Notes
8 times around the 3.17 Lake Quannapowitt. That's all. Pretty darn flat and no beaming sun to worry about. Piece of cake, right? Gwen and I stayed nearby so we arrived early enough to relax some before this strange pitch dark marathon. Met Steve and Doug in the parking lot and Tom and Vangie showed up prior to the start to show their support by cheering and passing me water and other needed supplies every 25 minutes or so. This is the first year that it has started in the dark so learning the course had to be done on the fly. It only took me one or two loops to chart my course and try to avoid some of the cracks and little elevation drops. I was going along pretty good on the first lap, hoping to hold back some in hopes of having a little faster second half. I soon realized that my best shot at this was to PR NOT BQ. By lap 5 I was into the 8s and I was just trying to hang on for a PR. I decided that I would really focus and give it my best to have a fast last lap. As I approached the start line for the 7th time, my dad handed me water and yelled "Go get Scorps! He's not far ahead of you at all!" Ahead of me? What the hell is he doing ahead of me?, I ponder. I didn't see him pass me. Then I hear in the faded distance that he is a lap behind, I'm still motivated to catch him and it fits right in with my plan to hammer down on this lap. It takes me about 1/2 mile to catch up with him. I tell him that he still has a great shot at a good PR. Steve disagrees with me, we both say good luck and I carry on. I finally approach the last straightaway leading to the finish. There's Dad running down the sidelines screaming for me to go get it. I sprint for the last tenth or more and look up to see a nice PR. Nothing to complain about here. My best marathon time ever. I have the fastest time in the family now, even beyond the immediate, and I didn't feel like I was going to die in order to get it. Lots of this course was on concrete sidewalk and I am feeling the effects of the pounding today. It was hard on many parts of this course to run fluidly since there were turns, drops and even some grass to run through with poor lighting. I found it helpful to count laps instead of miles so I like the idea. We got a pretty decent weather night all in all but we were all still soaked and removed our shirts. This would be a fast course in the day time but I think for most, it was the 9 pm start, when we are usually in bed that was hard to adjust to. 7th Overall and 1st in AG, although no award. Check that one off the bucket list. No more night marathons. I would like to say no more marathons at all but that elusive BQ awaits. Damn it.