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Ogden Marathon 2012

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Location:

North Ogden,UT,U.S.

Member Since:

May 23, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

5K- 14:58, 10K- 31:05, 1/2- 1:06:47 Marathon- 2:23:29

3rd- Park City Marathon 2008

3rd and 4th Ogden Marathon 2010; 12'

5th, 3rd, and 7th- Utah Valley Marathon 2011;14'; 16'

9th, 3rd,11th, 8th, 5th, 8th St. George Marathon 2010, 11',13',14',15'16'

2nd- Deseret News Marathon 2015

1st- SandHollow Marathon- 2016 (CR***)

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

2024 POTENTIAL RACES

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

                                                                          -Helen Keller

              

 

Personal:

Married to Nikki we have 4 children. Jaerdan, Korver, Grady and Lyla McKell

Head XC/Track Coach at Weber High

Graduated from Weber State with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Athletic Therapy.

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 257.46
Race: Ogden Marathon 2012 (26.2 Miles) 02:32:32, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.0026.200.000.0027.20

OGDEN MARATHON

Okay so I am going to make this short and sweet. Before I get started I just want to Congratulate Fritz on another incredible Marathon. To be honest I felt that if I could've ran the race that I wanted to, it was going to be a close finish between us. But even on my best day I wouldn't have been close. I could tell by mile 7 that Fritz was out for blood and that he was going for the course record no matter what. With that said, Congrats Fritz and I honestly hope the best for you in this upcoming year.

Got up to the starting line around 6:15, hit the bathroom once. Started warming up around 6:45 and hit the bathroom one more time at my secret bathroom. Always nice not waiting in line to go.

Made it to the starting line with 2 minutes to spare. talked to Fritz for a second, Steve Anderson, Seth Wold. Then the race got started. Immediately the race was separated with Fritz out in the lead then Seth and I. My goal was just to keep Fritz in site and not let him get more than a 3 minute lead at the half. 

The first 7 miles really went by fast legs felt good and I felt really comfortable. Splits were pretty even, My goal for the rolling hills in the valley were to take them easy and keep the heart rate down and just run comfortable through the half. Around mile 9 I had to stop and urinate and this is where Seth Wold dropped me. I didn't think it was a big deal, I figured if I that I would catch back up to him eventually. But it never happened, I managed to stay within 30 seconds back from him from mile 9-22. I could see him the whole time I just couldn't catch him. My dad met up with me around mile 14 to see how I was doing and for some reason I wasn't doing to well. My breathing was short and my hamstring was feeling really tight.

But I didn't let that play into factor of how I was running, I have ran through much worse pain and this was just slight pain. Unfortunately the hamstring just wouldn't have it today. By the time I hit the canyon my goal was to drop the pace in to the 5:15- 5:25 range and start the negative split for the second half. But I couldnt drop the pace like I wanted to. I wasn't catching Seth and I was just praying that I could finish strong. Unfortunately my race ended @ mile 24. Hamstring tightened up and I was just spent. I ended up getting passed with a half mile left from the finish and there was nothing  I could do. Riley and Scott ran next to me for most of Grant Avenue which was much appreciated. Finished the race in 2:32:32 place overall was 4th.

The body is weird, it's amazing how you can train for a race and have awesome workouts throughout the entire winter and spring and then on the most important day where you want to see the benefits from the training and it doesn't happen. But it is what it is, I took 4th place and that's what I deserved. 3 other people ran better than I did and I can't change that. The only thing that I proud of is that I never gave up on the race. I gave it my best for what I had in my legs for that day. It just wasn't my day, so no regrets!

Splits-

1- 5:27

2- 5:37

3- 5:33

4- 5:32

5- 5:33

6-5:33

7- 5:36

8- 5:34

9- 5:56

10- 5:42

11-5:52

12-5:48

13 and half- 5:47 and half 1:14:08 (right where I wanted to be, felt like a 1:11 second half was totally doable)

14- 5:47

15- 5:58

16- 5:42

17- 5:45

18- 5:33

19- 5:41

20-5:45

21-5:44

22-5:37

23-25- Didnt push the split button on my watch but average pace was 6:20 min/miles

26- 6:48

.20- 1:35 seconds

 



LunaRacer (black) Miles: 27.20
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Mon, May 21, 2012 at 10:37:28 from 74.211.21.81

Marathoning is just up and down. Honestly only very few can consistently show up to races and run them as planned. The rest of us just get one here and there and have to suffer through the crap in-between.

Having said that good job for pushing through. Your race is super similar to mine at Ogden from 08. Wanted to run faster down the canyon and pick things up but just never could get going.

Don't get down on yourself. The training has been there for months so recover up and hit a few half's over the summer then rock a marathon this fall.

From RileyCook on Mon, May 21, 2012 at 10:49:58 from 132.3.57.68

Ben, I think the real positive here is that you didn't have your "A" game or even your "B" game, and yet you still managed a good time. That's when you know you're becoming a better runner, when your "bad" times really aren't all that bad. You're in great shape, just keep training hard and you'll see the benefits soon enough. Good job on Saturday and way to stay tough.

From Jake K on Mon, May 21, 2012 at 10:52:42 from 155.100.226.54

Nice job Ben. You've jumped to a new level of running this winter. The workouts you've done don't lie - you are really fit and you are going to have some more great races this year. The thing about the marathon is that like Clyde said, its a crapshoot sometimes. Its hard to really run a time that shows your true fitness level and what you are capable of. It takes a combo of experience and a bit of luck.

You have a 2:25 or faster in you - it might just take a couple tries to make it happen. Keep your head up and keep pushing forward. When it clicks and you hit it good on the right day, you'll pop off a killer marathon time.

From Fritz on Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:03:10 from 65.116.116.6

Ben, the mutual respect is there. Based on your workouts and your ramp up to this race I was anticipating it to be close. But like you said, sometimes the body just does't respond as intended or even worse an injury pops up out of nowhere. It took me at least 10 marathons before I got through one without nutrition issues, an injury and/or a complete blow up. Despite the tough day you should obviously still feel very proud for hanging in there to the end and for all the hard work you put into this. If nothing else you have set yourself up for some great times in the future. Your day will come.

From scottkeate on Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:24:17 from 216.49.181.254

Ben, there is no doubt your workouts indicated that a faster race was in you. You've got a great base and are bound for some stellar races this summer. Hope you're planning to return to STG this year to crush your PR. You are a class act!

From jtshad on Tue, May 22, 2012 at 12:52:24 from 204.134.132.225

Congrats on yet another strong race. As mentioned earlier, the body is always hard pressed over this distance and a lot can happen...and it did. No doubt you will have your A race again.

From Holt on Tue, May 22, 2012 at 15:59:43 from 204.113.55.41

bummer it didn't work out great - you are ready to tear off a big one... and it will happen sooner than later!

From Ben VanBeekum on Wed, May 23, 2012 at 12:08:19 from 67.169.246.46

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and nice words. Marathon's are a beast and that's why I enjoy running them. You get something different every time.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 05, 2012 at 15:17:04 from 67.222.225.187

Ben - welcome to the club of sacrificial lambs. It is a bummer when you get booted out of prize money with less than a mile to go. In fact, I've had that experience at almost exactly the same place as you back in 2005. I thought I had my third place secured, and even though I had slowed down to 6:40, I still figured that nobody behind me would run faster than a low 2:36 based on how things progressed in the early miles. Or at least I hoped so. Then with about three quarters of a mile left a volunteers says "Good job, guys!" I was low on blood sugar, but still had enough intelligence to figure out that it was not a good thing that he was speaking in plural. A few seconds later Paul showed up. He was quite on the move relative to me and managed to gap me by 40 seconds.

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