"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail"

My trip report from the Steamboat Marathon

on June 7^th, 2009.

(mini-vacation with a 26.2 mile run thrown in for fun)

Short version:

41. Marc Elliott, Springtown TX, 44, 3:40:46, 8 in M 40-44.

Long version:

Headed to Colorado on Thursday with my wife, Beth. Left after breakfast. Drove the extremely boring trip through Amarillo and then NW through Raton, NM, past Pueblo, CO, then decided to stop at Manitou Springs, CO. A cute, eclectic little tourist town at the base of Pike’s Peak (about 600+ mile of driving)

Wife, Beth, at Manitou Springs, CO

After a light breakfast, Beth and I took the Cog Railway to the Summit of Pike’s Peak. I’ve never been up there before. As it was about 60 degrees in Manitou Springs, we were wearing shorts. The woman at the train station was kind enough to inform us that it was 30 degrees with a windchill of 16 at the top. We quickly added a few layers and caught our train to the top. It was  a relaxing 8 mile, 90 minute ride to the top, through the Aspen forests, and mountain streams, and we even saw some big horn sheep above the tree line. Amazing scenery from up there. Spent about 50 minutes at the summit (14,110 ft), took some pictures, bought a t-shirt, and few souvenirs for the kids and headed back down.

Marc and Beth at summit of Pike's Peak

Marc at summit of Pike's Peak

Drove the 3 hours to Steamboat on Saturday morning.

Glen and Charlotte

Gorgeous day. Lots of sunshine. I just love driving through the mountains. There was still snow at the tops, which made for some great scenery. Got to steamboat around noon, checked in to our condo (thank you, Steamboat Chamber of Commerce for the free stay and entries into the race) The condo was right on the side of the ski slopes (ski in) and had a pretty good view of the town below. 

The view from our free condo for the weekend.

After checkin, headed to packet pickup. This is a small-sized, small-town race. At the expo, I sampled the Honey Stinger energy bars, and bought a race poster for $3 (nice poster). 

After the Expo we went to a pizza buffet place for some carbo loading. Then Glen and I took a drive to see the marathon route, while Beth and Charlotte did some shopping in town.

The drive up the route was very scenic..and long. I started wondering why I was even attempting this race. In the 6 weeks since Boston, I’ve run about 20-25 miles per week, with my longest long run being 14 miles. I convinced myself that I would run this one nice and easy, and it would be the kickoff for my St George training.  The race starts at an elevation of 8128 and finishes at 6728 ft.  I spend the majority of my life at 900 ft. I didn’t know what effect the elevation would have on my day. I was feeling fine, so far.  The race is run on a narrow 2-lane road, with the left lane being reserved for runners on race day.

Cabins at the Start of the Steamboat Marathon

Picked up some groceries, and went back to the condo and cooked some pasta for dinner.

Pre-race Pasta dinner

Got my race stuff ready, and was in bed by 10:00pm. As usual, I woke up several times before the 4:59 alarm. Got up checked the weather (about 34 degrees outside, with a chance of rain). Put on a singlet, long-sleeve tech shirt, and my optic yellow wind-breaker vest(the one I bought to wear at Cowtown in Feb). As the aid stations were spaced 3 miles apart, I decided to bring a fuel belt, just in case. Put my disposable camera and cellphone in my pocket, then Glen took Charlotte and I to the bus loading area. I got on the bus and headed to the back. I sat with a guy wearing headphones, so not much conversation going on there. As we drove to the starting line, a light rain started to fall. The rain was fairly steady when we got to the starting area. I immediately headed to the POP – where I contemplated staying for the 45 minute’s wait until the start—it was dry in there!  I was so unprepared for this race—I didn’t even bring a trash bag with me to wear. I was lucky to find some room on one of the covered porches of some log cabins by the starting line, to stay dry. It was cold and a little rainy, and once again, I was thinking, “why am I doing this?”

At about T-minus 10 minutes I went to the  bag drop-off bus to drop off my stuff. I asked the driver if I could hop on the bus. He said “sure, why not?”. So, me and a couple others spent a few minutes dry and toasty. Pretty soon, I could see the mass of runners grouped up, and they were off! (and I was still on the bus). I’m guessing I lost maybe a minute by dilly-dallying on the bus…but it was worth it. I started slowly, and worked my way through the people. (the official results show just over 300 finishers – they cut off the times at 5:30). I felt pretty good in the first couple miles. At mile 3 there’s a nice ½ mile climb of about 200 feet, which is quickly rewarded by a drop in elevaton of about 800 feet over the next 4 miles. I chugged up the hills, watching my HR climb to levels which are normally reserved for my sprints back home.  But, then watched it drop again to a comfortable level, as I cruised down the hills. It was a pretty course. Lots of mountain views, meadows, trees, horses, cows, and the occasional ranchers at the end of their driveways coming out to cheer on the crazy runners.

A stretch of road at the start of the Steamboat Marathon route

The rain was off and on, with a light drizzle for the most part. Around mile 16 or so, the sun came out and it looked like it was turning into a nice day. I was starting to warm up. At the 19 mile aid station, I stripped off my 2 top layers – and left them with the volunteers who assured me they would be taken to the finish area.  I felt good running in a singlet for the next mile or so, until it started raining again. I could hear thunder in the distance, and then it got windy. As it was probably about 40-45 degrees out, I quickly started getting chilly. I tried calling my wife to bring me a jacket, but no answer. A couple minutes later, here comes my buddy Glen on his bike. He decided to ride his mountain bike from the finish line to the starting line, and then back down.  He asked how I was doing. I admitted that I wasn’t feeling too good (this was about mile 21). He was kind enough to give me his long-sleeved wicking shirt that he had on under his fleece jacket…what a guy! He gave me the shirt off his back.  I walked-ran it to the finish from there, but at least I wasn’t too worried about getting hypothermia. The rain cleared up with a few miles to go. But, then there was a fairly strong head wind…similar to Boston.  I walked through the aid stations, and a little more in between, with what seemed like hundreds of people passing me each time I walked. All the people I had passed coming down the mountain, were returning the favor. It’s a sinking feeling, I don’t much like. With about 2 miles to go, I decided to shuffle my way to the finish…no more walking. With about .2 miles to go, I looked over my shoulder and saw a woman there…I was NOT going to be “chicked” (again),  not this close to the finish. I found a little extra energy and held her off.

I finished in 3:40:46 according to the official results. My 3^rd slowest marathon (of 14). 60^thst male. 8^th in my AG. overall, 41\

Marc and friend, Charlotte after their races

Overall, I feel pretty good about finishing this race. It will probably go down as my highest altitude marathon.

The one dark cloud on the weekend was that I  found my hat and tech shirt at the pile of clothes later at the finish line, but my bright optic yellow vest was nowhere to be found. I hope whoever picked it up needs it more than me.  I’d like to think that someone accidentally picked it up by mistake. I know as a whole, marathoners are probably one of the most trustworthy groups of people you could ever meet.

My friend Charlotte finished her ½ marathon in 2:14:45 (a 15 minute PR over her first, also at Steamboat). I was bummed to find out that only the marathon runners got finishers’medals. I think all half marathons should have some sort of trinket to remember the event by. The marathon finisher’s medal is pretty nice, and one that I will cherish.

Glen (who gave me the shirt off his back, Charlotte, Marc, and Beth

The finish area was right at the court house in the center of town. As soon as I finished, I was handed a wet towel, awarded a finisher’s medal,

and was handed a sheet of paper with my time, place, etc… A nice touch. The grass on the courthouse lawn felt good under my bare feet, as I quickly removed my shoes and hobbled around a little. I met up with my wife, and Glen and Charlotte. They have video of my finish...they were yelling my name, and I swear I never heard them.  Not that there was much of a crowd, I must have just been so intent on not being “chicked”, that I blocked everyone out.

One interesting thing I noticed about Steamboat..the high percentage of women. The field was split about 50-50, almost exactly.  I placed 60^th overall, and 41^st in my gender..meaning  19 or the 59 people who finished in front of me (33%)  were women.  Just something interesting I noticed.

I loved the trip and the time away with my wife and friends (no kids!!!).  This was my first trip to Steamboat and I would recommend it…especially if you get to stay for free! I’m not so sure that I’ll try running this marathon again. Give me a couple weeks, and I might be thinking that I have a score to settle…with those last 5 miles. As I hadn’t trained very hard or put in the miles needed to complete this marathon with a strong finish, I’m satisfied with how I did. In hindsight, maybe I should have taken it a little easier in the first half of the race, and just maybe I wouldn’t have had to so quite so much walking at the finish. I’m not going to beat myself up, I ran Steamboat and I finished upright!

We drove the 897.5 miles back home on Monday. We made a stop at the US Air Force Acedemy in Colorado Springs. Pretty cool stop, with the highlight being the multi-religion church/temple/synagogue, and the B-52 on display. It was a nice break from the long driving.

Got home to our kids at about 11:30PM. Exhausted, and happy to be back home.