Cowtown Marathon - 3:40 Pace Group Leader.
That was a blast!!!! I was so worried about the weather, and I guess I must have prepared for it and managed to hit my splits fairly closely. At the expo yesterday I bought an optic yellow/green sleeveless windbreaker..I was thinking wind break, and maximum visibility for the pace group to find me. It turned out to be just what I needed. I also bought a new headband / ear covers...wow, they were perfect for today (I usually wear a stocking hat or stay inside when it is cold outside). Not sure why I've never gotten one of those before. They're great.
Up at 5:00. In downtown Ft Worth by 6:15 (7:30 start time). The owner of Pizzeria Uno (yum) is a local ultramarathoner and opens the restaurant up to the local running club...can you say "flush toilet?" (sweet). I felt like I was in the elite tent or something :-)
Mosied a block down to the starting line at about 7:15, and stood in a freezing wind tunner for what seemed like an eternity. While there a local newspaper reporter took my picture and asked me a bunch of questions, so maybe I'll make it into the Startelegram tomorrow.
I was a bit nervous as the wind was at a constant 20+ MPH directly into our faces at the start.
The race started about on time at 7:30 and we were off. I kept telling myself not to do my usual take off too fast routine. My first split was a bit slow...so I made up for it in the next couple miles.
The miles just flew by. A few people were talkative, which really helped. A few people were going for Boston qualifiers, one guy was running his first marathon. I have no idea how many people were in my group until the half marathoners split off from the marathon route at about Mile 8. I looked back to see a pack of about 20 runners. It stayed that way until we hit a gradual uphill section around mile 14, when I noticed we had lost a few. At about mile 16 we headed back into the wind and up some hills, and then they started dropping like flies. I did my best to keep and "even effort" -- going slower up the hills, and a little faster when the wind was behind us.
At the halfway point we had about a 2 minute cushion built up. This isn't much..but I knew we would almost all of it. With 5 miles to go I remember calculating that we would have to run 8:40/mi for each mile on the way back. By mile 23, my pack dwindled to 3 other runners. With 1.2 to go, it was me and one other guy. By the finish, I was all alone (the one guy with me ran up ahead a little -- I guess he didn't want me in his finisher photo :-).
When I saw the finish line with .2 miles to go I was about 2 minutes under 3:40. That's the first time I was sure I was going to hit my mark (or close to it). I finished in 3:39:39 (according to my watch...official results aren't out, yet).
The woman I lost w/ 1.2 miles to go finished about a minute behind. She still BQ'd! ..and the guy who stuck with me the whole way and ran ahead at the finish, it was his first-ever marathon.
It also turns out that the man and woman who finished directly in front of me were using me as motivation. The woman thanked me for not passing her :-). I think some people think of pace group leaders as The Grim Reaper or something and the "3:40" sign I was carrying was some sort of sickle!! :-)
Overall, this was a very satisfying day on so many levels. I managed to stay healthy all week even though I had a sore throat almost every morning and evening (no coughing..could be allergies). I met my goal pace (OK, I was 20 seconds fast...but what's that over 26.2 miles??) I had a blast and met some very nice people. I would highly recommend running a marathon as a pace leader, if ever the chance arises. My PR is 3:20:02 (SGM '07), and I found the 3:40 pace quite comfortable to maintain. So, if you pace a group you might want to pick a group that is 20-30 minutes slower than your current abilities.
Pace Report: 3:39:39
Weather: 35-45 degrees, Wind: 21 MPH NNW
Cowtown Marathon - Marc Elliott - 3:40 Pace Group leader |
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Date: |
2/28/2009 |
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Time: |
3:39:39 |
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Distance |
26.27 |
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Avg Pace |
8:22 |
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HR avg |
152 |
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| Lap |
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Lap# |
Time |
Distance |
Tot Dist |
Pace |
HR |
Elapsed Time |
Projected |
1 |
8:50 |
1.02 |
1.02 |
8:39 |
162 |
0:08:50 |
3:47:30 |
2 |
8:01 |
1 |
2.02 |
8:01 |
170 |
0:16:51 |
3:39:08 |
3 |
8:06 |
1 |
3.02 |
8:06 |
156 |
0:24:57 |
3:37:02 |
4 |
7:54 |
1 |
4.02 |
7:54 |
147 |
0:32:52 |
3:34:47 |
5 |
6:48 |
0.84 |
4.86 |
8:05 |
147 |
0:39:40 |
3:34:25 |
6 |
9:39 |
1.17 |
6.03 |
8:14 |
148 |
0:49:19 |
3:34:51 |
7 |
8:33 |
1.01 |
7.04 |
8:27 |
151 |
0:57:53 |
3:36:00 |
8 |
8:38 |
1.01 |
8.05 |
8:32 |
150 |
1:06:31 |
3:37:04 |
9 |
16:18 |
1.99 |
10.04 |
8:11 |
146 |
1:22:49 |
3:36:42 |
10 |
0:02 |
0.003788 |
10.04 |
8:48 |
147 |
1:22:51 |
3:36:42 |
11 |
8:03 |
1 |
11.04 |
8:03 |
148 |
1:30:54 |
3:36:13 |
12 |
8:07 |
0.98 |
12.02 |
8:16 |
145 |
1:39:01 |
3:36:20 |
13 |
8:36 |
1.05 |
13.07 |
8:11 |
146 |
1:47:37 |
3:36:14 |
14 |
8:25 |
1 |
14.07 |
8:25 |
148 |
1:56:02 |
3:36:35 |
15 |
8:10 |
0.99 |
15.06 |
8:14 |
149 |
2:04:12 |
3:36:36 |
16 |
8:13 |
1 |
16.06 |
8:13 |
151 |
2:12:25 |
3:36:33 |
17 |
8:43 |
1.01 |
17.07 |
8:37 |
150 |
2:21:08 |
3:37:09 |
18 |
16:58 |
2 |
19.07 |
8:29 |
153 |
2:38:07 |
3:37:46 |
19 |
0:06 |
0.011932 |
19.09 |
8:22 |
150 |
2:38:13 |
3:37:46 |
20 |
8:24 |
0.98 |
20.07 |
8:34 |
155 |
2:46:28 |
3:37:56 |
21 |
8:10 |
0.98 |
21.05 |
8:20 |
151 |
2:54:38 |
3:37:59 |
22 |
8:51 |
1.03 |
22.08 |
8:35 |
153 |
3:03:29 |
3:38:21 |
23 |
8:34 |
0.98 |
23.06 |
8:44 |
154 |
3:12:04 |
3:38:51 |
24 |
8:51 |
1.02 |
24.08 |
8:40 |
157 |
3:20:55 |
3:39:14 |
25 |
8:39 |
1 |
25.08 |
8:39 |
160 |
3:29:35 |
3:39:34 |
26 |
8:14 |
1 |
26.08 |
8:14 |
161 |
3:37:49 |
3:39:26 |
27 |
1:50 |
0.21 |
26.29 |
8:43 |
160 |
3:39:39 |
3:39:31 |
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