wet, rain....glossy eyed runner with a slight pink hue. Uh, oh, this was going to be a long second half.
At 22 miles my son Spencer (and the rest of my family) saw how bad I looked and he jumped in and gave me some encouragement, I'm sure it was tough to watch me struggle in. About a half mile from the finish I saw Kevin standing on the side of the course. I caught sight of him just after he saw me, and he was turned about half way round, trying not to stare at the carnage that was my running gait. Looking back we laugh and joke about the car crash that I was, how he tried not to look but there was that macabre sense of just having to look, at least a bit, and my marathon transformation from fleet of foot to flat on my face was too much to miss watching as I rounded the last corner to the finish.
The good news was that even after a terrible race day, I was less than six minutes off my BQ, coming in at 3:42.12. I would get it next time. Or so I thought!
MTCM 2011 seemed to be another great day, my friend Bryan was going to run with me, and as we lined up with the 3:40 pace group we were determined to hang with them til 20, then take off for the last 10k. With the way Boston entries go, I would be able to race just after turning 55, so my BQ, even with the recent reduction of 5:59 per age group, was now 3:40.00. It went fine until mile five, that was when the pacer said, "I'm going to the bathroom." We never saw him again. The group of 15 or so runners began to chatter about the pacer, then freak out, then disperse into the crowd. Bryan nor I had a pace band, just a regular watch to check our miles. We ran too fast, then too slow, and finally around mile 16 we were doing great. At 21 it began to sink in, the hills were dragging me down and the faster miles mid race were coming back to haunt me. It was my own fault for not preparing for pace, and at 23 it was cement legs all over again. Bryan tried to talk and motivate me the last few miles, but it was not to be. Dragging across the finish line in 3:42.21, nearly identical to the last marathon, but this time only 2 minutes off. I would strike again another day.
Attempt three for my BQ was planned for Grandma's Marathon, 2012. My training partner Dave was going to run with me, and I knew by our training he would be there the whole way. My wife J'net was going to run with our other training partner, Stan and they would also be running strong. Bryan was on his own, hoping for a sub 3:00.
Too bad the weather was 70' and very humid at the start, otherwise it would have been a beautiful day! Ugh, at 8 miles in I said to Dave, "Hey, I'm sweating! It's way too early to be sweating, Dave!" It got ugly early. At mile 11 Dave pulled over to take a leak, and waited in line, doh! He spent two miles racing to catch up, and never recovered. It didn't matter, I was nearing wipe out by humidity and the last 8 miles loomed like a hard ride across pavement towards exhaustion. At 16 I had pulled ahead of Dave and was running in a coma when I happened to hear my name called. It was Bryan, he had dropped out at 16 miles due to not feeling well. About a mile later he pulled up along side and filled me in on what happened. He was feeling better and when he saw me, then Dave go by he jumped back into the race. He tried to make jokes, but I would have nothing to do with it. I'm sure I sounded like a jerk, "Hey, I really can't talk right now, I'm just trying to keep running." He ran a few more strides and then said, "I think I'll see what I have left, good luck." It was a smart move on his part, I faded badly, listing like the Edmund Fitzgerald until I finally hit bottom at the finish line. 3:44.40. Dave followed me in a couple minutes later. It was a tough day all around, Stan crashed at 13, and Jeanette pulled him in around 4:25.00. A tough day in Duluth for many a runner.
Dave, Stan and Bryan signed up for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon within a month, J'net and I signed up for Whistle Stop, a small trail run in Ashland, Wisconsin. All of us wanted revenge!
It would be a great four months of training between Grandma's and the October marathons. We all recovered well and then began building back up. Great runs, fast workouts, and we all had decided to taper differently than the previous marathons. It was a bit of a gamble, but we were all confident the new taper format was the missing key to our day of race success.
MTC was a week before Whistle Stop, so J'net and I had the pleasure of cheering on our friends during the race. It was also fun to be at an expo and drink all the stuff and snack on the munchies without having to worry about racing! I had a blast at the expo!
28' at the start, we had signs to hold and coffee to keep us warm as we waited at a number of spots along the course to see Bryan, Dave and Stan go by. It was great! They looked super, we saw them at three places and then the finish we saw Bryan and Dave.
The results were fantastic. Bryan hit a BQ at just over 3:00, Dave set a PR at 3:39 and Stan also set a PR at 3:56. It was very encouraging for me to know everyone did well, especially Dave. He was my benchmark so the pressure was on...he did it, now I can too!
A week later I was at the starting line of a quaint trail marathon, flat course, 48', slight mist, it was near perfect conditions. Like I said to Dave, "Go out slow, and then slow down some more." That paid dividends for me later in the race. I kept my attitude fun, saying hi to runners, encouraging them on, talking to others. It was a super day. I remember that my son Spencer and my brother Al were also racing that day, both in cross country meets. I wanted to do my best and all sorts of things motivated me. Sure, there were a few tough times but I bounced back and at mile 20 I thought about going with a guy that was picking up the pace, but it was just a bit too fast. After crashes in my past three marathons I lacked the confidence to go for 3:35, so I kept on my 3:40 pace. With three miles to go the wheels fell off, oh my, it was tough sledding. I holed up at the single table water stop, took a good drink of water and Gatoraid, and told myself that I was not going to let this one slip by. This one was my time to BQ. Ugh, run, walk, run, run, walk. Those last three were brutal. I picked it up with a half mile to go and saw Jeanette near the finish, clapping and cheering. She had been along the course with Bruce, Val's husband, cheering Val and I along the way. Jeanette had gotten sick and was not able to run. I turned the last corner and saw 3:38 on the clock and finished in 3:38.28, a BQ by 1:32. Val finished around 4:11.
Unfortunately that's six seconds slower than what I needed to get into the Boston Marathon for 2014. Six measly seconds.
Does it matter? Kind of. But I'll remember the day in Ashland, the near perfect race and the joy I had and was able to share with family and friends that knew of my struggles to BQ. It was a victory for me that I was able to share and not being able to race at Boston is only a slight bother.
My BQ race was a wicked good day!
Turns out that my first BQ was six seconds too many.
It started out in 2008 at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. I was in great shape, for me that is. Shooting for a finishing time of 3:35.59 or less, my recent 20 miler and a couple of tune up 5k's said this was a very doable time. Funny how so many things can crop up on race day.
As the race was about to start I realized the guy that passed my at mile 18 in the 20 miler was standing a couple feet away. We talked about goals and I thought I could just pace behind him for a while and see how it goes. Feeling good, as most of us do at the start, I kept within 50 yards or so for the first mile. Bad move, I was a minute ahead of pace! Ugh, what was he doing running so fast? I backed off and as I tried to regroup I noticed I had been pulling my running shorts up the whole time. What the heck? Oh, the weight of the five gel packs I had pinned to my waistband was pulling them down. So there I am, running too fast, holding the drawstring with one hand, trying to slow my pace down. Not a good sight.
At mile 7 my family saw me run by and I looked good. Friend Kevin, too, thought I looked great. And I did, it was only mile 7 for goodness sake. Just a mile before the deluge. Yep, big 'ol rain drops began to pelt the runners. Nice and cold, too. Holy crap, it rained for miles and my quads began to fill not with water but a heavy, wet cement. The rest of my now numbing body slowly chilled to the core. Passing family and friends around the half way point they knew something was up, how could it not be? Cold, wet, rain....glossy eyed runner with a slight pink hue. Uh, oh, this was going to be a long second half.
At 22 miles my son Spencer (and the rest of my family) saw how bad I looked and he jumped in and gave me some encouragement, I'm sure it was tough to watch me struggle in. About a half mile from the finish I saw Kevin standing on the side of the course. I caught sight of him just after he saw me, and he was turned about half way round, trying not to stare at the carnage that was my running gait. Looking back we laugh and joke about the car crash that I was, how he tried not to look but there was that macabre sense of just having to look, at least a bit, and my marathon transformation from fleet of foot to flat on my face was too much to miss watching as I rounded the last corner to the finish.
The good news was that even after a terrible race day, I was less than six minutes off my BQ, coming in at 3:42.12. I would get it next time. Or so I thought!
MTCM 2011 seemed to be another great day, my friend Bryan was going to run with me, and as we lined up with the 3:40 pace group we were determined to hang with them til 20, then take off for the last 10k. With the way Boston entries go, I would be able to race just after turning 55, so my BQ, even with the recent reduction of 5:59 per age group, was now 3:40.00. It went fine until mile five, that was when the pacer said, "I'm going to the bathroom." We never saw him again. The group of 15 or so runners began to chatter about the pacer, then freak out, then disperse into the crowd. Bryan nor I had a pace band, just a regular watch to check our miles. We ran too fast, then too slow, and finally around mile 16 we were doing great. At 21 it began to sink in, the hills were dragging me down and the faster miles mid race were coming back to haunt me. It was my own fault for not preparing for pace, and at 23 it was cement legs all over again. Bryan tried to talk and motivate me the last few miles, but it was not to be. Dragging across the finish line in 3:42.21, nearly identical to the last marathon, but this time only 2 minutes off. I would strike again another day.
Attempt three for my BQ was planned for Grandma's Marathon, 2012. My training partner Dave was going to run with me, and I knew by our training he would be there the whole way. My wife J'net was going to run with our other training partner, Stan and they would also be running strong. Bryan was on his own, hoping for a sub 3:00.
Too bad the weather was 70' and very humid at the start, otherwise it would have been a beautiful day! Ugh, at 8 miles in I said to Dave, "Hey, I'm sweating! It's way too early to be sweating, Dave!" It got ugly early. At mile 11 Dave pulled over to take a leak, and waited in line, doh! He spent two miles racing to catch up, and never recovered. It didn't matter, I was nearing wipe out by humidity and the last 8 miles loomed like a hard ride across pavement towards exhaustion. At 16 I had pulled ahead of Dave and was running in a coma when I happened to hear my name called. It was Bryan, he had dropped out at 16 miles due to not feeling well. About a mile later he pulled up along side and filled me in on what happened. He was feeling better and when he saw me, then Dave go by he jumped back into the race. He tried to make jokes, but I would have nothing to do with it. I'm sure I sounded like a jerk, "Hey, I really can't talk right now, I'm just trying to keep running." He ran a few more strides and then said, "I think I'll see what I have left, good luck." It was a smart move on his part, I faded badly, listing like the Edmund Fitzgerald until I finally hit bottom at the finish line. 3:44.40. Dave followed me in a couple minutes later. It was a tough day all around, Stan crashed at 13, and Jeanette pulled him in around 4:25.00. A tough day in Duluth for many a runner.
Dave, Stan and Bryan signed up for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon within a month, J'net and I signed up for Whistle Stop, a small trail run in Ashland, Wisconsin. All of us wanted revenge!
It would be a great four months of training between Grandma's and the October marathons. We all recovered well and then began building back up. Great runs, fast workouts, and we all had decided to taper differently than the previous marathons. It was a bit of a gamble, but we were all confident the new taper format was the missing key to our day of race success.
MTC was a week before Whistle Stop, so J'net and I had the pleasure of cheering on our friends during the race. It was also fun to be at an expo and drink all the stuff and snack on the munchies without having to worry about racing! I had a blast at the expo!
28' at the start, we had signs to hold and coffee to keep us warm as we waited at a number of spots along the course to see Bryan, Dave and Stan go by. It was great! They looked super, we saw them at three places and then the finish we saw Bryan and Dave.
The results were fantastic. Bryan hit a BQ at just over 3:00, Dave set a PR at 3:39 and Stan also set a PR at 3:56. It was very encouraging for me to know everyone did well, especially Dave. He was my benchmark so the pressure was on...he did it, now I can too!
A week later I was at the starting line of a quaint trail marathon, flat course, 48', slight mist, it was near perfect conditions. Like I said to Dave, "Go out slow, and then slow down some more." That paid dividends for me later in the race. I kept my attitude fun, saying hi to runners, encouraging them on, talking to others. It was a super day. I remember that my son Spencer and my brother Al were also racing that day, both in cross country meets. I wanted to do my best and all sorts of things motivated me. Sure, there were a few tough times but I bounced back and at mile 20 I thought about going with a guy that was picking up the pace, but it was just a bit too fast. After crashes in my past three marathons I lacked the confidence to go for 3:35, so I kept on my 3:40 pace. With three miles to go the wheels fell off, oh my, it was tough sledding. I holed up at the single table water stop, took a good drink of water and Gatoraid, and told myself that I was not going to let this one slip by. This one was my time to BQ. Ugh, run, walk, run, run, walk. Those last three were brutal. I picked it up with a half mile to go and saw Jeanette near the finish, clapping and cheering. She had been along the course with Bruce, Val's husband, cheering Val and I along the way. Jeanette had gotten sick and was not able to run. I turned the last corner and saw 3:38 on the clock and finished in 3:38.28, a BQ by 1:32. Val finished around 4:11.
Unfortunately that's six seconds slower than what I needed to get into the Boston Marathon for 2014. Six measly seconds.
Does it matter? Kind of. But I'll remember the day in Ashland, the near perfect race and the joy I had and was able to share with family and friends that knew of my struggles to BQ. It was a victory for me that I was able to share and not being able to race at Boston is only a slight bother.
My BQ race was a wicked good day!
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