MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Mega Paul Piplani
II. BACKGROUND . A. MEGA PAUL PIPLANI .
It’s among the hundreds of other events I couldn’t retrieve but he notes in a Grandma’s interview that his best clock time for a marathon was 3 hours, 22 minutes.
======================================================Mississippi Blues Marathon. 1/03/09 5:36:36 2009First Light Marathon 1/11/09 5:24:41 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon 1/18/09 4:55:30 Diamond Valley Lake Challenge. 1/24/09 5:07:27 Carlsbad Marathon 1/25/09 5:18:11 Desert Classic Marathon 1/31/09 5:03:37 Rocky Racoon 100 Mile A 2/07/09 28:52:07Permberton Trail 50K A 2/14/09 6:43:26Arizona Marathon A 2/15/09 5:25:47Red Rock Marathon (LV) . 3/01/09 6:17:49 City of Los Angeles Marathon . 3/02/09 5:48:56 Mississippi 50 Mile Trail Run A 3/08/09 12:09:05Yakima River Canyon Marathon. 4/04/09 5:42:14 Palos Verdes Marathon . 5/02/09 6:41:36
OC Marathon . 5/03/09 6:35:32
Keys 100 Mile Ultra . 5/13/09 (30:18:22 (winner of 60-69 AG Division)
. . . bib 57, 25 = 6:54:00; 50 = 14/14/35; 75 = 22:29:10
XXX 12 hour. 5/ Nanny Goat 12 hour 5/23/09 - 43 miles
(carrying a big tumor, you did one mile more than I did when I'm healthy Rock 'n' Roll Marathon 5/31/09 7:32:48Green River Marathon 6/06/09 4:55:00 (HONORARY) 2008 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon 1/13/08 5:00:37 Diamond Valley Lake Challenge. 1/19/08 5:36:22 Lost Dutchman Marathon. 2/17/08 5:25:52 Red Rock Canyon Marathon. 3/01/08 6:17:49 Los Angeles Marathon. 3/02/08 5:48:56 Labor of Love Marathon. 4/26/08 6:01:15 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. 6/01/08 5:53:43 Grandma's Marathon 6/21/08 5:25:28 Pacific Crest Marathon 6/28/08 5:32:22 #871 Foot Traffic Flat Marathon 7/04/08 5:38:53 Breast Cancer Fund 50Kj 7/05/08 7:59:00Rattlesnake Lake Marathonj 7/06/08 5:47:31Let’s Climb a Mountain 26.2 miles 7/12/08 6:00:00Missoula Marathon 7/13/08 5:26:00 Deseret Morning News Marathon. 7/24/08 5:29:36 Carrollton Festival of Races . 7/27/08 4:31:47 San Francisco Marathon . 8/03/08 5:58:29 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon. 8/17/08 5:38:27 Pocatello Marathon. 8/30/08 5:19:57 Skagit Flats Marathon. 9/07/08 5:21:58 Little Grand Canyon . 9/13/08 5:00:14 Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Marathon. 9/20/08 5:18:56 American Discovery Trail Marathon 9/01/08 5:28:01 Leavenworth Marathon 10/4/08 4:35:34Dick Collinis Firetrails 50Mile A 10/11/08 12:15:16Tri-Cities Marathon. 10/26/08 6:01:55 Columbia River Power Marathon 10/25/08 5:41:21 Leavenworth Oktoberfest Marathon 10/04/08 4:35:34 Bass Pro Shops Marathon 11/02/08 5:18:49 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon 11/01/08 5:09:58 Mother Road 100 Mile 11/08/08 27:32:48 Valley of the Fire Marathon 11/22/08 5:30:08Atlanta Marathon. 11/27/08 5:08:49 Wishbone 27.4 mile Runj 11/28/08Seattle Ghost Marathonj 11/29/08 6:20:00Seattle Marathonj 11/30/08 5:34:16Death Valley Borax Marathon. 12/06/08 5:21:57 Las Vegas Marathon. 12/07/08 5:44:58 Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon. 12/13/08 5:14:46 Otter Creek Trail Marathon . 12/14/08 6:36:07 Pigtails Fat Ass 52.4 milesj 12/20/08 12:20:46 2007OC Marathon. 01/7/07 5:16:52 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. 1/14/07 4:42:31 Diamond Valley Lake Challenge 1/20/07 5:04:59 Diamond Valley Lake MarathonA 1/20/07 4:11:11Carlsbad Marathon. 1/21/07 5:25:36 Sedona Marathon. 2/10/07 5:06:26 Iron Horse 100 Mile A. 2/17/07 23:56:38Los Angeles Marathon. 03/4/07 5:22:26 Crown King Scramble 50K A. 3/17/07 8:29:35Bataan Memorial Death March. 3/25/07 5:31:05 National Marathon. 3/24/07 5:11:49 Umstead 100 Mile A. 3/31/07 27:00:26Leona Divide 50 Mile A. 4/02/07 11:58:36GO! St. Louis Marathon 4/15/07 5:29:03 Boston Marathon. 4/16/07 5:14:06 Big Sur Int’l Marathon. 4/29/07 5:06:18 Lincoln Marathon 5/6/07 4:58:35 Lake Geneva Marathon. 5/12/07 5:13:55 Bayshore Marathon. 5/26/07 4:39:17 Redmond Watershedj 12 Hour (52.4 miles) 5/19/07 12:00:00 Capital City Marathon 5/20/07 5:33:45Kettle Marathon 100 Mile A. 6/02/07 28:58:54Lake Youngs Mini Ultra (28.8mi)j 6/09/07 6:27:00 North Olympic Discovery Marathon 6/10/07 5:01:27 Grandma's Marathon. 6/16/07 5:00:34 Manitoba Marathon. 6/17/07 5:17:35Let’s Climb a Mountain 37.8mi) 7/07/07 7:51:27Missoula MarathonA 7/15/07 5:24:05 Deseret Morning News Marathon 7/24/07 5:22:56 SEAFAIR Marathon. 7/08/07 5:28:25 San Francisco Marathon. 7/29/07 4:57:45 Missoula Marathon 7/15/07 5:24:05 Frank Maier Marathon 8/04/07 5:29:20 Yukon River Trail Marathon 08/5/07 6:46:11 Crater Lake Marathon. 8/11/07 5:14:51 Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon. 8/12/07 6:14:22 Pocatello Marathon. 9/01/07 5:15:34 American Discovery Trail Marathon 9/03/07 5:06:16 Flagstaff Marathon.. 9/22/07 5:16:59 Lake Tahoe Marathonj 10/05/07 5:57:37St. George Marathon. 10/06/07 4:36:15Trees Marathon. 10/07/07 5:41:51Long Beach Int’l City Marathon. 10/14/07 4:58:30 Duke City Marathon. 10/21/07 5:10:12 St. George Marathon 10/06/07 4:36:15 Trees Marathon. 10/07/07 5:41:51 Santa Clarita Marathon. 11/04/07 5:16:22 Death Valley Borax Marathon. 12/01/07 5:32:00 Las Vegas Marathon. 12/02/07 6:07:17 2006OC Marathon. 1/08/06 6:08:36 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. 1/15/06 4:53:28 Death Valley Trail Marathon 2/04/06 6:06:04 Sedona Marathon. 2/11/06 5:24:57MTC 50KA 2/12/06 8:09:30Old Pueblo 50 MileA 3/04/06 15:16:32 Lake Hodges 50KA 3/11/06 8:30:14Crown King ScrambleA 3/18/06 9:26:36Los Angeles Marathon. 3/19/06 5:54:04 Bataan Memorial Death March. 3/26/06 5:47:04 Yakima River Canyon Marathon 4/01/06 5:38:01Whidbey Island Marathon 4/02/06 5:45:44Eisenhower Marathon. 4/08/06 5:31:30 Germany to France Marathon. 4/23/06 5:56:11 Triple Crown Trail Marathon. 4/29/06 6:19:13 Frederick Marathon. 4/30/06 5:55:02 Marathon de Mayo. 5/07/06 5:58:23 Colorado Colfax Marathon 5/21/06 5:29:51 Sulphur Springs 100 MileA 5/27/06 29:36:58Kettle Moraine 100 Miles A. 6/05/06 29:31:00Laural Highlands 70.5 Mile 6/10/06 21:32:08Marathon-to-MarathonjManitoba Marathon. 6/18/06 5:36:28 Pikes Peak Marathon 8/20/06 7:21:30 Akron Marathon 9/30/06 4:55:46 Bismarck Marathon. 9/16/06 5:09:26 Montana Marathon. 9/17/06 5:19:01 American Discovery Trail Marathon. 9/04/06 5:02:13 Akron Marathon A. 9/30/06 4:55:38St. George Marathon. 10/7/06 4:40:05 Mt. Rushmore Marathon 10/08/06 4:39:27 Crazy Horse Marathon 10/08/06 4:51:15 Hartford Marathon 10/14/06 4:52:09 Bay State Marathon 10/15/06 5:13:10 Indianapolis Marathon. 10/21/06 4:54:40 Chicago Marathon. 10/22/06 4:40:25 Ridge to Bridge Marathon. 10/28/06 4:31:30 Sphinx Run Fest 10/29/06 4:56:25 Mother Road 100 MileA 1106/06 26:38:40Mountain Home Marathon for Kenya 11/18/06 5:00:31 Atlanta Marathon. 11/23/06 4:39:53 High Desert OTHTC 50K UltraA 12/03/06 6:44:57Sunmarat Texas 50K Trail RunA 12/09/06 6:35:30Dallas White Rock Marathon. 12/10/06 5:36:26 Jacksonville Marathon. 12/17/06 5:02:38 Death Valley Borax Marathon 12/02/06 4:57:50 Coast-to-Coast Marathon A 12/16/06 4:53:08Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. 1/09/05 4:57:25 2005Las Vegas Int’l Marathon. 1/30/05 5:24:57 Death Valley Trail Marathon. 02/5/05 5:35:36 Double Chubb 50KA 02/16/05 7:40:29 Surf City Marathon. 02/6/05 4:56:47 Surfside Beach Marathon 2/12/05 4:43:10Kansas City MarathonA 2/14/05 5:08:28 San Miguel Buzz Marathon 2/19/05 3:56:00 Desert Classic Marathon 2/20/05 6:54:33Four (4) Peaks MarathonA 2/16/06 6:00:00 Los Angeles Marathon 3/06/05 5:30:40 Valley of the Sun Marathon. 3/13/05 5:12:53 Bataan Memorial Death March. 3/20/05 5:29:27 Tri-State Marathon 3/26/05 4:36:43 Umstead 100 MilesA 4/02/06 13:00:03Germany to France Marathon 4/17/05 5:32:28 Sybl Ludington 50KA 4/23/05 6:51:46Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon. 4/30/05 4:45:58Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. 5/01/05 5:39:19 Fort Collins Old Town Marathon. 5/08/05 5:04:37 Fargo Marathon. 5/14/05 4:44:10 Green Bay Marathon. 5/22/05 5:19:00 Ogden Marathon. 5/21/05 5:01:39 Bayshore Marathon. 5/28/05 4:37:14 Mad City Marathon. ` 5/29/05 5:43:33 Lakeshore Marathon. 5/30/05 6:08:52Shadow of the GiantsA. 6/04/05 8:03:16 Swan Lake Marathon.. 6/12/05 5:06:12 Grandma's Marathon. 6/18/05 4:43:01 #500 Manitoba Marathon. 6/19/05 5:37:41 Pacific Crest Marathon 6/25/05 5:10:06Casper MarathonA 7/06/05 4:58:42 Midnight Mountain 50KA 7/16/05 10:40:19Deseret Morning News/Marathon. 7/25/05 5:00:57 San Francisco Marathon. 7/31/05 5:49:37 Skyline 50KA 8/03/05 7:26:43Frank Maier Marathon. 08/6/05 5:07:17 Yukon River Trail Marathon 08/7/05 6:20:08 Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon. 8/14/05 6:34:40 Pikes Peak Marathon. 8/21/05 7:42:28 Bulldog 50K 8/27/05 8:08:18Pocatello Marathon 09/3/05 5:01:02 Breckenridge Crest Mountain Marathon 9/04/05 8:25:21 American Discovery Trail Marathon. 9/05/05 5:26:57 Erie Marathon at Presque Isle. 09/11/05 5:18:53 Rochester Marathon 09/17/05 5:01:33 Yonkers Marathon. 09/18/05 4:01:40 Kansas City Marathon. 09/24/05 5:07:09 Omaha MarathonA 09/25/05 5:34:37 Auburn Marathon 10/01/05 6:06:43 Sacramento CowTown Marathon. 10/02/05 4:52:49 Lake Tahoe Marathon. 10/08/05 5:07:24Breakers 50 Mile RunA. 10/22/05 12:14:36 Mystic Places Marathon. 10/23/05 5:33:42 Marine Corps Marathon. 10/30/05 4:37:10 Santa Clarita Marathon. 11/06/05 5:33:48 JFK 50 MileA 11/19/05 13:39:00Atlanta Marathon . 11/24/05 4:50:43 Death Valley Borax Marathon 12/03/05 5:36:56 New Las Vegas Marathon 12/04/05 5:36:11 Dallas White Rock Marathon. 12/11/05 5:31:08 Sunmart Texas 50K 12/10/05 6:55:54 2004Lost Dutchman Marathon 1/18/04 4:38:31Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon 1/11/04 4:53:46 Las Vegas Int’l Marathon. 1/25/04 4:39:42 Surf City Marathon 2/01/04 4:33:58 Rocky Facoon 100 Miles A. 2/07/04 29:30:29Arizona Road Runners Marathon 2/15/04 5:01:30Four Peaks Marathon A 2/21/04 6:00:00Blue Angels Marathon A 2/28/04 4:38:07 Super Bowl Mardi Gras Marathon A. 2/29/04 5:01:41Washington's Birthday Marathon 2/24/04 5:50:35 Mardi Gras Marathon A 2/29/04 5:01:41 Los Angeles Marathon. 3/07/04 5:10:31 Valley of the Sun Marathon. 3/14/04 5:07:50 Bataan Memorial Death March 3/21/04 5:41:02Tri-States Marathon A 3/27/04 4:18:31Ocean Drive Marathon. 3/28/04 5:40:58 Umstead 100 Mile A 4/03/04 29:33:50Germany to France Marathon 4/18/04 5:14:42 New Jersey Marathon. 4/25/04 4:54:03 Whiskey Row Marathon 5/01/04 4:59:35 Vancouver Int’l Marathon 5/02/04 4:46:13 Fort Collins Old Town Marathon. 5/09/04 5:15:19 Brookings Marathon. 5/15/04 4:35:20 Green Bay Marathon. 5/23/04 4:33:47 Bighorn Marathon 5/29/04 4:31:43 Lakeshore Marathon A 5/31/04 5:05:07Casper Wyoming A 6/06/04 4:58:42 Hatfield & McCoy Marathon A 6/12/04 5:04:14Manitoba Marathon. 6/20/04 4:52:39 Grandma's Marathon. 6/19/04 4:17:48 Pacific Crest Marathon 6/26/04 5:05:24 Leadville Trail Marathon. 7/03/04 7:06:13 Gateway-to-the-Pacific A 7/11/04 5/51/50Deseret Morning News Marathon. 7/24/04 4:40:34 Carrollton Charity Road Races 7/25/04 5:39:59 Grizzly Marathon. 8/21/04 5:03:51 Pikes Peak Marathon. 8/22/04 8:09:11 White Mountain Trail Marathon 8/28/04 7:18:53 Pocatello Marathon. 9/04/04 4:42:54 Breckenridge Crest Mountain Marathon. 9/05/04 8:56:00 American Discovery Trail Marathon. 9/06/04 5:27:17 Bismarck Marathon 9/11/04 5:19:41 Regina Queen City Marathon. 9/12/04 5:04:41 Air Force Marathon. 9/18/04 4:56:49 Lewis & Clark Marathon. 9/19/04 5:46:56 Walker/North Country Races. 9/25/04 5:14:16 Fox Cities Marathon. 9/26/04 4:53:55 New Hampshire Marathon. 10/2/04 5:02:58 Maine Marathon. 10/3/04 5:03:14 Lake Tahoe Marathon. 10/9/04 5:00:04 Bizz Johnson Trail Marathon. 10/10/04 5:13:06 Maine Trail Ultra 50K A 10/16/04 7:49:55Old Mulkey Marathon 10/23/04 5:58:50 Detroit Free Press Int’l Marathon. 10/24/04 5:37:16 Santa Clarita Marathon 11/07/04 5:13:33 Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon . 11/13/04 5:08:31 Mountain Home Marathon for Kenya. 11/20/04 5:21:01 Gobbler Grind Marathon. 11/21/04 5:47:04 Atlanta Marathon. 11/25/04 4:32:31 Hatfield-McCoy Marathon / 12/04/04 5:04:14 High Desert OTHTC 50K Ultra 12/09/04 7:01:17Summart Texas 50K A 12/11/04 6:40:31Dallas White Rock Marathon. 12/12/04 5:21:22 Jacksonville Marathon. 12/19/04 5:24:06 Run for the Ranch Marathon 12/26/04 4:58:42 2003Las Vegas Int’l Marathon. 2/02/03 5:40:08 Park Shore Marathon A 2/04/03 5:35:59Desert Classic Marathon. 2/16/03 5:34:33 Los Angeles Marathon. 3/02/03 5:20:00 San Miguel Buzz Marathon 3/22/03 5:28:10 Umstead 50 Mile A 4/05/03 28:24:35Triple Crown Trail Marathon 4/26/03 6:02:42 New Jersey Marathon. 4/27/03 5:38:34 California Off Road Marathon 5/10/03 5:36:32<
Paul Piplani and barefoot jon at start of 2008 Light-at-the-end-of-the-Tunnel Marathon. http://208.177.25.18/206/45790/2434/45790-2434-035t.jpgSan Diego Rock’n’Roll Marathon (May __, 2009) Paul Piplani helping a collapsing runner finish her first marathon.
150 Miles anyone?
Actually, it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke but seemed like a good idea at the time as an event with enough time (56 hours) to reach the 100-miles I once thought I could do anyway when I could but which never happened until it's too late now.. . ============================================I. 100 miles in 150 miles.After belatedly discovering in 2007 after 30 years of running annual marathons that, by pretty much walking up every hill in sight, even regular fitness runners can meet the cutoff times in ultras up to 50-miles and even 100K, I used to think about 100 miles sometime too. Unfortunately, circumstances and events never let it happen. Now the aging process is putting even the most generous 32-hour cut-offs for some centuries out of reach. Nevertheless, though it would be unofficial, the 56-hour cutoff in an upcoming 150-miler might provide a chance for the elusive 100 miles, after all. . 5/24-26/2013 tetsujin - Pigtails 150-mile Challenge Run (Seattle, Washington) - thongs© Queen Ilene (Intrepid Race Schedule) Unfortunately, my huge training plans have fizzled with only five 4-mile runs so far this year and, after a marathon on January 12, other things swirling around have DNS’d a planned 12-hour run, two 50K’s, two marathons and a half mary.. Even being in town for the scheduled weekend this May is turning out to be in question but, if not, wish me luck, even though I’ll probably have to walk every step of the way..For my future reference and reminding, below is my justification for doing something that most everyone, even me, might not think is that good of an idea. Doesn't matter though as at least trying is better than not. =============================== II. BACKGROUND .A. MEGA PAUL PIPLANI .barefoot jon +and Paul Piplani at start of 2008 Light-at-the-end-of-the-Tunnel Marathon.
Ultra-runner Paul Piplani was somewhat of a modern-day marathon mendicant flying all over the country on a shoestring budget, if that, wearing a threadbare singlet, worn-out shoes lightly touching down, all-night driving, sleeping in the back seat or on a park bench or the floor of someone’s office, subsisting on a diet of bread and beans (even when we went to restaurants), blessing other runners for their efforts,, advising newbies, etc. Yet he often put change in the cups of the needy, usually with the same cheery blessings he had along the way for other runners and that ended his e-mails too..Paul Piplani helping a collapsing runner finish her first marathon.San Diego Rock’n’Roll Marathon (May 31, 2009)Unfortunately, it was Paul’s last marathon.
With his easy-going, non-competitive, weekly and more marathons, wry jokes to unsuspecting spectators (“may I have a puff too?&rdquo, to say nothing of never having to train, I knew Paul was my kind of runner right away as our paltry paces joined us up up one of the early grades in the May 2007 Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Washington.
By then, after entering the Pike’s Peak Marathon on a whim with a friend in 1993 to get away from some hard times in his life, Paul’d run the 26.2 mile marathon distance he loved some 750 times in official events all over the country. More than a dozen were at the Pikes Peak up-and-back marathon but most came in ultras of multiple 26.2 miles. His fastest was 3:22.It didn’t matter that most of the running community would count the two marathon distances (52.4 miles) he might run in a 12 hour time run as a single event. For Paul, as long as it was in an official event, 26.2 miles was a clear call that could not be denied. Though religion wasn’t a part of his public persona as much as for some runners, e.g Jim Ryun, Paul said his beliefs made sure he never ran alone even though he was most of the time. .With his shoes barely leaving the surface and lightly touching down, his almost shuffling pace seemed like it could go on forever. He didn’t brag about anything but I could tell it had meant a lot to him when Catherine Ndereba told him that, while his five-and-six hour marathons, double/triple/ quadzilla/etc. weekends might be slow, his persevering the best he could under all the circumstances of the days (and night) he ran was the same full effort as she felt she was giving in her two-and-a-half hour marathons. .B. BLAME IT ON PAUL.Paul was closing in on 1,000 marathon distances when he died in August 2009 from a sudden cancer. By then, the dozen marathons and ultras we’d run together when he’d be up in the Pacific Northwest from his Phoenix base had included my first 12 hour run and a double ultra/mary weekend. Both were on last minute whims and against all logic for a fitness runner who doesn’t train that much, if any. However, Paul had assured me that multiple mary’s and super-ultras were mostly mental anyway. He was right.
For example, two months after Paul’s passing, I was able to do the morning marathon in Tokyo we had discussed and then, after flying back across the International Date Line, another 26.2 mile distance in a completely Paul-like 12-hour run in Seattle on the same day..Unfortunately, when Paul died, his promise to pace me to my own century distance sometime died too. .C. BLAME IT ON BUNNY.
Last October, I was wistfully drifting back to those days with Paul while looping around-and-around the hilly 1.93 mile park perimeter of the Carkeek 12-hour Fun Run. .It was hard not to reminisce. Two months after Paul died in 2009, Carkeek had not only been the U.S. part of our planned two-continent daily double but it had served as the required event for my virtual entry in the Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon being held in California that weekend (and simultaneously in virtual by Paul’s friend’s all over the country in other events). http://charliealewineracing.jimdo.com/race-results/paul-piplani-memorial-november-1st-2009/.However, what a difference three years of Father Time can make at this stage. I barely reached 50K (31.1mi) in Carkeek’s allotted 12 hours this time and had a new PB PW of 10hr/15mi to the marathon mark. Even if that pace could be sustained for 100 miles (not), one hundred miles would take almost 40 hours. .Then, all-of-a-sudden, out of the Carkeek drizzle and rain emerged a lively masters newbie (1yr/2mo into her running career) easily lapping me three or four times like a cheery energizer bunny. It’s not like me at all but I may have inadvertently puffed up my 37 years of running marathons somewhat as Bunny all-of-a-sudden, and quite seriously, asked if I was running a new 100-miler coming up around nearby Lake Youngs in May. To my utter surprise, my macho-motor-mouth responded with what my heart must have still been wishing all these years: “oh yeah, see you there, Bunny.” .D. WHOOPS.As she slipped out-of-sight, it dawned on me that Lake Youngs was the very venue of last May’s inaugural Pigtails 100/150/200 Mile Challenge Runs that had me shaking my head in disbelief when the always effervescent Italiano dea francesca was regaling me about the two-day, 150 mile option being so enjoyable that she might try the three-day 200 miler this year..Whoops again. Having run several mini-ultras there at Lake Youngs (from 28.8mi - 50K), including with Paul on our double ultra/mary weekend in June 2008 (that I had thought had had the usually rational Dove slipping over to the dark side when she posted in ilene’s intrepid about doing both), I quickly realized that the ten-plus laps needed for 100 miles would include close to 10,000 feet of weary, wearing, if not nearly impossible, ascents (and pounding descents too). .Triple whoops. More sobering was the reality that, by then, I’d be in a new AG so old (70-74) I never thought I’d live to be in let alone run in. My brain was reeling over fessing up to something I knew I couldn’t do or accepting the inevitable DNF. . F. WHOOPEE.Then, all at once, I recalled a glorious idea discussed with Paul in those days: find a two-day, 48-hour event to have ample time for 100 miles even at a leisurely Sunday walk-in-the-park pace. .Not quite the same as a fixed-time 48-hour event run but maybe I could enter the otherwise impossible 150 mile option and use its generous 56 hour cutoff at least to try for 100 miles. Unfortunately, unlike a purely timed run in which any distance is a legitimate finish, only one hundred miles in the 150-mile option would be an automatic DQ. .It wouldn’t be on the same terms of success that Paul had guaranteed me in an official century run with him. However, it’d still be 100 miles to me, .. . or, better yet, 104.8 miles for four of his unique marathon distances. I’d like that. Actually, in light of all my missed running so far this year, even it it only turns out to be 26.2 miles, I'd like that too. .Maybe Paul’s still dispensing his blessings after all.
Unfortuna
tely, it was =================== . . ===================
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Paul's typical unselfishness helping another runner in the last steps of his last marathon
San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon (05/31/09)
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=45790&BIB=8723#
Nancy Mariposai / Paul Piplani / barefoot jon (in thongs)
Let's Climb a Mountain - Mt. Spokane 34 Mile Ultra
July 10, 2007 - 90 degrees
Somehow Paul, like some other megamarathoners, didn’t publicize much his planned events, progress, results, etc. but just enjoyed them one-by-one, dealing with all the associated challenges of registration, packet pick-up, travel, accommodation, weather, ascents and getting lost, etc. as they confronted him.
However, I got the below partial list of some of this marathons from www. marathonguide.com (2000-2009 but couldn’t get more than 50 resutls) along with other some additional marathons and ultras from www. athlinks.com and checking individual event sites for marathons and ultras we’d done together up here in Seattle, e.g. 2008 Seattle Marathon, 2008 Seattle Ghost Marathon, 2007 Lake Youngs Mini 28.8 Mile Ultra, 2007 North Olympic Discovery Marathon, 2007 Mt. Spokane 34 Mile, etc.) and some others that didn’t fit my schedule (2008 Wishbone, 2008 Breast Cancer, 2008 Pigtails Fat Ass Marathon (he did it in the snow and dark by himself 2X to get two marathon distances to make up for the cancelled Christmas Marathon - see account from event page below), etc..
After an original list from marathonguide, I put an “A” by Athlink results that were not on MG (and “ . ” where on both) with “j” by the ones I knew about but which, for some reason, were neither on MG or Athlinks.
Some major events are noticeably missing and I hope to update someday when time might permit, e.g. Badwater, Antarctica, Sahara, etc.
There’s some oddities such as 2004 and 2004 Casper Marathon with the same time noted even in the event home page. A Grandma’s interview notes the Marathon-to-Marathon the previous week but I couldn’t find it.
The New York City Marathon was listed as November 16 for 1994 and 1998 but it was 11/6 and 11/1 respectively.
I’m not sure how it could have happened that we missed each other for so long but we ran in dozens of the same events before that meeting each other in the 2007 Capital City Marathon.
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
<img>http://www.carrollton.k12.mi.us/images/pageitems/309/p1237510018_730.gif?sc_id=1249325664</img>
A long tale of three virtual marathons with photos, one VM for 452 Mega-Marathon Bob’s 80th birthday
and two VM’s in memorium for nearly 1,000 Ultra Paul Piplani
WARNING - did I mention I just figured out how to post my photos. thanks mari, . . . but don't anyone blame her.
DISCLAIMER - rather than my usual short and succinct typical postings, these accounts have to be kind of long in order to be able to post as many pictures as possible. Besides, it's about two very special running friends. sorry.
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Summary (all three events) - heading off to Japan in October not only cost another mini-reunion, to say nothing about the second $100-down-the-drain-without-even-a-tshirt DNS for this year, <<<(SeattleRnR)>>> but, worse yet, the chance to join (a) Mega-Bob’s 26.2 mile moving 80th birthday celebration in his 452nd marathon at the 10/4 Portland Marathon (his 22nd) and (b) the Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon on 11/1 in Chino, CA so I did what I did in June to make up for missing red lantern honors at the inaugural Seattle Rock’n’Roll Marathon: I celebrated for both Bob and Paul with virtual marathons.
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Part One - a happy birthday virtual marathon for Bob’s Portland Marathon
I’d read about Bob a year before meeting him (1996 Northwest Runner)
Bob’s 80th Birthday run finish (Portland Marathon 2009)
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intrepid Summary
venue - Tokyo Imperial Palace Marathon #113 (10/24/09) entry fee - 300 yen (~$3.28) target time - 6:12:13 / actual time - 6:06:06 PR - 13th marathon of the year temp - el perfecto 60 degrees/cloudy
FR - Japan 100-Marathon Joyful Running Club pink cap, happy coat half pants
and Japanese monk straw sandals
SUMMARY - Bob's 80th Birthday Run (Portland Marathon - 10/4/09): Although I hadn't been training that much, I'd been assuming that improving knee would have permitted me to run the distance with Bob at his 6:12:13 Portland Marathon and, with the virtual at 6:06:06, the virtual Bob's proved I could
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Although I’d already met some 50-staters and 7-continenters, I never realized until meeting Mega-Bob in his 2__st marathon at the 1997 Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Washington that regular runners can be mega-runners too.
Sixteen years earlier, Bob was 51 years when he discovered marathons were an “enjoyable way to achieve mid-life goals of losing weight and staying fit” and I’d already embraced his training philosophy of just entering enough races not to have to do any training for them.
When I told Bob that I only ran one or sometimes two marathons a year as convenient to see if winter skiing was still enough to be able to run 26. 2 miles without stopping, he looked at me in quizzical bewonderment as if I was missing out on an such an obviously agreeable given and asked, “why only one?”
Though he had me by 14 years in chronology, he was in such good shape from running them that I gradually started upping the ante as convenient too to two or three more a year, . . . until 2005 when Marathon Maniac #130 (aamos) found out I had enough ante to pronounce me guilty of being one too (MM #209).
sidebar to pdr - when Bob (MM#32) introduced me to Maniac #’s 1, 2 & 3 at the 2003 Seattle Marathon, I had a sorry disbelief for nonskiers (or other sports) having to get their fitness fun from running so many marathons to qualify for one or more of the MM’s various membership streaks, . . . or so I thought.
The back of Bob's t-shirt had a list of ___ of the main marathons he's run over the years.
w/Bob's birthday t-shirt at Takebashi Plaza start/finish of Imperial Palace Marathons
After doctor’s warning earlier this year that a nagging knee might be arthritis that might or might not get worse (but certainly “no running until/unless it starts to get better!"), I’d been running in occasional marathons and fun runs but only with greatly shortened strides well within any noticeable pain or aching whatsoever. Although it’s meant pretty slow running with no chance at all any more of the sub-five hour marathons I still think should be possible, knee continues steadily to improve.
Nevertheless, running only 23.3 miles since August 1st in two August 5K/10K fun runs and an annual Labor Day half had me wondering even if it would have been possible to have matched Bob’s splendid 6:12:13 Portland finish.
Fortunately, Imperial Palace RD Nakamura-san (650 marathons), recalling my accompanying him up the ten mile grind to the top of Hakone Pass on a hot day in July, said “ganbarimashou” he’d make sure I’d get the time I wanted
Though I’d lose him a little on each lap as he’d attend to RD duties at the Takebashi Plaza start/finish/self-support aid station, pacing was facilitated by the 47 prefectural flowers (along with local ward and two royal ones) ceramiced into the sidewalk.
Another unexpected booster came along doing his own virtual world running day or something 10K and, noticing my Happy Birthday Bob t-shirt, was delighted to note that he’d just been running in person with Bob in the Portland Marathon. It’s a small world after all as Bob later said he remembered him well too.
It reminded me of all the marathons I've been able to run with Bob too.
vivi la vivi goddess encouraging Bob and me at the 2007 Valentine Marathon
As I hoped to do with Bob, Nakamura-san and I ran in unison to the Takebashi Plaza finish in an ample 6:06:06 that would’ve been running all the way with Bob too if it would have worked out.
.. . . . . . . . . .. .
. . . . . . . . . . ., .Photo - Takebashi Plaza finish.with some of the Japan Joyfuls . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Takebashi RD Nakamura on far right (74yo/680 marathons)
Happy Birthday Bob, . . . and thanks for the extra 100 memorable marathons your innocent comment made possible with you and so many friends your company has allowed me to meet too.
ps - I’m very glad your birthday was on 10/4 instead of 10/11 when you ran a 5:23 at the Royal Victoria Marathon.
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part Two - Paul Piplani Memorial Marathons (virtual division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 31, 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . a. Imperial Palace Marathon - 10/31 (Tokyo). . . . . . . . . b. Carkeek 12-hour Run - 10/31 (Seattle) target time - 6:00:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . target time - 6:00:00 actual time - 5:59:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . actual time - 9:15:00 entry fee - 300 yen (~$____). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . entry fee - $40.00 PR - 14th marathon of the year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PR - 15th marathon of the year footwear - Japanese monk straw sandals . . . . . . . . . . ..footwear - Japanese monk straw sandals temp - 60 degrees/cloudy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .temp - 45 degrees/mostly cloudy; occasional drizzle
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A. Meeting Paul Piplani.
Just as I can blame, . . . I mean thank Bob for my unplanned marathon megafication, Ultra-Paul resurrected me to the glorious world of ultra-running from the routine of 26.2 milers to say nothing of an ignominious failure in my first 50-miler.
Fulfilling a vow from the spring of 1963 when I was a hotshot skier to complete one of President Kennedy’s then-highly-touted 50 mile Fitness Council Challenges, I had run right on schedule for 37 miles nearly nine hours in 2006 along what I thought was going to be the White River (but which, after six pleasant riverside miles, turned out to be 8,700 feet of climbing up and down two mountains).
Unfortunately, almost six more hours were needed for the remaining 13 miles and a big DQ over the 14 hour cutoff. I’d been able to do the desired 50 miles that’s for sure but it was with the realization that I do not have the interest or willpower for the extra training needed for such longer distances.
However, when I met Ultra-Paul in the same Capital City Marathon ten years after running there with Mega-Bob, I found out that it was his 872nd marathon or something and that he’d just run 52.4 miles in a 12-hour event the previous day (compared to the five mile Cougar Mountain trail run I was bragging about). He didn’t do any training runs either, saying that most of ultra’ing is in the brain no matter what the physique thinks.
Subsisting mostly on black beans and rice cakes, Paul made Bill Rodgers look overweight but he’d already been running as many marathons and ultras as possible weekend-in-and-weekend-out for about ten years on a personal mission inspired by his “Slow-is-Beautiful” friend Hajime “Eco”-nishi’s planned 1,000 marathons in all 163 countries of the world (or however many then) by the time he became 100 years old. I’d once climbed Mt.
Fuji with a 100 year old in 1987 so, just as I didn’t doubt Nishi for an instant, I didn’t doubt Paul either. www.ecomarathon.com
More prophetically though, Paul didn’t want to wait that long and, to speed things up, he started seeking out the longest ultra’s he could find to accumulate 26.2 mile “marathon distances” in official events without unnecessary delay. Thus, the six day Sahara des Sables Marathon could be ___ marathon distances and five for the 135 mile Badwater Endurance Run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney (instead of the one ultra credit usually dispensed by various clubs’ governing authorities).
He didn’t care though as it was his mission that nobody else could take away from him.
In particular, no one, least of all Paul himself, cared what number it was when he’d been abandoned to his own devices in a skimpy singlet when snowstorms closed in on the Rockies once and when he got permission last December from the RD of a snowy Seattle marathon to run it again at night to make up for the cancellation of the weekend’s planned double.
Somehow, no matter how miserable it was, he dispensed nondenominational blessings and said he was never alone running with his best friend Jesus.
WE WERE GRACED ON ONE OF OUR RUNS BY A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY PRINCESS
INSPIRING EACH OTHER WITH HER BLESSINGS, . . . AND INSPIRING FOOTWEAR TOO.
Paul didn’t run fast at all, and his minimal leg-lift, almost shuffling, sometimes didn’t even look like running but, as his effort was always the maximum that body and brain would allow on any particular days, he believed his running was the same for him as was the elite running that allowed his idol _____________ to run the same 26.2 miles more than three hours faster.
Knowing how much he relished the longer distances helped me realize that it was not too late for me either and, after the DQ'ing fizzle in 2006, the White River 50-miler was so right on the cutoff time in 2007 that he had me not only convinced that my pipe-dream of a hundred miles would be just as feasible, . . . and he'd pace me sometime to make sure.
paul and i with our headlamps for the
Light-at-the-end-of-the-Tunnel Marathon (7/6/07)
Like many, his medical insurance didn't cover the cost of preventative check-ups and maybe just recently having had to deal with a big misdiagnosis in 2008 that he insisted all along was just dehydration suffered on a transcontinental flight to Boston (the the airline insisted be looked at at their expense but later charged him for) caused him to overlook persisting stomach cramps in May 2009 didn’t register anything more than inconvenient as he persevered in pain through a 100-miler in Florida, followed by a 12 hour run in California.
Then, in typical Paul fashion, his last steps in his 950th or so marathon on May 31, 2009
were dedicated to helping another runner across the finish line for her first time.
PHOTO .
. . . . . . . . . her first marathon / his last marathon
When Paul’s many time 100-mile friend and RD of several races added a virtual division to the 11/1/09 Chino Marathon that he was dedicating to Paul, I signed up right away.
In fact, the trip to Japan made it possible for me to enact the “TransPacific double” Paul and I laughed about doing someday, namely a morning marathon in Japan followed by coming back across the International Date Line for another one the same morning but over here.
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B. Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon (Carkeek 12 hour).
Thus, after steady Imperial Palace Marathon #114 in 5:59:10 on 10/31 saying sayonara to all my steadfast barefoot friends who seem to be able to turn back the hands of time just like when I first met them during a Tokyo sojourn in the eighties, I jumped a taxi for a brief freshening stop at the Imperial Hotel’s elegant facilities and then the one hour Express Bus to Narita Airport.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MY BAREFOOT FRIENDS IN TOKYO
. . .uchibori-douri supreme court goddesses . . . . . . . . . . . . kudanshita hill flute girl
, . .
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. . . . hairdoo goddess. . . . . . .. . . .. peach girl (momo-chan) . . . . . . . .hanzomon barefoot boys
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (and feathered friends)
. . . ,
I got to think of some real goddesses every lap too.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Real Italio pasta next to Italy Cultural Center . .. Embassembrario of Paraguay (2nd bldg).
With the 10/31 Frightfest Marathon just south of Seattle in Rochester, Washington being all on flat rural roads, I was pretty sure a conservative pace would allow another six hour effort but, even if seven hours or more, it wouldn’t matter because, as Paul and I, and Bob, and Eco-nishi, and many others are lucky enough to know, slow running for six hours or more because of age, injury or whatever reason with shorter strides is the same as running with regular strides except longer.
Unfortunately, even though the Frightfest had a conveniently late 10am regular start, the plane was delayed an hour out of Narita and another hour was lost due to the daylight savings time arrival.
Therefore, instead of turning south out of Seatac, I went north to Carkeek Park where a 12-hour time event had been underway since 6:00 a.m. Although, I wore the same waraji straw monk’s sandals from the Imperial Palace Mary’s, I had to confess it wasn’t a costume at all and a witch won the costume contest’s pumpkin pie instead.
Though kind of stiff on the plane, I’d plastered my moving parts with cold packs and a handy-dandy massage roller or the ten hour crossing and felt just the same as in the Tokyo morning as a soft meadow cushioned the initia quarter mile or so along Puget Sound. Then, on a sudden it all changed drastically to a steep climb up several flights of STEPS to the first overlook where a wag in a joker’s mask said, “don’t worry, it gets flat in about a mile, . . . across a little foot-bridge!”
. . . . . . . . .
even dog doesn't want to go down . . . . . . . . . . first ascent to Puget Sound overlook
I could not even begin to imagine the mindset of anyone hiking around that sharp trail could have concluded, “hey, this would make a great 12-hour run!” Then I realized the RD’d run marathon courses in 50 states in 50 days for victims of Hurricane Kathleen.
If fact, lap-after-lap, the topography even started to make a little sense. See, the 430 feet elevation gain/loss per 1.93 mile lap would make it the perfect training run for any future attempt at White River’s 8,700 feet (=20.23 laps). Uhmmmmmm. see francesa’s RR about her 9,000 foot birthday 21 laps.
Intead of finishing 14 laps and a solid six hour marathon distance at the 6:00 p.m. cutoff, I was greeted by cheery, 21 lapper birthday girl francesca looking as if she was just getting there to send me off into the impending darkness for four more laps on my own.
It wasn’t what I’d been planning as the long day started finally to wear on me as on-and-on it went into the same pitches and rolls in the darkness, my mind drifting off into space, only to get jerked back to consciousness by voices of friends past and present hollering “watch out” as I was nearly stepping off into the abyss. A giant, dinosaur-sized armadillo even got in the way once.
I really appreciated all the extra salty choco-chips from Nakamura-san as he night wore on.
It wasn’t anything like running at all after that but it seemed very much like what I knew Paul
had been through again and again in his quest for the 1,000 marathon distances that finally eluded him.
I knew it was when I arrived at the picnic grounds after 14 laps , cold and alone.
With 17 marathon finishers in real in Chino and four virtual marathons in Illinois, Oregon, SoCal and Tokyo/Seattle, we added another 22 marathon distances to Paul’s total.
They won’t be counted in this world but the “bless you jon, bless you jon” I can still hear whispering on night wind is enough to know they are being counted somewhere.
SUMMARY: After missing Mega-Bob’s 26.2 mile moving 80th birthday party and 452nd marathon at Portland this year (10/04/09), I made up for it with a virtual marathon in Japan on 10/24/09 and then running for real with Bob in the Seattle Marathon on 11/29/09.
I. 113th IMPERIAL PALACE MARATHON - 6:06:06 (Saturday, October 24, 2009) Intrepid Summary target time - 6:12:13 (Bob's finish time) actual time - 6:06:06 footwear - waraji straw monk’s sandals, .. I mean running sandals t-shirt - Happy 80th Birthday Bob hat - sugegasa straw farmer’s, . . I mean runner's hat temp - 60 degrees/cloudy previous training run - Super Jock’n’Jill Half Mary (9/7/09)
waraji straw monk sandals
the well-dressed marathoner in Japan : sugegasa straw hat
and Japan 100-Marathon Joyful Running Club happy coat
. . .
The now almost weekly Takebashi Imperial Palace Marathons evolved from the Global Running Association’s monthly 5 and 10K runs around the 5K perimeter of the Imperial Palace in downtown Tokyo ever since the seventies. I’d do ‘em every once in a while when not skiing or something else <<<(onsen/onsen)>>> during five years over there in the eighties.
However, by the time I got a chance for some weekend time on my own after that in Tokyo earlier this year, they’d long since switched to biweekly marathons under the auspices of the Japan 100-Marathon Joyful Running Club. In fact, by the time my third trip of the year came up in October, I’d run seven Takebashi’s, including one as a virtual substitute for the Seattle Rock’n’Roll on Saturday 6/29/09. This time though, I was wearin' Bob's Happy 80th Birthday t-shirt and the 113th Takebashi Imperial Palace Marathon on October 24 would be Bob’s birthday run in virtual for me.
bob's birthday t-shirt at Takebashi Plaza (Imperial Palace in Tokyo).
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With Bob and DW Mega-volunteer Lenore being the founders and co-directors of the North American 100-Marathon Club, the Imperial Palace Marathon was the ideal virtual marathon for Bob. In particular, there’d be an abundance of mega-Joyfuls to celebrate with, including Joyful Club Manager Yoshino (300+), President Sato (500+), Takebashi RD Nakamura (700+), super goddess Sakota-san (800+) and Nihon-Ichi (#1) Kojima-san (1,172). All'd been 3-hour, even sub-three runners in thirty years ago but love the camaraderie and fitness benefits of marathons that, when they founded their 100-Marathon Club in 1987, they made sure it wasn't just for running.
In the absence of any training running this year in deference to a nagging knee ache, I was wondering if it would be possible to be anywhere close to Bob’s 80th birthday time of 6:12:13 in Portland, faster than all of my previous seven Palace runs this year. In particular, it'd be my first run since the Labor Day Half Mary in Seattle.
Fortunately, Imperial Palace Marathon RD Nakamura said “Shimpai shinai de hadashi jon, ganbarimashou” (“don’t worry oh honorable jon, let’s just do it!) and said he’d pace me same as I’d stuck with him on the brutal 10 mile ascent up Hakone Pass on our ways to mutual marathon reverse PR’s of more than eight hours on a hot (90 degrees) and humid day in July. Little did he know that I was so lost at the time that I had no choice.
As we started off, he reminded me to be sure to sufficient salt intake on each of the eight-plus 5k laps.
.........................................................
At 74 yo with more than 700 marathons to his creditIn (the last several years on a bum knee too), he's such an inspiration that, if I still lived over there, I'd probably be doing 50-60 marathons a year too.
Bob was an inspiration too. A year before I met him in person at the 1997 Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Washington, the March 1996 issue of area running rag had featured Bob’s non-training regime of just keeping in shape by running in as many weekend events as possible and as convenient. It was all the confirmation I needed about my ski group’s annual summer marathons with little, if any, training to see if winter skiing was enough to run 26.2 miles without stopping.
........ .
March 1996 Northwest Runner. . . . . . ... . . . 80th birthday finish at 10/04/09 Portland Marathon*
The Elder Statesman of the Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . . . originally posted by divechief.
. . . . . . . . . . . . http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2010365123_marathon27.html
Only trouble is, when I met Bob in person during some early miles the next year in the 1997 Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Washington,, I found out that, compared to my one or two marathons a year, some 20-25 of his events were marathons. When he asked me "why do you only run one marathon a year?" I realized that, even though 14 years my senior, he was in such good shape that maybe it would be good for me too. I thereafter upped my ante from one or two to two to four too for the sake of better fitness too.
MM note <<<(pdr/pdr)>>>: with local area marathons proliferating in the early oughts, 8-10 marathons a year were becoming locally convenient and now it’s possible to find one or more almost ever weekend. Thus, after at first feeling sorry for their overzealous fixation on marathons when hearing about the Marathon Maniacs at the 2003 Seattle Marathon, after doing the Seattle M/Ghost double on a whim two years later, aamos pronounced me guilty of being a Maniac too. Thanks to Bob, I’ve never met a marathon or more that I didn’t like or that wasn’t good for me in some way or the other. Never met a runner I didn’t like either.
In fact, after nearly 100 circuits of the Palace this year, I don’t think anyone who’s run a hundred or marathons either would think that it was a little fez to be enjoying the friendship of the barefoot cadres still positioned as back in those days, including barefoot flute goddess, peach girl and her two nearby sisters next to the Chidorigafuji Moat, the Hanzomon barefoot boys and the Supreme Court ladies.
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...... .. . . .
flute goddess . . peach girl . . . pedicuring. . . . hairdresser . supct goddesses. ..barefoot boys
I'd also be reminded every lap of the local goddesses I was missing too
. . . . .
Italian Cultural Center and Pasta Shop . . . . . .Embassy of Paraguay across street
In the “small-world” category, spotting my “Happy Birthday Bob” t-shirt, another overseas runner from the U.S. lapped me while doing his own virtual world running day 10k said he’d actually just run with Bob in the Portland Marathon I’d missed. Running together a while in mutual admiration of Bob’s accomplishments helped make the eight-plus laps as much real as virtual.
arigatou Nakamura-san and tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu Bob-san.
PHOTO NAKAMURA AND JON II. Seattle Marathon - 5:44:48 (11/29/09) Intrepid Summary target time - 6:00:00 actual time - 5:44:48 footwear - barefoot t-shirt - Happy Birthday Bob temp - 50 degrees/overcast prior training run - Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon (Carkeek 12 hour - 26.2 miles) - 10/31/09
I put Bob’s birthday t-shirt back on for real at the November 29 Seattle Marathon but, with it being my first run of the month, and with Bob having recorded a 5:22 at the 10/11 Royal Victoria Marathon, I had serious doubts about keeping up for real. Worse yet for me, he had been given a well-deserved seed up front with the honored elites. Fortunately, however, he was getting so many greetings and well-wishes when i finally caught up at mile 11 of the Seward Park out-and-back along Lake Washington, that I was able to keep along side for a little over five miles when I lost track.
While many were telling Bob how they hoped to be able run like him at his age, I was just happy finally to be running like Bob at his age at my age. He may be chronologically older but, finally, after 12 years, his running chronology is finally starting to merge with mine.
.. . . . barefoot groupies too. l
Happy Birthday Bob. Thanks for the thousand or so extra miles of running and friendship you’ve given to me and so many of your friends, fellow Maniacs and 100-clubbers..
Postscript - on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at the Akaho, Japan hotsprings resort, I had the honor being Bob’s proxy for his induction in the Japan 100-Marathon Joyful Running Club as member number 806 and the twelfth overseas member.
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B. Two Saturday morning virtual marathons in memoriam for almost 1,000 Marathon Distance Paul Piplani
SUMMARY - Ultra-Paul and I’d joked about the possibility of running a marathon in Japan and then, flying across the international date line, doing another one on the same day in Seattle. After Paul died on August 23, 2009, his RD friend named the Chino Marathon for him and provided a virtual division for those who couldn’t get to Chino in person. It allowed my Paul Piplani Memorial Marathons to be 42.195 km in the 114th Imperial Palace Marathon on Saturday morning, October 31 in Tokyo and another 26.2 miles the same day in Seattle in the Carkeek 12 Hour Run.
Intrepid Summary - Paul Piplani Memorial Marathons (26.2 + 26.2 = 52.4 miles) - 10/31/09 ( www.charleyalewineracing.com/paulpiplani )
A. My Running with Paul Piplani.
It was in a Sunday May 2007 City Marathon in Olympia, Washington, ten years after I’d met MegaBob there too, that I met Paul Piplani, quietly running up one of the early hills. When he said it was his 850th or something, I bragged that I'd just run a 5-mile trail run at Cougar Mountain on Saturday, . . . only to find out he'd done been doing his own trail run of 52.4 miles in the Redmond Watershed 12 hour run. I'd heard of it but had about much belief in my ability to run for 12 hours as in ever being a fast runner. However, under Paul's spell, I was there the next year chalking up 42 miles of my own. It was fascinating to lear about his personal mission of self-discovery to run 26.2 miles a thousand times in marathons and in multiple marathon distance ultras, e.g. six marathon distances for Marathon des Sables+ (that MM's would count as one ultra or, if not, DNF). http://www.acrosstheyears.com/cgi-bin/closeup.cgi?rid=292
When I saw Paul again three weeks later at the June 9, '07 Lake Youngs 28.8 mile mini-ultra, he didn’t care that I’d done a double (Seattle Ghost/Seattle) and had no intention of doing any more, especially after an ultra, albeit somewhat mini). However, sure enough, there I was the next day running my best marathon time in several years with him at a last-minute North Olympic Discovery Marathon.
In July, we were driving across state for 14 miles up Mt. Spokane, that is,
after a preliminary 20 run to the base of the mountain.
Butterfly wings joined us after her relay leg was finished too.
....
I loved running with Paul and his non-stop bantering with any spectators and his chatting about blessings of life to say nothing of his own experiences (to the extent it was possible to get him to talk about himself). However, in December 2008, I went to the slopes when heavy snow cancelled the Christmas Marathon and Paul talked the RD of the still-snow-packed Pigtails Marathon to let him run up-and-down the Cedar River course at Ravensville, WA not just the one time many of us were avoiding but two times to make up for the missed Christmas. It generated some late night cell phone calls of concern between the RD and me but, as expected, somehow he ended up with 52.4 miles and got to the airport in time for the redeye back to Phoenix. http://www.marathonmaniacs.com/race/pigtailsreport08.htm
Having encountered different kinds of weather challenges myself in running and otherwise, I admired Paul’s dogged dedication as he ground out the marathon distance after marathon, weekend-after-weekend without respite and withour regard to the weather.
In addition, as somewhat of a minimalist runner myself, <<<(cheapskate/cheapskate)>>> Paul won me over with such a shoestring budget without outside support or fanfare that the soles of his favorite shoes were often almost as bare as my shodless feet.
Though was famed for joking with spectators along the way (e.g. "do you have an extra cigarette, ma'am?") but mainly dispensed appreciative blessings for encouragement and urged other runners to follow their dreams as, as he was proving, a firm will provides a sure way.
He’d overnight in rental cars at event sites or parking garages, with friends or on certain office floors, ate very sparingly (mostly black bean concoctions), and ran like a silent ninja quietly breathing through his nose.
When he was in town to drive across the Cascades for the 2009 Yakima River Canyon Marathon and found out that I might be developing knee arthritis, he said it didn’t matter as he’d pace me to a hundred miler this fall just as he'd promised and as he’d mentored other runners to their own Big Ones.
"jon," he ordered, “if the mind is committed, the legs will follow.”
Sadly, after running 100 miles and 52.4 miles in a 12 hour run the previous two weekends, Paul collapsed after the 2009 Rock’n’Roll Marathon in San Diego and passed away this summer August from a previously undetected cancer some 50 marathon distances from his 1,000 marathon goal.
It was typical Paul that his last marathon steps ever were dedicated to helping another runner
achieve her marathon goal for the first time. I wonder if she knows?
B. My Paul Piplani Memorial Marathons.
When California Race Director Charley Alewine, who ran a number of 100-milers and other events with Paul, dedicated his annual Chino Marathon on November 1, 2009 to Paul and opened a virtual option for that weekend so Paul’s friends could run too, I signed up right away, got an Ultra-Paul t-shirt and started planning where to do my Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon.
Then, a gorgeous notion struck as I recalled how leaving the morning sun in August 2008 for a two miles into the darkness of the Snoqualmie Tunnel before emerging to a new day on the other side had triggered our idea of a morning marathon in Tokyo, then another one in Seattle the same day (with the help of a ten hour flight across the international dateline).
with Paul and the ultra-goddesses at Light-at-the-end-of-the-Tunnel Marathon (8/17/0
......... .
Accordingly, I set my goal at two marathons each on Saturday morning, October 31, 2009 :
1 - 114th Imperial Palace Marathon in Tokyo and
2 - Frightfest Halloween Marathon starting at 10:00 am on the same morning
in Rochester south of Tacoma.
On pedestrian paths and rural farming roads respectively, they would be routine and rote by Paul standards but, in the absence of much, if any training, and more than a year hiatus in ultras, I’d need ‘em to be as easy as possible.
1. Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon #1 (10/31/09) - Tokyo.
114th Imperial Palace Marathon . . Carkeek 12 hour course - 26.2 miles target time - 6:00:00 actual time - 5:59:10
shoes - waraji straw sandals t-shirt - Paul Piplani Memorial hat - straw sugegasa temp - 60 degrees/cloudy
As he’d done for the previous week’s six hour Happy 80th Birthday Bob 113th Imperial Palace Marathon, 700-marathon Takebashi RD Nakamura paced me to a 5:59:15 sub-six marathon finale for October’s trip to Japan.
I owned him a lot more too as his running 70-80 marathons a year since 2005 with a bad knee bound and secured with multiple knee braces was all the proof I needed this year to keep on running too. <<<(slowly/slowly)>>>
Takebashi Imperial Palace Marathon RD Nakamura (74yo).
note knee brace (and Joyful pink caps)
2. Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon #2 (10/31/09) - Seattle.
114th Imperial Palace Marathon . . Carkeek 12 hour course - 26.2 miles target time - 6:00:00 actual time - 9:15:00 shoes - waraji straw sandals sirt - Paul Piplani Memorial hat - straw sugegasa temp - 60 degrees/cloudy
Unfortunately, flight delays resulted in a Seatac arrival too late for Frightfest logistics to work out. Fortunately, a 12 hour run was scheduled through 6:00 pm at Carkeek Park to the north and I was able to get up there just before noon for the first of 14 planned loops needed for a marathon distance around the 1.93 mile circuit of the park.
Both had an associated Halloween costume division but my Japanese straw conical hat and straw sandals were disqualified as they were really my regular running wear over there.
After permission from the RD for a late, very late, start (thank you very much Sam), it was a short jog across the parking lot down to a 100 yard path at the Puget Sound end of a gassy playfield. There, the grassy flield immediately rose up in the first of three ascents so steep that wooden steps had to be built into the side of woodland hills.
There was no encouragement from a runner on her tenth lap (20 miles) saying that the meadow was the only flat section of the entire circuit. “Oh” she remembered, “there’s also two metal-grating foot bridges that are flat too.”
There was little doubt but that the second leg of the Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon was not going to be rote and routine at all but way on the other side of Paul’s marathon distances.
In fact, the RD indicated that 430 feet elevation/descent per 1.93 mile lap made Carkeek the “hardest 12-hour run in the country. Thus, it was no surprise when the planned second six hours planned for marathon #2 turned out to be but a 19.3 mile run too at the 6:00 pm cutoff time.
However, I was also running on the kind of official course required for the virtual part of the Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon (and had paid the PPMM entry fee of $35) so just needed to go around four more times for an the second marathon to count. www.CharleyAlewineRacing.com
My brain was strained and legs in pain but, as Paul had done hundreds of times all over the country and world, I stayed on-and-on and around-and-around all by myself, drowsing in-and-out of consciousness in the night, step-after-never-ending-step into the narrow beam of the headlamp borrowed from an official finisher who’d started in the 6:00 am darkness when I was still some 1,000 miles out over the Pacific Ocean.
The trail was bad and, especially being so tired, it was much too dangerous to run much at all in the darkness anymore. I would not give in though and frequently stamped my feet while cursing loudly to keep awake "Paul, Paul, you old SOB!”
It was a strange mix of being mad at him and sad for him, overhearing his voice from the adjacent woods, and even others from my current and past, shocking me out of increasing sleep-walking, at least twice preventing a serious fall of the edge.
But all things come to an end at last and my poor and tired dim eyes finally beheld the dark and empty parking lot and picnic tables below for the last time. They’d earlier been overflowing with salted potatoes, fruits, cookies, chicken soup, energy bars and drinks along animated encouragement and smiles from tireless volunteers.
Knowing of my PPMM mission, RD Sam, of 50/50/50 fame, left plenty extra as needed for me to make it around the last four laps saying he'd been there to in his 50 marathon mission for Hurricane Katrina victims and many monster ultras over the years. http://www.50in50in50.com
Now that it’s over, it doesn’t seem fair that Paul’s 1,000 marathon distance goal had failed so close to fruition, especially as he never gave up even when his bad days in weather and in trails and personal condition made my bad ones look good.
Then, it dawned on me that, just as putting his best effort into an ultra that might have ended up over some predetermined cutoff time was still a success to Paul and the 26.2 miles he needed in his personal quest to run1,000 marathon distances, then running as many marathon distances as he could in his allotted time and condition was the correct standard of success for his final mission too, not whether the final total was 1,000 or only 950.
Besides, I’m pretty sure I’ve got 50 or so marathon distances left in me that someone, somewhere can count for Paul too.
Actually, it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke but seemed like a good idea at the time as an event with enough time (56 hours) to reach the 100-miles I once thought I could do anyway when I could but which never happened until it's too late now.. . ============================================I. SUMMARY - 100 miles in 150 miles.After belatedly discovering in 2007 after 30 years of running annual marathons that, by pretty much walking up every hill in sight, even regular fitness runners can meet the cutoff times in ultras up to 50-miles and even 100K, I used to think about 100 miles sometime too. Unfortunately, circumstances and events never let it happen. Now the aging process is putting even the most generous 32-hour cut-offs for some centuries out of reach. Nevertheless, though it would be unofficial, the 56-hour cutoff in an upcoming 150-miler might provide a chance for the elusive 100 miles, after all. . 5/24-26/2013 tetsujin - Pigtails 150-mile Challenge Run (Seattle, Washington) - thongs© Queen Ilene (Intrepid Race Schedule) Unfortunately, my huge training plans for this year have fizzled with only five 4-mile runs so far this year and, after a marathon on January 12, I DNS'd a planned 12-hour run, two 50K’s, two marathons and a half mary.. Even being in town for the scheduled Pigtails 100/150/200 Challenge in May is turning out to be in question but, if not, wish me luck, even though I’ll probably have to walk every step of the way..For my future reference, below is my justification for doing something that most everyone, even me, might not think is that good of an idea. Doesn't matter though as at least trying is better than not so don't try to talk me out ot it. =============================== II. BACKGROUND .A. MEGA PAUL PIPLANI .barefoot jon and Paul Piplani at start of 2008 Light-at-the-end-of-the-Tunnel Marathon.
Ultra-runner Paul Piplani was somewhat of a modern-day marathon mendicant flying all over the country on a shoestring budget, if that, wearing a threadbare singlet, worn-out shoes lightly touching down, all-night driving, sleeping in the back seat or on a park bench or the floor of someone’s office, subsisting on a diet of bread and beans (even when we went to restaurants), blessing other runners for their efforts,, mentoring newbies (and oldies too), etc. Yet he often put change in the cups of the needy, usually with the same cheery blessings for them that ended his e-mails too..Paul Piplani helping a collapsing runner finish her first marathon.San Diego Rock’n’Roll Marathon (May 31, 2009)Unfortunately, it was Paul’s last marathon.
By then, after entering the Pike’s Peak Marathon on a whim with a friend in 1993 to get away from some hard times in his life on a journey of personal discovery, Paul’d run the 26.2 mile marathon distance he loved some 750 times in official events all over the country. His fastest was a 3:22. More than a dozen were at the Pikes Peak up-and-back marathon but most came in ultras of multiple 26.2 miles. .
It didn’t matter that most of the running community would count the two marathon distances (52.4 miles) he might run in a 12 hour time run as a single event. For Paul, as long as it was in an official event, 26.2 miles was a clear call that could not be denied. Though religion wasn’t a part of his public persona as much as for some runners, e.g Jim Ryun, Paul said his beliefs made sure he never ran alone even though he was by himself most of the time. .With his shoes barely leaving the surface and lightly touching down, his almost shuffling pace seemed like it could go on forever. He didn’t brag about anything but I could tell it had meant a lot to him when Catherine Ndereba told him that, while his five-and-six hour marathons, double/triple/ quadzilla/etc. weekends might be slow, his persevering the best he could under all the circumstances of the days (and night) he ran was the same full effort for him as she felt she was giving in her two-and-a-half hour marathons. .B. BLAME IT ON PAUL.Paul was closing in on 1,000 marathon distances when he died in August 2009 from a sudden cancer. By then, the dozen marathons and ultras we’d run together when he’d be up in the Pacific Northwest from his Phoenix base had included my first 12 hour run and a double ultra/mary weekend. Both were on last minute whims and against all logic for a fitness runner who doesn’t train that much, if any. However, Paul had assured me that multiple mary’s and super-ultras were mostly mental anyway. He was right.
For example, two months after Paul’s passing, I was able to do the morning marathon in Tokyo we had discussed and then, after flying back across the International Date Line, add another 26.2 mile distance within a completely Paul-like 12-hour run in Seattle on the same day..Unfortunately, when Paul died, his promise to pace me to my own century distance sometime died too. .C. BLAME IT ON BUNNY.
Last October, I was wistfully drifting back to those days with Paul while looping around-and-around the hilly 1.93 mile park perimeter of the Carkeek 12-hour Fun Run. .It was hard not to reminisce. Two months after Paul died in 2009, Carkeek had not only been the U.S. part of our planned two-continent daily double but it had served as the required event for my virtual entry in the Paul Piplani Memorial Marathon being held in California that weekend (and simultaneously in virtual by Paul’s friend’s all over the country in other events). http://charliealewineracing.jimdo.com/race-results/paul-piplani-memorial-november-1st-2009/.However, what a difference three years of Father Time can make at this stage. I barely reached 50K (31.1mi) in Carkeek’s allotted 12 hours this time and had a new PB PW of 10hr/15mi to the marathon mark. Even if that pace could be sustained for 100 miles (NOT), one hundred miles would take almost 40 hours. .Then, all-of-a-sudden, out of the Carkeek drizzle and rain emerged a lively masters newbie (1yr/2mo into her running career) easily lapping me three or four times like a cheery energizer bunny. It’s not like me at all but I may have inadvertently puffed up my 37 years of running marathons somewhat as Bunny all-of-a-sudden, and quite seriously, asked if I was running a new 100-miler coming up around nearby Lake Youngs in May. To my utter surprise, my macho-motor-mouth responded with what my heart must have still been wishing all these years: “oh yeah, see you there, Bunny.” .D. WHOOPS.As she slipped out-of-sight, it dawned on me that Lake Youngs was the very venue of last May’s inaugural Pigtails 100/150/200 Mile Challenge Runs that had me shaking my head in disbelief when the always effervescent Italiano dea francesca was regaling me about the two-day, 150 mile option being so enjoyable that she might try the three-day 200 miler this year..Whoops again. Having run several mini-ultras there at Lake Youngs (from 28.8mi - 50K), including with Paul on our double ultra/mary weekend in June 2008 (that I had thought had had the usually rational Dove slipping over to the dark side when she posted in ilene’s intrepid about doing both), I quickly realized that the ten-plus laps needed for 100 miles would include close to 10,000 feet of weary, wearing, if not nearly impossible, ascents (and pounding descents too). .Triple whoops. More sobering was the reality that, by then, I’d be in a new AG so old (70-74) I never thought I’d live to be in let alone run in. My brain was reeling over fessing up to something I knew I couldn’t do or accepting the inevitable DNF. . F. WHOOPEE.Then, all at once, I recalled a glorious idea discussed with Paul in those days: find a two-day, 48-hour event to have ample time for 100 miles even at a leisurely Sunday walk-in-the-park pace. .Not quite the same as a fixed-time 48-hour event run but maybe I could enter the otherwise impossible 150 mile option and use its generous 56 hour cutoff at least to try for 100 miles. Unfortunately, unlike a purely timed run in which any distance is a legitimate finish, only one hundred miles in the 150-mile option would be an automatic DQ. .It wouldn’t be on the same terms of success that Paul had guaranteed me in an official century run with him. However, it’d still be 100 miles to me, .. . or, better yet, 104.8 miles for four of his unique marathon distances. I’d like that. Actually, in light of all my missed running so far this year, even it it only turns out to be 26.2 miles, I'd like that too. .Maybe Paul’s still dispensing his blessings after all.