26 Miles, 385 yards. A Greek Messenger’s impact on us all…

The History

According to the most popular accounts, Philippides was sent from Marathon to Athens to announce the defeat of the Persian Army by the Greek Forces in Marathon. Upon reaching Athens he proclaimed “Rejoice, we conquer,” then he fell over and died. No one knows that this actually happened, but there are claims that he had run distance well over 100 miles before. It was not uncommon for messengers to run these distances as a way to pass messages along battle lines. Regardless of how it actually happened, 2000 years later the Olympics in Athens featured a Marathon Race. The winner was of course a Greek! That first race was slightly less than 25 miles. After that Olympics in 1896, Organizers from Boston, Ma, went back to the USA and started the Boston Marathon, which had its first running in 1897. Since then, the race had varied in its length until the 26.2 miles (42Km) was made the official distance in 1921; this was precipitated by the 1908 London Olympics decision to start the Marathon at Windsor Castle.

Note: Any distance over 26.2 miles is considered an Ultra-Marathon.

The Race Popularity

Marathons have become more popular as time goes on. In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of women signing up for and running for distance races. In the very popular Flying Pig Marathon the number of finishers were 5,954/3,469 (women/men) in the Half Marathon. Also, it seems that road racing in general, and Marathoning specifically, are recession proof. Many races are filling up faster than recent years, in spite of the rise of registration prices. In 2010 The Chicago Marathon sold out in record time, 50 days; one month earlier than 2009. The New York City Marathon has used a lottery and Qualification Standards in recent years to allow people into the race. The historic Boston Marathon has decided to move its opening day of registration to 18 October 2010, to allow some of the early Fall Marathoners a chance to register. The 2010 edition of the race sold out on 13November2009 as opposed to the 2009 race, which sold out on 26 January 2009. This left races like Last Chance for Boston Marathon, contemplating a new name.

We’ve all heard our friends speak about their “Bucket List Marathon” ambitions and I wonder if many of them realize what this actually entails? I don’t know. I’ve been a runner in some form for the last 15 years, but I have no idea what to expect from the Marathon.  One way to get a small taste of the pain and the excitement is to race shorter distances. The Half Marathon has become a very popular race. In recent years registration for HM’s has gone up significantly, and now trumps Marathon Registrations. A lot of people see it as a worthy goal, but not as crazy as running a full 26.2 miles. Most Marathons now offer a companion HM race, which usually has more entrants than the main event. HM’s are run for a variety of reasons though. Many use it as a tune-up race for a Goal Marathon or as a fast workout to practice pacing and fueling. Then there are those who consider the race and distance all the challenge that they need. Let us just take a look at my Fall Tune-up and Goal Race. My Tune-up Half is the RnR Philadelphia Half Marathon (formerly the Philadelphia Distance Race-PDR); in 2009 they had 12,379 finishers (5,932 males and 6,447 females). My Goal Race is the Baltimore Under Armour Running Festival, in 2009 they had 3,152 Marathon finishers (2,033 males and 1,119 females). For those of you who say that I can’t compare the two races. Baltimore’s Half Marathon had 7,904 finishers (3,337 males and 4,567 females). Yes, I see the trend in female HM finishers as well. I do not know why, do you?

The Achievement

Earlier today a co-worker asked me why I am so into “this Marathon thing.” He mentioned how he’d like to join a league or play on a team sport. I agree that basketball and football are great sports. I love playing football more than I do running. But I cannot think of any other sport that I can literally compete in the same field and sport as the professionals. On any given weekend, I can run minutes or hours behind someone setting a new World Record in an event. In a race the size of a Marathon you are competing against people of all ages, races and sexes. It can be you against 50,000. I may never break 20 minutes in a 5k, 40 minutes in 10k, 1:20 in a Half or 3 hours in the Marathon; but I will finish the same race, I may get an age group award and if I stack the deck, I could win a non-competitive race all out!

But, as to the question “Why do people run Marathons?” there is no good answer I can give you. Results are as varied as the results, which are as diverse as the masses that run the miles. Some say that the actual Marathon Race is the reward for the training put in the previous weeks and months. Others compare the finish to the joy of giving birth; I’m not making this stuff up. One thing seems to be a constant in the people I’ve talked to and the books that I’ve read. That is this: when you cross the finish line of a Marathon regardless of time or place, it changes you. You now know that you have done something that many people either; cannot do, will not do, or have not done.  I won’t go so far as to say it will change your life forever, as some say. But many people have said how it has changed their perspective on many things. I’ll let you know on the evening of October 16^th, what it’s done to me and for me.

The Numbers

Marathon All Time (men): 

2h03:59 Haile Gebrselassie Ethiopia 28 September 2008 Berlin

2h04:27 Duncan Kibet Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

2h04:27 James Kwambai Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

2h04:48 Patrick Makau Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam

2h04:55 Paul Tergat Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin

2h04:55 Geoffrey Mutai Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam

2h04:56 Sammy Korir Kenya 28 September 2003 Berlin

2h05:04 Abel Kirui Kenya 5 April 2009 Rotterdam

2h05:10 Samuel Wanjiru Kenya 26 April 2009 London

2h05:13 Vincent Kipruto Kenya 11 April 2010 Rotterdam

Marathon All Time (Women):

2h15:25 Paula Radcliffe Great Britain 13 April 2003 London

2h18:47 Catherine Ndereba Kenya 7 October 2001 Chicago

2h19:12 Mizuki Noguchi Japan 25 September 2005 Berlin

2h19:19 Irina Mikitenko Germany 28 September 2008 Berlin

2h19:36 Deena Kastor United States 23 April 2006 London

2h19:39 Sun Yingjie China 19 October 2003 Beijing

2h19:41 Yoko Shibui Japan 26 September 2004 Berlin

2h19:46 Naoko Takahashi Japan 30 September 2001 Berlin

2h19:51 Zhou Chunxiu China 12 March 2006 Seoul

2h20:42 Berhane Adere Ethiopia 22 October 2006 Chicago

Marathon 2010 (Men):

2:04:48 Patrick Makau Musyoki KEN 02/03/1985 1 Rotterdam 11/04/2010

2:04:55 Geoffrey Kiprono Mutai KEN 07/10/1981 2 Rotterdam 11/04/2010

2:05:13 Vincent Kipruto KEN 13/09/1987 3 Rotterdam 11/04/2010

2:05:19 Tsegay Kebede ETH 15/01/1987 1 London 25/04/2010

2:05:23 Feyisa Lilesa ETH 01/02/1990 4 Rotterdam 11/04/2010

2:05:39 Eliud Kiptanui KEN 1 Praha 09/05/2010

2:05:52 Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot KEN 10/08/1988 1 Boston, MA 19/04/2010

2:06:09 Haile Gebrselassie ETH 18/04/1973 1 Dubai 22/01/2010

2:06:23 Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai KEN 12/10/1984 2 London 25/04/2010

2:06:33 Chala Dechase ETH 13/06/1984 2 Dubai 22/01/2010

Marathon 2010 (Women):

2:22:00 Liliya Shobukhova RUS 13/11/1977 1r1 London 25/04/2010

2:22:04 Atsede Baysa ETH 16/04/1987 1 Paris 11/04/2010

2:22:19 Inga Abitova RUS 06/03/1982 2r1 London 25/04/2010

2:22:38 Aselefech Mergia ETH 23/01/1985 3r1 London 25/04/2010

2:23:17 Bezunesh Bekele ETH 29/01/1983 4r1 London 25/04/2010

2:23:53 Teyba Erkesso ETH 30/10/1982 1 Houston, TX 17/01/2010

2:24:13 Amane Gobena ETH 1986 1 Seoul 21/03/2010

2:24:19 Mamitu Daska ETH 16/10/1983 1 Dubai 22/01/2010

2:24:22 Christelle Daunay FRA 05/12/1974 2 Paris 11/04/2010

2:24:26 Aberu Kebede ETH 12/09/1989 2 Dubai 22/01/2010

Marathon All Time-US (Men):

2:05:38 Khalid Khannouchi Ossining, NY 30 Flora London GBR 4/14/2002

2:05:56 Khannouchi (2) Ossining, NY 30 LaSalle Bank Chicago IL 10/13/2002

2:06:17 Ryan Hall (CA) Big Bear Lake, CA 25 Flora London Marathon GBR 4/13/2008

2:07:01 Khannouchi (3) Ossining, NY 28 LaSalle Bank Chicago IL 10/22/2000

2:07:04 Khannouchi (4) Ossining, NY 35 Flora London Marathon GBR 4/23/2006

2:08:24 Hall (2) Big Bear Lake, CA 24 Flora London Marathon GBR 4/22/2007

2:08:41 Hall (3) Big Bear Lake, CA 26 Boston Marathon 4/19/2010

2:08:44 Kannouchi (5) Ossining, NY 32 LaSalle Bank Chicago IL 10/10/2004

2:08:47a Bob Kempainen Minnetonka, MN 27 Boston MA 4/18/1994

2:08:52a Alberto Salazar Eugene, OR 23 Boston MA 4/19/1982

Marathon All Time-US (Women):

2:19:36 Deena Kastor Mammoth Lakes, CA 33 Flora London Marathon GBR 4/23/2006

2:21:16 Kastor (2) Mammoth Lakes, CA 30 Flora London GBR 4/13/2003

2:21:21 Joan Benoit Samuelson Freeport, ME 28 America's IL 10/20/1985

2:21:25 Kastor (3) Mammoth Lakes, CA 32 LaSalle Bank Chicago IL 10/9/2005

2:22:43a Benoit (2) Boston, MA 25 Boston MA 4/18/1983

2:24:52a Benoit (3) Freeport, ME 27 Olympics: Los Angeles CA 8/5/1984

2:25:53 Kara Goucher Portland, OR 29 Nike New York City Marathon 9/2/2008

2:26:11 Benoit (4) Watertown, MA 25 Nike OTC OR 9/12/1982

2:26:22 Magdalena  Lewy-Boulet Berkeley, Ca 36 Saucony Rotterdam Marathon 4/9/2010

2:26:26a Julie Brown Eugene, OR 28 Avon CA 6/5/1983

The most important thing in the marathon that I've learned is this: It does not matter if you finish your marathon in 2:00 or 6:00 hour time, when you hit that wall at mile 20, or 22 or 25, or when all your energy is reduced to putty in those last 6.2 miles and all you want to do is walk or sit by the curb, but you continue your journey one step after another, all the way to the finish line, well... you are nothing less than a hero at that moment. ~Lily

My On’s were on and my Off’s were off; but I don’t think that is what he meant.

Well my Hudson-based workout today was supposed to consist of a 14 mile on/off workout:

14 mile moderate (~9:20-9:25) run including HM  workout- run the first mile @ moderate effort then run the even miles @ HM effort (8:37-8:42) then the odd miles at marathon effort (9:10-9:15) or easier. Finish the last mile as hard as you like

  

My first problem was that I ran the paces on actual Training Pace, not effort, as was called for; I didn’t even realize it said “effort” until I just pasted the workout here; oops. Also, I made the mistake of using racing shoes, with very little support, for the first time on a run of this distance. I’ve worn them twice before for a short, easy/moderate runs. The course I run on here has a lot of rocks and changes terrain (sand/dirt/rocks), so I need the cushion of my Stability shoes for these longer runs; oops. Luckily, the problems with the run came only from those two things; no heat or hydration issues. It was actually a pretty good workout; although I planned for a great workout. This is the entry into my running log for today...

 14 Mile on/off run. 'On' portions were supposed to be at HM Pace and 'off' portions at GMP. Run felt really good. Started having pain in my feet around mile 8 (using new "racers" for a long run on rocks is not a good idea). Pain in my right leg around mile 10 or 11. Was able to push through the pain for the "on" portions of the run. Overall I am happy with the quality of the run, even though the 'off' portion suffered a bit.

So my splits were pretty good and got progressively faster during the ‘on’ portions. I can’t complain about the workout at all. I do wonder if it would have been more consistency if I had worn my normal shoes?

These are the splits for the run:

All in all, I was expecting this workout to show me that I’m progressing in the right direction. I don’t have anything to really measure against, except my effort level from each workout. This was supposed to be a challenging workout and it was fairly so. But not totally. I can’t actually say that it was aneasy workout because I did not hit the paces that I wanted to hit for my “off” portions. As always, I capped of the run with my Gatorade Chocolate Recovery Protein shake!

So now I go into another training week, to see how my body develops.

I am coming off a Recovery week, last week with just 26.84 miles/ SportsTracks gives me 38.21 miles for the week, 23 of those miles were quality workouts. Next week I am scheduled for 40 miles, with 22 miles worth of quality workouts.

It is true that speed kills. In distance running, it kills anyone who does not have it.
-~Brooks Johnson

A few words about Patriot’s Day and Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

The Boston Marathon:

Let me begin by saying this is not my declaration that I will post a Boston Qualifier later this year. I do hope to BQ eventually, but that is not my goal for this year; yet. This is just a few words about the most historic and longest continually run Marathon in history. Long before the Boston Marathon was a World Marathon Major or one of the premier distance races in the U.S., it was just a small race of around 24.5 miles held to commemorate the start of the Revolutionary War.

The very first race had a whopping 15 competitors and was won by John McDermott in 2:55:10. Since then the race has grown significantly, the 114^th running of the Boston Marathon had over 22,000 finishers and the race was won in a staggering course record of 2:05:52; 1:22 under the old course record and 1:53 off the current Marathon World Record, held by Haile Gebrselassie. In those middle years Boston had changed significantly. It was one of the last major races to offer prize money; it has been considered (although about equal numbers disagree) not to be a fast marathon course; and in recent years, some have even thought of the elite competition as second rate. At the beginning of the race, the first winners were just out having fun. So what’s been going on since that first 2:55:10 to this year’s Patriot Day Course Record?

A lot. In 1969 the Boston Marathon saw record numbers of entrants. As a way to filter down the field, the BAA began to put in place qualifying standards, that following year. This went on year after year until eventually we got to the current standards. This next statement (in some form) has been said so often that it doesn’t need to be cited and I won’t fear a plagiarism case: “By limiting the field, the BAA had unknowingly made their race more popular; somewhat of a status symbol. A way to measure ones Marathon credentials.” Boston is the litmus test that many of us measure our fitness against. Even if someone is nowhere near a BQ, you’ll still hear comments to the affect of “Man, I was only 5 minutes off the 40 year old woman’s BQ,” or “My 5 hour PR would be a BQ if I were an 80 year old man.” “But Rich, I see a lot of people finishing Boston in way slower times than their BQ, why is that”? Well, there are two reasons; one is that some people run their BQ race for fun and not to compete. They will often run the race slower than their normal Marathon Pace, and just enjoy the scenery and camaraderie of the race. The other reason is because Boston made another change in 1996; along with along prize money they began a new charity program. This program allowed runners to participate in the Boston Marathon without having posted a qualifying time.

Charity Runners:         

Although Charity Runners run along the same 26.2 mile course as everyone else, their road to the start line usually takes a very different path. Their entrance fee is a little more, they have different color bibs and generally speaking, will be seconds or minutes per mile back on the rest of the race. While Charity Runners are not the only people running Boston without a BQ (past winners get comp entries; businesses and political entries and Bandits) they seem to attract the most attention. Whether it is right or not, the fact is that the charity partners do raise a LARGE amount of money for local and national charities. Personally, I think that some charity runners are ok, but the BAA allows a far excessive number to run race this way. These are entries that could be used by the people who have put in the work to qualify.

My Boston Journey:

When I started running in HS I don’t think that I could have said how long a marathon was. As I grew into running more and more distance, I learned of the Boston Marathon, but it was never in my sights. I had no desire to run any marathon, especially one that I had to qualify for. I ran for fitness.

Then I started thinking of races. I signed up for a 5k and a 10k. My running took on more meaning and I got more serious. I started talking to other runners. I thought about running a Marathon, but it was to be years down the road. My plan was to focus on 10k and shorter races for up to two years. Then spend a year doing Half Marathons. Eventually I’d sign up for a Marathon, probably MCM or Chicago. Still, I don’t know that a BQ ever entered my mind. I would run one, maybe two marathons and go back to shorter distances. Besides I’m a Sprinter, not a Marathoner. Well as I talked to more runners, and became part of the community, The Boston Fever caught hold. I figured I’d work to get a BQ, but I had no real desire to run the race. Just get the standard and move on; really who races on a Monday. Nothing wrong with that; right? Moreover I’m a Sprinter, not a Marathoner! Then a friend from my running group went to Boston (qualified in her first Marathon) and told us the stories of the atmosphere, the people, the glow and support of the city. Our ’Coach’ had also run it previously and after listening to them talk there was no way I could qualify and run not Boston. I’m a runner; I’m supposed to do so. Also, I’ll always be a Sprinter at heart, being a Boston Qualifier won’t change that.

My original road map for road racing hadn’t changed much with the thought of qualifying for Boston. I had decided to run a bunch of Half Marathon and 10k races until my times were within what I called the “BQ Window” (which is the equivalent times to running a 3:10 Marathon, possibly a little less so that I would know I would need to work to qualify with the proper Marathon Training). I was shooting for around sub-45 in the 10k and/or about 1:30-1:35 for the Half. I planned for a gradual increase in mileage and racing times. I was in no rush….Then I got a job offer to deploy to Afghanistan for 1 year. One of my first thoughts was “plan be damned,” this would be an awesome time to train for and run my “Cherry Marathon.” Before ever stepping foot in this country (for the second time in my life) I had worked out a way to use the full year to train for a Fall 2010 Marathon. Of course things don’t always go as planned. I did not keep up significant mileage over the winter. I ran seldom, and never very far. I did get focused early this Fall and put in some decent 30+ mile weeks before my Marathon Base Building actually started. And here I am running 35-45mpw and feeling good. I plan on running a good (letting my training dictate pace) Marathon this fall, then return to racing at shorter distances until I can get those 10k and HM times close to my “BQ Window”!

"The body does not want you to do this.  As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong.  You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet.  It is the will to succeed."
          ~Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ

A solid workout...

Well after all of yesterday’s happenings, I was eager to get my run in this morning. I got up at 5:15ish, and got dressed. I was really pumped for the run, I really like progression runs and with this being a cutback week, I haven’t had any challenges. Well, apparently I was too excited; first I forgot my HRM, then I forgot my water bottle, then I forgot sunglasses, then I realized I didn’t have the right workout programmed in my Garmin (twice). But I eventually got out the door a little before 6:00; ugh!

Run started out really well, slow. I started about 10:00’s and inched down to 9:20’s (my moderate pace) by four miles in. Then I had five, seven minute runs, progressing from 9:20 down to 8:25. The first one was really fast, the second one was spot on, but seems slow, because the first one was so fast; oops!

Tomorrow starts a whole new segment of training. I begin my Speed and Stamina phase. The workouts will get harder and more intense, but the payoff comes quicker as well. As I was looking through my old Garmin files last night, my running was much faster last summer. I think it was because I was running too fast; but the faster paces, did feel easy. I’m sure could run those paces now, but I’d probably be injured before I was able to enjoy the run.

A note about goals: I have not yet decided what goals to shoot for in my Fall Marathon. One of the crappy things about being out here is that I don’t have access to many races and I don’t have training partners. But, what I do have is a great coach and a great training plan. My goals will be redefined (as will my PR’s) over the next couple months as my training progresses.

"It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys."

~Emil Zatopek