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!

5-Miles for 5-Points of Life!

I've never been one to get behind Valentine's Day. Yes, it's great to be romantic, but why do we need a highly commercialized holiday (keeping the florist in business?) for an excuse to be romantic? What's even worse is Valentine's Day probably causes more grief, arguments and downright depression (amongst the lonely) than what it's worth. With that being said...

I had the best Valentine's Day of my life last weekend. No pressure. No expectations. Just fun. In fact, Jenny and I have decided that from now on we will always run a race on the dreaded V-day.

This year was a last minute race. To help a marathon relay team Jenny and I decided to fill in for a couple of absentee members of a team in need; Team Lickety Splits.

The Race?

Gainesville's Five Points of Life Marathon (a USATF Certified Boston Qualifier race) that consists of a half marathon, full marathon, marathon relay and a 5k. The health expo and packet pickup the day before was small and FUN. The race T-shirts are technical shirts (huge thumbs up there) and the overall coordination of the race including post race finisher area was excellent! It might go down as one of my favorite races to date.

Here's my recap!

Jenny and a bunch of her friends are running the Run with Donna Half Marathon in Jacksonville Beach next weekend and I'm still officially "taking a break" before beginning Seattle Marathon training so our goal for this race was simple: To Have FUN! No expectations of time or place. We meet up with our teammates at the expo and didn't even discuss strategy. It seems that everyone is just out to have fun, which equals perfect. The only drawback to this is being left wondering just how fast your teammates will be and when they will be showing up to hand off the microchip to you at the transition area. I've learned to never judge a runner based on appearance so we leave the expo not knowing what to expect. All Jenny and I know is I'm running miles 15-20 and I'll hand off to her to finish miles 20-26.2. She's the anchor and I'm the chain!

There are 19 relay teams with 5 members on each team. This is the first year for relay teams as part of the marathon. To prepare for this race Jenny and I did the following:

1.) prepare a light pasta dish with mushrooms and red sauce and eat a red bell pepper with humus all mixed down with a $3.99 bottle of pinot grigio labeled Promiscuous.
2.) Attend a private "martini party" at a country club with a "Prom" any decade dress code (yes, TallguySurfing wore his vintage 1996 Tuxedo) until the wee hours of the morning.
3.) Carb load with a mixture of Appletinis, Pomegranatinis and Cosmos until we felt and, unfortunately for viewers, acted like Rockstars!
4.) Made sure all of our muscles were in good racing order by dancing for extending periods of time.
5.) After approximately 3 or 4 hours of sleep (we can't actually remember) get up at 5:45 a.m. to head to the race starting area.
6.) and in retrospect I would not recommend this race preparation unless you plan to Chase Cows.



By the way, the temperature at this time of day is about 28 degrees. Seriously people? Have I mentioned that I live in Florida?!?!? As Jenny and I pull up to the parking area later than hell, we see the race start and hundreds of runners tear down 34th Street and Hull Road. Ironically, the race even started late at 7:10 a.m. instead of 7 a.m.



This is when I realized how glad I was NOT to be one of the first runners. At least it'll warm up just a bit before it's my turn. We find a race coordinator and make our way to the limo service that's busy transporting all the relay team members to their transition points. I load up with all the 4th leg runners. It's a full on party bus limo with two "stripper-like" poles in the aisle, flashing lights and dance music blaring. My head is pounding, my hands and feet are freezing numb and my body reminds me of the wonderful job I did preparing for this race last night. All 19 runners are sitting inside in silence. I think we're all thinking the same thing of not really knowing what to think.

Once we're dropped off at the transition point there is some confusion about "drop bags." The race volunteer on the limo does not know what will happen to our bags if we leave them at the transition point that is currently manned by nobody. The only concrete option she has for us is to leave our bags on the limo dropping us off so they can be transported back to the start/finish line. It's still below freezing and by my best estimate the elite runners leading the race probably won't be here for at least 30 minutes. Leaving my jacket right now sounds like suicide so a few fellow relay runners and I devise the brilliant plan of reminding our teammate's to bring our bags back for us as we're getting our chips handed off to us. Problem solved!

Now the waiting begins. On the limo nobody was talking. I try to be social and end up talking to a few runners. One girl ran the Disney Half Marathon last month so we compared notes on how we both froze our asses off in those races. Another runner is actually a physician at the hospital and knows Jenny. We have a friendly conversation as the lead runner approaches. He's moving at a strong clip and refuses water or Gatorade. He just blasts right through the aid station. What's even more amazing is he's got a minute and a half on the second and third position runners at mile 15. He would end up winning the race with a time of 2:25:34.3.

All in all I estimate waiting for about 45 minutes at the transition area. During this time I lose feeling in my toes, but manage to keep the rest of my body warm. The physician, who gets his hand off about 10 minutes before me, removed his long pants before leaving and said while he feels cold he believes he'll warm up at his 7-minute intended pace. This sparks an idea in my head... a leap of faith or an experience gaining event in my growing running education. It hasn't occurred to me to take off my Nike DryFit long pants and run the race in the shorts I'm wearing underneath. My personal time goal is anything under 43-minutes and as long as I run at that pace I think I'll warm up quickly. A few runners and I guess that it's warmed up to mid-30s and I nervously remove my pants and reveal my chicken legs. Yes, it's cold, very COLD, but almost catching me off guard I notice my teammate approaching mile 15. She's looking strong and this energy charges me even more as I'm stoked there are still at least half the relay people still waiting. She arrives and I quickly ask her to bring my bag back, grab the microchip and I'm off!

The volunteers are clapping and yelling as I blow through the aid station and head east toward downtown. There are no other runners around me, but I'm energized! I have to tell myself to slow it down a bit after a half mile or so. The course map shows some hills in the first two miles or so of my leg and then a lot of downhill action the last half. The air is really cold and actually hurting my lungs. I look at my watch and it reads 9-minutes. I'm somewhere in downtown Gainesville, but I haven't been paying attention. I never saw a mile-16 sign, but I know I've gone at least a mile. Finally I spot the mile 17 sign and check my watch - 14-minutes. Kickass! I'm feeling great. And bonus... I can feel my toes again!

I start to pass a few runners. I actually slow down behind the first one because I feel bad about passing him and decide to think about whether I should say anything to him as I pass. He is running the full marathon and I don't want him to feel bad when I blow past him near the infamous 18-mile mark. What should I say? "Excuse me, don't mind me, I'm just a lowly marathon relay runner," or "It's OK I'm a relay runner, but I ran the full Disney last month and I feel your pain dude... you're doing great by the way... tallyho?"

I decide not to say anything, not to make eye-contact or anything. I just pretend they aren't there and run on by minding my own business. Thinking back I probably should have said some kind of words of encouragement. Oh well, I've got a relay to run!

Right around mile 18 when I'm expecting a lot of downhill running I run around a slow curve only to see a giant hill in front of me. "What the eff?" This is not a big deal, but when you are expecting to go downhill and you see a giant uphill half mile in front of you it kind of blows your mind. I had to laugh about how angry I'd be if I was running the full marathon. "Congratulations! You've made it to mile 18! Here's a wonderful hill for you!"

The last two miles are up and down with several large hills. I feel them slowing me down and I try and make up time as I run down each hill, but going down just sucks for me. It actually hurts my legs more than going up. I need to run more bridges! What's worse is last night's martini-drinking carb loading debauchery seems to be catching up with me. For some strange reason my body has decided it will be useful to burp... A LOT. At one point it seems like I'm burping every other step. I'm sure things could be way worse in the world of runners and embarrassing body "functions" but this is very odd and amusing to me.

Burp burp burp....

It's a good thing that nobody is within 100-yards of me. If it were Disney I'd surely be getting a few stares by other runners hearing my burping. Stupid martinis!

Soon I see the mile-20 marker. Then I see Jenny waiting for me. Then I dramatically drop the microchip as I try and undo the strap a few hundred feet before the transition area, which I'm sure was some cheap entertainment for all the relay runners freezing their butts off to watch while waiting. As I make it to Jenny I stop my watch, hand her the chip and manage to tell her good luck, remember not to over do it, fun run is the goal and give her a kiss! She tears off down Williston Road to finish out the remaining 6.2 miles.

After at least a 30 minute wait the limo service picks up about 10 of us relay runners and takes us to the finish line where we arrive just as Jenny is crossing the finish line.

Team Lickety Splits official time: 3:39:34.1
Not to shabby!
My 5-mile leg time (according to my watch as there were no split timers): 40:15

I was so stoked to have beat my goal. I think without the hills and burping I probably could have sustained that early 7-minute pace, but that's for a different race. I'm glad I ran it in short pants as opposed to the long pants and I felt strong the entire time. I also absolutely LOVE my Brooks Adrenaline shoes!

This was a great race for a great cause. Everything was run smoothly and the only minor confusion in the relay portion was the deal with the drop bags and having to wait an extending amount of time in the cold after running for a shuttle back to the finish/start line. I'm sure they'll get the kinks worked out of the relay next year. Now if only Mother Nature would warm up Florida a bit, provide a good swell and longer days. I am way over due for a surfing post!