Fast Running Blog

So who here is running the Boston Marathon?  I want to know because I may need someone to pick up my number for me and then meet me later. Here's the details:
I get in at 3:40pm on Sunday and so might be late if the flight is delayed.
I'll be staying at the Marriot Courtyard near the Boston Common.
So if you live in the area (Salt Lake City) and will be in Boston that weekend AND want to do my a huge favor then please respond

email me at:jmoore@math.utah.edu
or call me in the evening at 801-883-9875

Thanks, in advance
James Moore (fiddy)

Oh, also feel free to discuss anything else Boston related in this space.

Walter Brown is running Boston this year, so look him up on the blog (Walter) and send a note.

Good luck, hope you have a good weather year!

You should probably hook up with Walter and work together for a while. You are about the same fitness level.

James, Just don't go out too hard. That was the toughest part of Boston for me. It is strange being around so many talented runners in one marathon that you don't even notice how fast you are going. That and the fact that nearly the entire course is lined with fans makes the adrenaline take over early...

Yes, yes, definitely relax at the start.  I went out so fast that I actually hit the wall at mile 15.  It is not fun running 11 miles after that.  Go real easy for at least the first 5-10 miles.

Stop and tell the girls from Wellesley "HI" from me!

I will be running Boston again this year along with Chris Pusey ( A.Fork) and Doug Cutler ( Alpine) We are staying in Marlboro at the holday Inn. it is about 10 miles noirthwest of Hopkinton and allows us to get to the start without having to go downtown and board the cattle wagons. Hope it is not too hot or too windy. You never know outh there as the last two years have shown.
JC

Is Chris Pusey related to Jacob Pusey? I raced against Jacob in the Salt Lake Marathon in 2004, but did not get to talk to him afterwards. And have not seen him in races since.

I ran with Walter a bit on Monday at the oval, and we talked about Boston. We're both doing it. I can do you a favor. I'll be staying downtown at the Hilton.

Thanks for the replies guys. I found someone to pick up my number. What are you shooting for in Boston Craig?

I'm shooting for a sub-3:00 time. Probably 2:55. The 8 straight weeks of travel messed up my diet and weight a bit, so I'm not optimistic about my original sub-2:50 goal for Boston. My goal is to use it as a good training marathon and pick up a PR in the 1/2 marathon at Ogden in May.

Boston is great.  I lost focus the first few miles going too slow because I was amazed that I was actually running it.  Then I got back on pace.  Just don't let the crowd get you going too fast too early.  Use the crowd support at the end for your adrenaline.

Hey! I was wondering if there were going to be any fastrunningblog.'ers in Boston! I am also going, to watch the Olympic trials on Sunday (grumble, grumble) and to race on Monday (early women's start). I have yet to order a fastrunningblog singlet though.....
I've been keeping my log on Athleticore but checking in with you guys frequently. So few coming to Boston though?

Well I think so few feel the need to run Boston when there's plenty of good marathon's out here. I bet most are running Ogden. I wanted to run because I get a little bored of races with so few people up front. I'm looking forward to the huge pack there. I've also yet to order my fast running blog singlet.

Chad's blog still says he has some FRB singlets available and he is in SLC- you may want to contact him if you want one quickly.

If anyone is interested, I will post the Boston Marathon live results as I check them...
Here is the 5K split for Walter, Craig, and James M, and Katie Danner
Walter - 17:32
Craig - 19:49
James - 18:45
Katie - 19:44

10K split -
Walter - 35:21 (5:42)
Craig - 40:15 (6:30)
James - 37:04 (5:59)
Katie - 39:56

15K split -
Walter - 53:17 (5:44)
James - 55:20 (5:57)
Craig - 1:00:17 (6:29)
Katie - 1:00:26

20K split -
Walter 1:12:04 (5:49)
James - 1:13:40 (5:56)
Craig - missed
Katie - 1:21:28

1/2 Marathon
Walter - 1:16:08 (5:49)
James - 1:17:37 (5:55)
Craig - 1:25:16 (6:31)
Katie - 1:26:07 (6:34)

25K
Walter - 1:31:01 (5:52)
James - 1:32:07 (5:57)
Craig - 1:40:43 (6:30)
Katie - 1:42:45 (6:38)

30K
Walter - 1:50:20 (5:56)
James - 1:51:10 (5:59)
Craig - 2:01:24 (6:32)
Katie - 2:05:12 (6:44)

35K
Walter - 2:11:36 (6:04)
James -2:10:54 (6:02)
Craig - 2:21:38 (6:32)
Katie - 2:27:57 (6:49)

40K
Walter - 2:37:44 (6:22)
James - 2:31:13 (6:06)
Craig - 2:41:30 (6:31)
Katie - 2:53:03 (6:59)

Finish
James - 2:40:27 (6:07) 177 overall
Walter - 2:49:22 (6:28) 428 overall
Craig - 2:50:30 (6:30) 471 overall
Katie - 3:04:23 (7:02) 389 overall 36th woman

Are those the only 3 running it?  What are the bib numbers?  I know Walter is 1234.

Thanks Cody!

Walter 1234
Craig 1794
James 1774
Katie Danner F31

I don't know who else is running.  Let me know and I can add them to the list...

I thought Katie was watching it- apparently she is running it as an elite, based on her start time and bib number!

Looks like Robert Cheruiyot won in 2:07:46 (4:53). 
Great time!

The women came down to a sprint at the final 400m, with only a 2 second difference.  Closest women's race ever.

Wow, Walter was running strong through the 30K mark (2:35 target), I wonder what happened over the last 12K?  I noticed he beat Lance Armstrong by 1:30!

What are the final times?

Finish
James - 2:40:27 (6:07) 177 overall
Walter - 2:49:22 (6:28) 428 overall
Craig - 2:50:30 (6:30) 471 overall
Katie - 3:04:23 (7:02) 389 overall 36th woman

All 3 guys beat Lance.  He admitted before the race that he didn't train as hard as he should have.

Wasn't this Lances excuse last time!?!  Or maybe marathoning is harder than he expected.

He admits he would like to do well, but is pretty laid back and says he doesn't train near as hard as he could.  So that is what leads to his times- you can't fake it in a marathon.  He says he is too busy travelling for his charity and spending time with his family to really train hard, so I can't find fault in his priorities. 

This is what Lance said after about the marathon and the hills:

Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times on the strength of his work in the mountains. When he started preparing for Boston, his third marathon, some race veterans told him the hills weren't as difficult as their reputation made them out to be.

"They were wrong," said Armstrong, who finished 496th in 2:50:58. "They are harder, and they do come at a difficult time in the race."

So I ran it with Lance, or at least most of the race. He ran the first half pretty conservatively, enough to where I got impatient and pulled ahead. Then he came back and caught me at mile 16, so we ran the rest of the race with each other. I can tell you that he was pretty strong that last half, and we were passing TONS of guys all over the place. He was pushing it, trying to make his goal of 2:49 (which was also my goal). We both came up a little short, but we battled it to the end.

Check it: http://wbztv.com/video/?id=61668@wbz.dayport.com (http://wbztv.com/video/?id=61668@wbz.dayport.com). I'm in the red tank top behind him at first, then I go by him on the right at the last stretch. He probably didn't train the best, but he's still tough.

I would like to see Lance compete in a triathlon.  When I was about 16 I remember reading about him as a teenage tri-prodigy.  He was setting records even then.

Oh I agree, he is one tough cookie.  To do what he has done you have to be.  And I think he has his priorities straight.  I think if he trained right he would do alot better.  I just think it is funny when people make the same excuses time after time.

So after seeing the Boston Marathon it makes me hungry to go back.  I think we should get a good group to go back in 2010.  So get preparing to quilfy so you all can come:)

Why are you skipping 2009?

Because Marcie can't go until then and it will give people time to save money and prepare.

Yeah this was a pretty great race and having a big group there would be great.

Am I the only one tired of hearing him talk about he hasn't trained as hard as he wants to? It's a great way to set expectations low and have an excuse for not hitting the sub 2:20 he said he could hit before he ran his first marathon.

And why in the world does he get his own tape at the finish line...give me a break. I would have expected better than that from the most prestigious marathon in the world.

My hats off to the other 2:50 runners (or 4:50 runners) who worked just as hard or harder and crossed the same finish line everyone else did.

the finish tape was a whole pr thing. now boston can publicize itself by showing pictures of lance finishing. "we're still prestigious and up-to-date because lance ran here", etc.

for a brief moment it seemed he didn't want to go over to the other chute, and I actually felt bad for him having to do it, because it seemed like he has to deal with that kind of thing all the time. i think it was more of a BAA thing, too. But he still made the decision to go over to the other line, which he may not of had to do.

I think lance is content to get awards and achievements for little work at this point in his career. I wouldn't be suprised if he somehow won an ESPY or something for best male athlete just by running NYC and Boston, and somehow being "inspirational".

If he wins an Espy then I am canceling my subscription to ESPN. He's was/maybe is one of the world's best athletes who dominated a sport that requires tremendous endurance, particularly leg strength and cardiovascular excellence. It's not very "inspirational" that someone of his incredible athleticism runs a 2:50 marathon. Give an Espy to the guy who pushes his crippled son up and down the hills of Boston. That's inspirational. Don't get me wrong. I'm a HUGE Lance fan. He made me a fan of the Tour de France and it was something I looked forward to every year. But I wasn't a fan of the special treatment he got in his first marathon (illegal pacers) and I'm no fan of the most prestigious marathon on the planet caving to the almighty dollar to get a few photo opps. To me it's a slap in the face to the other 20,000 runners who worked just as hard if not harder to get into and run that race. I don't pin the finish line thing on Lance. I'm disappointed BAA went down the path that seemingly every other sports organization is going down.

I agree with Sean, why in the world did Lance get a tape to break?  There were nearly 500 runners in front of him (including our Bloggers).  And so much for his "low 2:40's" prediction, if you are going to commit to a goal, put the time in and don't come up with the lame excuse of "I didn't have time to train."  We all are busy and we put in the training time.

I do not think that Haile would get his own tape if he decided to ride in the Tour De France. In fact, I do not think they would even let him ride at all. Which goes to show that cycling beats running as far as public attention is concerned. This is good news and bad news. Good because it shows an endurance sport could be very popular. Bad for us because running is not there. What can we do to fix it? I've shared some thoughts on it in another thread, but more thoughts are welcome.

I think some of it is individual marketing. I, for one, couldn't name one cyclist besides Lance. And yeah, the Tour De France is pretty popular to watch here in America, but how much of that is because of Lance? And what other international cycling events are popular in the U.S.? None that I know of.

My point is that Lance has done a superb job in marketing himself. He has a great personal story, has set records, dates rock stars, and hangs out with actors. People in the U.S. eat that up. The only runner who comes close to that is Dean Karnazes, and then other runners bash him for selling out and not being a "purist". Of course, Dean is not even in the same galaxy of talent as Lance, nor does he date rock stars. But he is a marketing genius. If someone with Ryan Hall's talent had Dean Karnazes' marketing ability, and Lance's story and media flair, then perhaps running would then have an ambassador.

Most runners would rather just train and live their lives rather than becoming media darlings, but I think that's what it takes to become visible in our society. So we need someone who is:
1. Exceptionally fast (American record or world record quality)
2. Good-looking
3. Charismatic
4. Likes to be in the spotlight
5. Willing to sell out a little bit and take some flak from all the "purists" out there.

I only have 3 of those 5 qualities, so it's going to have to be someone else.

Lance was actually upset that he got is on finishing tape so it really wasn't his idea.  But he really doesn't take the sport serious and for that to get the time he got is amazing.

I'm laughing just trying to think of how to respond to that...

I'm laughing just trying to figure out which ones he thinks he has, I know that # 1 is a given.  What are the other 2?  and I am sure some of us could teach you the rest.

Knowing Paul and his humor, he might be claiming to have any of the 5, though he won't say which.  I would say he would lean toward 2-4, but 5 is right up there.  He wouldn't claim American record speed quite yet, at least for another year.  Which is it, Paul?