Let's just say I'm glad this marathon is finished!
I was told by several accomplished runners that this course was tough, and to add 30 to 40 minutes to my average marathon time to determine what a projected finish would be. They were right.
Despite all of the running I've done over the last year, nothing I did prepared me for the Roxbury Marathon course. The course record, set by a top ultramarathon runner, was 3:02. This would be my most challenging marathon of the year without question. How challenging? I'll start from the beginning...
Our little man was sick with strep so Cheryl stayed with the kids and I hauled down to CT Friday night. My parents greeted me with a wonderful pasta dinner, and after catching up for a while, I hit the sack around 10pm. Couldn't sleep, and up at 4am and at 6am went to Starbucks for some coffee. Picked up my sister Amy, who accompanied me to the race.
Roxbury is a gorgeous bucolic town in Litchfield County, maybe a 40 min drive from Trumbull. Arrived at Hurlburt park, where registration was. This is as informal as a marathon gets - pay $5 and wait for the start. They had a fire going in the outdoor fireplace, but it was so cold the ink in the pens was frozen. I was the 9th person to register, and was given #9 as a bib. I joked that they had me mixed up with the elites. Probably the only time I'll ever have a single digit number, ever!
It was cold at the start (19 degrees) but clear skies. 72 runners ready to run, and at 8:30 the race director shouted GO! and we were off.
The race consisted of an 8 mile out and back (4 up turn around, 4 back to the start) which was hilly and mostly run on a rural dirt road. It felt more like a trail marathon than a traditional road marathon at that point. 7:49, 8:08, 8:14 first three miles and I felt pretty good.
After the turnaround, the hills were grueling - some runners were walking them already - and my mile 6 time was 9:11 - the earliest I have ever run a 9 minute mile. NYC for example I didn't record a +9 minute time until mile 15. So I knew then it was going to be a very l-o-n-g morning. Here is the elevation profile, which I think resembles an EKG chart:
After I returned to the mile 8 mark, which also served as the start and finish, Amy was there and handed me a PowerBar gel and a cup of water. She was also yelling 'David is King!', and made a mock bib with that written on it, a joke that goes back to our childhood, and also brought sleigh bells and was jingling and jangling them with great enthusiasm. It was wonderful to have her there!
The remainder of the course consisted of five 3.5 mile loops, so Amy would meet/greet me at the same spot and hand out a gel each time. I recorded a 9:14 for mile 9, which included the hilliest part of the loop - approximately 200+ feet of elevation gain. I'd be running that four more times? That was when I came to the realization I probably would finish +4 hours.
After rambling up the hills of Hemlock Rd (which was steep and then unpaved for a 1/2 mile stretch) we banked right onto North St, across Wellers Bridge Rd to South St, then curved up Apple Lane where the start/finish was.
My 13.1 split was around 1:55, but my mile splits were now consistently in the low 9's and getting slower. Just try to enjoy it, I told myself. Forget time. Enjoy the scenery. What a great way to spend a Saturday morning in December! But that is a very difficult thing to do when I know the clock is ticking.
Despite my sister handing me a gel every 4th mile, and being a small race there were several water stops but only one gatorade stop - which for me wasn't enough. I need it every 2 miles or so, and when my legs started to get heavy I knew I had a problem on my hands.
By mile 16 I felt like I was running in mud up to my waist. My cardio felt fine but between the hill repeats and the lack of gatorade, my leg muscles were tight, almost numb. 'Dead' is how I would describe them. I was shuffling along, not really running with a purposeful stride. Ten miles to go, and the goal became just to finish and be done with it already.
I was frustrated because by this point I wasn't really enjoying the experience, the first time I ever felt that way in a marathon. This brought back memories of this summer's ultra, when every step past mile 44 was sheer, unadulterated agony. After completing my 4th loop at mile 19 I had to walk the steepest grades on Hemlock - and that got me down because in my previous three marathons, I ran each and every step as fast as I could. Here I was walking. Aggravated. Looking at my Garmin and watching my avg. mile per minute time slip away. I kept thinking about how after all of my running, nothing I have done properly prepared me for these hills. I also, however, kept fast forwarding to Miami, and how much I was looking forward to ripping along a flat course, going for a personal best, instead of being stuck in survival mode. Dean Karnazes, in his 50 marathons/50 days book, put up some big, crooked numbers as well - so that helped keep it in perspective. It's more than this one race. It's the entire twelve month journey.
Mile 25 was my low point, 13:13, but knowing I had 1.2 miles to go I kept shuffling, shuffling, the soles of my Brooks scuffing the pavement every step. Every slight grade increase, each small rise in the road seemed like Everest.
As I approached the finish - which of course was at the top of a hill - I sprinted, for lack of a better word, the last 50 yards or so. There was Amy cheering me on, and I gave her a big hug when I finished. I can't say enough about her, how wonderful her support was, how every 3.5 miles she greeted me with smiles and positive words of encouragement. You're a rock star!
4:21:14 was my official time, 37th place out of 72 runners. Nearly 35 minutes slower than NYC, but I will train hard to make sure this is the only marathon where my finish time is greater than 4 hrs. The course record was broken that day - 2:52 I believe, and the 2nd place runner finished in 2:54 or so - very impressive, because it is a beast.
This was also my 12th road race of 2010 - something I am also very proud of. 4 Marathons, 1 20 Miler, 1 Half, 2 Ten Milers, 3 5k's, and 1 50 mile Ultra.
I have finished the first quarter of my 12 marathons 12 months - now it's onto #4 in Miami January 30th!