Illinois Marathon, May 2012 (#28)

When: May, 2012  

Who: Just me.

Recall: Hey, you must be Rich Benyo.

Overall: Hoping for better but could have been worse

Rating: 4/5 carbs                                                                   

Procrastination be gone. Time to blog about the 2012 Illinois Marathon, four weeks after the fact. Last year I ran the half marathon with Erin and two years before that I ran the inaugural full marathon. The nice about the Illinois Marathon is it's held on a Saturday and it's less than an hours drive away. Oh, and it's well organized. Those reasons make it hard to pass up but add to them the the course is flat and surprisingly scenic and it is very well organized, I may make this a regular selection to my "race" calendar. 

Lesa drove to the U of I campus with me on Thursday to pick up the race packet. We got to meet Rich Benyo, editor of Marthon & Beyond. They've been nice enough to publish three of my articles and up until Thursday my only communication with Rich had been through email since he lives in northern California. He was on his was back to California from the Boston Marathon and was talked into staying in Illinois for a few days probably because M&B is a major sponsor of the Illinois Marathon. We talked about my family since they were mentioned heavily in my last M&B article, Boston Marathon, Dean Karnazes, and the Napa Valley Marathon which he organizes. It was great to finally meet him and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him. 

At the time Lesa was teaching early morning seminary which meant she was getting up at 4:00 a.m. every week day so even though she offered, I told her to sleep in Saturday morning and come to the marathon. The race started at 7:00 a.m. and then she would have had to sit around with not much to do for over 4 hours. She agreed. 

The forecast all week was calling for rain on Saturday but the wind blew it just to the north. So, no rain but the wind remained. It was also a little chilly so wore a black Marmot wind shirt to block the wind and shorts. I parked the Pathfinder, waited in line at the Port-A-Potty, and then it was time to run. My playlist started off with a song from Adrian Belew followed by songs from Gomez and Wilco. So I had that going for me. 

I'm not sure of the total number of marathon and half-marathon runners but the wave start seemed to effectively spread runners. I only hold ran into the backs of a few walkers which is better than usual. 

Hoping to sleep through the first 13 miles. 

The girl to my left looks concerned.

The first half of the course is a loop through Urbana. Nothing too spectacular to look at until Meadowbrook Park and running north on Race Street after that. I like the older houses and large trees. It makes the race seem cozy. I must admit that I felt liberated when the 'halfers' broke off and headed to their finish. The second half of the course was a loop through the cozy streets of Champaign. 

This was taken around mile 7.

I had been fighting a cold and my legs, particularly the hamstrings, where tightening up. Other than that I felt really pretty good unit about mile 20. On the way into town, I stashed a water bottle full of Dr. Pepper on the course. I was hoping that it would be the miracle maker but it disappointed. It tasted good, but just not good enough. So the last 6 miles comprised of running and walking, again. 

Arrivio. I though black was suppose to make you look skinny?

4 For the 4th...or the 3rd

One reason I run marathons and half-marathon's is they provide a sense of accomplishment no matter long it takes. Shorter distances expose me to fast runners who train on track and hills. Runners who talk negative splits and tempo. Plus, there are still hanging around the finish line when I final come across. By the time I finish a marathon all the top runners are home, showered, and taking a nap. But, once a year I like to run the local '4 For The 4th' race mostly because the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity. I also run it because it's about the only local 4th of July activity I participate in. It's my parade, pulled pork sandwich and fireworks all wrapped up in a 4 mile loop through the village of Charleston, IL. One year I ran it with local legend, Cal Smith. He's in his 70's and loves to run but run slowly. A few times I "ran" with Ben but he usually would beat me except the year he took sick and veered off course into the trees allowing me to fly past him and beat him to the finish for the first and only time. When Ethan Garret lived here, he'd usually run and, in fact, fly out from Arizona last year just to run this race (and maybe see his family). His brother, Josh, is always there with one of his kids who are good runners. Brett Bartlett is another friend who is there every year but he's too fast for me. Two years ago we had Elders Berger and Whitely run in their white shirts and ties and this year Elders Krull and Summers did the same.

The course is mostly flat until mile 3 with a relaxing downhill followed by a mean uphill. I hit mile 1 in just over 8 minutes by following the eventual winner of the 60-69 age group. His pace felt good to me so I stayed with him until the hill. Maybe it was my skier thighs but I was able to keep my pace up the hill and finish the last 0.5 mile feeling pretty good. I think my time of 31:14 was my best yet but not good enough to place in my age category but that's okay. I got another painting T-shirt, a free bottle of water, and the chance to donate $20 to a worth cause. Oh, plus I was able to celebrate Independence Day early and be avoid the maddening crowds for the rest of the day. Just how I like it.

The Inaugural Illinois Marathon (#23)

When: April 11, 2009

Who: Me with Lesa as the support team along with Tony Oliver and Calvin Smith

Recap: I’ve run two other inaugural marathons. The Washington D.C. marathon in 2002 and the Tecumseh marathon later than same year. The former was never held again, the later continues to be one of my favorite marathons. So where does the Illinois marathon fall?

(1.5 miles into it wearing throw-away Lewis and Clark marathon T-shirt. I never ran it.)

We’ll despite the flat course, I didn’t set a PR but I have never felt less sore after running a marathon. Here are my thoughts on why:

• Walked more than usual in the first 10 miles. (I ran with half-marathoners Calvin Smith and Tony Oliver. Calvin was having blister problems.)
• Spring skiing in March strengthened by legs
• I drank only Gatorade at the water stops.
• I drank at every water stop but two and I walked through each one.
• I tried to drink more water in the 2-3 days prior.
• I focused on carbs including banans the 2-3 days prior.

(Tom Woodall snapped this picture of the three Mormons around mile 9)

However, I probably trained less for this marathon than most others. (Let me just say, it was a long, windy winter.) In fact, I waited until the final weeks to register not sure if I would run the half or full marathon but the half marathon filled up and the decision was made for me.

(Finishing at the 50 yard line in Memorial Stadium where Lesa and I saw Penn State's great comeback in 1994. Lions were down 21-0 at the end of the first quarter but beat the Illini 35-31 .)

So the Illinois Marathon gets high marks for leaving me feeling much better than average. It was also well organized. Marathon & Beyond was a sponsor and Jan Seeley, publisher, organize the entire expo. The shirt is a keeper. It's a navy blue, long sleeve, half-zip performance shirt. The medal is very nice looking but still not better than the Flying Pig medal. The course is okay. Running through Champaign-Urbana is nice but nothing special. No real ugly sections though like my first Memphis marathon. The strong crowd support was a surprise. Aid stations were well stocked. Finishing in Memorial Station was fun except they played Imagine by John Lennon as I entered. That’s the worse song I’ve ever heard played at a marathon. Even worse than when at the Washington D.C. marathon when they played, Another One Bites the Dust as I finished. At least it has a good beat and is easy to run to. The only other downer was that the post-race food was served up in the concourse of the stadium. This presented two problems. It was out of sight with no one at the finish line telling people where the food was plus you had to walk up stadium stairs to get to it. I followed a runner up the stairs who was nearly carried by a friend.

I did see more odd things than usual in this marathon such as a guy running in a cable knit sweater, another guy running in a short sleeve, button up dress shirt, and another guy running with shoulder bag.

Overall: I had a great time at a well run marathon. I may run it again because it's close to home.

Rating: 4/5 carbs.

Mattoon Half Marathon (and Ogden Marathon)

Back in Black...my toenails, that is.



A week after the Indianapolis Marathon, I tried to redeem myself at the Mattoon Beach Multisport Half Marathon. The weather was blustery with temps in the 50s and stiff winds so I decided to wear my long sleeve shirt from the Ogden Marathon. While I was standing at the starting line a lady came over to me and she was wearing the exact same shirt! She teaches athletic training at Illinois State but her parents live in Logan. Of all the place to see someone else in an Ogden Marathon shirt, I won't have guessed it would be in Mattoon, IL.

We ran together for the first 3 miles. I started out a little faster with the wind and my back and slowed down with the head wind. I don't know why the graph shows such a drastic drop in pace at mile 8. A technological malfunction, I guess. I did feel good the last few miles particularly with the wind at my back. My legs were a little tight but other than that I felt much better than I did the week before in Indianapolis. It was nice having Lesa at the finish line since she wasn't able to make it to the Indianapolis marathon.

Next up? Tecumseh Trail Marathon on December 1.

Another run at Chicago (#12)

When: October, 2004.
Who: Shelly and Tom with Lesa as support.
Recall: I blew it and got us stuck in the back at the start and we it was too hard to pass people when you're running shoulder to shoulder but we had a great time. They improved the course. No more running under the McCormick Center. The steak for dinner was excellent.
Overall: Another great weekend in the Windy City!
Rating: 5/5 stuffed pizzas!

Lakeshore Marathon (#11)

When: Memorial Day, 2004.
Who: me with Lesa, Molly and Erin as the support team.
Recall: Did you hear the one about the marathon that was longer than 26.2 miles and ran out of water at the aid-stations? Well, that was The Lakeshore Marathon in Chicago. It happened again the following year which was it's last.
Overall: I like the course but I'm one of those people who like aid stations and courses that are actually 26.2 miles.
Rating: 4/5 stuffed pizzas.

Bill (Tom and Shelly) and the Chicago Marathon (#5)

When: October, 2002
Who: Bill, Tom, Shelly with Lesa and Lorie as support team.
Recall: Trying to stay with Bill which worked until mile 18. At least the first 18 miles were fun. Other fun stuff was the boat tour, all the great food, and the association.
Overall: No one of my best races but it was Chicago and the whole weekend was great fun.
Rating: 4.5/5 Carbs