CLARENCE DEMAR MARATHON
Keene, New Hampshire
September 26, 2004

I have a new streak going that I hope I break with my next marathon. I have left the state on two consecutive occasions to run a marathon and a hurricane came through Brevard. Not only did the hurricane hit Brevard but they also hit the same day as I ran the marathon. Fair warning, I will be running my next marathon on October 24, still hurricane season. I just realized I have a second streak that I would like to break. This is two marathons in a row where my return flight was cancelled. My return flight from Humpy¹s¹ was cancelled due to mechanical failure and my return from Clarence Demar was cancelled due to Orlando International being closed due to Jeanne.

When Linda and Craig Thompson and I left Orlando Thursday morning, September 23, there was no threat of Hurricane Jeanne hitting Florida. Shortly after we arrived in Keene we heard that there was a very good chance that Jeanne was going to be upgraded to a Class III hurricane and it was heading for Melbourne. With each hurricane update Jeanne was narrowing in on Melbourne. Linda and Craig initially decided to catch a flight back home early Friday. Craig later convinced Linda to stay in Keene and run the marathon and he would return to take care of everything back home. Linda finally gave in and ran the marathon. The rest of the weekend was occupied with the marathon and Jeanne.

Linda, Karen (a 50 stater who we met in Bismarck last year) and I drove the open loop course Saturday morning. According to the course map, the start line is just north of Œthe Store¹ in Gilsum. The store was easy to find since there was only one store in Gilsum. The trees in southern New Hampshire just started changing color but were mostly green. The rolling hill course seemed very nice but not scenic enough to warrant carrying my camera during the marathon. The one exception was a covered bridge we would run through at about the 19.5-mile mark. Since I was driving, I decided to stop and take a few pictures of the bridge. The only significant hill occurs at about 17 3/4 miles. The combined up hill and down is probably close to a mile in length.

Packet pick up started at 4:00 PM at Keene State College (KSC) cafeteria. The marathon shirt was a high quality, well-designed, long sleeve shirt with no advertising on it. There was no expo and the pre marathon pasta dinner followed packet pick up. A few other 50 staters who we met at previous marathons joined Linda, Karen and me.

It was only about a one-mile drive from our motel to KSC where we picked up the bus to the starting line in Gilsum. The temperature in Gilsum was comfortable, probably in the mid 60¹s and low humidity. There were approximately 350 registered starters. There is a bout 400-foot elevation drop from the start to the finish. Most of the downhill occurs over the first few miles, but even over those miles there are quite a few hills. The first mile is almost all down hill and I covered it in 7:49. At about the 3/4-mile we approach the Stone Bridge which didn¹t seem too scenic when driving it Saturday, especially when there were no runners crossing the bridge. The next six miles are run along side a gurgling stream, through some of New Hampshire¹s beautiful forests and past several farms. We also ran past a few small lakes where the trees are turning a nice shade of orange, red and yellow. So at about 10K into the marathon I realize this course is a lot more scenic by foot (running) then by driving. May be I should have carried my camera, too late now. Mile 2 through 4 splits are 8:06, 7:39, 8:04, to fast especially considering I wasn¹t feeling good the week leading up to the marathon. I was running a temperature Monday and Tuesday and coughing the rest of the week and felt a little weak. Right after the start through the rest of the marathon I could hear myself wheezing, not a good sign. Two days after the marathon I wound up with a sore throat and then a chest cold. I must have been fairly well hydrated since I had to make a pit stop during mile 5 and had a 9:21 split. Miles 6 through 8 splits were 8:14, 8:28 and 8:16. Part way through mile-9 a nice looking young woman pulled up along side of me and slowly started to pull away. I decided to try and stay with her and see if she could pull me through the next 16 miles. Right, like that was really going to happen. I stayed with her through mile 10 with splits of 8:29 and 8:07. OK, I really need to slow down now. Miles 11 through 13 were 8:40, 8:40 and 8:27. My half marathon split was 1:49 flat, a 3:38 projected marathon. As if we needed a reminder, we turn onto Hurricane Drive shortly after the half marathon mark. Hurricane Drive is the start of our tour of several residential neighborhoods on the outskirts of Keene. I did start to slow down and ran mile 14 through 17 in 9:00, 8:40, 8:55 and 8:42. Still on pace for a sub 3:40 marathon if I can maintain a sub 9:00 minute pace. Mile 17 and 18 we hit the big up and down hill. Splits were 9:35 and 9:32. Miles 19 through 21 weren¹t much better with splits of 9:13, 9:51 and 9:38. Just past mile 22 we ran by Clarence Demar¹s (7 time winner of the Boston Marathon) house. I would like to think I slowed down to get a good look at the house but I didn¹t and I had a split of 9:55. It was during this time when I started thinking about Dave Farrell who told me several times how much I would like this course, especially how fast and easy it was. I was thinking how hard the course was and not how easy it was suppose to be. There is no such thing as an easy course if you are a little sick and if you go out to fast. I just tried to hang on the best I could over miles 23 through 26. The last couple of miles were run on Route 101 which had a lot of traffic and wasn¹t a very safe road to run. Splits were 10:36, 10:03, 10:24, and 2:07, Finishing time was 3:54:45, placing 5th out of 24 in my age group and 140 overall. The weather may have had a little to do with my time. We probably hit a high in the low 70¹s, but compared to some of the hot marathons I ran over the past couple of years, this marathon seemed comfortable. Overall I would rate this marathon very high. It was very scenic, supposedly a fast course and well organized.

Linda went into this marathon with a bad calf muscle and completed her 30th state in 5:10:23. Her next marathon is New York City November 7.

My times lately are reinforcing my new philosophy of ³I don¹t run for good times, I run to have good times². 58 marathons completed in 47 states and Washington DC. Next marathon is the Duke City Marathon in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 24 with Bob Panzak and Dave Farrell.

Rest if you must, just don't quit,
Marty