Race report to come, but I paced my friend to a 17 min. PR and his 1st Boston Qual.
This was Fox Valley Marathon's 2nd year and I must admit they did a great job coordinating the event. This marathon is a very flat shaded marathon course tucked in a valley with very mature trees. We had light rain and 13-15 mph winds, but you'd never had known the wind was that strong being down in the valley on a path surrounded by mature trees. The rain was just light enough where the shoes didn't feel soggy or heavy. This marathon has a flex weather option where you can run a 20K or full marathon. In addition, if the marathon is cancelled for bad weather they guarantee your entry into the Chicago Marathon. They also have a 1/2 marathon that serves well for a tune up if running Chicago. What I personally liked most about this marathon was the convenience of showing up 20 minutes before the race without hassle of waiting for bathrooms or worrying about baggage check. Also, the area has plenty of hotels, so it was easy to find a hotel within 10 miles for a reasonable price.
At the start of the race a rainbow came out, which had to be a good omen. They start the race in waves due to some tight bottle necks and narrow bike path sections. The narrow sections really didn't make a difference for a field of 2,000 runners. If the race gets bigger I could see a problem. The marathon had about 400 runners, so most people where running the 20K or 1/2 to prepare for Chicago. Most of the people running the full where going for a last chance at Boston as it was originally advertised runners could register for Boston right at the finish. Boston threw a wrench in that plan when they decided not to allow any registration on Sunday. Runners that still needed to qualify knew every second counts toward the new qualifying standards. So every person running the marathon was potential competition, this turned the marathon into a battle of places and times. Our goal was to run with the 3:15 group as long as possible as Todd’s time was 3:20 to qualify for Boston, but knowing every sec. counts we decided to shoot for 3:15 and hope for 3:18 or something a little faster.
The first mile we got out to a good start on a slight uphill mile with a 7:22? We need 7:27, my Garmin was beeping before the mile markers, so I wasn't sure about the course measurements and later I learned it was about a 10th of a mile too long. (Better too long than short if wanting to officially qualify for Boson). The 2nd mile my friend Todd ditched his throw away shirt and about .5 mile later I did the same. We came through miles 2 and 3 with 7:13 and 7:22, but feeling really good. At mile 4 we do a small loop through a Japanese garden then enter the bike path that moves along the Fox River. Miles 4 and 5 where 7:17 and 7:29. We had to run a few small sections of grass, but it was marked very well and the grass was nice and flat, so it really wasn't a big deal at all (even with the wet grass). At mile 6 we ran through a small carnival on one of the bridges that looped us over to the other side of the river. Throughout the course was a ton of support from spectators. I was really surprised at the amount of people out in the rain for this small of venue. I missed 7, but looks like a 7:29 mile. Mile 8 was 7:27. I took a small bathroom break at one of the many porta potties then threw in a 7:00 minute mile 9 by taking a small shortcut to catch up with the 3:15 pace group and my buddy again. Good thing I caught them fast as I did because my buddy was running 7:10 pace out ahead of the pace group. When I caught him I gradually backed him off to a 7:23 for mile 10, 7:23 for mile 11, and mile 12 was a 7:12 with most of it being slightly downhill. He mentioned his legs weren't taking well to the faster pace so I backed him down to 8:03 for mile 13. The pace group was close so I swung over for another bathroom stop and told him to stay with the pace group while I catch up. I ran a 6:57 mile for mile 14 to catch the pace group just a little into mile 15. Mile 15 I hit the split early when the Garmin beeped I was totally in a trance just mentally zoning out as I starred at the other runners shoes. Anyway, the split shows 7:17, but Todd mentioned he had 7:27. Mile 16 was 7:35 (difference I missed, but we were 7:28 according to Todd). Mile 17 and 18 were 7:29/7:28 as we rode the coat tails of the 3:15 pace group. Mile 19 Todd started to fade, but he did a great job of damage control. Mile 19 we split a 7:32. Mile 20 was up and down with small speed bumps through the woods as we split 7:37. Mile 21 was 7:39. At this point I knew he was going to qualify as long as he didn't blow up and have to walk too much. At mile 22 we split a 7:49 on a gradual uphill mile. At mile 23 we came through with a 7:44. I asked Todd how he was doing at this point to feel him out on a pace increase. He mentioned his hamstrings where cramping on him. Knowing a full hamstring lock up would put him down to a walk run pace I didn't have him push it. Rather we backed the pace to a 7:55 for mile 24. Mile 25 I was pulling slightly ahead of him while encouraging him to follow me. He managed a 7:59. Mile 26 was all guts as he was throwing up (something he normally does). Todd ran a 7:51 split for his last mile and managed not to fall on his face as his hamstrings were locking up on him. Medical personnel swarmed him immediately after the race when he went to his knees. They got him fluids and he went over to a secluded spot to wrench the gut a few more times. He was on the massage table in less than 10 minutes.
This race was as remarkable and memorable for me as any race I've ever been a part of. Todd made a 17 minute PR and ran his fastest marathon in quite a few years. His previous was a 4 hour marathon. His official time was 3:18:20, which placed him 56 out of 400 some runners. This was Todd's 20th attempt at qualifying. He's a person that always puts family and work ahead of running and does a tremendous amount of volunteer work for the community and his church. For 20 weeks Todd followed the Train Less Run Faster Marathon plan for 3:15. This plan only required 3 days of actual running per week! It was really special to be a part of his success as he said he couldn’t have made the last 6 mile without me.
For running a marathon on a 100 mile week I feel very good and don't anticipate more than a couple of easy running days, which has to be a good sign in terms of my fitness.
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