Intro: I ran the OKC Memorial Marathon at the end of April with a goal of finally breaking 4 hours. Between side stitches and strong winds I did not quite make my goal. 4:03:51 was my time in that race. The week after that race, I took it pretty easy, but by midweek I was out pounding the pavement again. By the next week, my weekly mileage was above 40 again and I started thinking about running this marathon. By the next week, I had firmly decided to run it. Race info: The Andy Payne Memorial Races are the Allie Reynolds 5K, the Willie Nelson 10K, and the Andy Payne Marathon, all in honor of Andy Payne, a native Oklahoman. He was the winner of the 1927 Great Transatlantic Race from Los Angeles to New York City. Info about Andy Payne and the 1927 race: http://members.cox.net/andypayne/ & http://www.itvs.org/footrace/runnerbio/featuredrunners/andypayne.htm The course for the race is located ~5 miles from my house. It is a single loop around the Route 66 Park on Andy Payne Drive and then 3 loops around Lake Overholser. It is a very flat couse. I run here at least 1-3 times a week. Race day: I arrived at the park at 5:30am, got registered, and just relaxed a bit before the 6:30 start. Less than 100 runners in the marathon, so this was the smallest marathon yet for me. There were 11 Marathon Maniacs running, so we made a group picture for their newsletter. At 6:25, the race director made a few announcements. Weather: Weather conditions were not ideal. Cloudy, 78 degrees, 90% humidity, and 15-20mph winds with gusts of 25-30mph. At sunrise the clouds burned off; and within an hour the temps went to the mid 80's, humidity stayed up and the wind kept a blowing. The race: Race started promptly at 6:30. I did my best to keep my pace a bit slow considering the conditions. Average pace for the first lap of lake was ~9:23/mile. Second lap of the lake, I caught up to the 10K runners on their out-and-back and saw Opie from KR near the turnaround point for his 10K. Average pace for this lap was ~9:18/mile. 18 miles down, 8.2 to go. The sun came out full force here and I think temps were closer to 90 than 85. I was still running pretty strong until mile 21.5, when I looked down at my HRM and saw that my heart rate was 190. Even though I felt OK, I decided to take a little walk break and get the heart rate down. Either a wise move or a big mistake, because after that walk, I never got back in a good running groove. Even though my heart rate was down, I found myself walking almost as much as running. I was out-of-gas. I finished the last mile pretty strong, but the last lap of the lake cost me alot of time. Final time:4:23:04. 4/12 in AG. Post race: Opie saw me at the finish. We visited with a few Maniacs and he snapped a picture of me next to the Andy Payne statue in the park. I waited for results to be posted, then went home and took a nice cooling shower. Comments: Even though the weather conditions were tough, I had a great time running this race. I thought it might be a bit boring running a marathon with 3 laps around the lake that I do most of my mid to long runs, but that was not the case. This race does not have any spectators other than the normal Saturday morning park goers, so some might find that not to their liking. The water/food stations were great. Plenty of water, gator-aide, bananas, oranges, and wipes at each staion every 2 miles. The volunteers did a great job. The small marathon was actually a nice change of pace. Thanks for reading, Paul

Hello MM #747, you did well with the 4th AG. Spareribs is right, you just ran a marathon plus it was hot and humid outside. Congratulations!

I'm amazed by all you marathoners who run multiple marathons in a short period of time. I can barely manage 10+ a month later. Very nice job Paul! I am impressed. Bill

nice job Paul! you are truly an inspiration - i hope you're taking some time to relax and reward yourself now!!

Good running in some tough conditions all around. You are a determined and talented runner and I am with the group that's amazed and impressed with the multiple marathons. Thanks for the report and I look forward to your next effort---another good one to be sure. CNYrunner/Karin

Back where I come from, 78 deg and 90% humidity are tough conditions! You did very well for having run a marathon just a few weeks ago. But I guess that is what maniacs do! Someday I would like to run a race where I normally train. Very nice you could meet up with Opie as well. Yup, I like the small races too. huskydon

I was looking at this race--hope to do it someday. He's the guy who won the "Bunion Derby" upon which the novel Flanagan's Runis based. Good job finishing with smarts--that's a high number on the HR and you were smart to heed it. And you have your finisher's medal. Congrats. grins, A

Great job you maniac! Sounds like a very enjoyable route - congratulations on 4th place too! ~Mary