London Marathon 2025

August 1, 2025ianesenior Leave a comment

Back in April this year my wife and I ran the TCS London Marathon. This was a bucket list race for us as neither my wife and I were runners when we both lived in the UK and once we starting marathoning it was a goal to be able to run such an historic and high profile race.

I will back up for a bit. This was never anything we had set out to do other than back in 2011 I tried to register for this event to be able to run it for my 40th birthday but I didn’t get through the lottery. This time we did not need to go through the lottery as we participated as part of one of the approved London Marathon travel partners (RunBuk). This came about as we had a family event in London to attend and my sister mentioned it was the same weekend as the London Marathon…this got my wheels turning and my wife was up for the event so we registered together through the group and started planning with lots of excitement. The sign up for the 2025 race opened up almost immediately after the finished of the 2024 event and we jumped at the opportunity knowing if we waited we may miss out on the chance.

This would actually be quite a logistical exercise for us as as when we looked at the calendar my wife had a work event that ran right up to the marathon weekend. This would mean she would not be able to fly into London until the day before the race. I would be flying out a day earlier and would need to go the expo to pick up both of our race packets. What we do for the sake of running…

As we were attending a family event, I flew out with my boys on Thursday night before the race with the plan to visit the expo on Friday (before the craziness of the weekend). We had an easy flight and made our way to our hotel near Waterloo Station. We were staying right by the London Eye and across the river from the Houses of Parliament. This would be a factor for us in returning after the race. The travel company had chosen this location due to its easy access to transport, to the starting location and the ease of returning after the race. It was a great location and a wonderful hotel. We had a family suite so there was plenty of space for all of us.

Arriving in London and heading to the City

The view just around the corner from our hotel

Once checked in to the hotel and dropping off all our luggage we grabbed something to eat before heading to the expo at ExCel London. It took us about 35 minutes and gave us a short window to get off our feet. What I did not realize at the time was that race aimed to break the record for the number of marathoners to finish a marathon (over 56,000 runners). As a result the expo was fairly busy.

As we were still missing one of our party, I had to pick up the race packets for both my wife as well as myself. The race instructions provided clear details on how to pick up a race packet for someone else. Interestingly the pick up was straight forward. Usually at a race you go to pick up your race bib by last name or by number and head to the relevant desk. Here, we were directed to the first available desk and the volunteers printed and electronically tagged the bibs as you provided them your details. What a great idea. I guess due to the size of the race this was the most efficient way to do this but it made checking in easy.

While not there in person I made sure my wife represented at the Expo

Plenty of desks to check in all the runners

Check in was well managed and straight forward

From the check in desk we headed through the expo over to pick up the race shirts for the event. The shirt pick up was on the far side of the expo hall guaranteeing that everyone had to go through the full expo floor. Here is a tip…the sizes listed are universal. My wife and I thought based upon previous experiences, European sizes would be smaller than US sizes so we both opted for a larger size than normal. They were not ‘European’ sized and while not able to change down to a smaller size they still fit, if just a little big. One thing I missed, and only discovered after we left the expo from other peoples’ social media posts, was the list of participants. It would have been great to find my wife’s and my name on the participants wall. I blame the jet lag.

Bibs obtained and heading into the expo hall

On our way through the expo we stopped in the official merchandise area which was really busy. My boys helped pick things out for both my wife and me and we used the resources we had to take pictures and send over to my wife to review and ‘approve’ before I paid. My boys went ahead into the expo to look around while I took pictures around the area before heading into the expo hall and meeting up with them. They found a place for a quick massage. It’s hard work being a non-runner at a race expo!!!

My boys enjoying the massage opportunities at the expo

Following the expo we went into Central London for a bite to eat and some tourist activities before heading up to North London to meet with our family. A fun day but very tiring (not all of us slept on the flight over).

View from our hotel room as we settled down for the night

Saturday was mainly spent with our family and waiting for my wife to arrive. She travelled up to North London and we were all reunited and excited about the rest of the weekends activities. We planned to get a fairly early night and my sister walked us to a local Italian restaurant where we had a really nice pre-race dinner before traveling back to our hotel to get an early night.

Our boys spent some time investigating the area while my wife and I got our gear set out for the next day. As the race started later in the morning (my start time was 10:40 and my wife’s start time was 11:00am) we were able to get a decent amount of sleep that night.

All our gear set out for race day – we were going for a ‘James Bond’ and ‘Ginger Spice’ look

As we had more family time scheduled for the Sunday our boys would not have the opportunity to come out and spectate for us, so they planned a day of sightseeing before heading up to meet with the family. They got up early with us and had a really full day. Good for them. It was their first time in London for almost 10 years and they are old enough to be independent and they did a great job navigating the London Underground on their own.

My wife and I prepared for the race and headed down to the lobby to meet with the tour group and coordinate heading to the train to get to our starting corrals. This is a really big race (56,000 as I mentioned earlier) and in addition to having different start times, my wife and I also had different starting locations. My wife was starting in the blue area at Blackheath and I was starting in the red area at Greenwich. We were advised to travel together to Blackheath and I could then walk a little further to Greenwich which was not too far away but it would have been a different station and train line for me to use had we not been advised by the tour group on how to travel to the starting area.

Heading out early Sunday to catch a train from Waterloo Station to Blackheath

Arriving at Blackheath before going our separate ways

My wife was starting in the blue corrals at Blackheath

It was made clear before the expo that it was not possible to change corral or start times so as we had different starting times I planned to hold back to start at 11am when my wife’s corral would be setting off. Based upon the information in the race guide, all the starting areas (there were 5) and corrals merged around mile 3 so we planned to meet around there as were should have all been starting at the same time. Just to jump forward, the merge was actually after mile 3 and thankfully we both had our phones to connect so we met up at mile 4 instead. Funnily enough my wife was 7 minutes ahead of me but we both had the same time on our watches (she had paused her watch when she arrived at mile 4).

I left my wife in her starting location and made my way to mine. It was well laid out with clearly marked gear drop locations, plenty of space to move and stretch out and plenty of bathrooms for all participants. They were very methodical in shuffling everyone into the starting corrals. There were three entrances and once a group moved off they updated it with the next scheduled corral. It was all based upon the number/bib information and the volunteers were very clear to confirm you showed your bib to make sure you were in the right starting area and in the right corral. You could drop back, like I did, not forward. Also, if you were in the wrong starting areas, for example red but with a blue bib, you would be turned away. This is probably for means of people flow for 56,000 runners.

It was not a far walk to Greenwich where my corral was located

Finally it was time to load into the corral. This was a pre-loading area and we had to wait until the prior group were on their way before they would let is in to the starting chute. Once allowed through the first area we were held into another area before finally being let into the chute. There was still a decent walk to the starting line but eventually we made it there.

Once the horn went and we started it was such a joyful moment. What I noticed from the very beginning, as we ran through the early stages of the race and through local neighborhoods, was that there were people out supporting us almost from the first step. We ran through the local streets and people were outside their houses cheering on runners. This continued throughout the race. It was incredible. I do not think I have ever been part of a race that had crowds lining the whole route.

View from the start line as we approached

The early miles breezed by supported by the crowds as we went through local streets which were a mix of residential and small town, almost village like high streets. As we got closer to the merge point it was getting busier as the streets opened up (you can now see why they had to split up the mass of runners in the early stages).

From what I had read and understood, the merge point was just after mile 3 which is where my wife and I planned to meet up. It actually was a bit further than 3 miles, while the runners merged, there was still some barricades separating us all. Eventually and closer to mile 4 we fully merged and as the crowd swelled but my wife was easy to spot as she was waiting my the 4 mile marker. Miles 1 through 6 were fairly flat (actually, most of the course is flat) and although the early miles were congested, the course opened up for all the runners.

It was already a warm day and a late start. There were hoses spraying water on the runners every few miles and some of the local fire station as also lent a hand spraying water over runners which was great. What my wife and I noticed was that water stops were not as plentiful as you see in some of the other races we have participated in. Water was not given in cups but in small plastic bottles. There was clear signage for recycling of the bottles but similar to our experience in Athens, the small bottles were handy and we held on to them between water stops so we had more than just a quick sip. As the day got warmer we would hold onto the bottles as long as we could and pour them over our heads.

The route of the marathon takes us along the bank of the River Thames, although through the crowds in the streets you could not necessarily see how far away you were from the river. You knew you were close to the river based upon the names of the many pubs lining the route. They all had a a nautical or British naval themed name. However, as we approached the Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark clipper ship it was clear where we were in relation to the river. The course had some amazing sights and experiences.

Running around the Cutty Sark in Greenwich

From my 7 through mile 12 we were still on the South Bank of the river and running through the neighborhoods surrounded by pubs, loud cheering crowds and many DJs. We headed into Rotherhithe which was a bit quiter as it was mainly residential neighborhoods we ran through and in some places it became a little narrower to run through, but there were still many people out supporting us.

Then as we approached the halfway mark the crowds started getting louder and louder. We were approaching Tower Bridge (the half way mark is just over the bridge). Wow. What can I say about the views, the crowd support and just the overall experience of running up to, and crossing Tower Bridge. It is an iconic landmark of London and an amazing part of the race. The sky was a clear blue and the crowds were so amazing as we ran over the bridge which was lined with spectators.

My wife doing what she does best and having a blast

One of the professional photos as we crossed the bridge

After crossing the bridge we turned right and passed over the half way marker where we started the road to Canary Wharf (the business district of the City of London). This is a mostly out and back part of the race where we would see some faster runners coming back the other side of the road as we would ran through the neighborhoods surrounding this side of the river. There were many tall buildings around as we approached the business district but our GPS devices were able to hold their signal without wildly deviating our route or distances. While the crowds were smaller over here (as it is not too residential) there were still plenty of people out here cheering us along. There was some twists and turns in this area, some narrow streets and open spaces but it was so fun to see the scenery around here.

We were following along the river still as we headed around the City and back towards the final part of the race. As we approached the last 10K of the race course support seemed to ramp up. As we were heading back from the business district the streets widened and opened up with bigger crowds throughout. At mile 21 we ran through ‘Rainbow Row’ which was so loud, flamboyant and fun to run through. It was like a mile long party and was so uplifting at this part of the race.

Once past Rainbow Row we were now on the part of the out and back where we were passing some of the later runners so it was great to be able to cheer them on and provide some support knowing what they had ahead of them over the next few miles.

Now we headed up towards Tower Hill and past the Tower of London. Honestly, you probably could not match this race for views. The crowds were so dense and loud at this point it was like a wall of sound. We only had a couple of miles left and the sights were making us so excited as we ran along the Embankment towards the finish line. On the left side, over on the other side of the river you could see the London Eye coming into view and up ahead you could see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. This was pumping us up as we knew we were close to the last mile. Again, the crowds, the views….nothing could beat this.

Heading into the last part of the course and enjoying the crowds

Heading along the banks of the Thames on the Embankment (see the London Eye on the right of the picture) and on towards the Houses of Parliament

Our view of Parliament – we knew we were getting close to the finish

As we turned right, with Parliament on our left, we headed up through St. James Park along Birdcage Walk and headed up towards Buckingham Palace. We stopped to take some pictures and fully soak up the atmosphere and excitement before finally turning right and heading up The Mall for the last few hundred yards to the finish line.

Heading past Parliament to St. James Park and Buckingham Palace

Reaching Buckingham Palace and only a 385 yards to go

Running down The Mall to the finish line

We received our medals – what an experience

Wow, what an amazing experience. We both received our medals and made our way down The Mall to grab our gear from the trucks. Interestingly, while we were given a bottle of water, there was no post race food or electrolytes at the finish line. In the race program it had advised us to bring something to eat so thankfully we had prepared with some snacks in a race gear bag. This could be due to the limited space on The Mall and the sheer number or runners taking part that they wanted to clear the area of runners.

We headed over to walk back to our (thankfully) close hotel. It was still a good 15-20 minute walk from the finish line, through Horse Guards Parade and then back along the course past the Houses of Parliament back to our hotel. As the race was still going on and the crowds were intense we had to ask a policemen how to cross the road. We had to go back on ourselves a bit to find the Underground Station entrance that had a tunnel we could use to get ‘under’ the route and to the other side of the road. It took us longer than the planned 15-20 minutes but it was great to be able to keep moving our legs.

Making our way back to our hotel through Horse Guards Parade

We stopped to take a picture with our medals with the London Eye in the background. This was where my wife and I had our first date back in 2000. Almost 25 years later we were here having run the London Marathon. It felt amazing.

A special picture – 25 years in the making

Having made it back to our hotel, and with a family obligation to attend, it was a blur with a quick shower and dressing up before we headed out to our event for the evening. While we did not wear our medals to the event, everyone knew why we were a little late. Our boys had taken a car service earlier in the afternoon to represent us, but it was great to finally be with everyone to celebrate.

Quick showers and off to our next activity of the day!!!

Our next day was spent doing some sightseeing with our boys and spending more time with our family before we had to head home on Tuesday morning and back to work and school. It was a whirlwind trip.

What an incredible race. What an incredible experience. One we shall remember for a long time. Bucket list item checked off. Where to next?

Here is my recap video of the actual race. Enjoy.

Atlantic City Marathon 2024 – Race Recap

December 7, 2024ianesenior 3 Comments

On October 20th, my wife and I ran the Atlantic City Marathon. This was another of the races that was deferred due to my ‘incident‘ last year, but it was good to finally get to knock this off our list.

My wife and I have run a couple of half marathons in Atlantic City and I have participated in the Ironman 70.3 in Atlantic City in 2019 and 2021 but for some reason we had never signed up for this event.

We often vacation in the area so running down ‘the shore’ is something we are used to. We have spent many years treading the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk but this was the first time we would get to run over to the marina and back. Indeed, we spent 10 days down in Margate City, NJ this summer and ran the roads and the Boardwalk everyday during the vacation so there would be some familiarity to our adventure.

We headed down to the race expo on the Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel. We chose to stay at The Claridge Hotel which is where I stayed when I participated in the half ironman events. It was connected to Bally’s Resort and Casino which was the home base for the event so it was easy to navigate around over the race weekend.

Getting ready to grab our race bibs and race shirts

We found our names on the participants list

It was a small expo but well run. They had a lot of finisher gear available…but my rule after Mont Tremblant is not to jinx myself and buy anything with ‘Finisher’ printed on it before the race. I’ll stick with that plan. We did stop and buy ourselves a few souvenirs at the store and then dropped our gear and gifts back in our room. As it was early afternoon we decided to walk along the Boardwalk before we headed for our pre-marathon dinner reservation.

We chose a place for dinner which we knew from many years down here. Although it had changed names from the time I first knew it back in 2001 when I first visited, the original sign to the restaurant was on display inside. It was a nice and relaxing evening and we were just enjoying ourselves and glad to be here this year after missing the 2023 event.

After a quick stop for my pre-marathon cookie tradition we headed back to the hotel to set up our race gear for the next day and try and get an early night….although we got sucked into a CNN documentary about the 2000’s…but eventually we did fall asleep.

The pre-marathon cookie tradition cannot be missed

We knew that the day would be fairly warm but were not sure how cold it might be at the start line. As we were close to the start line we dropped our overnight bags off in our car and walked through the resort to the start line just outside the Casino doors. The nice part of the start line being so close to the casino was that there were nice indoor heated bathrooms. We waited inside the lobby of the casino until just a few minutes before the start time to stay warm and luckily it was pleasant outside so we were okay heading out without needing to wear any extra gear.

Heading to the start line on the Boardwalk

At just after 8am we crossed the start line. The first few miles of the course would be fairly new for us. We normally would just run on the Boardwalk but the course sent us off the Boardwalk early and over to the Marina. Usually this would be accessible by car so we had to run through a tunnel to get there. Once through the tunnel you run around the Borgata, MGM, Harrah’s and Golden Nugget casinos. Well…you run around the back of them. Views of parking lots and back of house entrances. Eventually you head back towards the Boardwalk near the far end of Atlantic City near the aquarium (we didn’t know there was an aquarium there!!) and run up the ramp to the start of the Boardwalk.

We got some unique views running around here and it was busy with all the half marathon runners and marathon runners all in one pack for now.

Heading back from the Marina we had to stop for this photo

Once back on the Boardwalk it was a straight run down to the end of the Boardwalk which takes you past the finish line and the half marathon turnaround ending where the towns of Ventnor City and Margate City meet. It is a long straight run and narrows up once you get out of Atlantic City and head into Ventnor City, but it was a beautiful morning and the sun was shining. We made sure to stop at every water stop as there is not much shade along the route. One thing to be aware of is that the Boardwalk is made of wooden planks. While they are all secured, the ends can sometimes be a little raised and it is something to be aware of as you can sometimes catch your feet if you are not careful (more on that later). It is bouncy though so a little easier to run on than the hard top surfaces which would be coming up.

Once off the Boardwalk (actually most of the time on the Boardwalk too) we were in familiar territory. We had run this almost every day of our summer vacation. We were paying for the privilege this time. The half marathon runners had turned round before the end of the Boardwalk so now there were less runners on the course and as we had passed by the finish line area it was much quieter with few spectators.

Now we were tucked in on the side of the road which was coned off for runners and heading to Longport for the turnaround. As I said, we had run this frequently during our vacations…but not with 13-14 miles already under our feet. It seemed a bit further to the end of Longport today. The good thing about the course, as familiar as it was, is that it is essentially flat. Yes, I know that isn’t the most exciting thing, but as it was getting warmer it was good not to have to factor any hills into the course. As we were heading through Margate City we were close some of the buildings and it was still early enough that we were able to get some shade from the sun.

Once we hit the turnaround in Longport, which is a nice and logical turnaround point at the end of the island, we headed back the way we came before veering off to add some extra mileage by completing an out and back near the back bay. Once off the Boardwalk you are essentially running past people’s homes so it is not exactly the most scenic route and spectators were pretty limited. The volunteers were doing a great job though and the water stations were well managed. I kept us entertained by pointing out all the cool cars and big houses we would buy if we ever won the lottery jackpot. Hey, I can dream, right?

On the way back from Longport we turned left to the back bay for what was a few miles of out and back through neighborhoods. This was not the most exciting part of the run as it we essentially ran out and back on the same street. Some people were out cheering but as this was the off-season it was not very busy out. We did however bump into some family members who live down in Margate City and were tracking our progress. We met up with them at the perfect time of the race and it lifted our spirits around mile 20 and would power us on for the remainder of the race.

It was getting very warm by now and I think we were both getting a bit tired. With little on course support and entertainment for the last few miles it was just a matter of keep moving back towards the Boardwalk. Once on the Boardwalk it was still another 3.5 miles or so to the finish line. As it was just marathoners left on the course and by this stage of the race we were all pretty scattered, based upon everyone’s pace, so it was fairly quiet. We just kept running, occasionally counting the lamp posts so we could take walk breaks every few for about 30 seconds at a time.

We knew where we were and how much distance was left while running along which was good but it was getting hotter. I don’t think we expected it to be as warm as it was and there is no shade on the Boardwalk. This was the same place I struggled during the Half Ironman races. It’s just a slog at this point. This is when our infamous close shave with the Boardwalk wooden planks caught up with us. You could hear us occasionally scuffing our feet on the edges of the boards as we had tired legs and just before mile 25 it happened. My wife’s foot finally clipped an edge and she went over…like she was sliding into home. Ouch!!! Luckily she was okay (although she would be pretty badly bruised for the next few days) but at the moment she was just a little shaken so we walked for a couple of minutes. There was not much left to go.

Finally we both could see the finish line and powered through to the finish. This was our first marathon finish since Athens in 2022 so it was our longest run for a couple of years. I think it kind of showed, but we had done it. We finished another marathon. My wife’s 16th marathon finish and my 29th. We have still got it when we need it.

The post race village was just past the finish line. As this was not our fastest marathon (by far) some of the vendors had packed up. I am sure the faster runners had moved on as most people we saw just looked hot and tired. We grabbed a bagel and some Powerade and sat for a few minutes to catch our breath. There was a guy lying on the floor between the tables and he looked absolutely beat. At least I was still standing up (or sitting at this point).

We knew we had to get home so we walked (slowly) back through the casino and grabbed dry clothes to change into. Wearing our finisher jerseys and medals we made our way back to Margate to a fun restaurant we liked, before heading home (via one last stop for ice cream).

I’m glad we finally did the Atlantic City Marathon. We can check it off our list. Was it our favorite? Probably not because of the lack of crowd support and the familiarity of our run, however, it was very well run and for someone who has never been down to Atlantic City I would absolutely recommend. I would add that it was great to stay near the race staging area so you can just walk out in the morning without the stress of getting to a race, parking, etc. We had fun and we were all smiles.

Thank you for reading.

Don’t call it a comeback…it’s business as usual

May 11, 2024ianesenior Leave a comment

It has been a while since my last (somewhat dramatic) post…That was back in mid-October 2023 and we are now almost mid-May 2024. Lots of positive change and plenty to be happy about.

The challenge of my recovery from the bike crash was something I approached the same way how I prepare for a marathon or a triathlon. I know what needs to be done and I set myself to the task. In fact, I probably was more diligent with my recovery than any other race I have ever taken part in. Primarily as I wanted to get back to normal as soon as possible. Whatever was required, I made sure I stuck to it. I was doing my required rehab exercises up to three hours every day. I could feel I was getting stronger and looking forward to the future with a renewed and fresh outlook. The best part was when I saw the surgeon in mid-November. He was astonished about my progress.

My appointment with him was to determine if I needed the surgery on my clavicle which would have set me back another few weeks of recovery. Earlier that week I had to meet with the physiotherapist for a final report. The physiotherapist was really happy with my progress. Everything he set me to do I achieved if not a bit more. He put me through all the same tests we had performed from our first meeting six weeks earlier and declared that had he not known what and where my injury was he would not have known I had one. I was very hopeful when meeting the surgeon later that week. He declared that what I had achieved was amazing and based upon the x-ray and the tests his aide put me through there was no need for the follow up surgery. He even said he wouldn’t stop me if I wanted to ‘drop and give him 20 pushups’. That didn’t happen. He told me I had no restrictions and just try not to do anything really dangerous for a few months!!! I was elated. I came home and celebrated…by going for my first run in three months. Even if it was only around the neighborhood it was a victory.

I had told my wife earlier during my recovery that my ultimate goal was to make it to the start line of our annual Thanksgiving 5 miler race. She was really happy I was able to meet my goal…not so happy when I told her I had secretly signed up before I got approval from the doctor…but we made it to the start line together as a team. She was amazing through this whole experience and I can never thank her enough.

The day came for the Thanksgiving race. While it was cold, the sun was shining. We ran the whole race together at a comfortable pace and I started to get emotional as I knew I was going to complete the distance. I think it was my longest run since the accident. Needless to say I was overjoyed and humbled to cross the finish line with her that day. Thanksgiving for sure!!!

I spent the next couple of months getting back to fitness, running a little longer distances and keeping up with the arm exercises that they gave me at the physiotherapist’s office. I actually track my arm strengthening exercises now with the goal of doing them at least 5 days a week. I was never this diligent on other types of exercises other than running, biking and swimming, but it’s never too late to try new things…especially when they have a positive impact.

Over the holiday break we went out as a family for dinner. We had found a new restaurant near us we had never tried. On this particular night as we ended the dinner they brought over fortune cookies. My fortune made everyone at the table laugh…proving that they are completely over my accident for sure!!! Here is my fortune:

Great things indeed! Thank you Ironman Mont-Tremblant

As we had postponed all our fall races from 2023 as I recovered, my wife and I decided to look for a spring race not too far away which neither of us had done before. I suggested the Coastal Delaware Half Marathon down in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was near(ish) and would be a nice opportunity to see the shore for the first time this year. It was scheduled for mid-April and allowed us to get some outdoor running time in after the cold winter months.

Enjoying some early Spring weather on the Pennypack Trail

The course map for the half marathon race

Due to work, we could not get down early the day before to pick up our race packets, but the race allowed us to sign up for early race day morning packet pick up which was easy to do. As it was the off season at Rehoboth Beach there was plenty of street parking near the start line. Once we had our race numbers pinned on we had a short walk to the boardwalk where the race started and ended. It was a glorious sunny morning and not too cold so we did not need to check a bag.

Today’s goal. Just to get out and enjoy.

At the bandstand just by the starting line

Ready to race. A clear sky and looking forward to the run.

There were a number of different distance races going on at the same time but all were staggered so there was never any major congestion of runners running the different distances. Indeed, all the races were very well sign posted with different colored mile markers and direction arrows to match the color of the race bib runners were signed up for.

We started out on the boardwalk but were quickly off and running through the neighborhoods around town. The roads were easy to run on and the volunteers very helpful in providing the right directions to the runners. After 3 miles or so we entered the Gordons Pond and Cape Henlopen State Park for approximately six miles of the race. It was amazing. One of the prettiest and relaxing runs we have had in a long time. It was an absolute joy to be running in great weather with great views. There were plenty of volunteers in the park to keep us in the right direction and manage the water stations. The landscape was amazing.

Beautiful views from a beautiful place to run

Imagine this full of runners in single file. Lovely.

This was a relaxing part of the race. A nice flat area. Runners in both directions.

We were running at a comfortable pace pretty consistently the whole race. The terrain was mostly flat as we were running along the coastline and the temperatures were perfect. It was such a relaxing run. We were both smiling the whole way.

As we left the state park we only had a few miles to get back to the boardwalk and the finish line. The crowds on the way back in were really supportive and there were plenty of cheers as we ran up to the finish line. As we crossed the finish line we were give a beautiful medal and all runners received a really cool trucker hat with the race logo. There was an after party provided by Grotto Pizza one of the main sponsors. It was held in their restaurant courtyard and all runners were welcomed in for pizza, pasta, salad and drinks. There was even some race gear from the expo that we had not had a chance to attend. My wife found a cool race jacket that really suited her. I’ve never finished a race and be treated so nicely. For real. The pizza was great and we both plan for a return visit to the area. Maybe the marathon next time?

Great crowd support as we ran to the finish line

And that’s how you cross a finish line!!!

The medals were styled like a stain glass window and you can see the bridge we ran over represented on the medal. Really cool.

We stopped for ice cream and my wife found a couple of boutiques to visit before we left town.
I am wearing my newly earned race hat.

This was my first ‘big’ race since the Ironman and it was an amazing day. The race organization and communication was first class and I would highly recommend this race for anyone near the area. Or even if you want to travel to run. Well worth looking into.

A week later, and somewhat last minute, my wife and I decided to sign up for the Bookin’ for Lookin’ Foundation 10k. This is a local charity race benefitting the Bucks County Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. It started and finished at Council Rock High School (where my wife went as a student) and runs through Tyler State Park which is about 20 minutes away from where we live. It was a little chillier than our previous race a week earlier in Rehoboth Beach and I may have been a little underdressed, but nevertheless it was a fun race for a great cause. I had not run in Tyler for a long time due to my accident and this race was a reminder of how hilly it is to run there. Still, we put up a decent time and as planned ran the whole race together. We were however glad to get back to the car and head for a hot cup of coffee.

People were more dressed up than we were. I’m in a t-shirt with arm sleeves.
Still, there’s always one guy in a tank top…although they are usually at the front!!!

The finish line is on the high school running track

Despite the hills we were happy with our run.

Our next event together was the 2024 Broad Street Run. This again was a last minute decision to sign up for the lottery when it opened. Both of us have run this race a few times before but we have never run the race together as there was always a reason why we could not both do it together. Maybe now that our boys are more independent and don’t necessarily have to be everywhere at the same time allowed us this chance. My first Broad Street run was in 2011 and at that time this was my goal race. The longest run I ever thought I would ever do if I was able to keep running…how things changed over the next few years.

My wife was not able to attend the expo with me so I headed down solo this time. It was a fairly small expo considering the size of the race (about 40,000 people) and I was in and out quickly, although I did get a chance to stop by a booth my friend Scott and his wife were manning to catch up with them. The hardest part of this expo was the logistics. It was being held the same weekend as a FanCon and I had to negotiate through people all dressed up and painted head to toe representing their favorite fantasy character or superhero. I will say there was some impressive efforts there.

All ready to go. All we have to do is run this thing.

The biggest challenge for the Broad Street Run is for all the runners to get to the start line on time. The race is a point to point 10 mile run. This year the start time was brought forward to 7:30am. This required us to get up a little earlier than prior years, drive down the sports stadium area and take a subway from the stadiums up to the starting line…with thousands of other runners. The subway station was crowded and we were the at the first station so as long as we could get on the subway car we would make it to the start.

We just missed a train but were first in line for the next one to pull up. My wife was very lucky to find a single seat by the door and was able to sit almost in her own private space while I was standing making new friends very close up for the whole journey. It’s funny when the train pulls into a station already full and more people try to cram on when there is clearly very little opportunity to add more people…yet, they do.

We got to the start line around 7:20am and there was no way we could make it down to our starting corral. There were just too many people in the way. We found a gap in the barriers and jumped in to the nearest corral we could which was close to our corral. The race had already started by the time we got into the corral and the first three or four corrals had crossed the start line before we had the opportunity to get moving.

Arrived at Olney Station – closest to the start line

Made it to start line. Wearing our best rainy day gear.

The weather the week leading up to the race was glorious and warmer than seasonal temperatures. However, the day before the race this all changed and it was raining lightly when we arrived at the start. Luckily we were prepared for this and ready to go. While it was a little wet, the rain for the most part held off for the whole race.

As we ran down Broad Street we were on the look out for my wife’s cousin who attends Temple University. We found him easily and he was waiting for us with a water bottles for each of us. That was very welcome. Despite the weather the crowds came out and the support along the course was amazing.

Great to have our own cheering section on the course

My wife and I settled into a nice comfortable pace and really enjoyed our morning. It was funny to see my wife high fiving everyone as she passed the crowds…that’s usually my job but she was clearly having a fun time. It’s a net downhill race so that definitely helps!!!

Just about halfway with City Hall in the background

We made it past the stadiums where we had parked at around mile nine and then continued down to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and the finish line. The crowds were out in full force along the last mile and we were happy to make it into the Navy Yard for the last quarter mile to the finish line. My wife had her name called out as we approached the finish line and we crossed hand in hand together.

As the race is so big the organizers rush you through the finish chute towards the field at the side of the finish area where there was after race food and water. It was not until we had gone through the refreshment tent that we received our medals. This year there were thermal blankets available for runners after the race. I had never seen them provide these before for the runners. It was very welcome as we had to walk back about a mile to the car. One thing that they didn’t have which is quintessentially Philadelphia is soft pretzels. After 10 miles that would have been fun. Oh well, maybe next time.

We were lucky, as soon as we got into our car and headed out of the stadium parking lot the rain finally came…and hard. We finished just in time to get the best of the day. It was a great time running this race again, this time with my wife. Not sure I’m one of those people who will sign up every year for this race but the chance to run with my wife and run fairly local with great crowds was fantastic.

Now we are setting our focus on the races we had to postpone after my accident last year. Up next is the Atlantic City Marathon in October which we will be running together. Next up is the Princeton Half Marathon in November. My wife has run this in the past and I have signed up before but had to skip to race chase her in the New York City Marathon. This will be my first time running this race. A little later in November is the Philadelphia Marathon. My favorite as it was my very first marathon. This year will be my 10th Philadelphia Marathon and it will also be my 30th (official) marathon overall. We already have a 2025 race booked…more details on that later.

Don’t call it a comeback…it’s business as usual.

Thank you for reading.

Athens Marathon 2022 – Race Recap

July 8, 2023ianesenior 2 Comments

Yes, I know this is late…again. This race recap is from our November 2022 trip to Athens, Greece. Actually, when my wife I got back from Greece I put together a video recap which I included at the end of the post so the memories are still fresh.

Let me start by saying this should be a bucket list race for any marathoners out there. Is the the best course ever? Probably not…Is it the fastest course? Definitely not…Would it contend to be a world major?…Nope. So why the bucket list race? Because of the history. It’s not Boston and it doesn’t have the prestige or longevity of that race but what it does have is ‘Authenticity’. You also get to finish the race in an Olympic stadium. This is the home of the modern day marathon. It was here in Athens, Greece that the modern day marathon race was created and introduced to the world at the first modern day Olympic Games in 1896. The Boston Marathon would not appear until 1897.

So why Athens? In 2022 I celebrated a big birthday and my wife and I decided to do a big trip to celebrate. As we are both runners we thought about a destination race. We both have very busy work schedules and there a plenty of school activities we need to manage for our two boys. The timing of this race and the lead time to plan all the logistics made this our pick. Also, come on, it is the ‘Authentic’ marathon. How many people are going to be able to say they did this?

The race itself starts in the town of Marathon and runs to Athens and is inspired by the route that the Ancient Greek legend Pheidippides who ran to bring news of the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490BC (yes, I looked that up, not from memory). We will skip over the part where he collapsed died after completing the distance and sharing the news of the victory!!!

First of all, let me say that this trip would not have been as amazing as it was without the help of Paul and his team at Apostolos Greek Tours. They put this whole package together and also provided some advice for us as we travelled on after the race. Paul and his whole team treated us to first class service and made this trip so memorable for us. They have three tours. Race support only, which is a group that stayed in Athens and only dealt with the race logistics, and a 6-day and 12-day tour. We opted to do the 6-day tour but added an extra day with the group before heading off for our own private vacation.

We flew out of New York/JFK and arrived (via Paris) early Thursday before the race. The team from Apostolos Greek Tours met us at the airport and provided transport to our hotel in Vouliagmeni. This was approximately 45 minutes outside Athens itself on what is considered to be the Greek Riviera. A beautiful location away from the hustle and bustle of Athens itself. After checking in and a brief introductory meeting with our host Paul we had the rest of the afternoon and evening to ourselves. We found ourselves a great restaurant along the beach and did our best to try and stay awake as long as possible to manage our jet lag and stay awake long enough to talk to our boys back home with the 7 hour time difference….spoiler alert…we didn’t make it and called it a night.

Made it to our destination and enjoyed an evening stroll along the shore at sunset

The next morning our tour group headed out for an early morning shake out run before heading back for an amazing breakfast and then heading into Athens for a day of sightseeing on a private tour of the Acropolis. Before we arrived at the Acropolis we stopped outside the Panathenaic Stadium, home to the first modern day Olympic Games and the finish line of the race on Sunday.

After the tour and a group lunch at a tavern at the base of the Acropolis we headed over to the race expo. The team from Apostolos had registered us as part of our package registration and handed out to everyone our race registrations so we could go inside the expo and pick up our race packets. Each runner was provided with a small race backpack (a proper backpack which has come in very handy) and a race shirt (good quality Adidas shirt). In the backpack was small towel with the race logo and an envelope with our race bib, bag check drawstring bag and numbers to tag the bags. The envelope had the race map and course elevation details.

The expo itself was a decent size and a mix of both international brands and lots of local vendors. It was set on two floors of the arena. Outside the expo there was a timer counting down to the race start where we were able to take some pictures.

Following the expo we headed over to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center were we saw a documentary about and saw the actual silver cup awarded to the winner of the first Olympic Marathon, Spyridon Louis.

Silver cup awarded to the winner of the first Olympic Marathon

After that it was an evening on our own where we found another great restaurant and got an early night before our tour the next day to Cape Sunion and the Temple of Poseidon.

Following lunch at a beachside restaurant we had some free time back at the hotel before a pre-race briefing where we went over the next day’s logistics, how to pace for the race and an overview of the course. This was followed a pre-race pasta dinner put on at the hotel for the group.

Pasta dinner for the tour group. Their support and encouragement was appreciated.

Flat ‘Me’ getting ready for race day.

Up early the next day. The hotel started breakfast early for us as we had to leave early for the nearly hour long ride to the town of Marathon and the start of the race. We met downstairs in the lobby for some pictures and final words of encouragement before heading off for the day. Each of us was given a small blue ribbon to wear so the tour group team could recognize us during the race. They had arranged to have their own pit stop for runners around the midpoint of the course to allow runners to drop off items or pick up anything they needed. And then we were off.

We arrived just outside the football stadium in Marathon where we followed a sea of runners into the stadium. We were lucky enough to arrive early enough to see the torch lit at the stadium. We even got to pose with the torches used to light the flame. Cool experience.

We were assigned a group based upon our pace and assembled on the field in individually roped off areas until we were released to the start line. There was so much going on it was easy to be distracted and this helped pass the time. It had already started to warm up and there were no clouds in the sky. It was going to be a warm sunny day. You can see on our video how busy the pre-race staging location was.

Once were were off we were pretty tightly packed but that would open up as we progressed through the course. One big change for us was that the race was measured in kilometers instead of miles. It actually felt good to see race markers more frequently, although there were many more of them.

The first part of the race took you around the tomb of the Spartans. It is a quick out and back that adds the extra 1.2 miles that was added to the marathon distance in 1908 (the Queen’s mile). The spectators were great and they were handing olive branches out to runners along the route. We grabbed a few and stuck them in our hats.

The first water stop was at the 5 kilometer mark. It was needed as it was warming up. Luckily the water stations were closer the rest of the race. About 2 miles between each.

The course was a series of rolling hills but nothing too demanding from about the 5k (3 mile) mark until mile 10. After that the course was uphill, pretty much with no breaks until mile 20. The day was warming up and the trick was to stay hydrated. At each water station we grabbed a bottle of water (no cups of water) and drank a bit, poured some over our heads and then kept the bottle to keep sipping until the next water station.

Just before the halfway mark (mile 13/kilometer 21) there was a minibus with an Apostolos Greek Tours sign. There we were able to get a quick rest where we met up with a couple of other runners. We drank a cold can of Coca-Cola between us before setting off for the rest of the race. This tour operator really went above and beyond for our group.

With beautiful blue skies it was hot but we buckled down and kept running…uphill. We did take some regular walk breaks to allow us to stay on track. Many runners were down at the sides of the road for taking it too hard. Hey, we still had a vacation after this so we decided to just enjoy the views and the experience. Not to do any harm to our ourselves for the rest of the trip.

The small towns we ran through were all out to cheer us on. We were smiling despite the hills.

Finally around mile 20, we reached the top of the hill. You definitely know when you are there. There is no more ‘up’ left. From there it was downhill all the way to the finish. We were in Athens itself by then and it was definitely more of a city vibe with less crowd support. As we got closer to the finish line the crowds started to pick back up. The runners were well spaced apart at this point and so with no crowds it was pretty quiet other than the sounds of feet hitting the pavement.

As we headed closer to the finish line we started seeing some of the sites in Athens proper. We passed the Presidential Palace and the famous Presidential Guards and also past the amazing ‘Dromeas’ (The Runner) statue.

As we approached the stadium we could hear the crowds roaring. As we entered the stadium and ran the track to the finish line we held our hands high. What an amazing finish line and what an amazing experience.

Once across the finish line we followed the track around to receive our medals and make our way out from the stadium. From there we picked up our checked bags and met back up with the Tour group as they were able to set up a tent right by the side of the finish line. It was a place to sit and catch up with everyone we had met on our trip as well as have some food and drink while we waited for someone to take us back to the bus for our trip back to the hotel.

With Paul our tour group leader at the finish line tent

Back on the bus and admiring the medal we had just received.

Once back at the hotel we were able to shower and relax before heading down to have celebration dinner with the group. Everyone was celebrated and we were all awarded a small Greek amphora (urn) and a laurel wreath similar to the original Olympic athletes. This was followed by some traditional greek dancing with a local dance troupe and then a disco. Such a fun group and a fun night. The wine was flowing. You would never have believe any of us had been up since the crack of dawn and had run a marathon. This was a highlight of the tour.

The next day the tour took us to back to Athens for a tour of the Agora and some time in the Plaka. We decided that would be an opportunity for us to leave the tour for the day and then make our way back to our hotel by ourselves later in the day. We said goodbye to our tour guide as the 6-day tour was over and enjoyed time by ourselves shopping in the Plaka and a dinner reservation at a restaurant overlooking the Acropolis.

The next day we stayed with the tour for the extra day to visit the islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina. We spent a lot of the on the ferry between the islands and caught up with the people we met on our trip. It was a long but relaxing day.

Our last day on the tour and a visit to the Temple of Hydra

The next morning the 12-day tour people got up early and left the hotel for the duration of their trip. We got up for an early run, had a relaxing breakfast and said our goodbyes to everyone before heading off to finish our vacation on the island of Santorini. It really is a picture postcard location. We loved it.

What a great trip. What a great tour operator. What a great experience. Put it on your bucket list!!!

Here is my recap video. While it documents our whole vacation (I am not forcing you to watch it all, the Expo is from 3:25 to 5:25 and the Race is from 7:07 to 25:47). It was an amazing trip.

I’m Still Standing…

November 6, 2022ianesenior 3 Comments

Hello…it’s been a long time. Can it really be over three years since my last post? To borrow from Elton John, “I’m Still Standing”. I’m here, I’ve just been a little absent for a while. I have a few exciting updates so I need to do a big omnibus ‘catch up’ post. Strap yourselves in, there is a lot to cover and I’ll try to do this quickly.

My last post on the 2019 New Jersey State Triathlon was published way back in September 2019 (and even that one was a bit late for a race recap). It is over three years later now and while the world turned upside down I was already a little behind in my race recaps and posts before everything shut down in March 2020. I guess that’s life. Now while I had plenty of ‘downtime’ due to race cancellations, life just got in the way. Focusing on family and work is more important than my ramblings on personal race experiences but people have reached out to see if I still exist and although there has been a gap I have indeed had some great race experiences since I last posted. WordPress knows I exist as my renewal notice for the blog/blog hosting just came up. Let’s get my money’s worth.

The only way I can really do this (and memory permitting) I’ll give a quick recap on where I left off up to the present and share a very exciting event coming up in November 2022 which is sure to be a once in a lifetime event for me.

So, having left you in July 2019 with a (late) race recap of the New Jersey State Triathlon, my calendar was as follows:

September 2019 – Bucks County Alternative Half Marathon

This was a do no harm race the week before the Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City. Actually, I had forgotten I had signed up for the race and I think the only reason I had signed up was that there was a ‘Star Trek’ theme. The race was easy and uneventful and I was happy with my result. I finished with a time of 2:01:21.

It helps when you have race gear to match the theme of a race. — It helps when you have running gear to match the theme of the race.

September 2019 – Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City

This was a big race for me. It was my goal race for the year and a chance to make good from my last half iron distance triathlon (remember, the one I ended up in the emergency room!!). It was a good race for me, while I did not break my goal time I still finished in 7:04:49 which still made me happy. It was hot by the time I made it to the run and I struggled in the heat but I was not disappointed in my swim nor the bike (even though it rained and I was terrified cycling up the AC Expressway).

First win….didn’t drown or get eaten by a shark.

Gritting my teeth on the bike. Either through fear or determination.

You cannot lose me in a crowd wearing this outfit but it still got me to the finish line.

November 2019 – Philadelphia Marathon

Pretty good day out on the course despite the cold, wind and rain. Not breaking any records but this was my 8th Philadelphia Marathon and I finished in 4:10:20 which I think is my 4th fastest of the 8 (to date) times that I have run in Philly. I always love this race as it was my first and I consider it my local run. I would do it every year if I could and hope to run this as long as I am able. In this race I received my medal from my friend Robyn who was volunteering at the finish who we both realized was standing next to Des Linden, the winner of the 2018 Boston Marathon and a two time US Olympic marathoner. Cool.

In early March my family and I ran a (very cold) local 4 mile ‘Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup’ race along the Delaware Canal. Little did I know that would be my only ‘official’ race of 2020…

The hot soup was a blessing after this near freezing race. We do look happy though.

AND THEN COVID…

March 2020 – Love Run Philadelphia Half Marathon – Cancelled

April 2020 – Rutgers Unite Half Marathon – Cancelled and race has not returned

May 2020 – Broad Street Run – Cancelled

May 2020 – Vermont City Marathon – Cancelled and Deferred (twice) to 2021….however

Although the race was cancelled, I continued to train (hey, I was working from home and had no commuting so had extra hours each day). While the race was still cancelled I decided to run the distance as a virtual race, so on the Sunday in May when the race would have originally taken place I headed to Warminster Community Park and ran multiple 2.33 mile loops. Around 14 miles in I was joined by my wife who ran the remaining distance with me. A local race director (RunBucks) saw my post on Facebook and rode up on his bike and cycled alongside us for the last 8 miles. As I crossed an imaginary finish line after 26.2 miles he pulled out a (none dated) race medal and awarded it to me. Awesome. So great to have such a dedicated running community here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. A fun day to make up for a cancelled race.

With RunBucks race director Pat McCloskey

June 2020 – Rev3 Williamsburg Sprint and 70.3 Triathlon – Cancelled and Deferred to 2021

July 2020 – New Jersey State Triathlon – Postponed and Deferred to 2021 but ultimately, I did not participate in the event due to conflict (actually a great week away in Miami)

September 2020 – Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City – Postponed and Deferred to 2021

November 2020 – Philadelphia Marathon – Cancelled and Deferred to 2021

May 2021 – Dirty German Endurance Fest 50K

I had often thought about doing this race as my first ultra and first trail race but it always coincided with something like the Broad Street Run or was not really compatible with a training plan. This year, as there was nothing else I had planned and I had been running regularly, I decided a couple of weeks before the race to sign up. I had never run trail races before, did not have trail running shoes and then the weather was an absolute washout the day before leading into the race. I bought myself a couple of pairs of good trail running socks (one spare to keep in my bag in case I needed to switch half way as it was a two loop course), lathered my feet with Vaseline to keep them fairly waterproof (in addition to the rain and mud there were four stream crossings) and turned up with a positive attitude. I didn’t set any records that day (other than my first official 50K so a natural PR) but made a good showing. It was very muddy and hilly and at times I was running because of both gravity and worry that if I stopped, the wet mud would just take my feet from under me, but I had a great time. I finished in 7:07:09 and found muscles in my legs that I never knew existed before. Trail running is a completely different experience and there is a lot of balance involved compared to running on asphalt. The great thing about this race is that it was in Pennypack Park which is only about 30 minutes from my house. It’s an enormous park right in the north east of suburban Philadelphia, but you would never know it was there. It was so much fun. Oh, and muddy.

You had no choice but to get wet. The first of many crossings.

Not many options. Needless to say, the shoes did not make it back into the house when I got home.

June 2021 – Rev3 Williamsburg Sprint and 70.3 Triathlon

Finally…the redemption race. Returning to the scene of the crime. My goal was to stay on the bike and finish with no trips to the emergency room. Besides, my wife decided she wasn’t going to drive me there so I was on my own for this one. I decided to do both the sprint and half distance races again this year. Yes, stupid is as stupid does. I never learn. While the Sprint course was pretty much the same, the half distance bike course was different…and much hillier than last time. I did however stay on the bike the whole time so that’s a win. It was such a hot weekend. The water was so warm it was like soup, not wetsuit recommended. Saturday’s Sprint triathlon was fine. It was really an effort to just keep loose and get the nerves out. I finished the sprint in a time of 1:43:52 which was quicker than 2017 but then I found out after the race distance was a little shorter by just over a mile or so. Sunday, the day of the half distance, was why I was really there.

I had two great swims both days (it helped that there was a strong current for sure). The bike course for the half, as I said earlier, was a lot more hilly than the last time I raced. There were a couple of times when people were walking their bikes up the hill (me included). It was relatively flat in 2017…which I still managed to fall off. Anyway, by the time I made it to the run it was about 99 degrees in the shade which made it a long plodding half marathon. I finished in 7:29:42. Not my best and was about as long as it took to drive home in the horrendous traffic. At least I survived unscathed. Not many official race pictures but just evidence that I finished both races with a smile on my face.

Finishing the sprint on Saturday. Smiling.

Finishing the half iron distance on Sunday. Not so smiley.

I got two medals for my efforts this year. There was no challenge as in previous years so no third medal this time.

September 2021 – Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City

This was my attempt to beat my 2019 time. I didn’t but I still had fun. The swim was interesting this year. The tide was so low that people just got up and walked…in the middle of the bay. I was swimming and there was so much silt you could not see where you were going. You would feel the bottom of the bay with every stroke. Weird. The bike was uneventful (thankfully) and as nerve racking as it had been the previous year along the AC Expressway. The run was impacted again by the heat. It got to me bad this year and my time reflected that. I finished in 7:22:00. I can do better than that but still, I’m always glad to finish a race. This year, the finish line was on the beach which made for a unique and fun way to run into the finish line as I finished my fifth 70.3 distance triathlon.

No picture of me swimming this year but another great picture of me looking uncomfortable on the bike.

Such a cool finish line. Not easy to run on sand on tired legs but I don’t look like I’m unhappy about it.

Always nice to add another medal to the collection. This was my fifth 70.3 distance triathlon.

November 2021 – Philadelphia Marathon

You know me by now. Guess what…there was a challenge for this race weekend. The ‘Liberty Bell Challenge’. If you completed the half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday you get another medal. Having done this type of challenge a number of times before (4 times at Disney and the inaugural ‘Rocky Challenge’ during the 2016 Philadelphia Marathon weekend) my wife just sighed and rolled her eyes as I told her I would be running both. This race had been postponed in 2020 and it would be the first marathon we were together as a couple since the 2019 Los Angeles Marathon.

Saturday’s race was smooth and uneventful. I ran the half in 2:05:26. The goal was to enjoy myself, finish without any injury and not beat myself up too much for the next days marathon. Mission accomplished. On Sunday my wife and I ran the full marathon together. This was my 9th Philadelphia Marathon and my wife’s 3rd. It was the first time she had run the altered course which takes a more scenic route through Fairmount Park and eliminates the horrible out and back near my 16-17 which I always hated. The day was fun and we supported each other well. We finished in 4:45:17 which is consistent with the two other times we have run this together.

At the finish line I received my second and third medal of the weekend. Another highlight is that we met Meg Keflezighi at the finish line. He is an Olympic Silver medalist at the 2004 games and finished 4th at the 2012 games. In all he has been an USA Olympian four times, three as a marathon runner. He has won the 2009 New York City Marathon and won the 2014 Boston Marathon (the year after the bombing). He’s an amazing person. This was really cool.

With my first medal after Saturday’s Half Marathon

With my Bride and Joy at the finish line. My second medal of the weekend.

With my challenge medal….they just keep getting bigger

Meeting Meb Keflezighi at the finish line.

May 2022 – Vermont City Marathon

After multiple deferrals (the race directors had tried to move the race to October each of the years) we finally got to run the Vermont Marathon. The course had been modified to limit the amount of volunteers that were needed to support the race (still just post COVID) so the route was a two lap 13.1 mile course. We took our youngest with us that weekend as the eldest (now a high schooler) had commitments with the high school marching band. He plays the bass drum…the big one!!! It also happened to be Memorial Weekend so we made a long weekend out of it.

We stayed in the race partner hotel so we didn’t have to leave to get to the expo…which was a good thing as the rains came down heavy that day although it did clear up later and it was an absolutely beautiful crystal clear blue sky for the rest of our time there. We did some touristy things with our youngest (I recommend a trip to the Vermont Teddy Bear factory) which was fun. He created a new buddy for himself and named it ‘Vermonty Python’. I’m proud he recognizes his heritage!!!

Race day was beautiful, running along Lake Champlain. The neighborhoods we ran through were amazing. Many of the residents were out cheering and spectating. Some provided refreshment stations. It was a hot day and they had freeze pops at one of the aid stations. It was great fun. We finished in 4:53:20. Did I mention it was hilly. People go to Vermont to ski.

The highlight of the trip (and kind of how I roped everyone in to the idea) was a trip up to the Ben & Jerry Factory after the race. Treats were had by all. We finished our night with a trip to the Von Trapp Family Brewery (yes, THAT Von Trapp Family).

I would highly recommend this race. The place is beautiful.

(Finally) Finishers of the Vermont City Marathon.

The beauty that is Vermont and Lake Champlain. Wonderful weekend weather. Perfect for a nice 26.2 run.

Let’s be honest…the only reason some people decided to make the trip.

So now the big reveal and the reason I have to catch up in an omnibus post. As I write this post my wife and I are three days away from heading to Athens, Greece to run the ‘Athens Authentic Marathon‘. It runs from ‘Marathon’ to ‘Athens’, celebrating the historic run of Pheidippides after the Battle of Marathon which inspired the modern day race. The race itself finishes in the original modern day Olympics stadium from 1896. The ‘Panathenaic’ Stadium. We are so looking forward to this trip and I cannot wait to share the details when we get back.

It’s nice to be back and thank you for your patience.

2019 Los Angeles Marathon – Race recap

July 6, 2019ianesenior 2 Comments

In late March my wife and I traveled to California to take part in this year’s Los Angeles Marathon. I’ll say it now…it was a great experience and I highly recommend it.

In looking for a spring marathon together we had originally set our sights on running Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans. We had some logistical issues (no babysitter for a long weekend) so we searched around a little more. I still had some airline miles from my previous job that were going unused, so we threw caution to the wind and figured that we’d go big or go home. LA was the chosen destination and it proved to be a great choice.

So, if you know anything about us we don’t just go to run. We sightsee. A lot. My wife is an event planner by profession and as soon as the registration for the race had been processed then the planning spreadsheet was created. I should note that this blog may turn out to be more a whirlwind tour of Los Angeles with a little run thrown in the middle versus a race recap LOL. What do they say about keeping off your feet before a marathon? We seem to ignore that and go by the rule ‘No sleep until Philly’ whenever we go on a road trip. As this was going to be a special trip for us I invested in a refurbished GoPro for the trip. Lot’s of experimenting including running in my local park to see how I could manage this on race day. I think the local wildlife must think I’m really weird.

Training for a spring marathon means training through East Coast winters. Although this was not a terrible winter (save for a really cold snap) we didn’t have too much snow compared to prior years but it was just the cold that was bone chilling. Hence, most of the training took part indoors on the treadmill. Knowing that we would be running soon in sunshine with palm trees framing our streets this was motivation for pushing through those endless hours running and not getting anywhere. I think I made it outside for long runs about 50% of the time but I did log at least one 20 miler inside on the treadmill. Plus side is that I got to catch up on a lot of Netflix shows.

We headed to LA on the Thursday before the race. We had an early morning flight but with the time change we arrived early afternoon. We stayed in Culver City which was fairly close to the airport so the drive was short. We picked Culver City as the race finished in Santa Monica about 10 minutes away and being a point to point race the buses left from there to the start on race morning. It was close enough and just being a few minutes away from Santa Monica itself was cost effective. We dropped our bags and headed straight to Santa Monica and some warm sunshine. We scoped out the area a bit and rented bikes to travel along the beach towns towards our destination for the evening in Abbot Kinney.

Friday was race expo day and we got up early to head to downtown LA to pick up all race bibs and gear for the weekend. We got up early because we had heard many times over that driving in LA was really bad. That’s all everyone seems to go on about when talking about LA. However, I must have been lucky the whole visit as we never seemed to have any traffic issues the time we were there and we drove around a lot….again, the event planner with us.

The expo was at the Convention Center just behind the Staples Center and we had fun walking around before we actually got into the expo. Once inside everything was clearly marked and identifiable. As we walked in we bumped into Rudy Novotny the race announcer. I know Rudy from meeting him at runDisney events in the past. He gave a shout out to ‘Team Shenanigans’. Good times.

The marathon sponsor this year was Skechers and the merchandise area was full of cool looking and very reasonably priced gear, definitely not New York City Marathon pricing for sure. I ended up buying a fun shirt representing the course and my wife bought a fun hat. She had more luck at the Lululemon pop up store outside of the official merchandise area. Doesn’t she always seem to have ‘luck’ at Lululemon??? The expo was not huge for a race this size and we went through fairly quickly. A lot of sponsors for local races which wasn’t going to be of much interest to us visiting for the long weekend. I did bump into my friend Michael who was using this marathon as a stop on his way to his 50 States goal. I also took the opportunity to treat myself to the Normatec vendor’s offer of a free leg treatment. Very relaxing.

After the expo we took a trip up to the Griffith Park Observatory for the afternoon after a stop at the steps famously used by Laurel and Hardy in the short film ‘The Music Box’. I had seen this movie many times over the years and had planned to make this a stop on our trip as I noted it was near the Convention Center. That’s a lot of stairs before a marathon. Mind you, the hike up to the Griffith Observatory isn’t less of a work out either. The views at the top were worth it. From there we took a drive to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. We would be running through these streets on Sunday so we took the time today to enjoy them at a more relaxed pace before grabbing dinner and a reasonably early night. We had accomplished a lot and we still had a day to go before the marathon.

Saturday morning was the day before the marathon…surely we would stay off our feet today? Nope. We came all this way for this race so we had to pack in as much as we could. We started the day with a ‘hike’ to the top of Runyon Canyon. The views of the Hollywood Hills were spectacular but the sign warning of us to be on the look out for rattle snakes was just a tad disconcerting. Following an insanely crazy breakfast at ‘The Griddle Café’ in Hollywood we spent the afternoon exploring up and down Hollywood Boulevard. Again, we would be running this the next day but I was on the hunt to find some of my favorite stars on the Hollywood ‘Walk of Fame’ as well as the hands and feet in cement at the ‘Chinese Theater’. We also took a tour of the Warner Brothers Studio where my wife and I reenacted scenes from some of our favorite shows on the actual sets…and were given ‘that look’ from the tour guide. Hey, we were having fun. After a nice pre-race pasta dinner at a fancier than I was expecting restaurant (I was fully prepared to be turned away based upon what I was wearing) we headed home for our early (and I mean early) wake up for our 4:30am bus from Santa Monica the next day.

Race day

Waking up at near Disney race times is not always fun but we had a great tour of Los Angeles and it’s surrounding neighborhoods planned for the day. I had pre-reserved parking in one of the lots closest to the finish line and we headed out around 4am for the short drive to the buses. The drive was short but the lines to get into the parking was longer than we expected. Nevertheless we were soon parked and on route to the buses. It was quick and easy and the drive from Santa Monica to the starting area at LA’s Dodgers stadium took about 20-25 minutes.

We got there with plenty of time to spare. It was dark so we just followed everyone else into the stadium where all the bathrooms were open on the concourse. These were much better than waiting outside for port-a-potties. Plus we got to sit in the stadium and relax for a while before having to head out to the corrals.

Go time for the race was 7am and so we headed out to the corrals while it was still dark. We missed where to enter into the starting chute and ended up with a whole crowd of people at the barrier at the side of our predicted race pace. It was a bit of a mess trying to get in. People were shoving here and there. We had asked a couple of volunteers early where we needed to be and they didn’t have much of an idea. Anyway we made it into the corrals (with the mob) and set about heading to the starting line and out of Dodgers Stadium. The race announcers mentioned the number of runners participating in the ‘Students Run LA’ program who were running in the marathon today. About 3,000 students would be running their first marathon on the day. They were clearly identifiable in their bright yellow shirts. More on this later.

The LA Marathon is advertised as the ‘From the stadium to the sea’. The course starts in Pasadena at Dodgers Stadium and the course takes you through the streets of Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods to finish along the Pacific Coast at Santa Monica Pier. It is a grand tour with some fantastic sites. The following list of mile markers is from the official LA Marathon website.

Starting Line
Mile 1 – Dodger Stadium
Mile 2 – Cesar Chavez Blvd
Mile 3 – Downtown LA
Mile 4 – Disney Concert Hall
Mile 5 – Downtown LA
Mile 6 – Echo Park
Mile 7 – Silverlake
Mile 8 – Los Feliz
Mile 9 – Thai Town
Mile 10 – Hollywood Walk of Fame
Mile 11 – Grauman’s Chinese Theater
Mile 12 – Hollywood
Mile 13 – Sunset Strip
Mile 14 – West Hollywood
Mile 15 – West Hollywood
Mile 16 – Doheny Drive
Mile 17 – Rodeo Drive
Mile 18 – Santa Monica Blvd
Mile 19 – Westwood
Mile 20 – Westwood/Sepulveda Blvd
Mile 21 – VA/Wilshire Blvd
Mile 22 – San Vicente & Bundy
Mile 23 – San Vicente & 26th
Mile 24 – San Vicente & 14th
Mile 25 – Ocean Ave/Palisades Park
Mile 26 – Santa Monica
Finish Line

As you can imagine, we were excited by the prospect of some fantastic opportunities to see this city on foot and we weren’t to be disappointed. Conditions on the day were amazing. Clear blue skies and streets lined with palm trees. Just like the brochure 😉

I’m not going to go into detailed description of the course but I will share some of the highlights of the day. At the end of this post I will attach a link to my video (from the GoPro) of our day out on the marathon course. As for the course, in summary, it was great. Lots of eye candy. Plenty of photo opportunities and more hills than I imagined (hey…’Hollywood Hills’, ‘Beverly Hills’…how did I not see that coming). I wouldn’t say this was a course if you are looking for a fast time unless you were going to be near the front. This was the Olympic Trials course for 2016 so it could be considered fast but it was quiet congested mid-pack as there were a lot (or so it seemed) of first time marathoners out there. Going back to what I was saying about the 3,000 Students Run LA participants, you have at least that many first timers and it just made it that much more congested. Don’t get me wrong, these kids were amazing. Running a marathon at that age is such a great achievement but there were many ‘packs’ of runners along the course.

We did have a great time and there were many highlights. Around mile 7 we had our first personal cheer leader of the day. I had met Phillip through my connection with Autism Speaks many years ago. He has since moved on to work with the Arthritis Foundation but as an LA local he came out to support us and even made a sign for us. That was a great boost early in the race. Around mile 20 when things start to get rough during a marathon a cousin, Paul, who loves out in the LA area came out to support us. He was there to cheer on his fellow gym team (Paul competes in stair climbing challenges). He ran along side us for a little while and gave us another much-needed boost. We would get back together with him for brunch the next day. Finally, as we entered Brentwood in the last few miles of the race, Kristen who is another LA local and a member of Team Shenanigans had a cheering section out on the course. So much fun to meet her and to see that she had chalked our name on the ground in anticipation of our arrival. That was awesome to come all this way and have people we knew come out to cheer for us really made the day.

There was so much to see out on this course and the crowd support and the neighborhood support was amazing. There weren’t many quiet stretches along the course. It was crowded but it never really felt quiet. So many people out there. It helps when there is great weather to begin with.

Towards the end of the race it was heating up. The sun was shining and there was not much shade. Neither of us struggled with this but judging from our time we were not pushing it. Not our slowest time as we still seem to take more time out on the course during the Walt Disney World Marathon but an equal number of unique photo stops for sure.

As we headed up Santa Monica Boulevard towards the pier at the end of the race I can truly say that we enjoyed our time out on the course. It was not a matter of wishing the finish line were closer. It was great out there. A wonderful medal and a memorable experience.

It was however a longer than anticipated walk back to the parking lot where we had arrived several hours earlier. We stopped at a Starbucks on our way to the car for a quick refreshment and some much-needed air conditioning before returning to our hotel for a quick shower and more sightseeing. We spent the afternoon driving up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu where we had a celebratory dinner by the beach. Cannot beat that for a post marathon celebration.

The next day we had a late night flight so we had a relaxing morning. My wife had thought ahead and booked us massages for after the race. I usually like a deep tissue massage but I was discouraged of this notion by the masseuse for the day after a marathon. She was probably right. We then met up again with cousin Paul and his wife Evelyn for a nice long brunch before taking our sweet time of driving back to spend the rest of the day walking along the beach in Santa Monica before heading off to the airport for the red eye back to Philadelphia…where we could finally get that sleep we needed.

Here is the link to the video I made of the race. It was my first attempt at making a recap video so you may have to cut me some slack. Hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for reading.

2018 Philadelphia Marathon – race recap

April 8, 2019ianesenior Leave a comment

Let’s pretend I own a time machine and I can take you back to last November (which is a sneaky way of saying I am late posting this recap). Okay, now that you have suspended disbelief for a while I will take you back to late fall where my wife and I ran the 2018 Philadelphia Marathon together. I like to do this race every year as (1) it was my very first marathon and will always be special and (2) it is essentially my local marathon, I can drive there in the morning and be home by noon(ish). I have run this every year since I started ‘marathoning’ and only missed one year (2014) as we were on vacation for Thanksgiving. This would be my 8th Philadelphia Marathon and only the second time that I have run this together with my wife. We last ran this together in 2013.

In addition to running with my Wife again this year a new challenge for me was that this was only two weeks after running the 2018 New York City Marathon which is the shortest time I have ever had between marathons. I was a little nervous and hoping I would be able to manage the distance and support my wife the whole way. Although a little apprehensive going in, I’m always excited when this race comes around. I have many good memories from this race.

Before the race was the expo. This year was located as usual at the Philadelphia Convention Center. I made the trek to the expo the day before the race to pick up our race packets and to also pick up our pre-ordered merchandise. This year was an anniversary year, the 25th anniversary of this version of the marathon, and I was hoping that they would be making extra effort for all the runners. In 2013 when my wife and I ran together it was the 20th anniversary race and they awarded us with a special gold (colored) version of the race medal.

Arriving at the expo

Arriving at the expo

Arriving at the expo

As I picked up my bib, one of the volunteers noted my New York City Marathon race shirt and said something to the effect that they didn’t know if they would be able to run two marathons so close together…at this point, neither did I. It would make for an interesting weekend.

I headed in to get our bibs and as this was the first year of the new ‘Philadelphia Challenge’ I headed to grab the special fleece that my wife earned for running the ‘Broad Street Run‘ back in May and the Philadelphia Marathon this weekend. I picked up a fleece that showed 36.2 miles for the Philadelphia Challenge.

The merchandise area was set up as it had been for the last couple of years. I took a quick look knowing that I had already spent my race weekend budget on pre-orders. I saw a couple of jackets similar to the one I had pre-ordered but in different colors and slightly different logos. As I tried them on I suddenly realized that the sizing seemed a little off from what I was expecting. The size large that I had ordered (while trying these jackets on) was huge. I would be swimming in the jacket. I looked around in vain to see if there were other sizes of the jacket I ordered but no 😦 . I told a member of the event staff my pre-order details and also asked if there were any medium jackets back behind the merchandise and not on display. They came back with my order and said there were no other sizes. As this was the Saturday before the race they were pretty much sold out. I checked the bag to make sure I got what I ordered and lo and behold, I had ordered a large jacket but there was a medium in the bag!!! Wow! It fit great. Day made 🙂 .

After passing through the merchandise section I headed out into the main hall. As I mentioned earlier this was an anniversary race and so they had on display all the t-shirts, bibs and medals from each respective year through 2017. These were pretty cool to see.

My first marathon finisher medal – 2011

I headed through the exhibitor section of the expo. Having been to many of these I was used to seeing a number of the vendors and didn’t spend too much time. I did make one purchase of racedots to try out for the weekend. FYI, the magnets are really strong and (spoiler alert) they worked well for the race. I did see a funny t-shirt for any spectator that made me chuckle.

I also stopped by the CGI Racing booth to ‘spin the wheel’ and win a prize. My wife had asked me to stop by and see if I could pick up a coupon for a race discount for ‘The Love Run‘ in March as she wanted to run again in 2019. I did one better…I spun the wheel and won her a 50% discount for the race. I picked up a discount coupon for the ‘Rutgers UNITE Half Marathon‘ in April which I planned to run and hadn’t run since 2016.

After the expo I headed home to get ready for the race and set out my gear before an early dinner and an early night. I was going with the understated look this year as you can see.

Race day arrived and after an early morning wake up and drive to the City we were primed and ready for the race. The temperature for the day looked great for running, a little cool to start but in the mid 50s for the most part of the day while we would be running.

Arriving at the race

We were soon in the starting corral and ready to go. A chilly start but we hoped it would feel comfortable soon as we set out running.

I got many cheers of ‘Go Brexit’ which was not what I was going for. My wife thought it was funny though.

We started out running an even pace in the mid-9’s for the first few miles. The pace was agreeable and we took in the clear morning and crowd support. All was going well. We had headed down through Center City to Columbus Boulevard and then through Queen’s Village and South Street and then back up Chestnut Street.

As we headed up past 30th Street Station and onwards towards the Drexel University campus (around mile 8) my wife took a fall. Completely face planted. Her first fear was that she was going to be trampled by the runners behind her but myself and another runner were quick to pick her up and I made sure she was okay. I think she was a little stunned for a moment so we walked a little to make sure she felt okay and was calm. She had fallen on her knee but nothing of major consequence that we noted at the time. Later after the race there was a little grazing to the knee but no major injury, just a little shaken up.

The fall had stopped our momentum a little (and understandably so). We took it easy as we set off again hoping that there were no ill effects. After the Drexel Campus there are the two biggest hills on the course. The one leading up to the Philadelphia Zoo and then the one leading up to Memorial Hall. These are the only two significant hills you have on the course. Our pace dropped as we hit these hills but we were still in the low 10s for the most part through Fairmount Park and then up Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as we made it to the halfway point just before the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was a really beautiful day. One of the best things about running this race are the views as you run alongside the river.

As we rounded the Art Museum (mile 14ish) and headed out along Kelly Drive towards Manayunk, my wife started to struggle a little. Not from the fall (her knee wasn’t bothering her) but she sometimes gets hip and IT band pain during long runs. It doesn’t happen in every marathon but we had just done the hilliest parts of the course and I think it was beginning to catch up with her. It was also warming up so that may have added to the stresses. We had already run 14 miles and that is no mean feat in itself. Our pace slowed as we started to take some walk breaks and we were now running miles in the 11 minutes per mile range but at least we had forward momentum and were making our way along the course.

The crowds are thinner from the point at which we leave the City through the park and up Kelly Drive which sometimes makes that stretch seem longer than it is. We finally reached Manayunk (miles 19 through 21) and this is where the crowds pick back up. We were welcomed by residents handing out oranges, beer and other goodies. The crowds were thick and loud as we reached the end of the main street and hit the turnaround. Once you get to that point around mile 21 you know you are going to make it home…although it does seem more than 5 miles to you at this stage. We were doing well, taking walk breaks as needed.

On the road back from Manayunk it is just a matter of keeping focus and committing to getting to the finish. People are dragging at this stage. We just kept focusing on form and moving along and not trying to think of any negative thoughts. At one point a local running club was offering some relief for runners during the last few miles. My wife stopped at one of these stations and had a lady massage her IT band with a running stick (like a rolling-pin being pressed into the muscles). It brought tears to her eyes. Not sure if it was pain or relief but she wanted to hug the lady and thank her. Relief I guess as she wasn’t complaining.

As we hit mile 25 and rounded the corner we could see the Art Museum in the distance and knew we were almost home. As we approached mile 26 the crowd was deep and loud and we saw people we knew out there cheering us on. Any moments of discomfort or pain were behind us now as we sprinted toward the finish line to cross with an official time of 4:42:56. Not our fastest but it was quicker than my wife’s last Philadelphia Marathon. She had made it through the discomfort of the back half of the course and overcome a little fright from her fall earlier in the race. I was really proud of her. I had finished my second marathon in the space of two weeks so I was thrilled.

We passed the finish line and went to collect our medals. Our friend Robyn was at the finish line as a volunteer passing out the medals and it was such a nice surprise to see her and receive our medals from her.

Always great to finish another marathon and as you can see we pretty happy.

As usual, we didn’t hang around too long. Always somewhere to be. In this case it was a birthday brunch for one of my wife’s friends so we dashed to the finish line to pick up our car and head to our sister and brother in law’s house for a quick shower. As we were dashing to the car we bumped into another friend who was out there cheering people on.

Always fun to have cheer leaders out there

Done and headed for brunch

We walked into the brunch (although we Uber-ed to the restaurant) wearing our medals. We had earned our food and it tasted really great. Our medals were replicas of the Liberty Bell and we had the sounds of ringing in our ears all day as we wore our medals.

No surprises here. I’ve already signed up for the 2019 race.

2018 TCS New York City Marathon – race recap

December 31, 2018ianesenior 3 Comments

This was the big one, the one race I have been looking forward to running since I decided to enter the New York City Marathon back in 2014 for the first time. I didn’t get in that year or the year after. My wife got in through the lottery in 2016 (read the race chase recap here) and in 2017 I finally got in through the lottery…which then clashed with a family event which led to me having to defer. Quite a build up. 2018 was going to be the year. I had a long time to plan for this.

As you may know from previous races I have run to raise funds and awareness for autism charities over the last few years. This year I chose to run for the Organization for Autism Research (Run OAR). I had met members of this charity group at expos over the years and always promised I would run for them one day. With my own entry I was able to choose to run for them with no minimum fundraising commitment. They were a very gracious team and they provided everyone with a free training plan. Although I had already chosen a specific plan (which I will talk about later in this write-up) I was still able to interact with the team coach and take part in some of their online pre-race presentations.

This was going to be the largest race I have ever taken part in. As soon as I was a year out I was able to book my hotel room. I followed the same trip plan that we my wife and I took back in 2016 when she ran. Staying in ‘Hells Kitchen’ mid-town about a 10 minute walk from the Javits Center and about 10 minutes or so from the New York Public Library where the buses would leave for the race village on the Sunday morning.

So, re-winding a few months before the event I decided to choose a new training plan. This time using the Hansons Marathon Method. This is a unique approach to marathon training and the plan has had a lot of success from professional and amateur athletes alike. I decided to put this to the test for myself and committed to a 14 week plan which would start early August about a week post the New Jersey State Triathlon. The 14 week plan started off at 40 miles per week peaking at 60 miles per week. The longest run on this training plan was 16 miles where previously I would have run 20-22 miles in preparation for the marathon distance. This plan is highly structured and includes two specific speed workouts each week. The mid-week distances were greater than I was used to and with the ‘shorter’ weekend long runs this would explain the distances run each week. One of the key factors behind this plan was ‘cumulative fatigue’ which essentially is to use speed/strength workouts with minimal recovery to build up a stronger base. The aim is not to train for the first 16 miles of the race but the ‘last 16’ miles of the race. I decided to give it a go and programmed all my workouts into Garmin watch ready to go each day. By the way, they were not exaggerating about cumulative fatigue. This training plan pretty much wore me out but I was committed and stuck to the plan as best I could. Whether or not it would work for me would be seen on November 4th!!!

A very structured approach to marathon training

The weekend finally arrived (thankfully…I guess I was getting a bit obsessive about it) and I made my way up to NYC on the train. I met up with our friend Stephanie (who also traveled up and ran in 2016 with my wife) on the train and we traveled up to New York City together. Once we arrived in Manhattan we dropped bags at the hotel and headed to the expo at the Javits Center. Stephanie and I were in the same starting village and wave (blue-wave 2) so we planned on meeting up the next day.

Arriving at the expo

I travelled up with Stephanie who was running this event again. We planned to meet up again at the race village the next morning.

This was a huge expo. I remembered when my wife ran it there was so much to see. The expo volunteers were great. The logistics for getting to and from this race are involve selecting your mode of transport pre-race (bus or ferry) and selecting post race poncho or bag check (it’s all about the poncho). The volunteers made sure that I had all the right details in my packet including wave and corral, wristband for post race poncho and the timing of my transport to the race. Following this was the t-shirt pickup. There was a selection of shirts of different sizes to try on before picking up the shirt. This was a good job as they ran small for their size and so I was glad of the opportunity to make sure I got something that would fit.

Welcome to the NYC expo

The T-Shirt sizing area. What a great idea.

The official store had lots of (highly priced) memorabilia for the weekend

From there it was onto the official gear store (run by New Balance this year vs Asics when my wife ran). I tried (in vain) not to spend too much money while there. My goal was to get a jacket from the race. I did get one in the size and color I wanted (one of the last) and I have to say that the Asics jacket my wife got a couple of years earlier was much nicer. Still I would wear this jacket everywhere and as much as I could after the race (weather dependent…it wasn’t a warm jacket).

After checking out of the official race gear store there were some great opportunities for unique photos to remember the weekend by before entering the rest of the expo. Once we were in the main expo, Stephanie and I bid each other farewell until the next day and I was able to spend some time exploring. I stopped by the OAR booth and picked up my charity village wristband which would provide me access to the specially reserved area at the athletes village on Sunday morning.

Making memories

The money shot for the day

Previewing the course for tomorrow’s race

I found my name on the runners wall

After spending some time in the expo I made my way back to the hotel to formally check in, get my gear ready for the next day and relax before heading out to the charity dinner at Carmine’s just off Time Square.

Finishing up at the expo

My big purchase from the expo was a NB running jacket

Flat Ian making an early appearance

One of the things my wife had me do before leaving for New York was to grab a Sharpie and write my name on my shirt. There is so much information on the NYC marathon bib that there is no space for the runners name. She remembers people shouting out names from the crowd and remarked that it was such a great experience I had to find a way to get my name on my shirt. So a Sharpie it was.

After relaxing in the hotel and charging up all my devices for the next day I made my way to the team dinner. It was a great evening with so much food. This was a great team to run for and everyone seemed very excited to be a part of the team. They kept bringing out more and more food but when the mountain of cannolis was brought out I bid my farewells and made my way back to the hotel for an early night…via Starbucks so could get my regular pre-race cookie. The clocks went back an hour during the night so I was pleased to get home early and take advantage of that extra hour of sleep. It was going to be an early wake up the next day.

Walking through Times Square on the way to dinner

My pre-race cookie. Keeping the streak alive.

After a pretty good night’s sleep, the first of my ‘4’ alarm clocks went off at 4:00am. I had set 4 alarms for 4:00, 4:01, 4:02 and 4:03…I wasn’t going to take any chances. My bus was set to leave the New York Public library at Bryant Park at 6am and I still had to check out, stow my luggage and walk across town. I also recalled the long lines for the buses from when my wife ran in 2016. I had a cup of coffee and a breakfast bar for what would be my first breakfast of the day and got myself bundled up together with my race bag (to be disposed of at the race village) and headed out to Bryant Park. I was wrapped up in a few layers and had brought with me a spare mylar blanket and some spare towels to sit down in the starting village. We would be waiting around for a long time.

Wrapped up for the cold start.

It was a brisk walk to the buses and once I arrived it was very well-ordered. You get on a bus, it is filled and they go off with minimal fuss. I got settled in for what would be at least an hour ride. I sat towards the rear to the bus and was surrounded by a whole group of British runners, some from my hometown. I tried to start a conversation with my seat mate for the journey only to find out he was Italian and spoke no english. Ha, just my luck. I settled in and enjoyed (?) the ride to Fort Wadsworth over in Staten Island. We arrived at 7:15am. Having been up since 4am it was time for my second breakfast. I wasn’t set to go off until 10:15am so lots of time to wait around although we needed to be in the starting corrals by 9:45am.

Once through security and entering the village I searched out the charity tent area to check in with the team, grab a cup of coffee in the heated tent (and the reserved port-a-potties for the charity village). Getting to the charity village involved moving through a sea of people. With 50,000+ runners in various waves there were plenty of people milling about before the race. Once my wrist band had been checked I went into the charity tent village area to relax for a while. I had plenty of time to wait around and I would spend some time here before going out to meet Stephanie.

The view from the bridge into Fort Wadsworth as we arrived in Staten Island

Arriving at Fort Wadsworth and waiting to clear security

The sign says we have arrived

A sea of people relaxing and waiting for the start

Heading to the charity village which was much less crowded

Warming up inside the heated tent with some coffee pre race

After chatting with the other OAR runners I made my way out to meet up with Stephanie in our color village (Blue), after another stop at the private port-a-potties. Although there were signs everywhere as the place was so big it took a while to walk and find Stephanie. Once we were together we hung with a crowd of runners and chilled out until our wave was called. In the meantime we heard the cannon go off for the elite runners and the first wave. A loud bang in the distance. It wouldn’t be long before it was our turn.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs…

The sun was coming out and it was starting to get warmer. I had already lost a couple of layers at this point.

We had been chatting with a group of runners from all over and there happened to be another British runner with us. This would be his second marathon and he and I were in the same wave and corral so we hung out until the start of the race. Stephanie was in corral B and I was further back in corral F so we wished each other good luck and made our way off to our respective corrals when they opened at 9:45am. I left my hooded jacket with one of the runners we were hanging with as they were not going off until Wave 3 at 10:45 and it was still cold enough for an extra layer.

Once in the corral we made our way up to the base of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge where the race was to start. I was feeling relaxed and ready and now it was all up to my performance on the day and to see if the Hansons training would truly pay off.

In our corral and waiting to go. That’s my Starfleet command hat.

Walking up to the bridge

I see it. After all these years I was finally at the start line

It still took a while to even reach the start timing mat

After all these years waiting I was finally at the start line. My goal was to hit my pace as best I could with a goal of 3:45 (stretch goal) second goal 3:54 (PR) or break 4 hours if possible. My iPhone was switched off, I would need to save the battery to find everyone at the finish line, and I didn’t plan to listen to music. My wife told me when she ran the crowds were so loud she couldn’t hear her music anyway. Let’s do it!!

The start of the race is from Staten Island from the foot of the bridge so we start the race by essentially running up hill. We would reach Brooklyn by mile 3. The sky was sunny and clear blue. The view from the top of the bridge right into downtown Manhattan was truly breathtaking. Let’s just stay the up half of the bridge was a little steeper than I had expected. This would be the first of 5 bridges we would be crossing during the day. Once clearing the bridge we were welcomed by the first of what would be a lot of very vocal crowds for the day. Welcome to Brooklyn. This would be our home for miles 3-12.

The race is split into 3 starting waves. The green and blue waves start from the top of the bridge and the orange wave starts from the lower deck and all three waves merge at the 5K mark. If you think it is crowded for the first couple of miles it was nothing to when everyone merged at mile 3.

The crowds were amazing and having my name on my shirt was a really good piece of advice. The water stations were plentiful and clearly signed so that you could see them from a distance. Despite the crowds I was still able to keep pace. My first mile was over 9 minutes but that was due to me going easy up over the bridge and weaving a little through the field where I could. I was holding a low 8 minute pace for miles 2 and 3 and still under 9 minutes through mile 4 including my first water stop. The field of runners were packed into the streets which sometimes appeared narrower. The first water station was at mile 4 and as it was beginning to warm up I decided to walk through each water station and alternate between water and Gatorade at each station.

I was slightly behind pace but maintaining in the region of my goal pace through mile 7. By mile 8 I needed to take a potty break which slowed me down somewhat but I was able to get back on pace shortly after. I was over an hour into the race by now which meant it was 11:30am. I had been up since 4am. Usually I would be done by a marathon at this time and I still had another 18 or so miles to go.

As I said before, the crowds were great, well maybe, except for the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood toward the tale end of our time in Brooklyn. The sheer number of runners still didn’t stop people trying to cross the roads in their neighborhoods. We even encountered an old lady in the worlds slowest powered wheel chair who was determined to cross the street regardless of the oncoming surge of runners. All part of the on course entertainment I guess.

We spent 9 miles in Brooklyn which was by far the longest stretch of any borough during the race. The road ahead was rolling hills and all you could see ahead was a mass of people. We then entered into Queens across the Queensboro Bridge around mile 14. I was beginning to notice that this course was hillier than I had expected. The bridges also added more to the overall elevation. We hit the halfway point as we were going up towards the Queensboro Bridge. At this my splits were already slower and I passed the timing mat at just on the 2 hour mark. I figured out very quickly that NYC was not the place to PR. The crowds are too much to get a clear pace and you cannot help but weave about as the roads are not that wide. I also think that as we were already past noon the heat was becoming more of a factor. PR gone, let’s see how I would handle the second half and see how close to 4 hours I could get.

My splits for the first half

My goal for Queens was to enjoy the race and maintain my pace. This was a more quiet part of the course but this all lead up to entering Manhattan for the first time as we crossed the 59th Street Bridge onto First Avenue. The run across the bridge was pretty much a silent march. Yes, another hill. As it was a bridge there were no crowds. All you could hear was an eerie silence and the footsteps of your fellow runners. I will admit that at this stage I had to stop and walk up the bridge for a little. I knew that once I rounded the corner after crossing the bridge I would be in Manhattan and the noise and crowds would be insane. I needed to regroup so I would be able to enjoy my experience. I knew my wife and other family members would be waiting somewhere along the route at mile 17 so that motivated me to go onwards.

Once you get away from the silence on the bridge into Manhattan you are hit by what I can only describe as a wall of sound. Think ‘THe Beatles at Shea Stadium’ kind of noise. Utterly crazy. And what a spectacle. Crowds multiple people deep on each side of the street. Again, I’m glad I had my name written on my shirt. These crowds were keeping me motivated. I kept looking left and right for my wife (she’s not that big LOL). As I had put a Red Fraggle puppet on a pole to help her find me in 2016, this year I was looking for Super Grover on that same pole. Pretty easy to spot from a distance I thought.

We spotted each other

I was very relieved to see her

Always time for a little TLC

She had prepared a few signs for the route. This was the first.

I have to admit that seeing my wife really helped. She was tracking me and she knew my goal time so she must have known I wasn’t hitting my splits. When she asked me how I was doing I had to admit that I was struggling a little. I think the heat was getting to me by this stage. My heart rate was more elevated than normal. It could have been a combination of many things, adrenaline, caffeine in my energy gels (not doing that again) and perhaps just the whole being up for multiple hours playing trains, planes and automobiles getting to the race start. I was just feeling tired. But after having seen my wife and family I had a new pep in my step as I made my way up First Avenue and headed out towards the Bronx.

This was probably the shortest part of the race after Staten Island as you are really in and out of the Bronx very quickly. It is just miles 19 and 20 and for that you have to cross two more bridges. People around me were definitely starting to tire at this stage. I wasn’t doing so great myself but I started recognizing people I had either started with or had passed me in the earlier miles of the race. I’ve never truly ‘hit the wall’ in a marathon but I was definitely feeling it a bit here. Was it the training plan that only took me up to mile 16? I don’t think so based upon the Facebook group from Hansons Marathon Method runners who all seemed to be PR’ing left and right, it must be me. I would later find out from all my friends running the race that they were all fading around the second half of the day. I think I mentioned before that this, although not the hilliest marathon I’ve ever run (see Baltimore, Pittsburgh, DC and Delaware), it was just relentlessly rolling.

Once back into Manhattan we had another 10K to go to get to the finish line in Central Park. I remember my wife saying that the run up Fifth Avenue to was tough at this stage in the race. It was all uphill until around mile 23 where we reach Central Park for the first time. This was the second location where it was planned to meet up with my wife and family again. Time to start looking for Super Grover.

They found me again…or I found them.

The best kisses are at mile 23

Another motivational sign

My splits for the second half of the race were disappointing for me. The race goal itself was a bust but I made a choice to just soak in the atmosphere as this may be the only time running this race and experiencing this marathon major. It was an incredible experience and one I had been looking forward to for a long time. All I wanted to do now was to finish under 4:20 and enjoy the last few miles. After my brief but energizing stop for a kiss with my wife I certainly picked up the pace over the last two miles. Central Park is not flat by any means but as we left the park and rounded Central Park South before returning into the park, the crowds were huge, the noise was amazing and it was a really great way to motivate myself to get to that finish line. And there it was. I saw it and made my way across under 4:20 (4:18)…although Tiki Barber crossed at the same time and they shouted out his name….who does he think he is??? Well, he’s Tiki Barber!!!

Not my best but I still finished and that’s always a good sign

See, I finished!!!

I was cooked. I was tired. I was relieved. I made it through the five boroughs of New York CIty. The biggest marathon in the world. In fact, I ran the race faster than it took to get to the start line. That is truly crazy. I was so happy to get my medal.

This guy!!! My personal medal handing out volunteer!!! I was so happy to see him.

Hey, look!!! It fits!!!

I got my mylar blanket from another volunteer and made my way to where the post race goodies were being handed out. We were given a clear bag which contained water, gatorade, an apple and something else…I cannot remember. All I wanted was the water. I was so tired. Then came the walk out of the park to where the ponchos were being handed out. That was a loooong walk. I actually had to ask a volunteer to loosen my laces on my shoes as I just couldn’t bend down at that moment to undo my shoes without the fear I could not get back up again.

Cooling down and happy

Amongst the many leaving the park….all walking slowly

Finally we excited the park onto Central Park West where the ponchos were being handed out

The view suddenly changed

And this is why I ran this race…well, one of the reasons

I was finally able to get through the crowd and had arranged to meet up with my family at the JCC in Manhattan where a good friend had provided me with a guest pass so I could get showered and change into some fresh clothes which my wife had brought along. What an amazing shower. Loved it. Felt so good. It was around 3pm by the time I was able to feel fresh and clean. We left the JCC and headed out to get a cab, grab my luggage and head for a nice post race meal.

There was no way we could get a cab at that time of night at that location and Uber was pricing us at around $90 for a journey down town so we decided to head to the subway on 72nd street and ride down to 34th street which was near my hotel. Luckily runners ride for free on race day. 🙂

We grabbed my bag from the hotel and headed to Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen which was on the same street as my hotel and where we had celebrated my wife’s New York City Marathon in 2016. I was very hungry. I had been thinking about being here since I passed the deli on the way to the buses at 5am that morning.

Heading to Ben’s. Both wearing our respective NYC Marathon jackets.

Ready to indulge and treat.

Some great matzo ball soup to help refresh and revive.

Don’t question why I am wearing my Delaware Marathon shirt and not my New York City shirt. That was packed in my bag and I was too hungry to change my clothes at the hotel. This was what I had put in my change of clothes bag. The medal, however, was a giveaway that I had run. That and the way I was walking probably were the hints.

After dinner we made it over to the train station in time for a 7:30 train back home which meant I would probably be in my own bed just after 9pm. It had been a long day and I was still going to work the next day. Once on the train my Garmin buzzed and told me I’d been sitting still for too long and to ‘Move’. Ugh…as you can see from the picture below, after 33 miles on my feet, moving was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment. I won’t discuss here how I lost my car in the parking lot carrying all my luggage for an extra mile only to remember I parked the floor above. As I said…it was a long day. Finally I got home and other than doing my teeth and going to bed I cannot recall much once my head hit the pillow.

Really???

It was not the PR race that I had been planning for. I’m not sure I would jump straight back into another Hansons plan without losing a few extra pounds (yeah…that doesn’t help). It was a truly memorable event logistics aside and I was really happy to be able to run for this charity. In fact, I received a thank you card and a team medal in the mail soon after the race. Very thoughtful. I would run this race again if the opportunity arises but would love to run it with my wife next time.

A nice surprise from the charity after the race.

So that’s my (very long) New York City marathon recap. It was almost as long as my build up to the race. Memories 🙂

2018 Delaware Marathon – race recap

December 27, 2018ianesenior 1 Comment

It’s been many months since I last updated anything on the blog…and I was already a few months behind with that post too. So with some big races still to write-up I need to catch up on all that has gone on since my last post.

Following on from the Walt Disney World marathon weekend I had a pretty quiet Winter/Spring. In the last few years I have always taken part in a late winter/early spring half marathon and then worked up to a spring marathon. This year, however, I skipped the half marathon and used the time to prepare for the Delaware Marathon which took place on April 28^th.

Training through the winter is not one of my favorite things to do but does demonstrate commitment to your goals. With the snowy, cold and icy winter we had I had to maximize outdoor runs while minimizing risk of slips/falls/frostbite(!!!), so there were a lot of indoor treadmill sessions. At one point during this training cycle I managed to break the treadmill!!! It was winter and my wife and I were using the treadmill everyday so packing on a large number of miles each day and ultimately one day the drive belt just gave up and it stopped (apparently you have to maintain and lubricate the track…oops). Luckily we were able to get an engineer out and have it fixed and I was able to mix up some outdoor workouts with my gym membership which I keep as back up. Lesson learned. I keep a maintenance kit and now have the engineer’s business card attached to my refrigerator for regular maintenance.

With ‘disaster’ averted (my wife blamed me for that one) we were back on track. I was feeling good going into the Delaware Marathon. The race began and finished on the Wilmington waterfront and was a two loop race. This race was run by Corrigan Sports who also run the Baltimore Marathon that my wife and I ran back in 2014. That was a well-organized race although much bigger than Delaware. Here they still put on multiple races; a full marathon, half marathon and marathon relay.

The expo was held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Wilmington, Delaware. I travelled down on the Saturday before the race for packet pickup. Although I work closer to Delaware I was unable to go after work before the weekend. The drive to Delaware was just over an hour and this was partially the reason I picked the race as I didn’t need to be away from home or get a room overnight. The expo however was actually much smaller than I anticipated. I paid for an hour on the meter and I was in and out within 20 minutes. Packet pickup was quick, efficient and easy. The race shirt was Under Armor (as was the Baltimore Marathon…good to have a race team based around Baltimore).

Small expo for this race. It took longer to find street parking than the time I spent in the expo.

Quick and easy packet pick up

The race is 2 loops of the same 13.1 course!

Obligatory pre race bib photo

Making sure I had my usual pre-race cookie I settled in for an early night. You will note that my ‘flat Ian’ is well dressed. I made an effort, after all, Delaware is the ‘First State’.

Pre race oatmeal raisin cookie…have to keep the ‘tradition’ alive

I went for the ‘dapper’ look for this race. #makinganeffort

Race day arrived and I got up early….really early. I wanted to make sure I was able to park close to the race location before the roads began to close. I needn’t have worried. It was an easy drive and the parking lot was just over the street from the race village. I got there early (I mean really early) and hung with the growing crowd until time came to get into the corrals. I was aiming for a race between 3:50 and 4:00 which may have been a bit ambitious (seeing as I had a few extra winter pounds on my frame). It was a beautiful morning but a little chilly at the start of the race. I felt toasty(ish) in my large plastic bag that is now a staple of my race gear. Once installed in my corral I waited for the signal to go.

Arriving at the starting area

Dunkin were providing coffee to keep runners warm

The race started and finished at Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park on the Delaware waterfront

Waiting to go. My toasty warm trash bag did the trick on the chilly morning

Once we were out and on the route I felt pretty good. I was managing my first few miles around the 8:15-8:30 pace and feeling pretty comfortable…and then there was the hill after Brandywine Park. It was quite unrelenting and lasted almost two miles straight up. I slowed down a little but was able to continue running. My splits were fairly consistent for the first half of the race. I was pretty pleased I had managed the initial climb up the hill in Brandywine Park without stopping…at least the first time. Then all of a sudden at mile 12 to 13 someone had put another hill on the course!!!!

My first half splits. Pretty consistent.

I’ll be honest. I knew this course was considered hilly but I still was not prepared for where exactly in the race these hills would be. The run up from mile 12 to 13 was tough. As this was a loop I would be running again I knew that this hill would again be appearing but between mile 25 to 26. I wasn’t looking forward to that and I think I let that thought get in my head. I was pretty tired when I hit the halfway point. My first half split was 1:53:29 with an average pace of 8:40/mile. This was what I had been hoping for in training. I was hoping I could sustain this for the second half.

As this was where the half marathoners and marathoners split, the runners thinned out pretty quickly. We were directed to take a quick out and back along the waterfront as part of the turnaround for the marathon. It wasn’t clearly signed and a few of us were not quite sure where the turnaround was. I saw one guy continue running, and was unsure and turned around where I thought I had seen other people turn around only to worry for the next mile or so that I had cut the course short. I kept asking people running along side me. Ultimately my mileage and my race tracking showed me I hadn’t cut the course.

The second loop started off with that worry and the knowledge of the hills that were to come. My second round of splits really told the story. It was almost immediate that I slowed down. By the time I got to Brandywine Park I was almost 2 minutes per mile slower….ignore the splits shown from mile 22-24…I hit my lap button by mistake and was just trying to get aligned with the mile markers. The second half of the course had much less runners and as we were going through mostly residential areas the spectators were limited. There were a few fresh legged relay runners….grrrr…they don’t make you feel good as you are struggling late in a race. I will say though that the day was beautiful and the sun was out.

My second half splits

Once I had the hill at my 25 again I knew that the second half struggle was nearly over. It was a shame. I felt fairly good coming into this but I was just tired. I didn’t have the energy to sustain my second loop. My second half split was 2:15:59, over 20 minutes slower. Still, crossing a marathon finish line is always a win so with a combined time of 4:09:28 it was still not my worst by any means. As you can see from my picture below, I’m still smiling.

A finish line is always a win

The race itself was well supported although there could be have been a few more water stops on the back half of the loop. As this was primarily residential I can see how this may have been tough logistically. I think the race team did a great job but I think this is going to be a one and done race for me….those hills!!!!

My elevation map. That last little blip at mile 12 and mile 25 were tough

Thank you for reading.

2017 Philadelphia Marathon – Race recap

December 29, 2017ianesenior Leave a comment

On Sunday 19^th November I participated in my sixth Philadelphia Marathon. I have come quite a way since my very first marathon also in Philadelphia in 2011. This race would take my total number of marathons to 19 setting the stage for number 20 in January at Walt Disney World. Trying not to get ahead of myself though, I’d like to focus on my experience for this race.

Last year the running of the Philadelphia Marathon transferred hands from the City of Philadelphia to the race team that hosts the Broad Street Run. They made some changes to the weekend, some welcomed and some less so. One of the changes was to split the half and the full races into separate days and different courses. They also created a challenge event for those that participated in both races, the ‘Rocky Challenge’. If you follow my recap from last year you can read how that unfolded.

This year the race organizers announced the challenge (rebranded the ‘Liberty Bell Challenge’) at the time of registration. Seeing as I will be running a 39.3 mile event at Walt Disney World in January I decided that I would focus on just the marathon this time around. I do occasionally need to get some sleep.

As always, I was getting excited prior to race day as I followed my friends running the Chicago Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon and the New York City Marathon in the weeks leading up to Philly. I was just waiting for it to be my turn. Soon enough though the weekend rolled around.

I visited the expo on Friday evening. It was again held at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Center City. Packet pickup was fairly straight forward. I was only doing the marathon this year but it looked like they were pretty organized for the challenge runners unlike last year when no one seemed to know what I was talking about.

Arriving at the Convention Center

Expo time

Once I picked up my race bib and shirt I went back to a table I had passed on my way to packet pick up to do a quick meet and greet with Bill Rodgers who was signing copies of his new book. I asked him to sign my bib as I had met him previously but didn’t think to ask him for his signature. I hoped that having a four time Boston Marathon and four time New York City Marathon winner and former Olympian sign my bib would automatically make me run faster…

Bib pick was well organized

Bib pickup was fairly easy

Once I had finished meeting Bill (he’s a talker 🙂 ) I headed over to the expo and to the race merchandise area. As per prior year it was well stocked and divided up into men’s and women’s sections. I made my purchase of a puffer vest that I had looked at the prior year and passed on and also a new beanie. I was happy with my purchases but even happier about the bag that they provided for my new gear. Okay, maybe I get too excited by race expos but I thought that if they are going to take the time to provide logo bags then they might enhance the running experience on the day. We shall see.

Meeting Bill Rodgers

Fingers crossed this brings me good luck

At the expo they had the Lexus pace car on display. It was covered with the names of all the runners. This was not an alphabetical list so after a few minutes of looking for my name I gave up. I’m sure it was somewhere on there. Why would it not be alphabetical????

Seriously…not alphabetical?

I didn’t make any major purchases at the expo…unless you count registering for another marathon. Yup, I’m now registered for the 2018 Delaware Marathon in late April. I had my eye on this as I can drive there on the day and I was looking for a spring race. They were offering a discount so I went for it. Looks like another winter training plan for me. With no other merchandise jumping out at me and no other needs or accessories that were required I headed home for an early night and hopefully a restful weekend.

Something different

My next race…after my next race

What was planned to be a restful day came to a grinding halt early Saturday afternoon. While I was driving the family to the car dealership so my wife could do some test drives, I had a major cramp in my left calf. It came from nowhere and was extremely painful. I couldn’t walk for a good amount of time and I was seriously concerned. I reached out to my runner friends for advice and they all told me to hydrate. I started pounding water for the next couple of hours to which came the next bit of advice…don’t drink just water, electrolytes…you need electrolytes. So at this point I was heading home and started taking salt tabs every 30 minutes or so as I tried to massage out my calf. Then I was told to take an Epsom salt bath which I did and followed that up with a hot shower. Next up, icy hot applied to the area and then a calf sleeve. Desperate….you betcha!!!!

Well, with nothing more that I could do I headed to bed. Hoping that the rain that had been coming down all afternoon would give way to some better weather (spoiler alert – it didn’t) and that I would get a good night’s sleep so that I would wake up rested, relaxed and hopefully with a seemingly normal feeling calf muscle.

All set and ready for the next day

….so at 3am when my neighbors were still partying I sat up in bed and decided then and there that I was buying my eldest a full drum kit when he needed it…

My alarm went off around 4am. I started to get ready, very bleary eyed, listening to the wind and rain outside the window and feeling my calf muscle still sore and tight. I guess my goal time was out for the day.

I headed downtown hoping to get to my regular parking lot before they started blocking off the roads and was able to make good time. It was still raining while I was driving down and also as I walked to the race staging area holding onto my rain poncho and praying it didn’t fly away. Thankfully as the morning started to break the rain stopped. There was still a very strong wind and it was cold but at least the rain had stopped. That was something.

Heading to the race start and clinging onto my poncho so it wouldn’t fly away

Unfortunately due to the amount of rain which had been falling steadily since Saturday afternoon the ground was saturated. It was pooled with water and muddy in many areas. I met up with a colleague who was also running and we headed to bag check together. In past years (each of the 5 previous times I have run this race) bag check is in Eakin’s Oval itself on the paved area. This year they had moved it off to the side of Eakins Oval. While the trucks were on the street you could only access this by walking across the grass…which happened to be almost ankle deep with wet mud in places. Another annoying aspect of the bag check was that it wasn’t sorted by bib number nor alphabetically, it was a first come first served process. Everyone went to the first truck they saw which was out of the way of the soggy ground. This became a mad crowd surge as people started hearing the National Anthem being sung. We had only a few minutes to get to our corrals before our waves went off and people were still queueing up to check their bags. Crazy. What a mess. I ended up with a tag from truck 2 and my bag was put on truck 3. I’d have to hope that they sorted the bags out before I got back at the end of the race.

A grey morning start at the corral

The race had already started before I made it to my corral but my corral had not yet been released. It was a mad dash but I made it. Talk about an adrenaline rush. It was crazy. Although the rain had cleared it was still cloudy. The temperatures were in the high 40s but with winds of 25mph+ and gusting well above that the temperatures felt much colder.

Once my corral was released and we were underway I kept up with the pack of runners around me. I had set my goal time to sub 3:50 hours and a secondary goal of 4:00 hours. This meant running a pace in the mid 8:30 minutes/mile. As we were running down towards Delaware Avenue (around mile 2) a gust of wind blew as we passed by a gap in the buildings and everyone moved sideways. Wow. It was strong. I was able to maintain a pace between 8:25-8:30 minutes/mile for the first 7 miles or so despite the headwind but as I ran towards Chestnut Street around the old city I felt my calf tweak again and I knew at that time I would have to back off or at least do something different.

I had not been doing any run/walk intervals during races since running the Mohwak Hudson Marathon back in 2016. With the sudden jolt to my left calf I decided to minimize any pain/damage and go back to my old intervals. My Garmin watch still had alerts as I had never turned them off so I just settled into a 4:00/0:30 minutes/mile run/walk ratio so that I could keep my momentum going. This slowed my pace a little but not considerably so I was able to keep moving at a decent pace. My sub 3:50 may be out of reach but I felt good for a sub 4:00 hour (or close to it).

Running up Chestnut Street towards Drexel University was like a 2 mile wind tunnel. All around me people were losing hats/visors. I tightened my hat on my head and just pushed into the wind waiting for a break when we turned the corner up towards Fairmount Park. The wind was pretty brutal.

The sun was out though so it was still an enjoyable run. The crowds were out to cheer despite the cold and the wind. That is one of the best things about the Philadelphia Marathon. The crowd support for the first 10 miles is great. It thins out a lot in Fairmount Park until you get back to the Art Museum around mile 14 and then thins again until you hit Manyunk. Still, the crowds are one factor in this race that keeps me coming back again and again.

The run through Fairmount Park was fine (once you get beyond the big hill up to Memorial Hall) and I’m glad we get to spend more time in the park so that we can avoid the old out and back that used to be around mile 17. This however prevents you from hitting the half way mark at the Art Museum as used to be the case when the Half and Full marathon was run on the same day. We hit the Art Museum around mile 14 since they changed the course and I was there just in time to see the race leaders making their way up the finish line. Yup, they were 12 full miles ahead of me…and running in singlets in this weather.

The slog…sorry, run…up to Manyunk along Kelly Drive is scenic but into wind is just tough. Very tough. There is no shelter from the wind the whole time you are running. The course is fairly flat but it felt like you were running up hill all the way as the wind was just relentless. Some of my friends behind me took pictures next to trees that had been snapped in the wind. Yes, I’m not exaggerating that the wind was strong.

At least when we entered Manyunk we were sheltered from the wind by the buildings. This also made it much warmer for those miles. The run through Manyunk is an out and back from mile 19 to 21. There is a slight uphill but with a break from the wind this didn’t seem too bad. I was slowing a little though. My pace had fallen off while running miles 14 to 19 into the head wind. I was probably not looking to make my 4:00 backup goal. My goal was to finish and do so with a smile.

So, thinking that if you are running into wind you would have it on your back on the way in would make sense…neh, all of a sudden you get a cross wind on the way back from mile 21 to 26 (insert face palm emoji here…) The run back was steady. I was just looking to finish at this point. My legs were aching more than usual for a marathon. I can really describe conditions as though you were running uphill the whole way because the wind was honestly that strong on the day.

I made it to the finish line in 4:08. Not my best time but again not my worst. I was very relieved to finish this one. As I was running the finisher chute there was a runner receiving emergency medical treatment just in front of the finish line. I saw someone go down just after they crossed the finish line. It was not an easy day. Still, marathon number 19 was in the books.

Another marathon finish in the books

Marathon #19 complete

I stopped for a large cup of hot coffee on my way home. I’d earned that for sure. Usually I’m pretty much up and about the afternoon of a marathon but I was cooked. I needed to rest up. I reviewed my running data and looked at my charts. Holy moly that was an effort today. My time in the highest heart rate zone was insane. 2:31 hours out of the 4:08 was almost at maximum effort. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it was not an easy day.

24 ounces of pure gold

A little too much time in the high red zone

Interestingly enough, it took me a few extra days to recover from this race. I’m usually sore a day or two after a marathon but I was really struggling even by day 3. I finally was able to run properly just in time for our Thanksgiving Day run on the Thursday post race.

I told my wife I may be taking a break from Philly after this year, after all, I’m running the 2018 New York City Marathon next November. That was until Black Friday when I signed both my wife and myself up for what will be the 25^th anniversary running of the Philadelphia Marathon. I’m a sucker for a special medal.

So, until next year…

philly2goofy

…and all the miles in between

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London Marathon 2025

Atlantic City Marathon 2024 – Race Recap

Don’t call it a comeback…it’s business as usual

Athens Marathon 2022 – Race Recap

I’m Still Standing…

2019 Los Angeles Marathon – Race recap

2018 Philadelphia Marathon – race recap

2018 TCS New York City Marathon – race recap

2018 Delaware Marathon – race recap

2017 Philadelphia Marathon – Race recap

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