I had the wonderful privilege of pacing my good friend Steven Abraham Lincoln Hooper Esq. today for the St. George Marathon to try and break 2:36. I have paced in races on two other occasions. I paced Jon Allen in 2007 at TOU with Paul Petersen. We helped Jon meet his goal of running sub-2:40. The next time I paced someone was 2 years ago with Clyde Behunin when we paced Paul Harmer to break 3 hours at St. George. He also met his goal of running sub-3:00. I thoroughly enjoyed pacing on these two occasions. Steve approached me about a month ago to see if I would do it. I knew he had put in the training and I thought it would be a great honor to help a friend out. I decided to do it and am glad that I had this opportunity. It was fun seeing everyone at the start of the race. The weather was fairly warm but the breeze helped out a ton. Steve and I did a mile warm up and then hurried back to the start. I was excited to see what would happen over the next 26.2 miles for good old Steve. I have the splits from the race but am too lazy to type them up. Steve has eloquently written about each mile. I would not even do it justice by putting down just times. Steve has such a way with words. We were hitting our splits fine and even did better than I thought going up Veyo. I was a little concerned over the next couple of miles when I tried to pull Steve up some of the hills at a decent pace. He did well but I knew we were not going fast enough. We hit the half at about 1:21 and change. I knew 2:36 would be quite the stretch now. Steve picked it up during the first couple miles of the second half of the race. My issue was I had to stop and use the bathroom a couple times. I also stopped a some coolers to pick up water with Ultima in it. I carried water and the Ultima so Steve could drink it and cool down. This helped him stay hydrated in the warm weather. I also broke the wind for him so he could draft off of me. I think this helped him out a ton. We made to about mile 21 when one of my Varsity runners came and ran with us. It was nice to have some company. I think Steve got tired of me whispering sweet messages into his ear the entire race. I feel like I deserve a few Psychology credits to go towards my graduate degree since I kept Steve going and motivated. Shortly after mile 21 Steve's hamstring started to cramp up. I had to rub it down and then tell him he was fine. Steve picked it up over the next couple miles but then his hamstring cramped up again at about mile 24. He literally had to stop and stretch both times. I got him going in the right direction and Steve amazingly pushed through the pain. We were about a mile out and I looked into Steve's eyes and told him that we were going to have to push in order to break 2:40. He grunted at me and then started to pick it up. We rounded the turn by the bookstore and Steve started to push. This was nice to see when I knew he was hurting. Steve grunted and barreled his way to a 2:39:34 and 22nd place finish! Way to go Steve. I was happy that Steve ran well and I know he would have broke 2:36 if the weather was a little better and if he did not cramp up. I am glad that I was able to be part of his 2011 St. George Marathon journey. It was unforgettable. I was happy to see others do so well. I was very happy for Ben Vanbeekum for taking 3rd place and breaking 2:30. He has worked extremely hard for it. I am happy to see Clyde Behunin win the Silver Shoe when I know I could have beat him and won the dang bread instead of him :) I was happy to see Dustin Bybee run 2:32 for his first marathon. He has been a great addition to the St. George running community. He will only get faster. I am also very happy for Dave Holt reminding me once again that I am still the 2nd fastest high school cross country coach in town :) I felt good after wards so my Dad drove me up to the corner of Diagonal so I could run the last 2 miles with my brother. He was doing his first marathon. I think he was pretty surprised to see me hop into the race with him. I enjoyed helping him to the finish. Almost ran 30 miles today. Yeah! In all seriousness now, I would like to really get into some bigger ultra races and see how I can do. I also am kicking around the idea of trying to run St. George hard next year just to see how I can do. I think I have at least one more good marathon in me if I really focus and work hard. I will just have to wait and see!
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