I posted this over at RT, but thought you guys may get a kick out me getting my butt kicked as well... You know its a bad day when you get beat by the guy who forgot Daylight Savings Time and started the race 20 minutes late passes you like you were standing still just before mile 26 and he's carrying a backpack. It happened to me yesterday at the Lower Potomac River Marathon... It was a relatively hot (and humid) day and not a good race from me even before the backpack guy passed me. I don't run well in the heat and signed up for a March 8th marathon figuring on a nice crisp winter day but ended up with temps in lower 70s and never really got into this one. After a few miles, I was having trouble maintaining my goal pace and I knew this wasn't going to be my day. I was 1:22 at the half, so 2:40 was out of the question and by mile 23 I was slogging along at 6:50s and just looking forward to finishing. I was running third and at the turnaround (mile 20 or so) there was nobody close to me, so I figured I was by myself till the end. That's when the guy in the backpack passed me and while I tried to stay with him, he seemed to be pretty fresh (and I figured he only ran the last couple of miles). I finished in 2:51:48... Way off my goal (and PR) and my slowest marathon in last few years. The winner of the marathon (with a 2:38) was the the inimitable Chuck Engle... He turned out to be a great guy. - He took off fast, but cheered for everyone on the loopback as he passed. The guy with the backpack was (as I found out by googling him) running megamarathoner phenom Mike Wardian who was training for the Marathon de Sables (hence the backpack). Turns out he didn't have an alarm clock in his bag. My whole family thinks the backpack guy story is a riot. So, an "off" day for me but marathon 18 is in the books... I probably should have blown this one off after hearing the weather forecast, but seems like you can't sign up for any marathon and count on cool weather any more. It was a nice small marathon - great race director and very scenic waterfront route for first several miles and then smallish hills along a straight boring highway. Ray

For us, a 2:51 is incredible but I know for you this is a disappointment. Sorry to hear about this one, Ray. I really sympathize and identify with the warm-weather blues. I was thinking about you this weekend, knowing you'd have to run in that heat. Yuck. If you ever find a sure-fire cold-weather marathon, let me know, okay? BTW, of course the backpack guy looked fresh; he had an extra hour of sleep!

That is still a fantastic time. And you were beat by some of the best; Chuck Engle and Michael Wardian, so what the hey.

"Slogging along at 6:50's"... that's not a slog in my book! Sorry you didn't have the race you wanted but hot weather happens. Better luck next time!

Grilled moosemeat, sorry about the heat. That's the thing, all the planning in the world and mother nature does what she darn well pleases on race day. You still are an amazing athlete.

I just saw that Wardian is running National again in two weeks (I believe he's won the last three). Sure, his course PR is about an hour and a quarter faster than my marathon PR but now that you got him all worn out....

Ray......nice report. Sorry to hear you didn't have your race but there are 10's of thousands that would take your slowest finish in a couple of years any day, any time ! Myself included. Nice running

actually - i would take that time even with an extra hour added to it and be ecstatic!! seriously tho -- sorry the race didn't turn out as you hoped, but sounds like an amazing race with less than ideal circumstances and........... YOU'VE RUN 18 MARATHONS!!!!! woooooooohoooooo!!!!

That story is a riot Ray. Was this a goal marathon for you? I wasn't tracking where you were in your plans. Thanks for telling this story. It reminded me of Labduck on KR posting the pic of being beaten by a sandwich, the Subway runner. As good a runner as you are, it's fun for the rest of us to see you have some balance and a sense of humor about it all. A long time ago I was given a piece of great advice: Take everything seriously except yourself. I have to remind myself of this from time to time. You have the knack. Great post. Spareribs

Yes... Unfortunately, this was my goal marathon. - I thought I was in pretty good shape to go for 2:40. I had a series of great 20 milers (at a pace significantly faster than Sundays race) but they were all in cold weather. I like the quote about taking everything seriuosly except yourself.... words to live by. I might try another shot this Spring if i bounce back.... I do find that as I get older, the recovery time from a marathon gets longer and longer... but I'm hoping that with this one I didn't run fast enough to beat myself up much. At times this whole 2:40 thing looks a bit quixotic, but its been fun trying and maybe it would be cooler to hit it in my 50s (which are rapidly approaching. Ray