Race Report #2 2008: Tucson Marathon 2007

Sometimes a race is more important than a finishing medal.

Part of my desire to make my first two races of the 2008 season non-competitive, is because I felt that I had to reconnect with the heart of endurance sport. I spent so much time training for Ironmans and PR's that it became all about me. All about me beating the clock and beating my team mates and others on the course.

John (an Ironman), Dan (an Ironman) and myself, all traveled to Tucson for John to PR the marathon. Dan drove all the over from San Diego.

John is a capable swimmer and cyclist, yet he falls apart on the run. In fact he doesn't run. At his Ironman he calculated exactly what pace he had to walk to finish before midnight and did exactly that, with the best attitude I saw the entire time on the course. So he has been training, through some pretty scary physical issues, to at some point PR the marathon distance. The Tucson marathon with its mostly downhill course provided the right impetuous for him. Dan and I signed on as his personal race support on the course.

The expo was small but fun. I love expos. But I left mostly empty hand because the PF Chang expo is massive and in just a few weeks. I met some locals that had also came down which always makes the time more fun. Later that night at Olive Garden I saw even more locals and it was like a dinner party. Triathletes for the most part are such fun loving people that when all they have to do is one of the three events, its very lighthearted.

The day started with freezingly could temps. At least to me. I have I must admit become a wuss for cold weather. I love cold inclimate weather but the prospect of standing in it for 90 minutes in just running shorts and tee-shirt before a race...forget it. So I wore three layers of clothing. The top most layer being a set of sweats that were tossed for donation after serving their purpose.

John was adamant about a 2:1 run/walk pace and started it immediately. Right off the bat because this is a small race, the three of us were in the very back.

Dan and I have met in the past, many times, but really bonded over the weekend. Great guy. Being Johns brother he was able to bring a level of motivation that I could not. He promised us a funny joke that he would tell us 500 times. Well he may have only said it 100 times but because he kept changing the punchline and after all the hours out there, it never got boring.

By 13.1 miles, John was in poor shape. We had moved off the 2:1 program for "small victory's", running to signs and landmarks ahead then walking a spell. There was wobble in the walk, pain in the knees, lots of sweating. But we kept him motivated and hydrated. To Johns immense credit he never once voiced negative concerns or said he wanted to stop. He took to heart my personal mantra of, "Ever Forward". Not once did he stop unless it was to perform some sort of maintenance such as stripping off layers of clothing or apply a bandaid or Vaseline to hot spots and never for long. Dan and I were able to run ahead to aid stations to fill bottles, we also took turns up front setting the pace or staying back to talk John through the effort.

He had a great streak between miles 14 and 20. He never failed to complete whatever distance we laid before him. At mile 18 the we saw the only spectators we had seen in hours. Dan ran blindly forward to thank them for their enthusiasm and patience as he had with all volunteers and spectators this day. As we got closer I realized they were friends. Tony and his finance must have waited a long time for us. Tony is a member of AZTRICLUB. John was quite moved by this selfless act. God I love this sport.

By 20 miles however, the grime reality was that we were not going to make the six hour race cut off in time. Undeterred we moved ever forward. The volunteers had long abandoned their stations but all the fluids remained. An oasis in the desert. But all thing must come to an end and the cones were all picked up and traffic reopened so for several miles we were forced to run on sidewalks and dirt paths.

When we finally got to the finish line, or the proximity of the finish line, we were warmly greeted by those that remained, had our chips removed and even received medals for our effort. How unexpected!! We were showered with iced drinks and remaining food, actually leaving with boxes of unopened finish line food.

I must say that I felt great. Though I had the expected soreness of being on my feet for that long, I had no blisters, no pains, no hot spots that I didn't already have before the race. The longest marathon I have ever run and maybe, quite possibly the most fun I have had in race. I was able to thank every single volunteer, support person and spectator. It was the final filling of my humble cup before the looming race season gets into full swing. I sought to learn the humility that one needs before undertaking the Heroes Journey described by Joesph Campbell and in my last two events I did exactly that.

In the end, the marathon ended the the only way the three of us knew it would. Three friends, Ironman's all, tucking into big plates of food and tall beers rehashing a long day of running with some laughing, some joshing and one last telling of a long tired joke.

Oh yeah, John PR'd the marathon by 40 minutes.