11/22/97 AGN Turkey Tune Up 5K

I really enjoyed this little race last year. Loop around the "Great Neck" of Ipswich. Hilly but fun. Today it is windy and rainy. Not the best day to be so exposed to ocean breezes. Start off in our little group and soon get all spread out. Big tough hill around mile 2 and the blast of wind at the top is so strong I have to laugh. I feel good though and know I am making good time. Strong finish to the end. Award ceremony in RD's garage because of the rain.

21:02 5K PR
16th of 64 runners 3rd in age group ribbon
****

11/1/97 Trick or Treat Trot 5K

Jody, Devin and I sitting on our bed. Cold heavy rain splattering against the windows. None of us wants to get off the bed, surely no one wants to go outside and then run three miles. We had planned to do it, but it is so cozy here, so wild outside. Its getting late, if we are going to do this we need to get moving and somehow our love of running conquers our desire to stay comfortable.

Drive to Newburyport and at least have a dry school to register and wait till the start. It is so wet, but not super cold. The race is only a 5K. I think I am better off going shirtless than wearing my soon to be soggy t-shirt. All of us crazy runners feel a bond as we start off together. Hard to not be in a good mood. We have a blast running the course and drying off inside. We did it!! We could have so easily not turned out, but now we have made a memory and I have a new 5K PR.

21:18
19th of 85
****

10/5/97 Twin Cities Marathon

Much planning went into this race. Used my frequent flier miles. Convinced my employer to let me visit a collaborator, which paid for the rental car and hotel. Great to visit with Elise and have Ruth running with me. Nice Au Sable reunion weekend.
Race starts at the Metrodome. Looking for a restroom I find that a door to the main stadium is open. I don't think I am supposed to be in here, it is all dark, but nice to get a look at the "field". Back outside we look for markers with time goals and try to line up around the 4 hour mark. By far the largest race I have done, with over 7,000 participants this is a real spectacle. Nice day with temperatures very comfortable. I think it is going to warm up significantly.
Start - Off we go. Takes a couple minutes to get to the start line, with a little jogging, then a traffic jam of people makes us walk.
Mile 1 - Under a bridge and many are hooting and hollering, creating echos and releasing precious stored energy. Ruth and I are a little frustrated with all the crowd so close together and many going very slowly. It takes energy to pass around them and also stay together.
Mile 2 - Ruth has to take a bathroom break. I wait patiently for her. It is quick and we get running again.
Mile 4- Ruth has to stop again!! This time I am a little frustrated but hopefully do not let it show. I wait again and soon we are off.
Mile10 - Nice course, great crowd support. Someone likes my Ben and Jerrys T-shirt.
Mile 16 - Either Ruth is getting faster or I am slowing down. Without a word she moves ahead and I can not keep up. We never really talked about staying together and had no plan to do so. Maybe I assumed that we would. O well, on my own now.
Mile 20 - The walking breaks start. It is very warm now and I and fading fast. Definite lack of energy.
Mile 22- Elise shouting for me, what a treat. She is a great cheerleader and raises my spirits.
Mile 25.5 - Nice downhill to the finish at the state capitol.
Mile 26.2 - Glad to be done. I knew that I was not properly trained and my finish time is what I deserved today.
4:24:30 (10:01/mile)
3210 of 7,100 runners
2nd marathon
****

9/1/97 Around Cape Ann 25K

25K is an odd distance. Fun road to drive around the cape, but going to be a hilly route. I am going to take it easy today. Training for the Twin Cities Marathon in October has been horrible. Sudden sever knee pain came during a long training run. I had to call Jody for a discouraging ride home. Leg lift exercises strengthened the quads enough to get the knee cap back in place, but I lost precious weeks of training. I have not even run this far in some time, so today really will be a test.
15K - Still holding back and feeling fine. Big well known race and I am with a nice pack.
Finish - Really enjoyed the course. Hills make things interesting. Knee held up so it is all go for Twin Cities next month.
2:13:46
417 of 689
****

7/28/97 Ipswich "marathon" 5K

Warm Summer evening. Rare weeknight race, walking distance from home. Family event. Now that I have run a real marathon I resent this little 5K being called a marathon, but its all good. I don't feel an urgent need to be absolutely as fast as I can and this may be my only opportunity to do so, so I will push Jared in the baby jogger.

Race goes well, except that steep downhill before the final turn. Almost out of control. A crash would be bad so I have to slow down some. Then the last push, proudly pushing the "wee bah" to the end.

22:35
16th place of 68
***

5-16-97 Backshore Run 5 Miles

To Gloucester for a week night run. Warm day is cooling off nicely, perfect running weather. Good sized race, looks like a nice course on roads along the water. I should be able to beat my first 5 mile race time.

Race went very well. Good pacing throughout. Had a fun time, these races are just fun to do. Beating my time goals makes it even more enjoyable.

35:52 PR
63rd place of 300
****

4/20/97 Freds Marathon

Somehow I learned of a small marathon to be run on the day before Boston, on the grounds of the Devons Air Force Base. It was billed as a race for the common man, no need to qualify. Far from the madding crowd. 85 of us started out on that Sunday morning. Prior to the start the official asked if anyone was planning to also run Boston. Two crazy person’s raised their hands. One I had met earlier. Horst Pressler from Germany was looking for a ride to the subway station after this race and I offered to give him a lift. He claimed to hold the world record for most marathons run. I looked him up in the Guinness Book of World Records and there he was with over 500 marathons completed. He told me that he would run Freds in about 4 hours, but he would be about 20 minutes slower at Boston. He was correct in both counts. Looking back I wish that I had run with him. My goal was 4 hours and he crossed the line in 4:02. I passed him about a mile or two after the start and I think he wished me luck and said that he would see me at the finish. He said the same thing as he passed me 15 miles later.

The Fred’s course had a few small hills and was closed to traffic. The real tough part of the course was that it was an 8.73 mile loop that we had to complete 3 times. It did not occur to me that I could be lapped. I was not in fact lapped, however as I crossed the start/finish line ending my second lap, I could see that the few spectators were getting excited and as I looked back I could see the winner not so far behind me. One of my most depressing moments in my running career came there at about mile 17. I was getting tired, the race was already over for one person, I did not really feel like going on. The course took me right past my car and I thought about hopping in and driving away. No one would ever know (except Horst who would be waiting for a ride). The next hour and a half was pure misery. I started to get pains shooting up my legs. I walked and jogged and ran a little. Mostly I battled very negative thoughts. Why was I out here, this is stupid, I will never run another marathon in my life, what a waste of time, this is killing me, why don’t I just walk the rest of the way? I did manage to keep shuffling along and it was the moment that I crossed the finish line when my attitude changed. Immediately I started thinking about how next time I could do better. I had started too fast, I had barely trained enough and so on. I was also very proud of my accomplishment. I gave Horst his ride home and rested the next day. It is a whole different thing to watch the Boston Marathon on TV when you have run a marathon the previous day.


4:09:41
65th of 85
****

2/2/97 Cape Elizabeth Maine 10 miles

Ten mile race in Maine.....in February? What am I thinking. Well it is not way up there in Maine, just a two hour drive or so. And the weather is cooperating nicely. Surprised to see Steve and Amy Philbrook, friends from college at the race.

Race goes well. Negative split means good pacing and a strong finish. Very pleased with the finish time and the high quality long sleeved T-shirt

1:16:20
127th of 325
***

1/1/97 Hangover Classic 10K, Salisbury MA

It gets cold in New England. Really cold. And this is one of those mornings. It seems like a crazy fun way to ring in the new year. Temperature reads 7 degrees F at the start. One person is wearing shorts, the rest of us are bundled up. Tired and do not feel like doing any warm up running. Road has some snowy and icy spots, one part of the race takes us onto a paved trail that is very icy and slippery. Feel crazy being out here, all my friends are sleeping, but I am having fun. Don't even care about the finish time so much, there is no way I can run my best on this ice. Still end up with a decent finish time.

46:50
165th of 335
***