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Good luck to all of you in Boston tomorrow. Run your own races and don't let the mob determine your pace!

It looks like a perfect day. Temperatures are forecast to be in the low fifties and you're going to have a 17 mph tailwind. It doesn't get any better than that!

Enjoy the experience and drink it all in.

Kyle

I hear ya. Two of the times I ran Boston I was either sick or injured. In '81 I got sicker than a dog two days before the race and struggled to a 3:11 while running a fever. In '83 I tore a calf muscle pretty bad on the first of March and it was the first of April before I could run again at all. I managed a 3:01 and was happy to do it. Ironically, other than my first marathon, those were the only times I wasn't sub-3:00.

Wow, has this thing changed since I ran it in 1980 - 1983! I knew the number of entrants had skyrocketed and I can sort of guess what the "Wave" thing means. But the one that really got me was what they've done to the qualifying times. When I ran it, I had to run sub - 2:50 to get in. Now, for that same age group, you can qualify with 3:10:59!

Zbarebow pace 6:45 Wannagan pace 6:50 Elkwatcher pace 7:18

great start for all three 20 miles to go

Brian's first four 5K splits were 20:51, 20:58, 20:50, and 21:04. Great consistency! He hit the 1/2 at 1:28:15. Mark's only a minute behind Brian and his splits are equally consistent. Steve's been slowing a bit at each split but is still averaging a 7:30 pace.

I was thinking the same thing! BTW, I was born in Fargo, so can I get on your list? ;~)

Mark went through 25 K with his last split @ 21:27. He's slowing a little, but not too badly.

GO BRIAN!!!

I believe the offset adjusts for the time it takes for the runner to cross the starting line rather than recording his time from when the gun went off. It keeps the runner from being penalized for being hundreds of feet back from the actual starting line when the gun fires.

Congrats, indeed! A sub-three hour marathon is a very special accomplishment, esp. as Brian is 45 years old!

Edit - Is my math wrong or is that averaging just under a 7 min/mile pace?

Brian averaged 6:50/mile.

Great job by all three of them. Just eyeballing it, but it looks like Steve finished in the top 44%, Mark in the top 15% and Brian in the top 7%, assuming 20,000 runners. ALL THREE are in their 40's and Steve is 49!

Guys, that's a 4:41.55 minute/mile pace for over 26 consecutive miles! Simply astonishing! And the guy who finished 2nd was just two seconds behind him!

Brian, no need to bring your bow for elk this year. Just chase them till they drop!! Rob

Yeah, you're right. I forgot about that. Point-to-point courses are not eligible for world records.

Does it not qualify or did this one not qualify because of a tailwind?

If it's still the way it used to be when I was racing marathons, the start and the finish have to be within a certain distance of each other. That was something like maybe 10% of the race distance. Elevation change and wind were the reasons for that.

Heck, there are elks all over Boston. They even have their own clubs. See the link!

A guy can never get in too much hill work, no matter what the race course. Most people think the hard part of hills is going up. Maybe so, but the hard part on your body is going down. You can really beat your quads to death running downhill. The hills at Boston are very mild, but coming from Iowa as you do, they probably seem a lot worse than they would to someone who lives and trains in the mountains.

Put your feet up, sit back, have a cold one and enjoy your memories! You earned it! Good job!

Steve- Sorry I lost you. (I suspect it was on my end, crappy signal at my hotel). To bad, I was just about to give you the lat/long of my hunting spots! LOL! Nice talking about hunting and walleye fishing.

Kyle- This is the 1st chance I had to look at my 5K splits. I'll take them!

As far as the race, no course has been more researched, examined and studied more than Boston. So I had plenty of info to digest. When people think of Boston, they hear about the "hills". Specifically, the hills in Newton. But one of the overlooked things was the significant decline in the 1st several miles. Many runners get caught up with eaphoria, adrenaline, and "feeling good" and they come out fast. This race significantly punishes those who come out too fast.

My plan was to start out in control and hit my rhythm around mile 4 or 5. My calves were a little tight from the initial decent, but they loosed up by mile 5. By the time I hit the 1/2 way point, I was about 45 sec ahead of my goal. I figured I would have a fade in the hills, but didn't know how much. The up hill sections end around mile 21-22. When I glance down at my GPS, (I was just shy of 22, I asked the guy if the hills are over. He said "Yes".) I thought, those hills weren't that bad, and I started to open up. I knew I was within goal, but didn't want to do anything stupid either. (I was real worried about cramping). My hamstrings were tight, quads were sore, but I was still rolling. I was reminded of this as I watched a guy lock up and hit the ground while running at a 6:40 pace. (Not a good sound!) I hit the 25.2 mile mark and I had just over 8 minutes to do it. Since I had yet to run a 8 min mile, I wasn't about to start now!

As I turned off of Hereford on to Boylston, I knew I had it and ran hard until the end. I wasn't going to win any beauty contests with my form, but the crowd can carry you through to the end.

I wore my race day camo top, and had some funny comments. (EX "Hey camo guy, I can't see you!" etc). Needless to say, I stood out in a field of white shirts and race singlets.

Thanks again.

Brian

Welcome home and thanks for the personal insight!

It's funny to see you flatlanders refer to those tiny up and down slopes at Boston as 'hills.' Out here in the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas, we consider little rises like the Newton Hills (total elevation gain = 170') as less than minor annoyances! lol

Just teasing, of course. In Fargo you couldn't find a 170' hill if your life depended on it. So it's all relative.

You ran an amazing race, Brian. Not just because of your time, but because of the consistency of your splits. Your WORST split produced an average speed of 6:58/mile! Danged fine work, my friend!

Did any of you have the time to walk the Freedom Trail or lunch at the Union Oyster House?

We may have to return a time or two to hit the attractions we missed!

Kyle RE: Hills. I had to fix a couple of my typos in the main post. The hills were subtle, and like you stated, it is the early downhill which suck people in for trouble later. It seemed like the course always had a tilt to it. (Which a flatlander like me notices!).

The people of that town and area supply fantastic support. They definitely help motivate you.

The first time I ran Boston was in 1980. When I ran through Wellesley I was right on the heels of the 2nd place woman. Those coeds were were packed so tight to the course I could barely get through; probably the lane at that point was 4' wide. For several hundred yards they were screaming and hollering and cheering like nothing I'd ever heard. When I got through them I was so pumped I was thinking, "That was awesome. Maybe I should circle back and do it again!" lol

That nice gentle downgrade in the first few miles is great. You can relax, not have to work hard and still knock off ten fast miles with little effort. I only remember one of my splits for that ten mile stretch - 58:30, which set me up for a good race.

BTW, you don't have to like oysters to fall in love with the Union Oyster House. They've got a wide variety of menu choices. But you really should go there next time for the history and just to see the place. You'll never forget it.

Now that you've qualified for Boston again, we look forward to having another Live Mobile Boston Marathon thread here next year!

This was my 4th marathon and I have trained harder for each and every one I have done.

Racing is also a learning experience. On shorter runs/races, small issues remain small. When running 26 miles or longer, small issues become big issues. The more you race, you become more in tune with your body as to what is working and more importantly, what doesn't work.

If you are suffering from PMS (Painful Memory Syndrome), a known cure is to erase the negative race with a positive one.

Brian and Tim, you are an inspiration to me just as Ryan Hall is. Oh by the way Brian, I could hear your coordinates when you thought the line dropped. I won't tell!!!

Congrats to all of you for running a great race!

I'd be cheering for you like crazy! Just give it a try and I'll prove it to you! ;~)

If you can run a half, you can do a marathon!

I'm pushing 63 myself so can relate to what happens to your speed as you age.

That said, you ran and finished the Boston Marathon at age 63, ya' old fart! You should be very proud of yourself for doing that!

Kyle (another old fart)

OFFHNTN

I'll never forget his comment. He said his times have started slowing. He was at his peak when he was 66 years old!

Having been born in Fargo, I understand 'flat.' lol

When I ran my best time in the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in 1991, a guy from Florida and I ran together or back and forth within a few minutes of each other for the last 75 miles.

I could easily train on the course itself, which was a huge plus for me as the WS 100 has 41,000' of elevation change. We both smoked the course that day using totally different training methods. He got his 'hill work' in by running freeway overpasses, stadium steps and driving to Georgia to train on what passes for 'mountains' there.

The message here is, "Where there's a will. there's a way."

Good on ya!

I won't touch those times mentioned above,but hope to keep an 8 minute pace for most of the race. So far in my training I'm up to 15 miles at an 8 pace. Now I just have to find a way to tough out the last 10 or so.

Whatever you do, I consider it essential that you get in at least one or two short, easy runs after you get off the mountain and before the race! You need to teach your legs that they need to transition from hiking-with-a-pack mode to running mode!

Some might ask, "What does running have to do with elk hunting?" Elk hunting is the reason I started running.

I had been on 3 elk hunts starting in 1998. I used to try and erase years of sins in two or three months by working out. (No running) Each successive hunt, I trained harder but getting into shape was also becoming tougher as I aged.

In 2006, I moved to Fargo and found out about the local marathon. I always thought running would be a great way to get in shape for elk hunting as I could be in decent shape year around. (I even bought a pair of running shoes two years earlier and ran a total of 2.4 miles on Jan 1st, 2005. But that was it for the milage log that year!). I told myself, it is time to put up or shut up. Either run, or quit talking about it! I signed up for the half marathon distance. I began training/running on Feb 1st, 2007.

I started off running 2-2.5 miles at ~10:00-11:00 pace. I thought I was going to die. When I found out I wasn't going to die, I wished someone would kill me! My initial race goal was to not embarass myself. That goal evolved into a time based goal as training progressed and I beat my goal time.

Once I was done with the race, I decided I could either return to my sedentary ways, or keep running. I decided I had worked too hard to get to this point, and the rest is history.

Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly run totals which I could not fathom ANYONE doing in 2007, I now crank out on a fairly regular basis.

For me, running is and always has been a means to an end. Although not a prerequesite to bowhunt, being in good shape defintely enhances my hunting experiences.

Thanks for reminding me about this thread. What a great read!

BTW, my wife and I will be back at Pelican Lake again in August for fishing and the Pine-to-Palm. It would be cool to hook up with you guys again.