missed it by 39 seconds (Read 865 times)

Ran the Detroit Marathon yesterday. Needed to run under 3:36:00 to qualify for Boston. Yesterday was also my 50th birthday, so I was hoping for an extra nice present. Race goes well for about 20 miles, but man it was windy! Came off Belle Isle and was about 3 minutes under BQ time (average pace 8:08/mile), then left calf siezed up. Cursing and praying at the same time, I stretched and kept going, but more shuffling than running; pace dropped down to around 8:50/mile; still I have time if I can hold on, but calf scrunches hard again at 24 mile mark. I stop and stretch then keep going, reaching the home stretch, Greektown, and the crowds. Adrenaline kicks in and I pick up the pace and sprint (sort-of) last 400 meters down the ramp into Fords Field and onto the Astroturf. Hit the finish at the 50-yard line and punch my watch; look down... 3:36:38! Ugh! Missed qualifying for Boston by 39 seconds or about 1.5 seconds per mile!!! Still I'm pretty happy, this was my second marathon on a much tougher course and day, and I PR'ed by about 12 minutes. Plus I had a really nice birthday back home with the family. But still... 39 seconds. Honestly (and here's the masochistic/addictive part of this sport), as soon as I looked down at my watch and realized I didn't make Boston, I started thinking about upcoming marathons and when I could try again.

Ouch! Well congrats on a HUGE PR, that is to be celebrated. And the good news is you know you can run 3:36 now. If you just keep doing what you are doing you can re-group and run another one. With more conservative pacing you can run well under 3:36.

Happy Birthday - congrats on the run! - and sorry about missing the cut-off. That just sucks; probably feels worse to be that close than if you'd missed by half an hour! Question: what did you do about the pace team? And were you glad you went the way you did?

Thanks Jake! The close shave does sting, but I'm OK - not yet suicidal. For pacing, my strategy was to stay between the 3:30 and 3:35 pacers. I did that until around mile 25 or so when the 3:35 group passed (that was a bummer). Interestingly, for the first 5-6 miles of the race, the two pace groups were only 50 yards apart, so one of them was off the mark. I know the 3:35 leader was wearing a garmen forerunner, so he was probably correct. If the other guy was relying on mile markers, they were hard to see with the crowds early on, and I think some of the markers were off significantly.

Nice run--the wind took it's toll on all of us. I guess we all needed to be better knowing the wind usually is a factor in the D. Here's to kicking some behind next time--and there will be a next time!

Thanks Marathon Man. I read your post and would be elated to be able to even consider running a 3:25. You too will kick some butt next time!

Congrats to all finishers! Great times... Are you going by your watch time, or the official race time? If chip-timed, you could easily have a 39 second discrepancy! Lynn B

If you send a memo to the Boston Marathon Officials citing that you were attacked near the end of the marathon by a crazed priest, they may let you in.

So close! You'll get it next time for sure. Rest up and get back out there! BTW, a big congrats on your new PR. That's a nice present too!

Luke I have a real problem with the timing for this race. As an example--I crossed the finish line at 3:23 and change. My chip time should have been about 30 seconds faster then that yet I ended up with a 3:25--go figure. Not only that but the mile splits were off. Mile 6 in Windsor was a full half mile short. I wore a Garmin 305 and the guy who I was running with at the time had one on also. We just looked at each other in disbelief... You my friend have a real reason to be pissed and grounds to raise if you decide to apply for Boston. Oh yea--here's one more. My boys ran the mini-marathon 5K along with many other runners. They were all disappointed in their time because--you guessed it, the course was long. Read about it on the website. Doug Kurtis said that the lead pace car went one way and the police car went another thereby diverting the runners. This is a minor league marathon that has made much progress in entrants recently, but it's these types of mistakes that will prevent it from becoming much more. We cannot control some things like wind and weather, but timing should be the least of our concerns.