Yes, you read inaugural and I know that it is not good to run an inaugural race. The fact that it was a first time race never dawned on me when I started training for it back in July. When Linda Thompson told my wife that she was going to Rhode Island and we were looking for a Fall marathon, I was told to start training.
My wife and I flew up to Rhode Island on Thursday to do some sightseeing. When my wife and I go to a marathon site she insists on walking me all over the countryside the day before the marathon. She says it is to get me loose. Linda, her husband, and Bob Panzak arrived on Friday.
From the time we drove into Middletown we realized there was a shortage of road signs. The town does not go all out for street signs. We missed our turn for the street the hotel was on. We made a few left turns to try coming in the back way, but did not go far enough. When we backtracked and proceeded on the correct street we realized how close we were to begin with.
The long-range weather forecast called for rain on Saturday race day. On Friday the rain was to hold off until the following afternoon. An afternoon rain would be okay in my book, just so it was not raining before the start. I don’t like standing around in the rain. I love to run in the rain.
Lisa and I were glad to see Linda, Craig and Bob. Linda had mentioned not going to Rhode Island because of Hurricane Wilma. It was because of Linda that we were even there. If she didn’t show up we would have been disappointed.
My wife saw at the packet pickup that there were long sleeve sweatshirts, but no one was giving them out. She found out, in her curious way, that the organizers did not really know what to do with them. The result was that if the runners did not like the commemorative Coolmax tee shirts, an exchange could be made. Lisa took advantage of this exchange for Linda and me.
The marathon offered a tour of some of the Newport mansions at a discounted rate, but no one to organize it. My wife took charge. She ended up getting a free sweatshirt and free admission to the Breakers Mansion.
We decided to pass on the Prerace dinner at the Red Parrot Restaurant. We found a flyer at the hotel for a restaurant we thought we would try. Bob was to meet us there. When we were driving by, the girls did not like the place. We called Bob on his cell phone, just as he was going to put his hand on the door. He said he was just about to order even though he was not inside the establishment. We picked him up and went elsewhere.
When you make the trip up to run the Breakers Marathon, walk the Cliff Walk, visit the famous mansions on Bellview Avenue, and walk around historic Newport. Two restaurants that were suggested to us were “Portabellas” and “The Salavation Café”. We were pleased with both.
My wife and I decided to drive the course on Friday morning so that we would know where to go in the dark on Saturday morning. That was difficult. The course description from the website gave two starting points. Roads in the area did not have street signs and some roads were closed for construction. We did find the school easily where the start/finish activities were to be held.
The course maps and some inquiries with the race director, at the packet pickup, assured us of ample parking and the main course roads would be open. The three-loop course was described to be rolling with some long, gradual hills. The hills were not to be extreme, but would be challenging to flatlanders. The start/finish was 196 feet above sea level. There was a two and a half-mile down hill to 6 feet above sea level. The last five or so miles were hilly and challenging. The altitude ran from 6 to 39 to 102 to 60 to 92 to 70 to 216 to 203 to 214 to 168 to 192 and back to 196 at the start/finish.
Race day morning was really perfect for a marathon. It was 43 degrees with a beautiful red sky. The Biblical saying,”Red skies in the morning, Sailors’ warning” applies to runners. The discussion prior to the start centered on the sky, but at the time no one took it for a sign. The rain was not to occur until late afternoon.
My prerace strategy was to run the first lap slower than a comfortable pace, the second at a comfortable pace and then see what I had left. As the gun went off, I thought I was going slower than normal. Bob and I were running side by side at a conversational pace. Linda could hear us and said we were too slow because we were in her sight. I moved ahead of Bob; I am not sure why. I felt very comfortable. My first five-mile splits were 8:37, 8:20, 8:40, 8:44, 8:25 and 8:24. Then we hit the hills for the first time. The first thing that came to my mind was what Rebecca Sparks taught us for running the causeway. Run on your toes with high knees and relax going downhill. So that is what I did the first time. The split times for the hills were 9:23, 8:40, 8:37, 9:32 and 8:27 for the first lap (10 miles) time of 1:25:09.
The down hill section of the course gave me a chance to run easy. I had a 16:37 for two miles and 8:59 for the third. I came to an intersection that formed two small triangles. I knew that I had to go left, but not sure if I had to go around one or two or neither of them. I asked a policeman who was stationed there and he knew less than I did. A fellow runner yelled at me to turn left. I lost about a couple hundred yards and a few seconds. The sky opened up, I think, on the second lap and the rains came down. I like running in the rain but my feet got cold and it became miserable. I hit the half marathon mark about 1:52. That is about an 8:30 pace. I had planned to run negative splits. The chances of that were small. The halves were the direct opposite of each other. The first half had two down hill sections and one up hill section, while the second half had two up hill sections and one down hill section. I am not sure if I ran the hills the 2nd and 3rd times on my toes with high knees. I was really not sure about anything at this point. My split times for the second set of hill miles was 8:48, 8:42 missed a mile marker and had a 19:02 for two miles and a 9:58. My second lap time for about 8 miles was about 1:10:46.
My wife went to breakfast after the start of the race. She assisted at the water stop when she returned. She asked the volunteers if a runner came by wearing a “Go Big Foot” singlet. She was told that I had come by trying to get the spectators to clap. My wife said, ”that was him all right”. She knew I was okay the first time around.
It was really great to see my wife at the end of the second lap. I gave her my jacket and a big kiss and said that I would see her in about an hour. Off down the hill I went. My three –mile down hill splits were 8:32, 8:21, and 9:24 starting up the hill.
I try to run from water stop to water stop with a minute walk at each. The second lap I had to add one or two extra minute walks. The third lap caused me to walk 3 or 4 times, which is not really bad for a flatlander. I think I ran the pace I did because my feet were wet and became cold and I wanted to get warm. The police struck again. There must have been too many cars for traffic control to handle at the last intersection. There were cars parked and lined up everywhere. I had to cut the corner on the grass to get through. I was glad to finish the last lap of the course and circle the track twice to FINISH!! My splits were 9:37, 8:58, 19:05 for two, and 10:18 for the last mile and a tenth. I ran this 8 miles in 1:12 minutes. My total time was 3 hours and 53 minutes.
The post race food and drinks were pretty good. There were plenty of munchies, it was warm in the building and they handed out our finisher medals. Are not the medals really why one runs 26.2 miles? I am not in this running thing for the health of it. I want the hardware.
We went back out in the cold to encourage Linda for her better than expected finish. Bob and Linda both finished under the times they wanted. The Breakers Marathon experience is now history.
Home to train for the next marathon.