San Francisco Marathon (my story) (Read 907 times)

I ran the San Francisco the two previous years and I had no intention of running again this year until this spring when I found out my niece was moving to Oakland.  I hadn’t seen her or her husband for several years and I never met their children.  So the marathon was a good excuse for a family get-together.  Also this would be my second chance to be an “elite” runner as my bib said last year since I was second in the 50-54 age group two years ago and won the age group last year and they invite back age group winners as such.  Actually this year my bib didn’t say I was “elite” but rather that I was an “invited athlete”. 

 

   There was a nice family reunion on Saturday with my mother and brother also coming to town to visit with my niece.  It was a bit busier than I usual like for the day before a marathon but it was fun and I didn’t think it would affect my performance the next day. 

 

   My plan for the race was to try to break three hours.  I had thought I would be able to give it a try last month at Grandmas but the heat there did me in.  So San Francisco was my fall back race, I knew the weather wouldn’t be too hot and I hoped the hills wouldn’t be too much.  It is not a PR course but I didn’t remember too many hills in it and I knew the last several miles were flat so I thought I may have a chance.  I know that everyone says that you should run an even pace or perhaps a slightly negative split, but I also know that wasn’t how I run.  So my plan was to run the first half somewhere between 1:28 and 1:30 and the second half between 1:30 and 1:32.  I was thinking the second half would be closer to 1:30 because I didn’t remember many hills in the second half of the course.  I guess that is what happens when you get old, the memory is the first to go.

 

   This year I got a hotel that was right at the starting line, and so I did not have to walk a mile or more to the start nor did I have to wait around in the chilly night air waiting for the 5:30 start.  I waited in my hotel lobby where they served coffee and fruit. Another nice thing, the bathroom in my room was closer to the start line than any of the portapotties.  I finally went out to the start a little after 5:20 and got a position near the front of the first wave with my fancy orange “invited athlete” bib. 

 

   The race:  The first half was pretty uneventful.  The first five miles are nice and flat with the first hill coming as we headed up to the Golden Gate bridge.  It was still dark for this section and the fog built as we got closer to the bridge.  Ideal weather for a marathon.  Crossing the bridge was fun, it was too foggy to see anything and we had drops of condensation falling on us from the cables above.  The wind wasn’t too bad, a very nice crossing and back.   We went up a tough hill once we got back off the bridge but things were going smoothly as we headed into Golden Gate park and the half way point. 

 

   The half at 1:28:31, right where I wanted to be.  The route thinned out as since the first half runners left us about a half mile before.  I thought this would be the nice part of the run but something happened, maybe the wind picked up or something but I felt extremely chilled for a while and the hills in the park felt much tougher than in previous years.  This chilled feeling would come back every time we turned into the wind.  I tightened up some and those were my slowest miles while we went through the park.  I passed by the first half finish line (about 17.5 miles in the marathon) at exactly 2 hours. 

 

   The hill going up Haight Street was worse than I remembered, but I managed to keep a reasonable pace there, and I hit the 20 mile mark at 2:17.  I wasn’t feeling good the last 6 miles and the little bumps we had to run up felt like big hills.  I struggled on.  As we reached the Giants park and I looked at my watch and I thought I had lost 3 hours but I still might be able to break my PR of 3:01:20 and that was about to become my goal when a very fortuitous thing happened.  The two 3:00 pacers passed me at the park.  They said something to encourage me and went by.  When they got 10 yards ahead of me I told myself I couldn’t let this chance go and I had to suck it up and go with them.  I managed to struggle up to them and stay with them until we saw the finish line ahead.  I looked at my watch 2:59:20  .. :21 .. :22  I couldn’t tell if the line was 30 seconds or 45 seconds away but I had to give it a go.

 

  Finish line:  2:59:52, I could not believe it (chip time 2:59:50).  I have to give all the credit to the two pacers who caught me at the Giants park and helped me the last mile.  The information we got before the start says that Ken Burgess was one pacer and I think the other (from the results) was Mirek Boruta.  Ken and Mirek if you are out there, I want to thank you.  Without you two I would have finished around 3:00:20 and I would be kicking myself.  If any of you know them tell them I say thanks again.  This is my one experience with any pacers, and I had at times questioned their usefulness, but I am definitely glad they appeared the one mile I needed them.  Thank you again.

 

   I am happy at the result.  I finally broke three hours in my 28^th marathon.  I finished first among the over 50 bunch.  Now I can take it easy for the rest of the year.  I won’t have to worry about a time goal when I run Paavo Nurmi in a couple weeks it will just be a fun marathon and I don’t have to try to find a race in the fall for a sub three attempt.

Congratulations spinach.  As a resident of Oakland I hope that your niece and her family are happy with their move here.  I know Ken Burgess, is the social director of my running club, Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders Club, www.lmjs.org, and I will pass on your kind words to him.  I enjoyed reading your race report.  I was cheering the Marathoners in the Park before I began my Half Marathon.  I was in such awe watching them (you?) as I knew that you were about to run the same course as I and that you had already completed a half marathon.  So glad that you had a great time here on the west coast.

You were tag teaming another maniac most of the way.  He finished just ahead of you at 2:57.

 

That was founding maniac #2, Chris Warren.

 

Great job, spinach... nice report too.

Awesome.

Love it !  Great race and a big Congrats !

I finally broke three hours in my 28^th marathon.

 

Congratulations.  Stories like these are inspirational to me, because they tell me that even though I am older I can still improve as a runner.  Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations spinach.  As a resident of Oakland I hope that your niece and her family are happy with their move here.  I know Ken Burgess, is the social director of my running club, Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders Club, www.lmjs.org, and I will pass on your kind words to him.

 
Thanks I am glad you will be able to forward my thanks to him.  They were a great help and they showed up just at the right time. 

Oakland is a beautiful city.  I had never been there before (other than the BARTand bus ride to the oakland airport) and I had no idea how nice it is up in the hills.  They seem to like it a lot out there.  Thanks.

My race had good points and bad points; it was just nice to be out there after a crummy July.  It was a great day and I like that race a lot.

 

I saw you and Chris coming back over the bridge... but as a midpacker, I'm a whole lot harder to spot.