Notes
Well there you go... Done and managed a PR to boot. Never thought I break 3:30 again now that I'm an old guy at 62! Who would have thought? It was definitely a different race for me. A race where it wasn't about me, but about my brother Alex who is fighting Multiple Myeloma. I was able to raise $5530 from friends and family members who I am eternally grateful to. I was running for Alex and for all those who supported this cause. That support helped push me out the door during the last 4 months of training and more importantly kicked my butt any time I thought about slowing down today. It’s hard getting the mileage in when you have to work!
My plan was to run 8:10 the first 4 miles to warm up, slide into 8's up to the first half, then try to get a negative split (second half faster than the first half). My training runs have been pretty good and far faster than I thought I could run. At mile 13 I passed the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation team tent that I was running for. Lots of cheering and high fives. That was the signal to let the legs go and see if the wheels would stay on. I tried to focus on 7:45's and found the pace pretty comfortable, though it kept speeding up. I was passing a lot of runners and the legs felt strong. No knee pain or twinges anywhere. I will be honest, there were quite a few prayers said throughout the race asking for the strength I needed to keep this crazy pace up. I thought about some of my family members no longer with us and even asked them to put in a good word for me! Of course, running for my brother Alex was the ultimate "kick in the butt." Thinking about him and his fight with MM reminded of how tough a battle he was fighting, so I better suck it up! 26.2 miles is nothing compared to what he has had to endure. My grandson, Theo, along with his mom (Caroline) and dad (Josh), were also cheering me on from Massachusetts. Theo was wearing a one-zie today that said, “My Grampa is Faster than Your Grampa!” Ha…
I used three e-Gels in the race at mile 6, 12 and 18. I skipped the last one at mile 24. I also drank quite a bit of water (no Gatorade for this guy as it reminds of colonoscopies!). In my training I tried hard to teach my body to burn fat and not be so dependent on carbohydrates. I did a lot of carbo-loading this week thanks to my lovely wife Jane who researched what was best to eat, prepared and made sure I ate it. I also followed Andy Orazio’s and Marc Dupuis’ advice about hydrating throughout the week. Combine that along with over 700 miles of training over the last 4 months, including lots of hill and trail running, and everything fell into place. I have to thank the Circle North Runners in Sanford for pushing me on our Tuesday runs. Nothing like running with the young bucks to help make you stronger.
I had to walk about 1.5 miles to the start, partly because I had been given a VIP pass to the charity tent. It was nice to receive it, but required walking an extra half-mile to get there and then a mile back to the start. Before the race even started I had 2.5 miles in! I got back to my starting corral D in the first wave and ran into my buddy Mike Leigh from Sanford. (Mike also had an awesome race at 3:17!). We chatted a bit and then I hit the port potty for one last time. Once in the corral there is quite a bit of camaraderie with fellow runners. I always shake their hand just as we are about the head off. Everyone is so supportive of each other. The starting gun went off about 7:30 and by the time our corral reach the starting line 7 minutes and 38 seconds had passed. I can’t imagine how long it took the 45,000th runner to cross the starting line, let alone to finish. The temperature at the start was about 50F and never got much above 60 throughout the race. Perfect weather, though the sun was a factor and I tried to find shade whenever possible… you really baked in the sun.
Chicago is an amazing marathon and the crowds carry you. Jane had put my name on the front of my shirt ands I heard a lot of call-outs that helped push me along. The architecture throughout the city is gorgeous so you never get bored. If you haven’t run this race, you need to. The post race party was fantastic. I got a massage after the race with 4 people massaging my calves, hammies, and back all at once. I guess they felt sorry for the old guy. The band at the post race party was fantastic! I have to admit I stood there enjoying the music, dancing in place while watching the band for an hour. Two ladies standing next to me also started dancing and we had a blast. Guess that’s the endorphins kicking in. (I was a fatherly figure!)
This was my 14th marathon and by far the most enjoyable. I PR’d (Personal Record) by 4 minutes and 33 seconds from my best marathon in Vermont in 2010 – 3:29:34. Today I ran 3:25:02! I looked at the results on the website and there were 648 male finishers in the 60-64 age group. I placed 14th out of 648 old guys… Dude! My highest finish placement percentage. Again… great weather and being motivated to give it my best.
In retrospect, this will likely be my highest mileage year running. I had more miles in training for Chicago than I did for Boston. In addition I followed the sage wisdom and advice from one of the best PT guys around, Jared Buzzell, and did my core strength exercises everyday. Bridges, planks, clams, etc. This is the first marathon I have done where I haven’t been sidelined with some stupid injury… all have always been related to having a weak core.
Thanks again to everyone who supported me in this race.
Official Results | Men | Age Group: 60-64
Place Overall Place Gender Place Division Name (CTZ) City, State BIB Age HALF Finish
187 171 1 » Pilcher, Brian (USA) Kentfield, CA 343 60 1:16:54 2:42:44
1389 1242 2 » Standerfer, Joe (USA) Winston-Salem, NC 5499 60 1:29:24 3:06:03
1740 1546 3 » Fornay, Georges (FRA) Paris 3453 60 1:33:27 3:09:45
1830 1624 4 » Crowe, D Wayne (CAN) Comox, BC 579 61 1:32:06 3:10:48
2067 1821 5 » Schachtel, Samuel (CRC) San Jose 21730 64 1:34:25 3:13:03
2643 2301 6 » Puelma, Francisco (CHI) Santiago 2491 60 1:37:18 3:17:42
2663 2318 7 » Zappen, Rich (USA) Bensenville, IL 8194 60 1:36:19 3:17:53
2816 2435 8 » Lillyman, Daniel (USA) Mahomet, IL 1270 60 1:29:48 3:18:49
2889 2493 9 » Shepherd, John (USA) Essex, CT 5206 60 1:39:27 3:19:21
2946 2540 10 » Gotay De Jesus, Hector (USA) Guaynabo 13294 64 1:38:56 3:19:45
2954 2544 11 » Amodia Diez, Jesus (ESP) Madrid, Madrid 8550 61 1:39:12 3:19:48
3138 2684 12 » Hinojosa, Alvaro (MEX) Jiutepec, MORELOS 7519 60 1:40:16 3:21:09
3297 2807 13 » Recinos, Pedro (GUA) Guatemala 10196 64 1:38:14 3:22:26
3731 3137 14 » Theoharides, David (USA) Sanford, ME 11450 62 1:44:15 3:25:02
3749 3150 15 » Hammervold, Jerry (USA) Sugar Land, TX 10226 64 1:34:48 3:25:09