Benjamin Barton ran the Marine Corps Marathon and finished with a time of 3:30:54.
This was an unbelievably organized event regarding every facet. It was a bucket list marathon that my wife and I always wanted a run. A hats off to the United States Marine Corps for putting on an incredible weekend and marathon.
Paula Reid ran the Disney Wine & Dine Challenge Half Marathon with a finishing time of 3:21:42.
Placed 3rd of 9 in my division! I was in and out of the medic area a few times for blisters on the ball of my foot on both feet. I started the race with Liquicells but they migrated away from the applied area as my feet got sweaty. I think I could have done a lot better and I have races coming up early next year so we’ll see.
Tom Fanslow ran the Fall Marathon and finished this race in the time of 3:51:35.
I ran the marathon on a mainly flat course with about 2 miles of rolling hills in the middle and a 1 mile uphill finish. My strategy was to avoid as much as possible running slower than 9:00/mile, and no faster than 8:40/mile except on downhills to bank time for uphills. I had to make up some time over three miles to make up for a bathroom break. I finished with a time of 3:51:20, which is 8:50 pace. I’ll gladly take it. Crucially, this was my ninth marathon and it’s the first one in which I didn’t mightily suffer after mile 20. Sore calves at the end, but that was it, and yes, I was ready to be done. No heroics, and no injuries that I know about yet. A big, huge thank-you to coaches Andie, Hayley and Ruari!! This was the first time I placed in my age category (55-59), I was the oldest in the category (I turn 60 in a few days)! Very exciting for little old me, but I just noted that three runners in the next oldest division beat my time, so I know to stay humble.
Mary Shepherd ran the Las Vegas Half Marathon and finished in a time of 3:38:04.
This should have been an easy race, but the day before I was on my feet way more than planned and I got very little sleep. Essentially, I hit the wall, just as I did in Mesa earlier this year, but I hit it much sooner. By mile 4 my quads were feeling tight and I thought I might have started a little fast, but not that much. I could really feel the tightness on the walking intervals, but the running intervals got harder and harder, too as my stride length decreased. I adjusted intervals from 60/24 to 40/20 to 20/20 and did a lot of just walking starting in mile 10. Two people came up to me with about 1/4 mile to go and walked with me to the end. I was able to sprint the last maybe 50-100 feet across the finish line, but I was immediately walked with strong assistance to the medical tent where I basically sat for quite a while. There were other indications that this was very much not my day–body battery started at 44 (usually close to 100), resting HR was not where it should have been, and all the graphs show a steady downhill trend (pace, HR, elevation, cadence). I was clearly out of glycogen early on. I did not appear to become dehydrated, I had sufficient electrolytes and carbs, just not enough in the starting tank. At least I know what to avoid for sure in the future.
Jonathan Bogaard ran the Haloween Hustle 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 24:10.
Equipment malfunction and or operator error meant my ISmoothRun wasn’t working for the first quarter mile. I turned it off and got back on track. I’m not someone who has learned to pace by feel. I just relaxed and worked hard and this was a good result for me since my goal was to get under 25. Probably had more in the tank. Fun race with lots of good costumes.
Omar Bruce ran the Las Vegas Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 6:04:55.
I was doing well until mile 15. At that point it was a downhill slump (both literally & figuratively). At mile 19 I began to feel severe cramping in my right glute. Then all hell broke loose at mile 21 when my thighs refused to cooperate. From then on I walked/jogged to mile 23 and basically walked to mile 25 where I was able to muster a shuffle to the end.
This was my first (and last) downhill race. I was aware of the wear & tear on your legs but didn’t think it would be this bad. The total descension was 5,164 feet from the first mile to mile 20 straight. I tried to pace conservatively at the start and felt great at mile 6 and decided to pick up the pace and suffered for it. But in the end, I finished which was my only ultimate goal.
Robin Whitley ran the MCM Marathon and finished this race in the time of 6:56:41.
I ran the 2014 and 2017 MCMs and was well aware I needed to make all three gauntlets. It was my second fastest marathon since 2020 and especially since the blood chemistry issues I have learned to manage over the last several years. Not to mention bottoming out again ~2 months ago.
My gut was a little off the first 9 miles but eventually settled. I just pressed onward and put one foot in front of the other. Overall, I think it was progress in the right direction.
I feel okay about NYCM #9 next weekend since I have timeeee and do not expect any issues.
Tony Malinauskas ran the DekaFIT cross-fit competition (3K) and finished with a time of 51:09. This was a PR by 15 seconds!
10 exercise stations with 0.3K running between each. Came in 2 out of 4, PR by 15 seconds despite overcoming injuries much of the last few months and racing after volunteering for 5 hours.
