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Boston Marathon

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Location:

Little Rock,AR,United States

Member Since:

May 21, 2012

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Longest Ultra:  White Rock Classic:  6:34:00, 33.4 miles, Ozark Mtns., AR

Marathon:  3:25:06, Boston Marathon, April 20, 2015

Half-Marathon: 1:33:27 (Gun Time), Little Rock Half-Marathon, March 1, 2015.

10K:  43:10, Lenexa Freedom Run, Lenexa, KS, July 4, 2015

5K: 20:23, Firecracker Fast 5K, Little Rock, AR, July 4, 2013 (Mostly downhill course)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run another marathon in 3:25 or better.

2 to 3 Marathons per year - Goal: 3:30 or better

1 to 2 Half-marathons per year:  1:32 or better

1 to 2 Ultra Runs per year:  At least one 50K

Have fun running and stay injury-free

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run Boston when I'm 60 years old

Personal:

Married to Kimberly - 23 years

Daughter Brianna - 21 years old

Three dogs: Hershey, Lady, Emmie

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Nike Lunaracer 3 Lifetime Miles: 187.97
Nike Flyknit Lunar + Lifetime Miles: 379.60
ASICS Lyte 33 Lifetime Miles: 181.20
NB 890v3 Lifetime Miles: 221.10
Brooks Pure Connect Blue Lifetime Miles: 8.10
Adidas Tempo 6 Lifetime Miles: 110.65
Race: Boston Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:25:06, Place overall: 8500, Place in age division: 237
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.750.000.0026.75

Ran my first Boston Marathon and it was a great experience.  With a million spectators, it is quite a race.  The story of this year's race was weather.  If you started in Wave 1 or the first half of Wave 2, it was great.  If you started in the second half of Wave 2 or in Waves 3 or 4, it was rainy and in spots windy.  The temperature was around 46 degrees, but it felt like low-40s, which is fine with me.  I'd rather have the cold than heat.  The rain was cold.  At times it seemed like freezing rain, and some of the course intersections did not drain very well.  When we got the the Newton Hills, the 12 - 15 mph wind hit us directly and you could feel the chill.  The wind and hills so late in the course caused a lot of runners to slow down significantly, so I had to dart all over the course to pass them between three times dropping my water bottle (50/50 water and gatorade) because my hands were freezing in my cheap, soaked gardening gloves that I had planned to discard early in the race (and wore for its entirety instead).

I lined up at the back of Wave 3 Corral 2 (Bib Number 17938), so the start was slow.  I finished as the 8500 runner to cross the finish line, so I guess I passed around 9400 runners. The race course is narrow and congested with 30,000 runners, and many runners were not thinking about the people behind them.  You often had a tight wall of runners who slowed me down, were difficult to run around, and required a lot of zig zagging throughout the course.  According to my Garmin, I ran almost a half-mile more than the marathon course with all the zig zagging I had to do.  That's what I get for qualifying so slowly last year when I was still a bit injured. For example, in the first mile, I passed a several hundred runners, but could only run it at 8:13, which was a half-minute slower than I wanted.  I ran mile 7 in 7:17, but there were sections where I was running at a 6:30 pace and would have toslow down to run around a wall of people running at an 8-minute pace.  So my time doesn't tell the whole story of the level of effort required to achieve it.

The security was tight with Boston's finest and the FBI all over the course.  The organization was very good, although (a) they could have had more porta-potties at the Athlete's Village (a perennial comment) and (b) the gear check tents were a bit far from the finish line for some runners.

But all that was minor compared to the enthusiasm of the crowd and the dedication of thousands of volunteers.  The women of Wellesley College were especially motivating.  And also, the volunteers were great and dedicated.  The temps, rain and wind were not easy on the volunteers handing out drinks and managing course security.  The supported the marathon with smiles and enthusiasm.

Night Sleep Time: 9.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
Comments
From butlerbrunning on Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 11:42:08 from 107.77.70.83

Congrats on your first Boston..

From Derunzo on Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 15:37:56 from 73.218.33.75

Great race Dave! What an experience!

From DaveM on Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 18:53:13 from 173.239.125.187

Butler and Derunzo, Thanks so much. Boston was a great experience. I hope to run it again whith a better starting position. Dave

From Wesley Hunt on Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 10:18:21 from 70.215.130.183

Great, strategic race in tough conditions.

I'm very proud to have the opportunity to run and train with you here in Luttle Rock. You are one of the most disciplined athletes I've ever met. It's inspiring.

Wesley

From DaveM on Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 19:38:51 from 71.238.208.194

Thanks Wesley. I appreciate your patience and our training running runs together. I plan to run Boston again, maybe next year, when I can start in a much better wave position. Dave

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