Ran with Jamie for the Buffalo Marathon trying to help her get a BQ, but it was not quite BQ weather. The course was nice and the race well organized. They had pace groups so plan was to go with the 3:40 pace group and stick with them as long as possible and if we had to drop back I would do my best to stay on track for 3:43 or faster.
Cruising through the first half:
Race start had about 7,000 runners between the half and the full. We stuck with the pacer with first mile going up a long gentle hill followed by the next few miles slightly downhill (this was pretty much the pattern throughout the race for the most part).
Just after three miles I kind of had to stop to use the POP although I knew I could probably hold it, but there was a row of 4 with no line. I told Jamie I'd catch up but just missed getting into the last one before someone else grabbed the last one. Had to wait maybe 20 seconds or so before my turn. We were at a median near the end of an out and back section. I briefly thought about cutting the course to catch back up because I was there to pace, however since I was officially registered and wearing a bib, quickly decided no way. Caught back up right about the 4 mile mark. I think I heard someone murmur about me making a "rookie mistake" as I darted past a bunch of runners trying to catch up - I'm sure I must have been quite the sight turning on the speed so early in the race.
Settling back in with the group after the little sprint I felt really good. Sometime around mile 6 or 7 Jamie said something like "I hope this doesn't jinx things but the miles are going by pretty quickly". Just after that we went over a short but steep arching bridge to get to the road that would run along the lake. The next few miles were several degrees cooler and I wished we could have just run loops near the lake, that would have been nice.
In the 11 or 12 mile range, Jamie started mentioning about not feeling great, but she was still hanging on and we just followed along the pacer. I asked the pacer how he got the pacing gig and said he was actually the pacing team captain. For the marathon, they used two pacers. At 12.75 miles the second half pacer would join us and then Jim would lead the half marathoners down the 1/2 finish chute while the rest of continued on. The next pacer joined us, a little while later Jim split off and we went by the 1/2 way point pretty much exactly at 1:50 (although I did not see a 1/2 marathon marker - they did have good sized banner flags for each mile).
Not so good (but not horrible) second half:
Just before mile 14 Jamie took a short walk break and was starting to feel dizzy. We still managed an 8:35 for that mile but soon after that she really wanted to quit. I know that feeling but was going to do whatever I could to keep her going. Also, she had mentioned about using a 3:50 to get into the London marathon so I thought that might help to bring that up, we'd just need to average 9:07 for the second half). Mile 15 was right at 9:00 and then for the next two miles we somehow managed to stay under nine minute pace at 8:58 and 8:45 because between the walk breaks the actual running pace was in the low 8:20's.
But, it was tough going and soon the struggle would be to finish and to keep going fast enough that it didn't become a death march.
Going through Lafayette Park took its toll. A lot more people were walking and it felt even warmer there - and it didn't help that an ambulance was being loaded up as we were leaving the park. Maybe things got a little bit better after leaving the park, because segment-wise, we were heading into the final stretch.
The slowest miles were two miles (19 and 24) at 10:25, then mile 25 was right at 10:00. Mile 26 is a long gentle slight downhill. There were attempts at a couple small walk breaks but we kept moving for the most part and stayed right at 9:00. We were running towards a traffic circle with an obelisk in the middle (you can see it in the picture below) that we could see for a while. We went around the circle saw the 26 mile sign then a couple quick turns before seeing the finish clock. My brother Jim was at one of the corners and got a few good pictures.
Jamie was a bit disappointed and I wished there was something I could have done to help her get a better time but I think it ended up being still a good time for a humid race with starting temperature of 70 degrees and ending at 82 degrees (not your typical Memorial Day weekend in Buffalo). I did enjoy the course with the small ups and downs on a mostly flat two (different) loop course. The race organizers asked the residents along the course to set up their sprinklers and hoses which many people came through and were out there cheerfully wetting us down.
The convention center had the AC turned down colder and they had plenty of great refreshments including pizza and a local craft beer "Mile 27". We saw Jamie's family and friends several times on the course and was great that my brother could come out for the finish. After the race (and a bite to eat at Jamie's parents house) we headed towards Rochester, stopped at Donut's Delite, then his house and then up to the Thousand Islands to see my parents.
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