Short version:

Chip time - 4:04:17

Gun time - 4:15:33

OA - 1497/4453

AG - 88/260

Long version:

Reason for running: My goal fall marathon was MCM where I achieved my goal of 3:50. I also ran the HHFMM in late November for the challenge of the course. Most of my long-run training friends were training for the White Rock Marathon. I had not even considered running with them and instead intended on rest, recuperation, and planning for a spring goal marathon. I recovered well from the HHFMM. I took an easy week after HHFMM, then upped my miles back up to >40miles/week. Longest run being ~8miles. I ran a couple of runs with the training group and they got my interest up for White Rock. Opie (from KR) of course egged me on a bit with having a place to stay, so I told everyone if it did not fill, I would sign up at the expo. It didn't fill, so I called Opie up Friday night and we made arrangements to ride down to Dallas on Saturday.

Goals (I always need goals): Since I already had met my time goal for the year and really wassn't trained up to attempt a PR in this race, I had to set myself some different goals.

• Goal 1 - In all of my recent marathons, I have suffered with stomach cramps, side stitches, nauseau, etc. I had given up on GU/gels several marathons before as the cause of these issues, yet still had isssues even w/o gels. In this race I decided to try the gels again, but starting far earlier in the race. Previousely I had waited until around mile 18 or so before taking a gel. In this race my plan was to take a gel every 10K or so. My thinking on this was that maybe it was an empty stomach that was causing my issues and that if I fueled earlier, maybe I could postpone these issues until after the finish.

• Goal 2 - The other goal for this race was to try to achieve negative splits in a marathon. This is a bit of a repeat of goal 1, but since I was not pressured by time, I could really slow down at the start. Since I registered late at the expo, I was put in the last starting wave group, forcing me to go slow early on.

FR - Yellow/black Marathon Maniac singlet over long-sleeved black tech shirt, navy running shorts, Thorlos socks, black & yelow NB 904 shoes, white running hat and throwaway gloves (no throwaway shirt). While sitting in traffic, I checked Facebook and Spareribs had posted that it was a singlet only day and that most would be way overdressed for the race. I took his advice and shed the long-sleeved black shirt and gloves, running in a singlet. He was dead-on in his prediction, thanks Spareribs.

Weather - At start foggy and 51 degrees, at finish sunny and 62 degrees, light breeze, IRC.

The race: Starting at the back of the field provided an interesting perspective. I took it real easy and avoided bobbing & weaving as I passed slower runners. My pace for the first mile was >10min/mile. Coming out of downtown, the crowd started easing up a bit and I was able to run a comfortable pace of 9:15-9:30/mile. It was still very crowded, but much easier to manuever. I had planned my first gel at the 6 mile water station, but the crowds were still too thick for me to even try to take one on the run. I decided to wait until the lake after the half-marathoners had split off. After the half group split off, the course opened up a bit and I was able to set in at a nice 9:00/mile pace. I took my first gel at mile 9 with plenty of water. Miles 8-18 are easy rolling terrain around White Rock lake. Very scenic and easy to run. I picked up my pace a bit through here. I passed one of my long-run training friends at mile 15. He was pretty close to his expected pace and doing well. Mile 18 is the low elevation point on the course. I took my second gel here, once again with plenty of water and proceeded on to the big hill on the course (Dolly Parton hill). It's really not that big of a hill but being from mile 19-21, it is in a tough place on the course. From mile 21 to the finish it is truly downhill all the way. I planned on just holding my pace even at around 9:00/mile through here which would put me in a bit below 4 hours. At mile 22, I heard someone shout "Go Paul" from the crowd. Since my bib did not have my name on it, that suprised me. I have no idea who it was, though it was nice to have someone in the crowd shout-out. Just past mile 23, I caught up with another long run training friend who had started in B corral. His goal was 3:50 (trying to beat my MCM time). He was really struggling and walking at the time. Since I had no goal time and was only shooting for negative splits and a strong finish, I walked with him for a bit and we started running again after a couple of blocks. I decided to stay with him and try to help get him the rest of the way in. We ran together until ~25.5 miles and he said he had to walk again. We walked to mile 26 and ran the last 0.2 in. He finished with a 4:13 (15 minute PR for him, but he was still pretty bummed). At the finish we met the third member of our long-run training group who ran White Rock. He had finished with a 4:08 (30 minute PR for him). He, too, had struggled a bit the last 1.5 miles.

Post race: Water, food, beer at the finish festival, in that order. Then off to find Opie to get checked-out of hotel and back to OKC.

White Rock Marathon comments: This is the 3rd time I've run this race. It is a beautiful course and well organized. For the first time though, I do have three complaints of which 2 are beyond the RD's jurisdiction.

1. The race has gotten very large. This was even more evident from starting at the back. The streets are narrow with too many runners. If they had not had a wave start this year, it would have been a stampede. Since the race proceeds all go to charity, bigger is better; but don't make it any bigger. Maybe start the half marathon separately.
2. Some of the streets that the course follows were in pretty bad shape. Very rough and uneven with some pretty good sized pot-holes (some marked, some not). Once again the RD is limited as to fixing this problem. Hopefully the city will prioritize fixing these streets before next year.
3. The one thing I think the RD can fix is the finish area. There was no water at the finish area. We got our medals, finisher shirts, and space blankets there, but no water. We had to cross through a crowd of spectators to get to the athletes village a block away to get water after the race. Either get the water closer to the finish or have better control of the crowd so the runners can make their way to the athletes finish area/village more easily

Thanks for reading.

Paul

Paul - Very nice report - I really enjoyed reading this!  I hope that ends up being the answer to the gel/Gu issues for you.  I find that those marathons with no goal time are so much more enjoyable then those where I’m trying to get a “best performance” in.  Good luck with your fall BQ attempt.