GRM - The day after

I remember the day in December when I first ran 3 miles in under 30 minutes. I was so proud of what I accomplished. I’m still proud of that day, but today I can blog in bold letters MARATHON IN LESS THAN 10:00 MIN/MI !

To say I’m ecstatic over my performance at the Grand Rapids Marathon would be an understatement. My goal was to start with the P. Diddy 4 hour 14 min (9:41) pace group and stay with them for 18 miles before I expected to fade and finish ahead of my 4:22:11 goal. That’s exactly what I was able to do. I lined up with them at the start with Kara, the PR Training runner I carpooled with to Grand Rapids. The congestion of runners walking to the starting line pushed Kara and I ahead of the pace leaders. We ran the first 3 miles expecting them to quickly overtake us. But it turns out that didn’t happen for me until mile 18.

Everything about the race weekend was wonderful and a total contrast from the Chicago Marathon. All of the race weekend activities centered around a gorgeous YMCA. Parking was ample, close, convenient and FREE. The expo at the packet pickup was small, taking up the floor space of a basketball court, but had a nice mix of clothing, shoe, health and charity exhibits. The race shirt wasn’t just another cotton t-shirt destined to spend an eternity with hundreds of other race day t-shirts in the dresser drawer. But instead, it was a long-sleeve Brooks hi-tech shirt with a tasteful logo that I will use often training this winter. There was plenty of great food at the pre-race pasta dinner. While standing in the buffet line I met a man who had run the Antarctica Marathon to the South Pole who had fascinating tales to tell. At my table were a local runner preparing for her first marathon, 2 members of the 50 States Club (one running her 25th marathon) and a fellow Chicago Marathon participant looking for a better performance. It was fun to hear about other races around the country and to share “war stories” about Chicago.

Race morning started out at a crisp, clear 31F and warmed up to the mid-40s by the end. Being that cold at the start, everyone’s breath was visible. I commented to Kara, “Look at all those runners in front of us smoking. You’d think they’d take better care of their health.” At the 4-mile mark we passed a sign announcing that we were entering the City of Walker. I mentioned to Kara that on race day it should be renamed City of Runners. If ever have the good fortune to run the GRM again, I may “vandalize” that sign the night before the race. At the 5-mile mark, dense fog rolled across the course. We literally had our heads in the clouds.

Photo of the fog

Velocity-challenged runners could start an hour early at 7 AM. This was for people who didn’t think they could complete the full marathon in less than 6 hours. In previous years daylight savings time ended 5 hours earlier so the sun would have been peeking it’s head over the horizon. But this year, with the time change still a week away, they started in darkness. I made sure I got there in time to cheer them on. There were 123 people that decided to take this option including Neil Sauter who would smash the world-record by more than an hour and a half for completing a marathon on stilts in 7:23:01. The funny thing is that even on stilts he still beat four people. I stretched to give him high-fives at the start and then again when I passed him at mile 11 and again at 12.5 (him) / 13.5 (me) (it was out-and-back portion of the course).

Photo of Neil (I love the look on the lady's face)

The aid stations were every 1.5 miles and well-stocked with water and Gatorade. Some of them offered extras like Gu, gummy bears, orange slices, pretzels, Oreos and pickle juice (yuck!). My one criticism of the GRM aid stations is that they varied as to whether Gatorade or water was offered first. Some aid stations serviced runners going both directions on the out-and-back portions of the course so that may have been the reason some seemed to be set-up backwards. At one aid station I reached out to grab a cup of water and just as my fingers were closing around the cup, the volunteer pulled the cup out of my hand. I wasn’t happy at the time, but I suspect that she was distracted and we didn’t make eye contact.

The course was beautiful. Except for the first and last miles, the course followed roads and trails in and around a huge park. Unfortunately, that didn’t make the course conducive to spectators. That is one thing that Chicago excelled at over Grand Rapids. The crowds were nearly everywhere in Chicago cheering loudly the whole time. The crowds at the GRM were sparse and often the spectators were straining to see the runner they were rooting for instead of cheering for everyone. At one point I said, “Let’s make some noise people,” and they started to cheer. At Chicago I noticed people had their first name on the front of their shirt. At the GRM, I wrote mine on my bib and enjoyed being cheered for by name.

Grand Rapids is a beautiful city with an awesome downtown. The friend I stayed with drove me through several eclectic neighborhoods on the near east side. I hope that the GRM grows enough to foster better support from the city so that the race can traverse through its streets. The trail along the shady riverbank is generally wide enough, but one section of the course follows a path that borders a smelly sewage treatment plant that is really too narrow to adequately accommodate the bi-directional traffic. Replacing those 3 miles with three miles through the city would be a definite plus.

But the biggest plus of the GRM was the laid-back, friendly atmosphere. This can be directly attributed to race director, Don Kern. At every turn, he looked to interject humor and lightheartedness into the race. For example, we didn't have the typical pace groups; we had celebrity pace groups. Try to run P. Diddy's marathon time of 4:14:54 or be one of George W. Bush's Presidential Running Mates and run his time of 3:44:52 or beat Oprah's time of 4:29:30 (which I desperately wanted to do since Oprah failed at the same weight loss program I succeeded with). Billed as a marathon for marathoners organized by marathoners, everyone on his staff had run one or more marathons. That experience showed in many of the details of the race. The staff and volunteers were exceptionally friendly and Don was even at the finish line to shake everyone’s hand.

Photo of Don at the finish line

I will definitely consider running the GRM again.

For those of you who like numbers like I do, you can check out my per-mile splits below.

Right now I’m still focused on the physical aspects of the race: time, place, pace, weather, how I could improve my race strategy, etc. I don’t think I have even begun to scratch the surface of how running a marathon has impacted me at a mental, emotional and spiritual level. Like the radio advertisement said, “It's more than just a marathon - it's a life-changing experience.” Just like in January when I signed up to run Chicago I had no appreciation for the training required for and the true demand of running 26.2 miles, I don’t think I fully appreciate what completing a marathon means for my psyche.

Until next time …

Dave

P.S. I did sleep with my medal Sunday night.

Mile	Split	Time	Average	Mile	Split	Time	Average
1	9:48.2	9:48.2	9:48.2	14	9:36.6	2:14:29.2	9:36.4
2	9:37.5	19:25.7	9:42.8	15	9:49.7	2:24:18.9	9:37.3
3	9:50.5	29:16.2	9:45.4	16	9:47.7	2:34:06.6	9:37.9
4	9:20.2	38:36.4	9:39.1	17	10:04.6	2:44:11.2	9:38.5
5	9:34.3	48:10.7	9:38.1	18	9:38.6	2:53:49.8	9:39.4
6	9:15.9	57:26.6	9:34.4	19	10:20.7	3:04:10.5	9:41.6
7	9:42.3	1:07:08.9	9:35.6	20	10:24.7	3:14:35.2	9:43.8
8	9:25.9	1:16:34.8	9:34.4	21	10:54.8	3:25:30.0	9:47.1
9	9:41.4	1:26:16.2	9:35.1	22	11:07.6	3:36:37.6	9:50.8
10	9:33.3	1:35:49.5	9:35.0	23	10:20.8	3:46:58.4	9:52.1
11	9:36.0	1:45:25.5	9:35.0	24	11:05.3	3:58:03.7	9:55.2
12	9:46.0	1:55:11.5	9:36.0	25	10:20.5	4:08:24.2	9:56.2
13	9:41.1	2:04:52.6	9:36.4	26	11:08.4	4:19:32.6	9:58.9
13.1	Estimate	2:05:54.3	9:36.4	26.2	9:18 pace	4:21:34.0	9:58.6