All running accomplishments are Post Teenage Years:
17:06 5K--Murray 2014
16:58 5K (aided)--Running of the Leopards 2010
34:41--10K Deseret News 2018 (aided)
1:16--(aided) Hobble Creek Half 2009
2:43--St. George Marathon 2012
Short-Term Running Goals:
Sub 2:50 Ogden Marathon
Sub 17:00 at Draper 5K
Long-Term Running Goals:
Sub 2:40 Marathon
Personal:
Married to Elizabeth (she got me running in 2003). We have three boys, Lucas (12) , Sam (8) and Ollie (5).
Many years ago, I read that the AVERAGE male is capable of a 2:40 marathon. I decided to test that theory. I began running in 2003 with Top of Utah as my first marathon (4:24). I need 3 more minutes.
"Life is short...running makes it seem longer."--Baron Hansen
Tucson Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:04:10, Place overall: 35, Place in age division: 6
Total Distance
27.50
Great marathon on a perfect, overcast day, but not the
result I was looking for. Below are my splits:
Mile 1: 6:15 Fast down hill start
Mile 2: 6:41 Settled into race pace
Mile 3: 6:51 Enjoyed the desert sights as the sun came up
Mile 4: 6:49 Hit some hills
Mile 5: 6:37 Rural road hits a major street
Mile 6: 6:24 Fast downhill
Mile 7: 6:25 More fast downhill
Mile 8: 6:28 Sun goes behind clouds and course hits another
major road
Mile 9: 6:28 Steady downhill
Mile 10: 6:31 Steady downhill
Mile 11: 6:52 Turn toward Biosphere 2
Mile 12: 7:21 Challenging hills
Mile 13: 6:46 More challenging hills
Half split 1:27:00
Mile 14: 6:53 Up the hill and back out to the major road
Mile 15: 6:43 Tried to settle into race pace again
Mile 16: 6:44 Pace feeling OK
Mile 17: 6:44 Still feeling OK
Mile 18: 6:53 Road begins to intersect a 6 lane highway
Mile 19: 6:55 Legs starting to feel very heavy.Began walking through water stops
Mile 20: 7:30 Doing the math in my head and worried
Mile 21: 7:42 I can fell it slipping away as I smell car
exhaust
Mile 22: 7:34 Decent mile, but I need to pick it up
Mile 23: 7:47 More highway, will this ever end
Mile 24: 7:49 Getting ready for the last major climb
Mile 25: 8:39 Course runs through an alley way behind a
grocery store with big uphill
Mile 26: 8:04 Course flattens out, but I’m done.
Mile 26.22: 1:36 One more major climb to finish line then a
turn onto a dirt track
Total: 3:04:10
I didn’t have the training I wanted for November and it
showed at mile 20.I still wanted to
give myself an opportunity and I felt strong at the ½ point.My overall goal was 2:58:00, but at mile 20
I knew this was not going to happen.I
didn’t have any major cramping, but my legs felt like bricks at the 20-mile
mark.I felt well enough to run, but
I’ve been trying to shake a nasty cold for the last four days.If I would have hit my goal, I would have
placed in my age division.
The race organizers did a great job, but there is not very
much crowd support.The winner
(Kenyan?) of the past years blew up with 5K to go and had to drop!He was leading by over 5 minutes!
I would recommend this race.The first ½ is incredible on rural roads.The turn toward Biosphere 2 is challenging
and last 7 miles are on a major 5/6 lane road open to traffic.
Kudos to Bill. I saw him at the finish and he had a great race:
