Dear Bombers

Dear Boston Marathon Bomber(s),

You obviously don't know much about the American culture or what makes us America. And, I say that in the sense that if you are an American consider your citizenship revoked.

You see... good WILL come out of this tragedy you've created at your own soul's expense. That's what we Americans do -- we take bad and turn it into good.

We Americans are resolved. We are united. We are organized. We are not afraid. We are free in our actions, our will and our conscience.  We are also stubborn as all hell.

What's even more interesting is if you take an average American runner, not to mention a Boston Marathoner, you'll find an individual that has all of the above American traits amplified ten fold.

Yeah, you may have thrown a poo poo curtain on one race in one city on one day of our history, but KNOW that you've steeled us for thousands of races in thousands of cities for years and years to come.

I use the word "steel" NOT in that you've made it harder to run 26.2 miles or more dangerous to participate in a race, but quite the opposite. Your moronic actions will have an unforeseeable result. You will "steel" thousands of Americans to train, run and finish a marathon. Some of them will already be runners deciding to run their first marathon and others will be new to running. Some of them will be leading unhealthy lifestyles and will find their way through running. In a sense, you will undoubtedly save many MANY more lives than you've taken.

Know that you have failed! You have not created terror. You have not defeated the Boston Marathon. It will be back and it will be stronger than ever. 

Know that you will soon be hunted down by some of the most elite law enforcement and government officials on the planet and KNOW that many of those officials will be runners a LOT faster than you and they will never give up. 

Good luck with that. Now go to hell. 

Sincerely, 

TallGuySurfing

Hey Boston Marathon, you're acting like a carney!

I'm going to rant for a bit.

It's going to be about the Boston Marathon and big marathons in general.

If you don't want to hear it stop reading now and go to the next blog on your reader.

First, let me say that I'm not a "Boston Qualifier" and probably never will be. The fact is I'm slow. I'm tall at 6'7" and I'm prone to injuries. Although I've been jogging for years, I only consider myself to have become a runner in the last 2 years and still consider myself "learning." The qualifying time for me is simply out of the question at this point given my circumstance. However, I am an above average athlete when compared to similar males my age. Boston Marathon isn't important to me. I've visited the city. It's fun. It's historic. It's also a northern city and I prefer to have more fun in southern or western cities, but that's just me and my upbringing. That being said, maybe I shouldn't talk about Boston.

However, you see, Boston Marathon is important to the people that are important to me; my friends and my girlfriend. So it's a free country and I'm going to talk about Boston. Today I got the following email from my girlfriend, which was a forwarded piece of information about Boston Marathon and what the BAA is doing now that they seem to have more demand than supply for their little prestigious event.

2012 rolling registration dates - Day 1 (Sept. 12) - Qualifiers who have met their age and gender qualifying standard (3 hours, 10 minutes for men aged 18-34 and 3 hours, 40 minutes for women 18-34) by a margin of 20 minutes or faster may apply for the marathon. - Day 3 (Sept. 14) - Qualifiers who have met the standard set for their age/gender by a margin of 10 minutes or faster may apply. - Day 5 (Sept. 16) - Qualifiers who have met their age/gender qualifying time by a margin of 5 minutes or faster may apply. - Day 8 (Sept. 19) - Open to all qualifiers to register. - Day 12 (Sept. 23) - Registration closes for qualified applicants. Registered qualifiers will be notified of their acceptance by Sept. 28. For 2013, there are new qualifying times. The times will be 5 minutes tougher than they are currently. For example, men 18-34 currently must run 3:10 and women 18-34 must run 3:40 to qualify, but for 2013 these groups will have to run 3:05 and 3:35 respectively.

My girlfriend's only remarks?
"I may have to run another marathon!"

I would normally say running another marathon is a good thing. One should never quit with only running one marathon (it would be my girlfriend's 4th marathon). But, saying you have to run another marathon to qualify for Boston when you already ran your heart out and qualified for Boston is a load of shit. Yeah... that's right. I said it. I understand the BAA is trying to solve the problem in a fair manner, but there has to be a better way. If you want your race to be the most prestigious marathon out there don't screw the people that have shed tears, lost blood and sweat their asses off obtaining that qualification.

I'm starting to hate the Boston Marathon more and more. It started last Fall when the damn thing sold out in only a few hours, which happened to be only a few days before my girlfriend ran her qualifying marathon. And by the way, she ran her heart out on a tough course with little or no support that turned out to be a complete FAIL on that race directors part. See Running for the Bay Marathon for details. Despite that adversity she still obtained a qualifying time knowing she'd have to wait until 2012 to actually run Boston.

And now this load of crap from the BAA. I highly doubt those poor runners that have to wait until day 8 of registration with their hard earned qualifying time will have any chance at all of running the 2012 Boston Marathon.

I can see it now... my girlfriend is already conspiring to run a summer marathon to attempt a time 20 minutes faster than her actual minimum qualifying time of 3:40:00. That means a 3:20:00, which is a huge jump. It'd be about a 15 minute jump for her. I'd say that kind of jump in time is awesome and everyone should strive for it, but not because some jackasses in Boston are punishing those already qualified runners to run faster. That's all the wrong reasons.

So what's the deal with all these marathon's selling out so quickly? Our epic summer adventure plan got shattered due to Ogden Marathon selling out. Is the sport of running gaining in popularity or is it more and more people are realizing the health benefits of running and taking to the road? I think it's great. I really do. I love being surrounded by health-conscience athletes like myself. Most of the time I look around and see myself surrounded by out-of-shape future cardiac and diabetes patients. I just worry about the sport and where it's going. The more and more I think about it the more and more I'd rather run an obscure little known race that benefits a charity. Some of the most fun I've had have been races with less than 100 participants. Last weekend was the 26.2 with Donna Marathon and Half Marathon to benefit breast cancer research and care. This race fielded about 6,000 runners and felt like a big race like Disney or a Rock 'n' Roll event (I've run both). The difference? It was better organized and benefited a charity. I was going to write a review of it now, but this news about Boston made me so angry that it'll have to wait. Maybe I'll become a trail runner. Maybe I'll stop running races all together. Sure would be cheaper. Maybe I'll go run these race courses on a different day and provide my own support. It's a free country. Stick it to the man, ya know?

Getting back to Boston....

Prepare to disagree with me if you like.....

How about do away with ALL runners that are not time qualifying runners? Yes, that means charity runners, celebrity runners and "special" invitees! I mean, come on, if I got invited to run the Boston Marathon for whatever reason, but I hadn't run a 3:10:00 marathon or faster I'd have to decline the invitation on general principal. I mean seriously, if the field shouldn't be increased in size because it can't accommodate it and the demand is there, yet you still want to be prestigious, how about catering to those that really deserve to be there? There are plenty of other charity races out there. Let the charities go. I know it sounds horrible, but considering the situation it seems the only charity the BAA is serving is itself.

I was at a carnival about a year ago with my girlfriend (the undisputed BOSTON QUALIFIER!) and a Carney called me over to his booth. It was one of those classic throw the baseball at the three bottles stacked on top of each other forming a triangle games. Simple game. Knock all three bottles down and win a teddy bear. I gave the Carney a few dollars and he gave me a baseball. Little did he know I used to be a pitcher. I threw that ball dead center into the three bottles. A perfect strike. It hit so perfectly that the two bottom ones exploded left and right at 45-degree angles behind the stand they were resting on and the top bottle fell straight down onto it. It fell so perfectly that it remained standing where the two supporting bottles were before it.

I looked at the Carney and was ready to give my newly won teddy bear to my girlfriend. He hesitated and then claimed that he couldn't give me the teddy bear because I hadn't knocked all the bottles down and one was still standing. He immediately asked for another few dollars so I could try again with another ball. I started to argue with him and then stopped. It wasn't worth it. It's just a freaking teddy bear and my girlfriend doesn't want it anyhow. I know in my heart that I threw that baseball perfect. It was so perfect it not only knocked all the bottles down, but allowed the top one to fall right into place as if I yanked a table cloth out from a dinner arrangement. I simply told the Carney that I wouldn't buy another chance on general principal and that I had won his game on the first shot; fair and square! I walked away and left him standing there.

Hey Boston Athletic Association! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A CARNEY!

My name is Sylvan McElroy and I will NOT be running your race anytime soon!

And my suggestion to all those duly qualified runners that will inevitably be left out on the 2012 Boston Marathon?

Organize yourselves. Revolutions have occurred in the history of this race. Google Kathrine Switzer if you don't know. Wouldn't it be funny to see a huge group (I'm talking thousands) of runners that have all qualified for Boston, but were denied their registration, to bandit run the race*??? That would be total mayhem.

Just something to think about.


*TallGuySurfing does not condone or support that act of bandit running.

No love from Ogden Marathon RD

What's up with all these races selling out in record time? Is it that more people are taking up running (or dare I say jogging)? Is it a cheap thing to do in a bad economy or recession? Are the unemployed taking out their frustrations by running races? Are more people really living a healthier lifestyle? Or is the "marathon" experience simply just a trend that is popular right now?

Regardless of the reason it's a fact; more and more marathon races are filling to capacity at speeds now requiring the persistence of a Guns n Roses fan trying to get concert tickets in the 1980s or a gamer waiting for the newest Xbox or Playstation to be released.

ARrrrrrggggghhhhh.... I'm frustrated.

It seems each time we come up with an awesome plan it's destroyed by a race being sold out. First, Jenny qualifies for the Boston Marathon only to learn that the 2011 race sold out in hours the week before her qualifying race and now she has to wait until 2012. Then, we devise the running adventure of adventures for this summer only to learn that Ogden Marathon in Utah is sold out leaving us completely out of luck for the "middle" race of the planned 3-race-3-weekend adventure.

I'm determined not to give up easily at this "wall" we've hit. I decided to write the race organizers to see if they'd take a human interest story in us or perhaps bend the rules. Perhaps we could raise money for their charity or something?

Maybe my letter didn't fall in the right hands, but the following correspondence shows that there's not much love coming from the land of Mormons.

Dear Ogden Marathon Race Director,

My girlfriend, Jenny XXXXX, and myself, TallGuySurfing, are avid runners. To live up to the stereotype of "being crazy" we run a few marathons each year. We always try and make an adventure out of it and at the same time give it some kind of purpose. Last year we raised nearly $2,000 for American Heart Association independently and then traveled from Florida to Washington to run the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. We are not professional, not sponsored and nothing more than mere mid-packers having a good time. I'm a journalist turned Realtor and Jenny is a clinical dietitian.
This year during the holidays we created an adventure surely to out rank anything prior and would possibly be newsworthy to the right audience. While searching the Internet on Christmas morning looking at race websites we noticed that the 100th running of the Bay to Breakers 12k race in San Francisco and the BoulderBOULDER 10k race in Boulder, Colorado, are only two weeks and 1,286 miles apart. Both of these are bucket list races in our opinion even if they are not marathon distances. Jennifer is part of an all female running team named "Hot Legs" that has won the all-female overall place in several long distance relay races (Central Florida Ragnar and Sunset to Sunrise) and it just so happens that many of the Hot Legs will being going to Boulder for that race on May 30.
If you're still reading at this point you are probably asking yourself, "well, all that's great, but what does this have to do with Ogden?"
Well, the answer is simple. We are marathon runners and while we'd like to check those two races off our bucket lists, we'd also like to run a marathon in May. At first we were trying to decide which one to do and which one to put off another year. Then we saw it. Ogden Marathon shinning brighter and bigger than ever with all its glory! Set for May 21 (the weekend between B2B and BB) in beautiful Utah with an epic course like we've never seen before right smack dab in the middle between San Francisco and Boulder. When we realized the possibility Jenny immediately started jumping up and down with excitement while I remained somewhat reserved knowing there are so many factors to consider (I was secretly and silently jumping up in down with excitement in my mind).
The original plan/idea:

*Fly from Florida to San Francisco. Meet friends. Run Bay to Breakers. Rent car.
*Spend the week driving east across California and Nevada camping along the way.
*Run Ogden Marathon while taking in the sites, sounds and beauty.
*Spend following week driving across Utah, Wyoming & Colorado to Boulder
*Run BoulderBOULDER with Hot Legs and gang.
*Document and photograph EVERYTHING!
*Fly home, go back to work and be sore and happy!

Doesn't that sound truly amazing? I immediately started thinking of publications I could pitch the story to assignment editors with the hopes of someone giving me an opportunity to get back into the journalism game. We aren't looking for sponsors, but I think we would at least make a good human interest story.

Jenny and I tossed around the idea for the rest of the Christmas weekend brainstorming different ideas and by Monday it seemed like it could actually work.
Fast forward to today (the next holiday weekend where we have time off to plan our "craziness") and we hit our first real snag. Ogden is sold out, as you know. Sometimes I hate Runner's World. Like a surf magazine giving away the location of an epic surf break (surfing is my other passion) this running magazine has put the spot light on your race bringing the masses, which of course is good, but bad for those of us not aware this was going to happen.

The question we have for you is simple. Will you or can you please make an exception for us knowing what we plan to do? It does not appear this adventure can happen without Ogden. There aren't many other marathons on May 21 in Utah or surrounding areas and none have the allure of Ogden. Please, please give this some consideration. Jenny and I would be willing to raise money for your charity. We'd be willing to volunteer the day before at the expo. We'd consider anything at this point. We're two skinny little runners that don't take up much space and wouldn't be in anyone's way.

We hope you have a Happy New Year and hope to see you in 2011 at the mid-point of our running adventure!

Sincerely from Florida,
TallGuySurfing (I used our real names in the actual letter)


Here's the response I received a week later (at least they responded)

Hi Sylvan,

It sound like an exciting plan! Our half and full marathons are sold out but you can still register for a relay team and that can be up to five people. No one has to exit the marathon course when they finish their leg so you can finish together too. If you would be interested in doing that please go to www.ogdenmarathon.com to sign up.

Thank you,

Bree Montgomery

GOAL Foundation (P) 801-399-1773

bree@goalfoundation.com

After reading that I somehow felt like I was just sent a stock letter they are using to send everyone inquiring about the race being sold out. Still determined to break through the wall, I responded with:

Bree,

Thanks for your response regarding our inquiry. We simply cannot afford to pay the relay price for two individuals to run the full marathon at Ogden. Is there anyway you can open up some full positions in the race and take some away from the relay since there is more demand for the full distance than a relay race?

Sincerely,
TallGuySurfing

This time I got a response within a few hours, but my hopes were shattered by what I read:

Hi Sylvan,

I’m sorry but our half and full marathon sold out within 5 and 14 days it was a record for us to sell out so fast.

Sincerely,

Bree Montgomery

Apparently I'm still hitting the wall on this one.

This is a real shame. I was really stoked about this race. I was really hoping to bust a move and stage a return to journalism with this adventure idea, but now the keystone has been yanked. Now I have a sour taste in my mouth and I'll probably pass up Ogden Marathon in future years for other races.
The only thing left that I can think of is to continue with our plans, but instead run the course the day before or the day after their race with no support (being a bandit is below me and surely illegal). It's a free country and I don't see anything wrong with running 26.2 miles down a public road. And besides, for the amount it costs for two people to register I'm sure we can hire a driver to drive us to the start, drop us off and probably even make some water drops along the way. Then we would be free on race day to volunteer for the actual race if powers-that-be at Ogden Marathon would allow or would they turn us away as volunteers too?
If professionally sponsored runners like Dean Karnazes can get credit for running marathons on race courses on days other than the actual race day and do good in promoting the sport then so can we!

Reflections on 2010

A damn good year and a damn good time; that's what 2010 was all about. I went into the year knowing it couldn't be any worse (financially and business wise) than 2009 and with the attitude of work hard, play hard, laugh a lot and live life, I feel like I accomplished most everything I set goals upon.

By the Months!

January
Amidst some of the coldest weather I've ever felt in my life in Florida, I tackled my first marathon (2010 Disney Marathon) while being injured (Achilles tendon). In reflection - NOT SMART. I opted to run with my dear friend Harrison who was running the Galloway method. It was the coldest day in recorded history at Disney World that Sunday morning at 26 degrees and that caused some severe muscle cramps in my friend's legs. In short, we hiked rather than ran that marathon. Finishing was an accomplishment no matter the time. The mile-18 medical tent looked like a triage center in Iraq! It was months before my Achilles fully recovered and I felt like I was truly running injury free. The best experience of this race???
A few hours after the finish. Jenny and I had the "talk" and pretty much officially became an item. Something good can always come from a negative experience!
As for surfing, I was able to take Jenny down to Puerto Rico where we hit up many a beaches and even fit in a long run over a mountain.

February
This was a rehab month for me. I focused on the physical therapy of my Achilles tendon and slowly eased back into running. Jenny and I got to be a part of a relay team for the 5-points of Life Marathon in Gainesville on yet, another, cold morning. I think we were both either still drunk or hungover from a party the night before.

March
Ahh March! Month of Jenny's birthday, longer days, warmer weather and more running! I was honored with the job of being one of the drivers for Team Hot Legs in the Sunrise to Sunset Relay, which they won the all female division. It was then I learned I can still function well while being severely sleep deprived. We also ran two races in one day by participating in the Trail of Payne 10k in the morning and Hospice Tioga 5k in the afternoon (Jenny did the 10k option). I think I was more afraid of running two races in one day than I should have been. Looking back it was no big deal!

April
Commence travel! Jenny and I flew up to Raleigh, North Carlina, to see one of her best friends for a long weekend. We ran our long run (in training for Seattle Marathon) partly on trails and partly on a hilly country road. It was my first good ass kicking experience with hills.

May
Continue travel! I flew to Sacramento where one of my best friends and I went into San Francisco, met up with my cousin from Portland and ran the 99th Bay to Breakers 12k race. This is definitely a bucket list race. If you haven't done it, do it. And make sure you bring a camera and adult beverage with you! Later in the month Jenny and I got together with a few friends for a romp in the mud at the Muddy Buddy race in Orlando. The race was awesome; being part of the Disney machine was not.

June
More travel! This time about as far away from Florida as we can go and stay in the lower 48. The Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon was a success! I totally bonked toward the end of the race (hills kicked my ass again) and that gave me a lower than hoped for time. However, we raised nearly $2,000 for the American Heart Association and had a damn good time all along the journey! Our families met over a few days in Seattle and then Jenny and I took the train down to Portland for some post-marathon rest while visiting my cousin.

July
This month I dubbed myself "Captain Rest" and made myself in charge of recovery and rest for Jenny and I. It was also the month Jenny made the move and job change to New Smyrna Beach from Gainesville (big major step in our relationship)! Being summer, there was also plenty of surfing.

August
If you had 48-hours notice to drop everything and get on a plane to Hawaii for a week's vacation what would you do???
I know what I did.... I dropped everything and got on the dang airplane! That's what happened when my cousin (Portland) separated from his long time girlfriend a week before his non-refundable all inclusive vacation for two to Hawaii. He knew that if anyone in the family was crazy enough to drop everything and meet him 4,000 miles away it would be me. I gladly took the place of his girlfriend and we did "man" things for a week instead of romantic stuff. Hypoxia at the Mona Kea summit? You betcha! Unknowingly snorkeling into sacred forbidden waters of the Hawaiian Gods? Ooops! Climbing across the top of Rainbow Falls? Why not! It was a great time and I will return -- next time with Jenny and some SURFBOARDS!

September
Just when I thought I wouldn't be traveling for a while.... Jenny and I found a great deal on tickets to upstate New York and visited her grandparents. Other than NYC I've never seen any other part of New York. This was an eye-opening trip for me. I deal with so many people from New York here in Florida and now it's nice to know where they are really coming from. And of course we found a race to run the weekend we were there. The Delta Lake Half Marathon is my favorite half marathon of date! It was gorgeous, uncrowded and super well organized. Not to mention I had a great run (Jenny did too) and got a PR.

October
My birthday month! The biggest event this month by far was that of the Apalachicola Running for the Bay Marathon and Half Marathon. Jenny trained for this race with the goal of Boston Qualifying. I ran the half marathon and attempted to support her through her training as she did for me in the Seattle race. Despite a complete disaster in organization by the race director, the inaugural event actually occurred without any major tragedies. I PR'ed the Half beating my Delta Lake time and Jenny got her BQ.

November & December
My blog writing has dwindled I know. Since the marathon Jenny has been struggling with some bursitis in her hip and since a short distance race in November I've been babying my Achilles tendon so there hasn't been much to write about in the world or running and surfing. But never fear my friends. We've got some ultra exciting plans for 2011 that should provide plenty of material to write about. Looking back 2010 was a good year after all. I ended up traveling way more than I could have anticipated, ran more races faster than ever, and found someone to be happy with.... I can only hope to do as well next year.

Here's 2010 by the numbers:

Leashes Broken - 2
Boards Broken - 0
Contest Surfed - 0
Races Ran - 12
Races Volunteered - 0 (regrettably)
Relay races volunteered as team driver - 2 (Sunset to Sunrise & Ragnar)
Surfing Trips to Puerto Rico - 1
Airline Flights taken - 12
Miles Ran - 1,218 (more than double that in 2009)
Days I ran - 204
Running Shoes used - 4
Marathons - 2
Half Marathon - 2
Running injuries - 0
Days Surfed - 59 (significantly down from 2009)
Trail runs - 16 for 121 miles (1 race)
Bicycle miles - 166 miles on 22 rides
New Experiences - Countless, but still searching for more!

Happy New Year everyone!

Do what you say you'll do!

It actually came....



And I thought I should show it to you...

Not because I'm saying "Look at me, look at me, I placed," but ONLY because the race director of the Apalachicola Running for the Bay Marathon and Half Marathon ACTUALLY did what he promised and sent out certificates to all those placing in their divisions. (My race recaps HERE and HERE)

I didn't believe it until I saw it in my mailbox. At the race we were told we'd be mailed certificates for placing. After the snafu that was this inaugural race I doubted I'd ever see such a thing, but the race director actually did it. Oh yes, he did! And I'd like to say that's a good start!

It's a good start in improving this race if there is going to be a next year. Do what you promise. Do what's advertised and deliver. . .

Running for the Bay! Marathon (Pictures and Suggestions)

A few final thoughts on the Running for the Bay! Marathon:

This morning in my inbox I noticed an email bringing to my attention that apparently my blog is now famous, or at least getting its 15 minutes. One of our gang from the race asks, "have you seen this... you're featured." Clicking on the link I find the story titled Moonlit Marathon on the website of The Times of Apalachicola & Carrabelle newspaper. It's a well written story about the race by a local journalist that mentions my blog in the fourth paragraph and even quotes my race recap!

The first time I write something that I feel is extremely negative, but needs to be said, and NOW I get noticed? Not exactly what I hope for when I write these "hobby posts" of mine, but realizing how I might have a few new readers this week I'd like to make a few suggestions that perhaps could make this race a more successful event in coming years.

There are currently 100 review posts on Active.com for this race as I'm writing this, most of which are negative or constructive criticisms. I've never seen that many before; not even on the Tipple's Beer Run where they got shut down mid-race by law enforcement and there was no beer at the finish line! Some comments are positive, some are harsh and uncalled for and some are useful suggestions. I hope the race director will consider them all and stay the course by holding the event next year.

I feel the problem at it's core was poor communications between the race and the runners. Most of the issues runner's experienced could have been easily avoided had race officials effectively informed the field of what they were getting into so they could have been better prepared. They're a lot of bitchin' and complaining about the lack of support. Most of us train on the road with traffic and no support. If we knew we could have self-supported ourselves, but instead many runners, I feel, felt betrayed by statements on the race website or lack of information about the race conditions at the expo. When my group asked about pace groups the information volunteer at the expo when on to explain about how bicycles would be pacing the leader, but didn't even really understand the definition of a pace group leader.

Here are my suggestions for a successful race next year:
1.) Offer a discount on registration fees to all the runners that participated in 2010 in an attempt to get them to return. While doing so regularly issue press releases on everything being done to correct issues from the inaugural race and any improvements or new features. The running community is close-knit and word travels fast. 700+ runners was an excellent turnout for an inaugural race and an excellent base to spread the word both positive or negative.

2.) If the race is truly benefiting a charity clearly inform the runners exactly who, why, when and how much. There was some confusion about this and there's a huge customer base of runners that strive only to run in charitable races even if only a portion goes to charity.

3.) If the state government want allow the bridges to be shut down for traffic (I'm guessing they won't since they seem to be main arteries) consider other ways to improve safety. Signs could alert motorists of the race and that there are "runners on the road." Line the course with MORE orange cones. Perhaps explore shutting down only 1-lane of traffic. Most runners are used to running against the flow of traffic. I think running with the flow caused an increased amount of stress with some of the runners. Ask for sponsorship from one of the companies making reflective gear for runners to wear. Provide each runner with some kind of reflective gear from that sponsor as "swag" in the goody bag and encourage them to wear them during the race. Most experienced runners will NOT wear a race t-shirt, no matter how nice or reflective, during the race of the t-shirt, but perhaps a reflective anklet or bracelet or LED light. And please, PLEASE try to find a solution to the 5k & 10k turnarounds. This year it was NOT safe, nor clearly marked to have them crossing busy lanes of traffic to get to the other side of the road.

4.) It's pretty obvious and kind of beating a dead horse to ask for more hydration during the race. Thirty years ago runners were used to not having any support. Ultra marathons and trail runners currently are used to not having much support. However, your average modern 5k to marathon runner expects to have plenty if not too many aid stations along the route. If not, we need to know about it so we can carry hydration along with us, or have friends along the course. Consider having water before the race available. Trash the post race chips and sodas. The mini-Cliff bars were great and there was water and Gatorade, but get some bigger cups or give out bottles. Runners need larger amounts of fluid after a race than during. Small cups are great when we're on the run, but after the race it's a waste of paper to have runners going back for 4 or 5 cups and hard on the volunteers. Instead of chips get bananas, bagels, oranges, etc. Not all carbs are created equal and runners know this...

5.) The awards ceremony? Seriously? Hype it up more! Turn off the loud music outside and use those PAs to announce the winners outside where everyone was loitering, not inside the community center when most runners had left or were unaware of a ceremony. It seemed like there was a lack of communication between the timing official and the race director. When asked individually they both seemed to be waiting on the other for something. This was my first race ever placing in my division and I didn't even want to go claim my award. I was told a certificate would be mailed to me. I hope that's true. Check out other races and see what they give out for division place finishers. Something representative of Apalachicola Bay would be awesome. Perhaps a small locally made plaque with an oyster shell on it. Oyster shells are free last time I checked. Have the awards ceremony sooner. Not in the 6th hour of the race. Place finishers rarely stick around until the race course is closed.

6.) Consider tweaking the race course to feature more of Apalachicola and less of St. George Island. After the race I felt like I hardly got to see the city of Apalachicola and let's face it St. George Island has an amazing beach, but otherwise there's not much to see there and the course can't be on the beach as the sand is too soft. Plus, this would decrease the possibility of runners facing stronger winds for longer periods of time on the island. Shut down the main street of Apalachicola and encourage the merchants and residents to come out and show their support. This would give the race a feeling of having more crowd support than the zero crowd support currently experienced.

7.) More bathrooms.... 'nuff said. (Visit THIS race for an outstanding example)

8.) Don't give up. Hold the race again next year. It's a great venue and a part of Florida that everyone should see at least once in their lives. Runners are a wonderful group of people and any town or city should only hope to bring that economic impact upon itself.

And to end on a positive note here are a few pictures from Jenny and my race weekend experience in Apalachicola/St. George Island!

Our party of ten gorged ourselves on a wonderful pre-race dinner at "That Place off 98" in downtown Apalachicola. I think they were a little slammed by runners causing their service to be slow, but dang that food was great!

Jenny on the final stretch of bridge (about 5 miles) somewhere around mile 22. Notice the bicyclist volunteer in the background desperately trying to pour water in cups for approaching runners. There's not even a table as he was lining cups up on the ground.

Jenny crossing the finish line and qualifying for Boston!

My Half Marathon finisher's medal. The full marathon was the same, but with a slightly different ribbon.

Cast netting at sunset on St. George Island.

The bridge between St. George Island and Eastpoint the day before the race. Ironically, there was little traffic the day before.

Sunrise on St. George Island.

Moonrise on St. George Island

Shrimp boats of Apalachicola

Two of my favorite things: Beach and the hour of twilight after sunset!

Jenny and I on the beach at St. George Island the evening after the race.

Running for the Bay! Marathon and Half Marathon, 10k, 5k - Apalachicola, Fla.

Update: Keith Brantly was NOT a "no show" (see comments at bottom) and I apologize for my poor choice of words and lack of fact checking. Evidently he was at the expo at the scheduled time Friday night and due to being ill he informed the race director he would not be attending on race day. (update on Oct. 28, 2010)


Quote of the Race: "Ouch!" - The only word mustered up during the first few minutes by Jenny between tears and gasps for breath after crossing the finish line and achieving a Boston Qualification time with nearly 4 minutes to spare.

RACE STATS:
Location - Apalachicola, Eastpoint & St. George Island, Florida
Cost - Marathon ($79-$99 depending on pre-registration dates), Half-Marathon ($65-$85 depending on pre-registration dates), 10k ($49-$59 depending on pre-registration dates) & 5k ($29-$34 depending on pre-registration dates. Day of registration is unknown, but I do believe it was available.
Year of Running - 1st
Sponsor - K-Swiss, Cliff Bar, Culligan, LaraBar, RoadID, Ultra Running Magazine, RRCA and various other local businesses.
Charity - Website claims "Wounded Warrior Project," but unknown if any funds or what amount of registration fees were actually donated or if that was just a suggestion to the participants to make their own donation.
Number of Participants - 681 total participant finishers. 237 for the Marathon, 266 for the Half, 88 for the 10k, 89 for the 5k and 1 for wheelchair division. (According to Active.com results as official results on the race website are not posted as of today).
Available Races - Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10k, 5k
Course Condition - Mostly concrete bridge with a few short sections of asphalt paved road. Most of course is along the road shoulder with little protection from traffic and goes with traffic rather than against (runners on right side of road shoulder). Approximately 1 mile of course was closed to traffic. Overall very poor and dangerous conditions that need major improvements.
Pace Groups - None. When asking the "information" volunteer at the expo about pace groups it quickly became apparent that they had no idea what we were talking about. We were told there would be bicyclist "pacing around" during the race.
Expo - Day before and average for a race of this size. Packet pick-up and expo (1-vendor from what I could tell) was held at the Apalachicola City Hall located at 1 Bay Avenue.

ORGANIZATION, SUPPORT & SPECTATORS:
It's sad and perhaps ironically fitting that in an geographic area savaged in recent years by hurricanes and oil spills and desperate for economic recovery would be destined for this horrible fate known as Running for the Bay! Marathon. The idea was good and on paper it looks great! The turnout was even impressive for an inaugural event. We were told nearly 800 were pre-registered. Weather was perfect with a temperature ranging from 58-degrees at the 7 a.m. start to low 80s by Noon. The sky was clear and wind was light to begin with becoming slightly annoying later in the race. Sunrise was beautiful at about 7:48 a.m. The problem at its core lies with the Race Director and what appeared on the surface as a break down in multiple areas of communications, organization, support and logistics. I was part of a party of 11 visitors to this area, all of us eager to spend some money and have a good weekend. Seven of us participated in the race (One 10k, two Half Marathon and 4 marathon). Judging from the amateur design of the race's website and doing some weather research on average conditions for the area we came into the race knowing there could be some quirks and hiccups. None of us could believe what actually happened. As for organization, the race director needs help. From our point of view (and I spoke with him at a very lackluster awards ceremony) he was not a "runner" and needs a basic education on average runner needs. The idea was good. The execution was lacking. The race clearly did not have enough volunteers and race officials did not adequately warn runners what they were getting into. Minutes before the start it was apparent that there was a communication break down as a voice over a loud speaker desperately tried to gather volunteers on a bus. There were a total of 10 port-o-johns for nearly 800 runners at the start line and they were pretty much limited along the course. I only noticed one while I was running the Half Marathon. Also, while standing in line before the race a heavy duty truck pulling a large pontoon boat forced its way through the lines as it was trying to make way to the boat ramps, which should have been closed. Support was seriously lacking in every facet from water, fuel, volunteers, police traffic support, course markers and medical help. The one saving grace were the volunteer bicyclist that seemed to be everywhere trying their hardest to help despite being overwhelmed. Spectators were few and far between. Family members and friends of runners seem to gather around the finish line. There were a few along side the road in Eastpoint, but other than that it was nada. It was not the welcoming crowd of residents lining the streets that race organizers were hoping for and promising on their website. Furthermore, the race was advertised to feature Olympian Keith Brantly. I'm not sure exactly who he is nor was that a deciding factor of my attendance at this race, but as far as I could tell he was a "no show," or they never announced his presence. It was evident that Dane Rauschenberg was in attendance as he had a booth at the expo selling his book and I saw him cross the finish line with the female overall winner.

ACCESSIBILITY:
There's a small general aviation airport in Apalachicola, but otherwise your best bets are flying into Tallahassee or Panama City, both a little more than an hour drive away. A car is a must to get around as public transportation is not readily available. I suppose you could come in on a shrimp boat.

SWAG:
Not too shabby. This is one part where the race organizers came through with their promises. Inside the race packets were a really nice Zorrell tech T-shirt (white in color) with race logo on the front and sponsors on the back. There was the normal coupons (Road ID order form, etc.) and Cliff Bars, Larabars and Cascadia Farms cereal.

POST RACE AWARDS & FOOD:
The finisher medals for Half and Full Marathon are absolutely beautiful with a spinning center section and even a pearl embedded on the front. Only problem is they started breaking as runners walked around post-race with them around their necks! The center section is prone to falling out! Overall men's and women's winners received K-Swiss shoes. Age division finishers were given various sponsor swag including towels, water bottles and lanyards, but nothing too special. The race director personally told me that certificates would be mailed to all top finishers, but I'll believe it when I see it. The post race food was one of the biggest downfalls of this race. It consisted of soda cans (Coke products), potato chips, cliff bars (which they ran out of toward the end of the race), water in small cups and mixed-from-powder Gatorade in small cups. After catching my breath at the finish line I had to repeatedly go back again and again for additional cups of fluids simply because the portions were too small. Seriously, how hard is it to have some bananas or oranges or bagels at the finish line??? Again, if race officials had better informed runners of exactly what would be provided at the finish line I'm sure more participants would have been better prepared by providing their own post-race recovery food and hydration.

MY RACE STORY:
I'm going to keep this as short as I can as I've already pretty much trashed the race in the above review and I HATE being negative. I hate anything that makes me be negative so I'm going to focus on the positives for a bit.
We got to the race about 45 minutes early and found it super easy to park within a few hundred feet of the start line. We stood in the bathrooms lines for the majority of our pre-race time and almost got run over by a truck pulling a boat! The announcer had all 700-800 runners line up telling us to get in order, fast runners up front and slow runners at the rear. They gave the hand-crank wheelchair dude (he was the only one) a 2-minute head start and then they blew the horn and we were off. It was dark and initially crowded. Kind of a clusterf*ck as we turned the corner to go over the first section of high rise bridge. There was significant camber and while it did not affect me I'm sure it bothered some runners. The next 5 miles were basically into the sunrise and amazingly beautiful. It looked like the horizon was on fire as early morning rays of light breached the bay.
Listening to Metallica's Ecstasy of Gold from the S&M Album on my iPod, I hit replay and listened to it twice as it was totally surreal. I had worked hard in the days prior to this race on my playlist. It has been a long time since I listened to music during a race and I was stoked about my selection of songs. I even calculated the time of where I'd be at different sections of the race to what music would play. Then at mile 3, or near the 10k turnaround spot, I noticed something. It was quiet. Why can I hear myself breathing so hard, I pondered to myself? It's funny how when you're running it takes a long time sometimes to figure something out. A minute or two later I realize there's no music playing. I check my 5-year-old, 20-gig, iPod Photo and it's dead. I play with it, frantically trying to get it to come alive. I do a hard reboot. Then it's apparently obvious that the battery is dead. It was fresh off the charger and it only lasted 20-something minutes. With 10 miles left to run I grunted at the thought of no music.
So be it.
Last month, I ran to a PR finish at the Delta Lake Marathon in New York with no music. I will do it again!
As I arrive in Eastport, coming off nearly 5 miles of concrete bridges with heavy high speed traffic, I'm feeling pretty good. My legs are fine. My breathing is fine. I'm relaxed and on pace by my best mental calculation to finish around 1:45:00. This would be awesome and I celebrate the thought of such an achievement for a few seconds. There is a section of road closed to traffic so the fear of being annihilated by a car temporarily eases up and I settle in with the runners around me. There a few girls behind me, a few guys in front and an aid station on the horizon. I pull out a GU and slam it. I haven't taken any hydration yet and honestly can't remember seeing any aid stations. I think they were setting up around mile 1, but I must have been too early because they didn't have any water out yet. Now it's mile 6 and while I don't feel like I need anything yet, I force myself to take some water and my own personal GU. We were lucky enough to be staying on the beach on St. George Island so we got a preview of the course a hour before the start as we drove in to Apalachicola. All of us were silently horrified by the complete lack of aid stations so close to the race start. The mile marker signs were there, but we saw them there the day before and what's worse is some of them were blown down or blown away. I could tell Jenny was freaked out. She is attempting to Boston Qualify in the full marathon and did not bring a hydration pack because the race's website claimed there would be aid stations nearly every mile.
Soon it's time to split away from the full marathoners and head back to Apalachicola. I turn the corner and realize I'm completely alone. The pack of runners I've been pacing with all continued on with the full marathon. There's a ditch alongside the road. The thought crosses my mind of ripping off my dead iPod and tossing it into the ditch as hard as I can. It's strapped to my arm and bulky. It's providing "mental drag." The only thing that holds me back is the fact that you can get a discount from Apple if you recycle an old iPod when you buy a new one. I need all the discounts I can get.
As I approach state road 98 to make the turn back to Apalachicola there's a police officer that stops oncoming traffic just for me as I'm still alone. I thank her and continue on down the course. It's now that I realize how poorly marked this course is... I'm thankful I reviewed the map before and was familiar with it from driving it, but holy crap you could get lost without any other runners to follow! I can see a girl and a guy about three football fields ahead of me. We're running on the right-hand shoulder of a busy road so it's unnerving not being able to see approaching traffic. So far there's been quite the random collection of road debris including fun noodles, sharp aluminum siding, a headless seagull, a dead raccoon, hundreds of dead monarch butterflies and too many different types of trash to list. If this race was in my city I would be embarrassed of the trash along the course. The scenery is beautiful though as I can see for miles across the bay. Pelicans are constantly flying over and there's now a light breeze at my back. The sun is out, but I'm not hot yet.
I push on and realize I have no clue of how far I have left to run. The last mile marker I saw was mile 6. I'm on the bridges so I know there's less than 5-miles left. There's no water or aid stations and for the first time I start to feel fatigued. The guy in front of me slows and I start to gain ground on him. He's clearly thirsty like me. The girl seems to slow, but speeds up so I can't seem to catch her. Then I feel myself slowing. I feel as if it continue this hard I WILL relieve myself of whatever is residing in my stomach. That would not be fun, so I slow even more.
There's a sign on the opposite side of the road and as I look back I see it's the 10k turnaround marker. Now I can figure that I have about 3 miles left to go and that I've been running for more than 4 miles with no water options. Surrounded by water, water everywhere... but not a drop to drink!
There's a small strip of land, maybe 1/2 mile, between the long flat bridge I'm coming off of and a high rise bridge leading over the channel and down into the city of Apalachicola. This is the final mile or so of the race. At this point there are two, TWO, aid stations set up in this 1/2 mile or so stretch. At the first one I take water and thank the volunteer. At the second one I take water and dump it on my head. I've now got this damn bridge to climb. I almost have to walk about halfway up. I pass a 10k walker and make a commit about who's idea this bridge was and we laugh. At the top I'm about ready to puke, but I can hear the music at the finish line. I manage to get back on pace going downhill (my strength) and cross the finish line under the bridge with a PR of more than a minute!
A few minutes later, Katie (who just ran a full marathon last weekend) crosses the Half Marathon finish line. After catching our breath and meeting up with some of our other friends (including husbands of some of the girls out there running the full marathon), it's not even a question or a discussion. We simply get in one of the cars and drive to the nearest convenient store where we buy lots of cold water bottles and Gatorade. Speeding down the course with great concern for all the runners including our friends somewhere up ahead with no support, we do take note that there are now more aid stations set up than when we ran the course. We find Jenny first around mile 18 and offer hydration. She refuses and we cheer her on. Next comes Michelle, who also refuses, but is happy to see us along the course. Then we find Danielle and Allison. They're all looking good and strong, but some other runners aren't as fortunate. On the bridge to to St. George Island we hand out nearly all the water and Gatorade to every desperate runner we see. They are thankful and I wonder if the knew we did this on our own or if they simply thought we were volunteers in a car? The most horrific thing I witnessed in this race was a large bottle of water and a stack of empty cups at mile 20 on the ground on a bridge with nobody around it. The last thing any runner wants to do at mile 20 of a marathon is stop running, bend over to ground level and pour themselves a drink! At least as we headed back to the finish line there were some bicyclist pouring as much water as they could for the runners.
We are back at the finish line a short while later and waiting for our runners to finish. Jenny needs a 3:40:00 or better time to qualify for Boston and the race clock passes 3:30:00. I run up to the bridge to look for her and she's nowhere to be seen. I check my watch and it's now 3:33:00. I get very anxious and then I see a familiar stride at the top! Will she make it? I think back to my finish and the time it too me to get from there to the finish line and realize she has plenty of time. As she comes down the bridge I yell out that she's doing great! She goes right and I go left taking the short route. We all cheer her in at the finish line. She's a mix of smiles and tears and can hardly talk. After about 30 seconds she manages to get out a soft "ouch."
That pretty much sums up the race... ouch. But hey, she's a Boston Qualifer with nearly 4 minutes to spare.
All the other girls finish strong and we spend the rest of the day relaxing poor side and grilling out along the beach of St. George Island. The environment for this race was great. It was the organization that sucked. It's the first year, but not having enough water, volunteers or medical help is NOT excusable.
I hope they have this race again next year, but realistically, I can't recommend it to anyone. The race director needs to take everything he has and throw it out the window. Wipe the slate clean, forget everything he thinks he knows about running a race, and start over with the help of a strong running organization. There are some seriously dangerous flaws in this race that must be corrected or the race should never be held again.

Photos to come soon!

My official stats*:
15th out of 266 total Half Marathon finishers
1st in my age division out of 12
Net Time: 1:49:14 (personal record)
Gun Time: 1:49:37
Average pace: 8:20

Running for the Bay! Half Marathon grade = D-

*As I write this I'm still confused about what place I actually finished. I was announced by the race director at the awards ceremony as 1st in my age division and that's what I'm recorded on the official race results "here." However, according to Active.com results I'm 2nd place in my age division with the 3rd place overall male finisher taking 1st in my age division. He's clearly beaten me and is in my age group, but not listed as in my age group division. This is yet another failure in the organization and execution of this event. All I can say is WTF and it's not a big deal to me as I don't consider myself competitive and all I care about is the PR, which I got.

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon RECAP

I guess this recap is better late than never . . . nearly 11 days ago Jenny and I ran the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and I have no excuse for posting my recap so late other than life comes at you fast sometimes. Here's how it all panned out!

The Health and Fitness Expo at Quest Field

Absolutely the best race expo I've attended yet. Competitor Events, Brooks and the Rock 'n' Roll series did it right and absolutely smoked the Disney Marathon Expo, Run for Donna Expo and Bay to Breakers expos to name a few I've attended in the past 6-months. It was absolutely huge with Brooks taking up at least a third of the expo. Yup, I was in Heaven. Jenny and I tried on the new Cascadia trail running shoes. I purchased mine and Jenny held off. Good thing because when we got home we learned she won a free pair in a drawing! All the vendors were amazing and for some reason it seemed as if there was an abnormal amount of free stuff to be had. I scored all kinds of free swag. I think Jenny and I lived off all the free snacks, nutritional bars & candy for at least one day trip of the vacation!

The Start Line
Jenny, Jeanie (who flew up from Sacramento to run the Half Marathon) and I scouted out the starting area the night before and learned it was exactly 2 miles from our hotel. I don't know if it was the cool-dry air or the nice beds at the Tukwila Comfort Suites, but I slept better the night before this race than any other race yet! Jenny probably didn't sleep, but that's the norm usually for both of us the night before. We were up before the alarms sounded at 5 a.m. and each of us went into pre-race routine. I think for future marathons I'm going to make a rule that whatever time we decide to get up and get to the start line that we add an hour to that time as we ended up rushed just like Disney in getting to the starting area. Our plan is to have Jeanie's boyfriend drop us off in our rental car and have about 30-to 45-minutes at the start line to do what runners do before races - use the bathrooms again and again. This is the first and one of the only FAILS for the race. A half mile down the road from the hotel we come to a dead stop in traffic. Many runners are getting out of their cars at this point and running or walking to the start line. We continue on at a soccer mom's pace (no offense all you soccer mom's out there. You've probably passed me in races before!) and I can tell that Jenny is getting anxious. I have no desire to run a mile or two before running a marathon. We still have plenty of time, but the clock is ticking.
We finally come to a "runner drop off" area and the vehicle traffic is being filtered directly onto I-5. There's no choice but to get out here and all the runners are being directed to the north along side the I-5 entrance ramp, but eventually underneath it. This is NOT what we envisioned last night. The start area is less than a quarter mile from where we get out of the car and now (since we can't cross the road) we are being directed away from the start area. At first we walk patiently and learn that we are going under an I-5 overpass and in a giant circle that leads into the back of the corrals. Jenny and I had our corral changed from 11 to 6 at the expo. When someone says the time and how far we have to go Jenny and I start running to the start line. Instant Deja Vu of the Disney Marathon back in January where we had to run a full mile to the start line kicks in. As we arrive at the corrals it appears that we are somewhere around corral 40! All the bathrooms have at least 50 people in line each! We continue to run through the 30 or so corrals until we can see the start line. There's 4 minutes until the 7 a.m. start time and no short lines in site! We jump the fence into Corral 6 and decide our only option is to start the race and use one of the bathrooms at mile 1 or 2. The race starts and the elites take off like a heard of gazelles being chased by a pack of lions. Corral 2 advances to the start line and we all start to move up. A minute later the gun fires again and all the crazies in Corral 2 get on it. We move up again ever so slightly. Corral 3 takes off. I look around at the people for the first time. Most people appear to be wearing half marathon bibs. Then I spot a woman that is at least 7 or 8 months pregnant wearing a yellow full marathon bib. Holy sh*t! And she's in the 3:40-3:48 pace corral. If that's not hardcore I don't know what is! When corral 6 makes it to the start line we have a minute to make a critical decision. Leave the corral, jump the fence and use some bathrooms we have spotted 50 yards away with only a few people in line or start the race and lose time using the bathrooms down course. We decide to hope the fence. See ya later corral 6 and hardcore pregnant lady! By the time we get back and jump the fence again we are in corral 10 almost where we originally would have been in corral 11. The gun fires. Our marathon officially begins!

The Race

Starting temperature is upper 50s. Finishing temperature is upper 60s.

It's a little crowded to begin with, but nothing as bad as the first few miles I experienced during the Disney Marathon. The race heads north along Lake Washington on wide closed off roads so there's plenty of wiggle room. The night before I wrote on my forearms the pace time for each mile to finish at 4 hours. Every few miles I check my watch for our chip time and cross check it with my forearm. We are doing great! Each time I check we are 1-3 minutes ahead of the 4-hour pace time. Thinking back after the race I realize I was pretty freaked the first 10 miles. I was quiet and reserved. We decided to run through the aid stations, something I had not even done on any of the training long runs. We took water, but on the fly. During the first 10 miles I'm feeling great, but scared more of uncertainty of how I'll do later on than the actual act of running 26.2 miles. Jenny on the other hand was relaxed and enjoying every aspect of the race. After the race she asks if I remember seeing multiple things and I have no recollection of most of them. I was in a zone with tunnel vision. There are some great bands we pass along the way. There are some not so great bands along the way. One of them is playing some kind of jazz/blues music. I remember telling Jenny to please kill me or the singer! One band is playing a Blink 182 song and the singer looks like Bon Jovi. I raise an arm and make the "rock on" sign with my fingers and the singer acknowledges with enthusiasm! For about 5 miles we are running near a guy that is constantly yelling at a woman to keep up the pace. He's trying to motivate her to finish the Half in under 2 hours, but he's NOT being nice about it. He even runs ahead of her and comes back almost like he's doing circles around her. She's breathing so hard we can hear her from 20 feet away. Jenny is getting so upset with this situation that I'm afraid she is going to go kick him in the balls or something. Finally we pass them and one older fellow next to us makes a remark about how that relationship isn't going to last past today! Somewhere around the mile 10 mark we split away from the half marathon runners and head out over a bridge that goes toward Bellevue. I'm stoked to be leaving behind the half runners because the course really thins out. The bridge is about a mile long and is one of those floating bridges. It looks beautiful, but looks can be deceiving. I quickly decide and proclaim to Jenny and anyone else within earshot that "this bridge sucks!" For the first time in the race I start to feel a little discomfort. There is a significant amount of wind over the lake that actually makes me cold. Plus the nearby traffic lanes are thick with cars and while it looks scenic my lungs are telling me a different story as they breath in exhaust fumes. There are no bands playing on the bridge and no crowd support. We run across and then all the way back and no sooner am I thrilled to have that over with we are faced with a tunnel. At first I think, better to go through a tunnel than run over whatever I'm running through. A minute later I decide the tunnel, like the bridge, is also no bueno! It's loud and I can't hear a thing Jenny is saying. It's also warmer than the normal outside temperature so it's kind of like shell shock to go from the cold windy bridge to the warm loud tunnel. There's one band, or single dude, with two turn tables spinning rave music inside the tunnel. For some reason this is funny to me. He's wearing a tux and sunglasses.
When we emerge out of the tunnel downtown Seattle is in full view and we're on a series of overpass highway roads heading straight for it. We pass the 13.1-mile marker and I check my watch. We're right at 2 hours exactly! This is bittersweet because while it's an awesome Half Marathon PR for me (busted my old PR by more than 16 minutes) I realize that we're going to have to do negative splits to bust 4 hours and I know there's hills on the horizon. The 4 hour mark really isn't a goal for this race, but it would be nice. It's more of a long term goal that I realize will come with more running experience. As we run through downtown there are hundreds of people lined along the course and for the first time I feel the advantage of having lots of crowd support. Jenny and I try a new strategy to make up some time. Since she is better running up hill than me and I'm better running downhill than her we flip flop back in forth on the hills. She sprints up leaving me behind and I sprint down catch up and even passing her. This works and we're back on track a few minutes ahead of the 4-hour pace up until mile 15ish and that's when it happens. Nope, not the infamous "wall," but something worse... our parents! Just kidding! I meant to say a long hill that goes up for more than a mile, but we do encounter are parents during this part of the race. First, it's Jenny's parents on the other side of the road. We wave and yell hello and keep running. Then it's my family. They've got water guns, bongo drums, cowbells and cameras and are cheering for us! All this in about a quarter mile and since we haven't introduced our families yet, they don't even know they are so close to each other! At the end of this long drawn out hill (aka my worst nightmare since I like them steep and short) there's a bridge and a turn around. Just before the turn around I notice the 4-hour pace group leader passes us. The hill has slowly worn me down and with only around 6 miles to go I feel my hopes of a sub-4 hour marathon slipping away. I see the red sign with black letters "4:00:00" bobbing up and down and slowly running away from me and there's nothing I can do about it. Not even on the next mile, which is mostly downhill, can I regain my composure and catch up. It's now that, for the first time, we walk through an aid station. I slam two cups Cytomax. Jenny points out that soon we'll be coming upon our parents again and I say, "well, I guess we should probably run past our parents," and she laughs. This time around all of our "parental units" are on the correct side of the road. My cousin, Bob, sprays us with a water cannon. It feels great! Jenny's mother, Sally, has made friends with a squad of cheerleaders (probably high school cheerleaders) and they are chanting a cheer with Jenny and my names in it. Her mother is so excited for us and her father is taking pictures!At mile 21 we emerge out of the Battery Street Tunnel and I'm in a ton of pain. The camber of the road is steep as it is a curve and every step I take is rocked with pain in my ankles. I slow to almost a walk and Jenny turns around to see what's wrong. I look up at her and almost start to cry. "You know what the best part of this moment right here is," I ask rhetorically. "I can see the finish line," I cry out. Off in the distance 3 or 4 miles away we can clearly see Quest Field. For a minute I forget the course map and the fact that we have to run a mile past the field and then back before exiting the Alaskan Way Viaduct down to the finish line.If you haven't already run 21 miles this would probably be the most scenic part of the marathon. Imagine being up high on an overpass highway with a clear view of the Pugent Sound to your right with the Olympic Mountains dominating the horizon and to the left dozens of high rise buildings making up downtown Seattle. It's an amazing sight to behold even when you're driving it in a car, but at this point it becomes less and less enjoyable. The road is concrete. The hard kind of concrete with visible rocks in it. Most of the course is concrete, NOT asphalt, and neither Jenny nor I anticipated this factor. Jenny always says she doesn't want to run NYC Marathon because it's mostly concrete. I told her after Seattle that she might as well of run NYC. The visible rocks within the concrete start playing mind games with me and I imagine feeling the individual grooves between rocks through my Brooks Adrenaline shoes and directly upon the balls of my feet! I can honestly say I enjoyed ALL of the marathon except these last 2-3 miles. There are bands playing along the way, but very few spectators have made their way atop the viaduct. At mile 24 I'm feeling completely defeated and stop to walk through an aid station. If there's a "wall" for me this is it. My brain is telling my feet to take run step in front of the other, but my feet will not listen and continue to walk. At mile 25 we see a girl laying on the side of the road getting medical attention. She does NOT look good and I tell myself to shape up, it could be a lot worse. Jenny motivates me to start running again each time I stop. We pick a random object ahead and decide we'll run once we get to it until we have to walk again. It's slow going and the last 2.2 miles takes me nearly 28 minutes. That's more than 10 minutes longer than my intended pace that we held for so many miles. Around mile 25.5 I hear a girl behind me ask, "Tallguysurfing, is that you?" I spin around and instantly start running to keep up with these two strangers as they run past. "Yes," I respond and instantly recognize that it's Marlene from Mission to a(nother) Marathon and she's running with Tall Mom on the Run.I couldn't believe it! I knew they were also running this race, but never thought I'd literally run into them, or them run into me during the race. Just like at Disney when I ran into long lost high school friends during the race, here are two bloggers that have recognized me. Marlene looks at Jenny and says, "you must be Jenny" and for a second I can see Jenny is a little shocked until she remembers that I write about her so much. Marlene and Mel are looking strong... a lot stronger than myself and they continue on ahead as I am voiced to walk again despite my brain's constant orders to feet to run!Near mile 26 we exit the Viaduct and I again almost cry as the finish line is so near you can feel it. Hundreds of people line the last 285 yards and I hear Jeanie yelling my name from within the crowd. Jenny and I cross the finish line running. My official chip time is 4:18:00 and like a true Southern gentleman I let the lady go first with her official chip time clocking in at 4:17:59.

Here's the race stats and break down:

Full Marathon: 4,094 Finishers (2,068 Men)
Male Winner: Jynocel Basweti - 2:18:19
Female Winner: Sopagna Eap - 2:43:05

My Splits

Chip Time start: 7:11:52
5K mark: 27:54
10k mark: 56:05
9-mile mark: 1:21:31
Half: 2:00:32
30k mark: 2:53:26
24-Mile mark: 3:50:33
Finish: 4:18:00

Overall Finish: 1,499th

Gender Place: 996th

Division Place: 168th of 343

By comparison the Half Marathon boasted 17,608 finisher (5036 male/12,572 female).


Post Race
We grab whatever food we come across. My sweat quickly turns to goosebumps as the shivers set in. We sit down within the "chute" to collect ourselves before meeting up with our families. I'm spent. I can officially say that I left everything out there on the course. I didn't bust 4 hours, but I accomplished every other goal I set out for, all of which take higher priority over time. A few minutes later we reunited with our families at letter "J" and introduced them for the first time. The rock band Tonic was set to take the stage in about an hour, but at this point I could care less. We managed to go get our free beers. I can say that MGD 64 has never tasted so good! Then we made our way back to the cars to warm up and head back to the hotels to recover. Overall it was an amazing experience and I'm pleased to say this will not be the last marathon for Tallguysurfing!
I'll post some pictures from the race in my next post. Stay tuned! And once again thank you to everyone that contributed to our efforts to raise money for American Heart Association!

I'm shipping up to Raleigh!

While many of my blogger friends are "shipping up to Boston" this weekend, I'll be heading out in a few minutes to Raleigh from the Gainesville airport with Jenny to visit a few of our friends for the weekend. Another song comes to mind; an old Bob Dylan song I believe recently covered by Against Me! that goes something like this, "picking me a bouquet of dogwood flowers and I'm a hopin' for Raleigh..."

Anyways, I'm excited to get out of Florida for a few days and away from the real estate business, which has been driving me nuts the past few weeks. Tomorrow we have a 13-miler on tap first thing in the morning. According to a combination of Google Earth and Mapmyrun.com it looks like we'll be able to run from the house we're staying at through the countryside to the Harris County Lake Park where there's miles of trails with our names written all over them. I'm hoping for some hills myself. I'll probably carry along the camera so expect a full recap with pictures sometime later next week after I get back!

I'll also be tuning into the Universal Sports channel Monday morning to watch the Boston Marathon. Best of luck to all you bloggers either spectating or racing/running!

Surfing..... oh man, I'm getting antsy. We've had about two weeks of onshore winds and the few windows of opportunities early in the morning with light and variable winds I've missed because of work. I've heard there's been some "going off" moments on the inside of the rocks. Now that I'm leaving town, I'm sure it'll be epic. I fully intend to hit it hard next week!

Seattle Training Report:
I'm feeling really strong. I've logged 12 miles so far this week without the weekly long run and I'm having to remind myself to take it easy and slow down. Looking back at my training log from last year it's becoming apparent that I had no idea what heck I was doing. I still feel like I'm super new and still a novice, but at least I feel like I'm more wise and smart enough not to overdo it again. Time will tell as I'm about to enter the realm of injury territory where my body will tell me yea or nay for higher mileage weeks. Hopefully, this time with less surfing, softball, tennis and other oddities in the picture an injury such as Mr. Achilles won't repeat itself.

AHA Fundraising Report:
So super stoked to have busted our goal this week. Honestly, I feel like I should have made a harder/higher goal. I had no idea we'd receive SO MUCH support without begging for it. Last I checked we busted $1,300 to support American Heart Association. Running the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon is going to mean so much to Jenny and I and I can't begin to thank everyone that has shown support!

Happy Weekend to All and catch you on the flip side! Keep the stoke!

The coolest Marathon on Earth!

I started work this morning at 7 a.m. It's the only time I can get a couple of customers on the phone to work on an on-going deal. At 7:30 a.m. we were still at a stale mate and I needed to think so I went for a 6-mile run. It was magnificent! 60 Degrees and rising with the sunrise! I skirted around the airport, through a recreational complex and ended near a friends house to chat as he is remodeling the place. Back at work I sit here writing this post and I'm completely relaxed and full of good energy!

My girlfriend sent me this link a few minutes ago with some witty comments about this marathon and how the runners in the pictures look so happy (we both hate the cold). I thought it'd be a great race to share with all you crazy runners out there looking for the next best thing. It's too late for the 2010 marathon (it's happening today), but I hear there's always next year!!!

The North Pole Marathon!

Why we're running the Seattle RNR Marathon!

Today I attended a funeral of a man I only met once on the beach.

I feel that funerals aren't really for the poor soul resting in the coffin or urn, but more as support for the family and friends and that's the reason for my attendance.* When my father passed away there was standing room only at the service and the procession was more than a mile long. That alone meant everything to me.
Today's service was for my good friend, Bob's, father who succumbed to a long battle with heart disease last Friday. This has prompted me to start something I've been planning to do for a long time; help fight the battle against heart disease!
Just about all of us have been affected by heart disease in one way or another, whether personally or we know someone with it or whom has died from it. For Bob and myself it was our fathers that were taken from this world by heart disease.
I was only 15 when my father had a sudden heart attack with no warning one Sunday morning while out for his weekly long run. The doctors said he was gone before his body fully collapsed to the ground while running. We had no warning signs and if there were any they weren't recognized, which actually happens very often with heart disease.

My father and I with the catch of the day a couple years before his heart attack.

By raising awareness of these sometimes misunderstood symptoms and continuing research in science, The American Heart Association is fighting the battle against heart disease and this is the core of why I'm writing this post.


Many of you know I am currently training for the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on June 26, 2010. Running this race along side me will be, Jenny, my girlfriend that stands witness to the battle against heart disease every day she goes to work as a dietitian in a cardiac wing of a major hospital. But, I want you to know exactly why I am running this race.

I'm dedicating my running of this race to my father and I find it fitting that when I cross that finish line I will be doing something he was passionate about the last few years of his life, running, and also accomplishing something he never had the chance to.... running a marathon!

This is also why I've started a fund raising effort for the American Heart Association and why I'll be asking for donations these next several months. My goal is only $795. That's $15 for each year my father graced this Earth with his sense of humor, helping hand, smile and love. Times are tough economically. I don't expect any person to donate, but it would be nice and every cent helps a great cause. Consider this; In the time you took to read this at least three people experienced coronary events and one person has died due to heart disease.

Please at least check out my fund raising page over at AHA and maybe.... at least consider a donation. You know I'll be totally stoked if you make even the smallest contribution! I'd also love to hear your personal stories if any of you have suffered a loss in the family due to heart disease. I'll even co-dedicate this race to any of my reader's loved ones that have passed away to heart disease! Here's the link to my fund raising page:

http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/FunRaiser/NAT-Funraiser?px=2103915&pg=personal&fr_id=1150&et=MTLc_1RSqMxkh6hwpm18Kg..&s_tafId=3031



*Note: Mark my words, when I bite it I want all my family and my friends to have a huge party, go surfing, go running, drink to much alcohol, dance and have a good time in my memory!