MID SOUTH MARATHON
Wynne, Arkansas
November 6, 2003

Linda Thompson called this the marathon the Marathon From Hell. I wouldn’t go that far, but she wasn’t that far off. To try and explain how difficult this marathon was let me give you a few facts:

Ridge Runner in West Virginia, where I ran a 4:08:34, was the toughest, hilliest course I have run to date and my slowest. I was ready to drop out at mile 1.

I ran a 4:04:34 at American Discovery in Colorado Springs. It was my first marathon at altitude greater than 1 mile. I walked most of the last 10K and still managed to win my age group.

Now comes the Mid South Marathon in Wynne, Arkansas. I’ll give you several excuses later, but for now let me just that this was the hottest marathon. I have run to date. According to the race director, the temperature at 7:30, a half hour before the start, was already 70 degrees. Four hours into the marathon it had reached 88 degrees. And, I am guessing, the humidity was over 80%. The weather conditions brought out every ambulance in Cross County, all three of them. EMT’s were on the course and at the finish line area.

I little more than 300 marathoners and about 300 half marathoners gathered at Wynne High School for the start. The course is out and back with only nines turns. The course ran through rural farm country and offered little shade for the runners. Each of the 13 aid stations on the course had a theme with the Hillbillies at mile 1 and 25 winning the best theme. The Mardi Gras aid station at mile 2 and 24 took runner-up. Thirteen aid stations on the course provided water and Gatorade at each mile.

Given the weather conditions and not being well rested I planned to walk 30 seconds at each aid station and 60 seconds at miles 20 through 25. I actually felt good during the first 20 miles. My first half marathon splits were 8:12, 8:41, 8:23, 8:07, 8:25, 8:26, 8:45, 8:46, 8:26, 8:39, 8:52, 8: 25 for 1:51:10. This gave me a projected finishing time of 3:42:20. The next 13 miles were 8:34, 8:38, 8:41, 8:47, 8:54, 8:56, 9:07, 9:18 and 10:40 (see a trend here?).

At 22 miles I was reduced to walking. Not running, shuffling and walking, but to walking only. Any attempt to run was short lived due to cramping and light-headedness. My last 4 miles were 13:10, 13:16, 13:41,13:38. I kind-of ran part of the last two-tenths (had to make it look good for the finish line pictures). Finishing time 4:08:34. This was the same time I had at the American Discovery Marathon in Colorado Springs, equaling my worst time. Also note 34 seconds at Ridge Runner Marathon. I’m beginning to not like the number 34.

While walking the last 4-miles, only one person passed me per mile during mile 23, 24 and 25. Ken Winn and Linda Thompson both commented that at several points late in the marathon, all they could see was a parade of walkers both in front and behind them. Not only were quite a few runners reduced to walking like myself, but also 81 marathoners did not finish (DNF). This equates to 25% of the field. Three to 5 percent is a typical DNF rate.

In spite of my slow time I still managed to place third out of 18 finishers in my age group and place 57th out of 238 finishers. Linda and Ken both finished in 4:52:40 with Linda placing third in her age group.

The race organization, shirts, awards, finisher medals, pasta dinner, post marathon food, etc. was excellent. I have absolutely no problem recommending this marathon to anyone looking for a small low-keyed, exceptionally well-run marathon. That is assuming the weather cooperates, which it usually does. The 2002 marathon had temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s.

As I said I would, here are my other excuses: This was my third marathon in eight weeks with my last one, St George, ran fairly hard (3:33:57). I didn’t feel rested going into this marathon. The course had quite a few hills, nothing really steep or challenging, but they did take a toll over 26 miles. Little shade and the sun was hot.

53 marathons completed in 42 states and Washington DC. Next marathon is the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN on December 6 with Ken Winn. Linda Thompson is planning to run Rocket City in Huntsville, AL on December 13.

Running 53 marathons have a taught me a lot about marathoning, but I continue to learn something new with each marathon. The lesson I learned at Mid South is one I feel I need to share with any of you who run marathons. It is one that I actually knew better but just didn’t think.

After crossing the finishing line I grabbed a large cup of Gatorade, maybe 8 ounces. There was not food at the finish line and there was not shade in the finish line area. Since the marathon finished at the high school we had access to the showers. So I took my Gatorade and slowly walked a quarter mile to our car where we had dry clothes. I never saw any fluids or food but knew there was some at the cafeteria, wherever that was. I then walked back to the car to drop off my wet clothes and to pick up Linda’s dry clothes. Ken’s friend Vicky was driving along the course tracking Ken and Linda and Vicky had Ken’s clothes. On the way to the car I saw Linda and Ken near the 26-mile mark. So after dropping off my clothes and getting Linda’s clothes I walked back to the finish line. I found them laying in the grass recovering. Again, there was no food or shade in the area, only some water and Gatorade. We sat there for close to an hour. I was starting to really get hungry and told them I needed to get something to eat. I walked Linda and Ken to the showers and went to the cafeteria where they had fruit, pizza, cookies, bar-b-q, bread, soft drinks, Gatorade, water, etc. The cafeteria was air-conditioned which felt great.

Nearly two-hours after finishing the marathon and within 30 seconds after sitting down with some food, I started to sweat like I never sweated before. The sweat was literally pouring off of me. I also started getting light headed. Vicky came into the cafeteria at this time, saw me and asked if I needed help. I was just second’s away form passing out when Vicky returned with an EMT. He was one of several EMTs helping runners. He had me lie down on the floor and started giving me fluids and sugar (Sierra Mist). After about 20 minutes of lying down and slowly drinking I was able to sit up feel a little normal. I have always eaten and taken fluids after a marathon. Just didn’t do it this time.

Although I knew better, the circumstances, the inconvenience of finding fluids and food, no one at the finish line to help me and the fact that I felt fine, kept me from thinking that I needed to replenish my body with fluids, nutrients, calories, etc. When I started to feel like I was going to pass out, it hit me so quickly that there was nothing I could do to help myself. I didn’t even think to lie down on the floor so not to hurt myself if I did pass out. Lesson learned: eat and drink so you can be merry.

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