Race Report: 2024 Berlin Marathon

In late September, I traveled to Berlin with Marathon Tours & Travel to run the Berlin Marathon.  This is the second time I ran this race.  I also ran it in 2016.

Foreign travel is expensive, so I rarely go back to run the same race again.  I had two reasons for going back to Berlin.  My first reason was to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  Of the six World Marathon Majors, Berlin is the only one where I had not run a Boston qualifier.  I’ll get to the second reason later.

I was able to get into the marathon through the lottery.  I wanted to stay at a hotel that was close to where the race started and finished, but when I started pricing hotels, I was shocked how expensive they were.  I could’ve stayed at a hotel that was farther away, but I didn’t want to spend half of my time on trains.  I also wanted to have the convenience of walking to the start on the morning of the race.

Going to Berlin with Marathon Tours was expensive, but not any more expensive than it would’ve been to book a close hotel on my own.  If I was going to spend that much, I wanted the benefits of going with a tour group.  To save money, I shared a hotel room with my friend, Tom.  I’ve known Tom for about 13 years.

Wednesday, September 25

I left Minneapolis Wednesday night on an overnight flight to Amsterdam.  My flight wasn’t until 9:20 PM.  I don’t know why I scheduled such a late flight.  I booked this flight months ago, so it’s hard to recall what other options I might have had.

One good thing about having such a late departure is that it gave me plenty of time to do a quality training run on Wednesday.  I wouldn’t run again until Saturday.

Thursday, September 26

My flight to Amsterdam arrived on time, but my flight to Berlin was delayed.  By the time I got to Berlin, it was 5:30 PM.  It took another 45 minutes to get to my hotel.

There was a welcome reception for all the runners who were traveling with Marathon Tours.  By the time I checked in and brought my bags up to my room, it was already 6:30.

The reception was so crowded that I had trouble finding Tom, but he eventually found me.  We were at the reception until 8:00 when it ended.

I went to bed early, but couldn’t get to sleep until 1 AM.

Friday, September 27

Our hotel package included a buffet breakfast.  After breakfast, me met in the lobby for a half day city tour of Berlin.  Our first stop was the East Side Gallery.  This is a section of the Berlin wall that was decorated with murals by local artists.

Our other stops included Museum Island, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma, the Holocaust Memorial, the Topography of Terror museum, and Checkpoint Charlie.  I had seen most of these sights before, so I didn’t take many pictures.  We walked got out of the bus and walked through the Brandenburg gate.

After the tour, we were dropped off at the marathon expo.  There was a long line to get in.  I picked up my race materials for both the marathon and the 5K race.  We could spend as much time at the expo as we wanted.  After the expo, we were on our own to get back to the hotel.  Everyone who was running the marathon received a four-day transit pass, so it didn’t cost anything to take public transportation back to the hotel.

Tom and I were met at the expo by our friend Lynne.  The three of us had a late lunch at a German restaurant near the Brandenburg Gate.  Getting back to our hotel was an adventure, as the streets near the Brandenburg Gate were all blocked off for the opening ceremony of the marathon.

We had such a late lunch that neither of us needed another meal.  We ended up just eating dessert at the hotel before going to bed.

I had an easier time getting to sleep the second night, but I woke up several times during the night.

Saturday, September 28

They used to have a fun run Saturday morning called the breakfast run.  This year, they replaced the breakfast run with a 5K race.  The 5K race started at Potsdamer Platz, which was close to our hotel.  That made it really convenient.

The race didn’t start until 10:00 AM, so I was able to have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before getting ready for the race.

The temperature was in the mid-50s, with a little bit of wind.  It was a short enough race that I could get away with being overdressed, so I wore my cheetah outfit.

Tom and Lynne were also doing the 5K race.  Lynne met us at our hotel, and we went to the start together.  The starting line was only about a block from our hotel.

The course for the 5K race was similar to the last 5K of the marathon route, but there was an extra out-and-back near the end.  I think they added the out-and-back so they could have us start at Potsdamer Platz, instead of having to block off more streets.  While the route wasn’t identical to the finish of the marathon, it was still a nice preview of the late kilometers of the marathon route.

The last two times I ran a 5K race the day before a marathon, I went all-out.  Both times, I felt like my performance in the marathon suffered as a result.  Instead of running a maximum effort, I used this race as a tune-up for the marathon.  My goal was to run it at about the same pace that I was planning to run the marathon.

In the first mile, I tried to tell myself that these were the first five kilometers of a marathon.  Subconsciously, I knew I wasn’t running that far, and I went a little too fast.  It didn’t help that I was surrounded by runners who were racing for a fast time.  I ended up running the first mile in 8:21, which is too fast.

In the second mile, I tried to relax, but I was still influenced by the pace of the runners around me.  That mile was a couple second slower, but it was still too fast.

By now, I was on the out-and-back section of the course.  After the turnaround, I was running toward the Brandenburg Gate and the finish line.  I was going into the wind, but I didn’t need to worry about the wind slowing me down.  I was going too fast anyway.

When we passed the point where we previously turned onto this street, we shifted over to the left side of the street.  The rest of the race was exactly the same way the marathon finishes.  I could see the gate ahead of me, but I resisted the temptation to pick up the pace.

After going through the gate, I could see the finish line, which was in a large city park called Tiergarten.  Having run the marathon before, I already knew about how far it was from the gate to the finish line.  It was still useful to see it again before the marathon.

I finished in 26:24.  I slowed down a little in the last mile, but it was still faster than my goal pace for the marathon.  This race was instructive.  I knew what this pace felt like.  If I felt the same way at the start of the marathon, I would know it was too fast.

After finishing, I received my medal.  On my way through the finish area, I also picked up a heat sheet, a water bottle and a cream-filled donut.  I was dressed warm enough that I didn’t need the heat sheet to make it back to my hotel, but I saved it to wear before the marathon.

The most direct route back to my hotel would have been to turn left and walk though Tiergarten.  Instead, everyone was directed to the right.  Our route out of the park took us to the opposite side.  To get to my hotel, I needed to cross the course, and there were barriers on both sides of the street.

On Friday, I had noticed a U-Bahn (subway) station near the Brandenburg Gate.  I was able to get to the other side of the course by going into the station, going under the street, and coming out the exit on the other side.  Once I was on the other side of the course, it was an easy walk back to the hotel.

After we each had time to get cleaned up, Tom and I had a light lunch at a restaurant near our hotel.

We didn’t have anything scheduled for the afternoon.  I did a workout at the hotel, and we went to a brewery in search of interesting beers.  Then we relaxed at the hotel until it was time for dinner.

Marathon Tours hosted a pasta dinner for all their runners at the Ritz Carlton, which was a block away from our hotel.  After dinner, we relaxed, got organized for the marathon, and went to bed early.

I slept well for a few hours.  After that, I slept off and on.

Sunday, September 29

Sunday was race day.  Our hotel started their breakfast service earlier than usual, so I had time to eat breakfast before getting ready for the race.

The start area was in Tiergarten.  We needed to enter the park through a security checkpoint near the northeast corner of the park.  From my hotel, I needed to walk almost a mile to get to the entrance.

There were 10 start groups, divided into four waves.  The first four groups were in the first wave, which started at 9:15.  I was in group E, which was the fifth group.  That put me in the second wave, which didn’t start until 9:45.

When I registered for the race, I had the option of paying an extra five euros to be able to check a gear bags.  Not knowing what the weather would be like, I paid the extra five euros to keep my options open.  It was a chilly enough morning that I decided to wear my cheetah gear again.  I also wore extra layers as I walked to the start.

From our hotel, it was a 15-minute walk to the entrance to the start area.  The race organizers recommended arriving at least an hour before the start time for your wave.  We had to go through a security checkpoint, and I didn’t know how long that would take.  I left the hotel at 8:15 to give myself plenty of time to get through the checkpoint, wait in the bathroom lines, and check my gear bag before lining up for the start.

Although my wave didn’t start until 9:45, I knew they would start moving people forward as soon as the runners in front got started.  For that reason, I made a point of getting to my corral before 9:15.  By 9:35, we were all the way up to the starting line.  That gave me 10 minutes to duck out of the corral and make a final bathroom stop.

When I checked my gear back, I kept my Tyvek jacket with me.  I also had the heat sheet that I received after the 5K race.  After my final bathroom stop, I discard the heat sheet, and I tied my jacket around my waist.

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to run a Boston qualifying time.  For my age group, the qualifying standard is 3:50.  That’s an average pace of 8:46 per mile.  The course is marked in kilometers, but my watch is configured to give me my time for each mile.

They had pace groups, but there wasn’t a 3:50 group.  There were three 3:45 groups.  One was in my wave, but not in my corral.  The other two were in later waves.  I assumed if I was on pace for 3:50 that the 3:45 group in corral F would catch up to me by the end of the race.

I started at a pace that didn’t feel quite as fast as the pace that I started the 5K race.  My pace for the first mile was 8:27.  That’s still faster than my goal pace of 8:46, but it felt more reasonable.  After that, I tried to gradually ease up until I found the right pace.

My cheetah outfit made it easy for friends to spot me.  During the first mile, my friend Glen saw me.  We ran together for almost half of the race.

We started out running west through Tiergarten.  After getting out of the park, we eventually turned to our right.  After that, we gradually circled back until we were heading east.

Shortly after that first turn, I got warm enough that I was ready to take off my gloves.  By the time we had gone five kilometers, I could feel the sun, and I warmed up quickly.  The hat I was wearing is fairly warm, and I could already feel sweat under my hat.  I wondered if I was going to regret wearing such warm clothes.  As it turns out, I felt hotter at 5K than I would later in the race.

Although I was trying to slow down, my pace for miles two through five bounced between the 8:20s and 8:30s.  It wasn’t until mile six that I slowed to 8:40.  By then, we had run past the Reichstag, and we continued into the east side of Berlin.

I wasn’t as hot now.  We occasionally felt a nice cool breeze.  That went a long way toward keeping me from getting too hot.

There were 15 aid stations on the course.  Six of them had water, sports drink, tea, and bananas.  The others just had water.  I was planning to drink the sports drink whenever it was available.  At 9K, I headed for the last set of tables.  A sign indicated that these were the tables for the sports drink, but a volunteer said, “wasser.”  Thinking this was another water table, I went past it.  I ended up eating a banana instead of drinking at that aid station.  The volunteers were peeling the bananas before handing them to us, which made it easy to eat them quickly.

At another aid station, I accidentally drank the tea instead of the sports drink.  I only ended up drinking the sports drink four times.

Glen sometimes fell behind me at aid stations, but he quickly caught up with me.  After one of the aid stations, it took longer to catch up.  When he caught up to me, he said I sped up.  I didn’t realize I was going faster, but I sped up to 8:16 in that mile.  After that, I eased up.  The next mile was 8:49.  That was the first mile that was slower than my goal pace, but overall we were well ahead of pace.

Other than the Reichstag and the tall antenna tower in East Berlin, I wasn’t paying any attention to landmarks.  I was focused on my pace, my effort, talking to Glen, and not bumping into people.

Starting with mile eight, we were keeping our pace in the 8:40s.  I had hoped that as we got farther into the race, there would be less variation in the pace of the people around us.  Instead, there was more variation.  We were catching up to the slowest runners from wave one, and the fastest runners from wave three were catching up to us.  I like to stay on a consistent pace by keeping up with the runners around me.  To do that, I had to gauge which runners were going at the same pace.

At about 20K, I took longer at an aid station.  I had to slow almost to a stop to get to the tables without bumping into people.  Then it was hard to resume running at my previous pace, because runners who were still drinking were going slow.  When I had room, I put extra effort into getting back to the same pace.  I overcompensated and sped up to 8:38 in that mile.

After that, Glen never caught up to me.  He may have taken longer at that aid station, or I may have sped up too much for Glen to catch me.  After that, I was on my own.

Often, I'll see spectators holding up amusing signs.  The best sign I saw during this race was on the back of a runner.  It read, "I'm just doing this to find a boyfriend."  Her shirt also had a large QR code, presumably to contact her.

I reached the halfway mark in 1:53:45.  I was 1:45 ahead of schedule.  I still felt OK, and I had room to slow down a little in the second half.  At this point, I was feeling pretty confident that I would break 3:50.

I had a couple more miles in the 8:40s.  Then I sped up to 8:31.  That was another mile where I was working a little harder to compensate for taking extra time at an aid station.  Once again, I overcompensated.

There was an aid station at 27.5K that had gels.  I don’t usually eat gels during a race, but I didn’t think I was taking in enough calories, so I took one.

At 28K, I was two thirds done.  I remember reaching this same point in 2016 and asking myself how I felt.  I felt better at 28K this year than I did in 2016, but I didn’t feel as fresh as I did at 14K.

Most of the time, I was passing the slow runners, keeping up with some of the faster runners, but getting passed by the fastest runners.  In mile 19, I seemed to be passing almost everyone.  When I got the next split from my watch, I saw that I sped up to 8:22.  That was my second fastest mile so far.  I had already gained another minute since the halfway mark.  If I could keep that up, I would run negative splits.  With that in mind, and with only 7.2 miles to go, I put more effort into my pace.

Over the next five miles, I kept logging mile splits between 8:20 and 8:24.  Each one made me even more determines to keep up the faster pace.

By now, I was noticing much more wind.  My hands were starting to get cold.  I no longer had any concern about getting hot.

At about 38.5K, I reached Potsdamer Platz.  This is where the 5K race started, so the rest of the race was going to be familiar.  I just needed to repeat a subset of what I did on Saturday.  Interestingly enough, the previous six miles were all faster than my average pace in the 5K race, which I thought was too fast for a marathon.

Eight years ago, a friend caught up to me at this same point in the race.  I was beginning to struggle, so I couldn’t keep up with him.  This year, I felt good, and I was determined to finish strong.

The hardest part was the long stretch before the next turn.  That was almost a mile.  At one point, I thought I saw the runners ahead of me turning, but it was only a place where the street shifted slightly to the left.  I should’ve remembered that from the 5K race.

When we finally did turn, I saw the 40K sign.  There was an aid station, but I skipped it.  I ran mile 25 in 8:06, and I didn’t want to stop or slow down for anything.

After that turn, there were five more.  They’re all fairly close together.  Each time I made a turn, I could see the next one.  I was trying hard to see if I could run mile 26 as fast as I ran mile 25.

When I made the last turn, I could see the Brandenburg Gate.  Before I got there, I got my split for mile 26.  I was so disappointed that it wasn’t as fast as mile 25, that I momentarily lost some of my incentive to run hard to the finish.

After running through the gate, I could see the finish line.  Then I ran hard again, but it was too late.  I finished in 3:45:01.  That’s almost five minutes faster than my original goal, but I was disappointed that I didn’t break 3:45.  Had I known it would be that close, I would have fought harder to shave off a couple seconds.  I was pretty happy though, to have run negative splits by more than two minutes.

Almost immediately after crossing the finish line, I got cold.  I was glad I had my jacket.  I untied it and put it on before continuing through the finish area.

The finisher medals had designs on both sides.  One side depicts Berlin landmarks.  The other side denotes this being the 50th Berlin Marathon.

Our route out of the finish area was the same as the route after the finish of the 5K race, but I had to make a slight detour to retrieve my gear bag.  On the way there, I was handed a bag with post-race snacks.  It included a bag of chocolate kisses, a candy bar, a chocolate filled croissant, pretzels, an apple, a banana, and vitamin water.  I ate half of those snacks while walking back to the hotel.

I walked back to the hotel the same way I walked back after the 5K race, but it was slower this time.  The sidewalks were congested with slow-moving runners and spectators.  It was worse when I got into the U-Bahn station to go under the street.  The hallway was jammed with hundreds of runners going one direction and hundreds of spectators going the other direction.  Everyone wanted to cross under the street.

It seemed to take forever to get out of the station.  Then I had to move through more thick crowds before getting back around the Brandenburg Gate and out to the street.

By the time I got back to the hotel, I was cold, even with my jacket.  I took a long hot shower to warm up.  Then I ate the rest of my snacks and started tracking Tom’s progress.  Tom was in the last start group, so he started almost an hour after I did.

After Tom got back and had time to shower, we went to a post-race party hosted by Marathon Tours.  We got there late, so we were there until the end.

I mentioned earlier that I had two reasons for doing this race again.  The first reason was getting a BQ in every major.  The second reason was Oktoberfest.  Oktoberfest started on September 21, and it runs through October 6.  Being in Germany at this time gave me an opportunity to travel to Munich for Oktoberfest without having to make an extra trip.

Tomorrow morning, Tom and I will take a train to Munich.  I’ll post an Oktoberfest report in a few days.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  3:45:01

Average Pace:  8:35 per mile (5:20 per kilometer)

First Half:  1:53:45

Second Half:  1:51:16

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  528

Boston Qualifiers:  169

World Marathon Majors:  26 (13 Boston, 5 Chicago, 4 New York, 2 Berlin, 1 London, 1 Tokyo)

How do I Run Marathons So Frequently

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that I run a lot of marathons.  Most of my friends do too.  When I meet someone new, they’re often shocked by the number of marathons I’ve run.  I’m often asked how many I run in a year.

When people ask how I can run marathons so close together, I usually tell them that the more often I run marathons, the more easily I recover from them.  Your body adapts to the things you do regularly.

That’s the physical side, but there’s also a psychological side.  In the late 90s, I met another runner from Minnesota named Burt.  Burt was much older than me, and he was running about 26 marathons per year.  He also sometimes ran ultramarathons.  I met him at a 24-hour race.

25 years ago, I saw Burt at the Fox Cities Marathon in Wisconsin.  He was wearing a T-shirt from the Mt. Rushmore Marathon.  That race was the previous weekend.  I asked him if he was doing the Twin Cities Marathon.  He was.  That race was weekend after Fox Cities.

Burt was running marathons on at least three consecutive weekends.  I was amazed by that.  I asked Burt, “How do you do that?  How do you run marathons so close together?”  Hos answer blew me away.

Burt said, “Well, when you’re looking at the race calendar, and you see a race that looks interesting, you sign up for it.  Once you’re signed up for it, it’s gonna happen.”

I still love the simplicity of that answer.  It’s all about attitude.  Once Burt signed up for a race, there was no doubt in his mind that he would finish it.  It’s really about making a mental commitment to a race.  Once you’ve made that commitment, you’ll find a way to do it.  Finishing a marathon is at least as much psychological as it is physical.

At the time, I was still early in my journey to run marathons in all 50 states.  I wasn’t like Burt.  At first, I was averaging three new states per year.  Toward the end of my journey, I was doing as many as five new states in a year.  I sometimes also ran a local race, but I don’t think I ever did more than six marathons or ultras in year.

In 2010, I finished running marathons in all 50 states.  I finished at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT.  Then I went to a post-race party.  The host of the party invited anyone who was a member of the 50 States Marathon Club.  I was one of two runners who finished their 50 states journey at that race.  There was another runner who finished her fifth circuit of 50 states at that race.  The three of us were the guests of honor, but the talk of the party was a young woman named Laura.

Laura was 24 years old.  She started running marathons two years earlier, and she had already run marathons in 49 states.  When she ran her 50th state, she would be the youngest woman to do that.  I asked Laura which state she still needed.  She was planning to finish one week later at the Minneapolis Marathon.

I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, so that race was local for me.  I was at a different race that morning, but I went to Laura’s post-race party.  Many of the runners at the party were other members of the 50 States Marathon Club, but at least half were members of another club called Marathon Maniacs.  I wasn’t previously familiar with this club, but I learned more about it.  It’s all about running marathons frequently, and you have to qualify before you can join, either by running three marathons within 90 days or by running two marathons within 16 days.

As it turns out, I was already qualified for the club.  Had I learned about this club earlier, I probably would’ve concluded that it wasn’t for me.  Since I had just finished my long-term goal to run marathons in every state, I was ready to try something new.

A week later, I joined Marathon Maniacs.  Then I jumped in with both feet.  My first three marathons after joining were on three consecutive weekends.  It took several months to adapt to my more frequent racing schedule.  By the following year, I was consistently running faster, despite running races every week or two.

After Burt ran his 300th marathon, he was interviewed for the newsletter of a local running club.  When they asked him which race was his favorite, he said it was the Reggae Marathon in Jamaica.  I was curious to know why Burt liked that race so much, so I signed up for it.  It was my second marathon outside the United States.

Burt and Laura were both at that race.  Here’s a picture of the three of us at a post-race party.  Burt was the older runner who inspired me.  Laura was the younger runner who inspired me.  What they had in common was their confidence and their ambition.  Now I’m just like them.  Hopefully, I’ll inspire other runners the way they both inspired me.

Race Report: 2024 Air Force Marathon

On September 21, I ran the Air Force Marathon.  This race is held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is near Dayton, OH.  This was my fifth marathon or ultra in Ohio, but I had never done this race before.

I flew to Cincinnati Friday morning and drove from there.  Along the way, I stopped to have some Cincinnati-style chili for lunch.

I stayed at a hotel in that was just a couple miles from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.  That’s where the race started and finished.  After checking in at my hotel, I drove to the expo, which was held in the Nutter Center at Wright State University.  In addition to my race bib and T-shirt, the race packet included this patch:

I had some time before dinner, so I did a workout at the hotel.  Then I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to some runners I met in the hotel lobby.

This race puts on a gourmet pasta dinner, but I chose to have dinner on my own.  I found a restaurant about a mile from my hotel that has pizza and brews their own beer.

There were two ways to get to the start area.  We could park at the Nutter Center and take a bus from there, or we could drive to the race and park in grass fields that were about a mile from the starting line.  Either way, we had to get up early.

The marathon didn’t start until 7:30, but they had a 10K race that started at 6:30.  The last bus from the Nutter Center was scheduled to leave at 5:00.  I assume they wanted to get everyone to the start area before the 10K race started.

For people driving, they recommended getting to the start area two hours before the race.  They also advised us that traffic would be heavy and to expect long lines.  Also, if we drove and parked, we should expect the grass to be wet.

I waited until the morning of the race to make a decision.  If it was cold or rainy, I would’ve wanted to drive and then wait in my car.  It was a warm morning, so I took the bus.

I got to the start area before 5:00, so I had a long time to wait before the race.  There was a large canopy with tables and chairs, so I didn’t have to be on my feet.  The race provided a gear check, but I didn’t bother to bring any warm clothes.  It was warm enough at 5 AM that I was comfortable in my running clothes.

I met a group of younger runners who all knew each other.  I was hanging out with them until it was time to line up for the race.

They had an adequate number of port-o-potties.  For most of the time we were waiting, the lines were short.  I made my final bathroom stop about 30 minutes before the race.  By then, the lines were long, but I needed to go, so I waited.  While I was in line, there was a flyover of two F-35s.

As I was making my way to the start area, I saw people stopping to take pictures.  There were about a dozen paratroopers landing in the start area.

I got to my start corral just in time for the National Anthem.  Then there was a flyover of two F-35s, but I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to take a picture.

My biggest worry was the weather.  It was going to be a hot day.  The temperature at the start was 72 degrees, and it would warm into the 80s before I finished.  The forecast high was 94.

I’ve run lots of races in hot weather.  I generally hold up OK.  My concern was that they might cancel the race if it got too hot.

This race uses the Event Alert System.  They display different colored flags at the start and at the aid stations to indicate the severity of the conditions.  Green means low risk; yellow means moderate risk; red means high risk; and black means extreme risk.  If we reached black flag conditions, they would cancel the race.

I looked up the criteria for black flag conditions.  It’s based on Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which takes into account the temperature, humidity, sunlight, and wind.  Black flag conditions correspond to a WBGT of 90 degrees or higher.

Most weather apps will give you both the air temperature and some type of “feels like” temperature, which I assume is similar to the WBGT index.  The last hourly forecast I saw showed the “feels like” temperature reaching 88 degrees by 11:00 and 92 degrees by noon.  I pessimistically assumed that the race could get cancelled anytime after 11:30.  That would be four fours after the start.

In cooler conditions, I would be pacing myself to finish in 3:50.  On a day like this, I’m more inclined to take it easy.  I couldn’t take it too easy, however.  I couldn’t be sure exactly when they might pull the plug on the race, so I had to be mindful not to take too long to finish.

I lined up with the 3:50 pace group.  I didn’t expect to run that pace for the whole race, but it seemed reasonable to start at that pace.  It allowed me to just run and let other people worry about establishing the right pace.

The course is mostly flat, but there are a few hills.  The biggest hill is at the beginning of the race.  We had about half a mile to settle into our pace before starting the climb.  The leader of the pace group told us the first mile would be a little slow.  When we reached one mile mark, I was surprised to see we were only a few seconds slower than our target pace.  Then we had a long downhill in the second mile.  That mile was fast, so we were now about 40 seconds ahead of our target pace.  We gradually gave that back over the next several miles.

For the first several miles, we had plenty of shade.  I didn’t feel hot yet, but I could tell that I was sweating more than normal.

At the first two aid stations, I only drank water.  Eventually, I figured out that some volunteers were handing out water in plastic cups, and others were handing out paper cups with a sports drink called Hoist.  Sometimes the water tables came first.  Other times, the Hoist came first.  I paid attention to what type of cups they were using.  They were consistent about that.

Our pace leader noticed that there were extra aid station on the course.  Those were probably a last-minute addition because of the hot conditions.  The extra aid stations just had water.

The Hoist was mixed kind of strong, so I got into the habit of drinking a cup of Hoist and then following it with a cup of water.  I started doing that after about seven miles.  Then I did it for the rest of the race.

At the aid stations, they had signs indicating the alert level.  For the first half of the race, the alert level was green, even though the temperature was in the 70s.  In the absence of high humidity, it can get fairly hot before you reach the yellow alert level.

After nine or ten miles, the sun was high enough in the sky that we couldn’t count on having shade.  It didn’t feel hot yet, but it would gradually take a toll on us.

The first half of the course was mostly on the air force base.  There weren’t any spectators here, so it was helpful to be running with a pace group.  We could talk to each other and encourage each other.

By the halfway point, we had left the base to enter the city of Fairborn.  The next several miles were through a section called the Fairborn Fly Zone.  This was the area where friends and family could watch the race.  Here, there were numerous turns, and we sometimes doubled back into a street that we had previously run in the opposite direction.

There was an aid station just before the halfway mark.  The alert level was still green.  Beyond the aid station, there was a large digital clock at the halfway mark.  We got there about 30 seconds ahead of schedule.

Over the next several miles, I found the pace to be more tiring.  I could still keep up with the group, but it was taking more effort with each mile.

I was also feeling the heat more.  In addition to drinking at the aid stations, I started taking a cup of water and pouring it over my head.  It would feel good for a minute or two, but then I would feel hot again.

Somewhere in the next mile, there were people handing out ice pop.  I started eating one, but the plastic sleeve was slippery, and I dropped it.  The small amount I ate was refreshing.  It would’ve been nice to eat the whole thing.

I never saw the “14” banner.  When I got to 15, I was a pleasantly surprised to know we had knocked off two more miles.

I saw a sign saying there was bacon ahead.  I looked for the people handing out strips of bacon, and I took one.  It was a nice treat, but it was probably a bad idea.  It was tough to chew it while running.  It was also a long time before I had a chance to drink something.  In the meantime, my mouth felt dry, and I was coughing up bacon bits.

I also never noticed the “16” banner.  When I saw I was getting close to a mile marker, I thought it would be 16.  I was overjoyed to see we were already at 17. 

The aid station at 17 miles had a sign showing the alert level was now red.  In just four miles, we went from green to red.  It doesn’t have to get that much hotter to reach the black alert level.  I was concerned now that we might not have time to finish before it got so hot that they would cancel the race.

To finish within four hours, I needed to run the last 9.2 miles in about 91 miles.  I could slow down to almost 10 minutes per mile.  I knew I would need to slow down at some point, but I stayed with the pace group for another mile.

At 18 miles, I realized I couldn’t sustain my effort for the rest of the race.  We had been averaging 8:46 per mile.  Early in the race, that pace felt manageable.  Now, it felt like it would break me.  I said goodbye to the 3:50 group and slowed to a pace that felt like it would be sustainable.  I probably should’ve done this sooner.  I didn’t realize it yet, but running so hard for so long in these conditions had already taken a heavy toll on me.

In mile 19, I slowed to 9:05.  That wasn’t bad.  In mile 20, I slowed to 9:10.  That still wasn’t bad.  I felt like I slowed down a lot in mile 21, so I was surprised to see that I only slowed to 9:21.

Miles three through 21 had all been relatively flat, but now I was getting to a section of the course that had some rolling hills.  With five miles to go, I reached the second biggest hill on the course.  All of the runners in front of me were walking up the hill.  Running up the hill would’ve taken too much out of me, so I walked it too.  I knew that I was probably giving up on breaking four hours, but forcing myself to run up this hill would’ve taken too much out of me.  I had to manage my effort.

After that hill, there was a nice downhill section.  I caught up to two runners who were still walking, and I encouraged them to run the downhill.

After the road leveled off again, I needed to take another walking break.  For the rest of the race, I could never run for more than a few minutes before taking a walking break.  I tried to be disciplined about only walking for a minute or two at a time.  My average pace slowed down, but not as much as I expected.  With a run/walk mix, I was still averaging about 11 minutes per mile.

As I was getting close to the 24 mile mark, it occurred to me that I had not been passed by any other pace groups yet.  I remembered seeing a 3:55 group and a 4:00 group in the start corral, but neither had passed me yet.  Right on queue, the 4:00 group caught up to me.  I never saw the 3:55 group.  Another runner sped up, so he could stay on pace for four hours.  I no longer had the energy to do that.

With less than two miles to go, I reached an aid station.  At first, I was only going to drink water.  Then I decided to also drink a small cup of Hoist.  As soon as I drank that, I felt bloated.  I needed fluids, but my body couldn’t absorb them fast enough.  My stomach was full.

With about a mile to go, I saw some large hangars in the distance.  One of the runners I was talking with the day before had mentioned these hangars.  He said we would run by them in the last mile of the race.

After making the next turn, I saw one of the gates for the air base.  As we passed through this gate, I saw an aid station.  The alert level was still red.  I felt like I was home free now.

I didn’t drink at that aid station, but I still poured a cup of water over my head.  I was struggling with the heat.

I had to take one more walking break before the final two turns.  On the approach to the finish line, there was a line of several aircraft of different types.

I finished in 4:02:46.  At the time, all I cared about was finishing.  My time didn’t seem that important.  The important thing was that I was able to finish before it got so hot that they would cancel the race.  It wasn’t until much later that I learned I had placed second in my age group.

The finisher medal had designs on both sides.

I still felt full, but I ate a banana and forced myself to drink a bottle of an electrolyte drink.  Before long, I was thirsty enough to have a post-race beer.  While I was drinking my beer, I spotted the runners I met before the race.

The pick-up point to take a bus back to the Nutter Center was on the opposite side of the start/finish area from where we were dropped off in the morning.  I didn’t see any signage indicating where the buses would be.  I had to ask around.

I didn’t leave until about half an hour after I finished the race.  Runners were still finishing.  When I was on the bus, I looked up the current temperature.  It was 86 degrees.

As far as I know, the race was never stopped, even though the temperature got into the 90s.  Had I known I could take my time, I wouldn’t have pushed myself so hard.

By the time I got to my hotel, I was thirsty again.  I needed a couple hours to rehydrate and get cleaned up.  When I was ready to go out again, I drove to Columbus to have dinner with a friend who lives there.  I didn’t need to fly home until Sunday.

This was my fifth marathon or ultra in Ohio.  That brings me a step closer to finishing my fifth circuit of marathons or ultras in every state.  Now I just need one more race each in New Jersey and Oklahoma.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:02:46

Average Pace:  9:16 per mile

First Half:  1:54:36

Second Half:  2:08:10

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  527

Ohio Marathons/Ultras:  5

Place in Age Group:  2nd

Race Report: 2024 Sundance to Spearfish Marathon

On September 8, I ran the Sundance to Spearfish Marathon.  This was the first time I did this race.  It’s a point-to-point race that starts near Sundance, WY and finishes in Spearfish, SD.

I flew to Rapid City, SD on Saturday and drove from there to my hotel in Spearfish.  The drive time was about an hour.  After checking in at my hotel, I went to the nearby Holiday Inn to pick up my race packet.  Then I drove into town to see where I could park in the morning.  Later, I had dinner at one of the restaurants near my hotel.

I had a rough night.  I was able to get to sleep early enough, but I woke up two hours later with a sour stomach.  It took three hours to get back to sleep.  Then I woke up again, and I was awake until it was time to get up.

This is one of those races where you have to get up really early to take a bus to the start.  I didn’t feel like I had the energy to run a fast time, but I didn’t have time to dwell on those thoughts.  I just went through the motions of getting ready for the race.

The pickup point for the buses was next to where the race finishes.  We were asked to be there by 4:30.  I got there earlier to make sure I could find a parking space.  Parking near the finish line was somewhat limited.

The bus to the start left at 5:00.  We were driving backwards along the marathon route, so I had a chance to see what the course was like.  The second half of the race is on paved roads, and it’s a gradual downhill trend.  The first half of the race is on gravel roads.  Our bus driver told us that the road would be rough in the first few miles of the race.  He wasn’t kidding.  He had to drive slowly, and in a few spots, he slowed almost to a stop.  At one point, I actually wondered if we would need to get out and push.

I was expecting the ride to take an hour, but it took an hour and a half.  We were dropped off at Cement Ridge just 10 minutes before the race was scheduled to start.  As soon as I got off the bus, I raced toward the port-o-potties to make sure I would have time to do my business, change out of my warm-up clothes, and check my drop bag.  While I was in the port-o-potty, I heard the race director telling everyone he was going to delay the start enough to give everyone enough time to use the bathrooms.

When we left Spearfish, it was 62 degrees there and 61 degrees in Sundance.  I didn’t think we would see colder temperatures than that.  What I didn’t consider is that we were starting on top of a ridge, where there’s a lookout tower.  Up on Cement Ridge, it felt colder, and we were exposed to the wind.  I was glad I brought warm-up layers.

From the ridge, we could see for miles in every direction.  We also saw the sunrise.  Many of the other runners were taking pictures.  I chose not to bring my phone, so I couldn’t take any pictures.  I didn’t want to carry any extra weight during the race.  I also didn’t want to be tempted to take pictures along the more scenic parts of the course.  My priority was running a fast race.  This picture and all the race pictures were taken by another runner and her husband.

We were scheduled to start at 6:45, but we didn’t actually start until 7:00.  I waited until 10 minutes before the start before removing my extra layers and putting my gear bag in the truck.

This was my first race since the beginning of the qualifying period for the 2026 Boston Marathon.  The course is mostly downhill, so I was reasonably confident I could qualify on this course.  Although qualifying has started, the B.A.A. hasn’t posted the qualifying standards for 2026.  In the past, the qualifying standard for my age group was 3:50, but it’s possible they could tighten the standards if they get as many applicants for 2025 as they did for 2024.  Registration for 2025 will take place this week, so we’ll know soon.  In the meantime, I was inclined to assume that I might need to run as fast as 3:45.  That works out to an average pace of 8:35 per mile.

The first 12 miles were on a gravel roads, so I wore an older pair of shoes.  I also wore gaiters to keep dirt from getting into my shoes and causing blisters.

The first two miles had uneven surfaces, and there were lots of large rocks.  Nobody was running in a straight line.  We all tried to pick the line that seemed least treacherous.

The first mile had a gradual downhill trend, but there were two spots where the road briefly turned uphill.  On the downhill sections, I had to hold back, so I could pay close attention to my footing.  On the uphill sections, I had to be careful not to tire myself out.  The elevation at the start was 6,600 feet, and running uphill at that elevation could quickly tire me out if I tried to go too fast.

I ran the first mile in 8:34.  That was a pleasant surprise.  Despite feeling like I was holding myself back, I was right on pace for my goal.

The second mile wasn’t as treacherous as the first one.  There were still lots of rocks, but there were also sections where it was easier to find a safe line.  That’s good, because this mile was sharply downhill.  The average grade of more than seven percent.

During this mile, I was sometimes forced to slow myself down, so I could control where I placed my feet.  Normally, I don’t try to control my pace going downhill.  If you’re putting on the brakes, you’re not only wasting energy, but also beating up your quads.

I ran the second mile in 8:04.  That was 30 seconds faster than my first mile, but I was disappointed that it wasn’t faster.  This mile descended almost 400 feet.  On paper, it was the fastest mile of the race, but the rough terrain forced me to control my pace.

At the two mile mark, we turned onto another gravel road.  This one had fewer rocks, making it easier to run it safely.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that we immediately start climbing a hill that was half a mile long.

I knew I would slow down on this hill, but I tried to limit the damage.  I kept running when I saw other runners starting to take walking breaks.  The first half of the hill had a fairly gentle grade.  Farther ahead, I knew it would get more tiring, but I saw other runners starting to run again.  That gave me the confidence to run the whole hill.

When I crested the hill, I came to an aid station, and I slowed down briefly to drink a cup of Gatorade.  Then I looked at my watch.  I was at 2.5 miles, confirming that what appeared to be the crest, was in fact, the end of that hill.  After that, the rest of that mile was slightly downhill.

I didn’t know how slow that mile would be.  I would’ve been happy with anything under 10:30.  I ran it in 9:32.  That exceeded my expectations.

The hardest part of the race was now behind me.  I had already finished the two most technical miles and the only uphill mile.  Now, I could look forward to mile after mile of gentle downhill running, although there were still places in the road where there were ruts or rocks.

Mile four was surprisingly fast.  I sped up to 7:59 in that mile.  My average pace for the first four miles was roughly what I needed to break 3:45, and the worst parts of the course were over.  Now, I was confident I could stay on pace to reach my goal.

As bad as I felt when I got up a few hours earlier, none of that mattered now.  Now I was just running downhill.  Running fast in a downhill race depends more on your downhill running technique than how you feel.  My attention was on maintaining a fast cadence, keeping my effort manageable, and watching my footing on the occasional section with rocks in the road.  My pace for the next three miles was between 8:10 and 8:15.

There wasn't much traffic on this road, but when the occasional car passed, we all need to move to one side of the road to make room for the car to pass.  Then the car would raise a cloud of dust, because the road was so dry.

In downhill races, I always try to take short rapid steps.  If I put enough effort into “spinning the wheels,” I don’t have to put much effort into forward progress.  Gravity takes care of that.  I typically have a shorter stride and a faster cadence than the other runners around me, so I was surprised when I heard footsteps behind me, and I realized the runner behind me had a faster cadence than I did.

I was reluctant to take my eyes off the road, but I took a quick glance back to see who was behind me.  It was a woman I had noticed before.  Early in the race, she was right in front of me.  I passed her when she walked part of the hill in mile three.  Since then, she had been right behind me.

I commented that she had a nice rapid cadence.  That was the beginning of a conversation that lasted for the rest of the race.  She commented that she was following me, because I was setting a good pace for her.  Then she asked me what my goal pace was.  I said it was 8:35.  She said her goal pace was 8:23.  That was faster than my goal pace, but all my recent miles were actually faster than that.

Her name was Giuliana.  She wanted a Boston Qualifier for 2026.  The qualifying standard for her age group in 3:55, but she expects the standards to be tightened by five minutes.  She wanted to have a cushion of at least 10 minutes, so her goal was 3:40.  My goal was 3:45, but I decided to run with Giuliani for as long as I could.

I was surprised how cold I felt in the early miles.  I assumed it would be coldest up on Cement Ridge, but it would get warmer as we descended.  I felt an icy cold draft.  After seven miles, my hands were getting really cold.  We were descending through a canyon, and there was a stream nearby.  I’m assuming the water was ice cold, and that’s what made the breeze blowing through the canyon so cold.  I knew it would warm up significantly later in the race, but my hands got progressively colder over the next few miles.  I felt coldest after about 10 miles, but I didn't worry about it.  I knew I would be hot by the end of the race.

We descended by different amounts in different miles.  Because of that, our pace varied.  In mile eight, we sped up to 7:47.  The next four miles were all between 8:10 and 8:20.  At 12 miles, the gravel road became a paved road.  Then, we turned onto a paved highway.  Now we were running through Spearfish Canyon.

The highway through Spearfish Canyon had much more traffic than the gravel roads.  Here, we were required to stay on the left shoulder.  We didn’t have as much room to run, but I was relieved to have better footing.  I was finally able to look up and see the scenery around us.  The canyon walls were beautiful.

At the halfway point, we were on pace to break 3:36.  I expected the late miles to get tougher.  Eventually it would warm up.  It might get as warm as 80 degrees by the time we finished.  It was nice to knew we had room to slow down later.

I ran faster with Giuliana than I would’ve run on my own.  I was pretty confident by now that I would reach my goal.  I wanted to help her reach hers.  In the second half of the race, I didn’t find the pace to be as easy, but I was willing to work harder as long as I thought I could sustain the effort.

Giuliana’s husband was shadowing us in a car and taking pictures.  He also occasionally asked if she needed water.

In mile 14, we slowed to a pace of 8:29.  That was still faster than my goal pace, but it was the first mile that was slower than Giuliana’s goal pace.  On average, we were doing fine, so we didn’t need to worry about it.  We followed that mile with three faster miles.  Then we slowed to 8:32 in mile 18.

Occasionally, I found myself having to work harder to keep up with Giuliana.  Then, in the next mile, the pace would feel manageable again.  I eventually realized that the pace always felt harder shortly after drinking at an aid station.  I often find my breathing feels more labored right after I take a drink.  I also sometimes fell behind at an aid station and had to work harder to catch up.  The more tiring miles sometimes worried me, but as long as it got easier again, there was no reason to be too concerned.

In mile 19, we saw two goats on the opposite side of the road.  We slowed down long enough for Giuliana to take a picture.  That mile was slower, but we understood why.

Later in the race, we no longer felt an icy cold draft.  It was getting warmer.  Any breeze was helpful, but the breeze was no longer cold.

Giuliana’s watch was often giving us a different pace than my watch.  We had been warned that GPS gets a little wonky when you’re running through Spearfish Canyon.  We also couldn’t completely trust the mile markers.  The course is certified, but the placement of the mile markers is only approximate.

In mile 20, we sped up to 8:00.  My watch read 20 miles at about the same time we reached the mile marker, so we felt like we could trust that we had sped up in that mile.

We ran mile 21 in 8:20, but we slowed to 8:43 in mile 22.  Now, we were both struggling to keep up the pace.  I tried to figure out what pace we needed in the remaining miles to break 3:40.  I was too tired to do the mental arithmetic, but I thought our current pace might still be fast enough.

In mile 23, we slowed to 9:06.  That pace definitely wasn’t going to be fast enough to break 3:40.  At this point, Giuliana said she would be happy to finish in whatever time we finished.  I still tried to pick up our pace a little if I could.  I paid close attention to make sure I wasn’t going to pull away from her.

In the late miles, the road leveled off a little, and it was also getting hot.  We had to work much harder now.

With effort, we sped up to 8:41 in mile 24.  Then we slowed to 8:50 in mile 25.  At first, I said we wouldn’t break 3:40.  Then I thought about it some more and said maybe we would.  It was going to be close.

Coming into Spearfish, the road was mostly level.  I knew there would be a few turns, but I wasn’t familiar with the course.  Giuliana has run this race before, so I asked her if she was familiar with the rest of the course.  She couldn’t remember it all, but she knew we crossed a bridge.

I was running ahead now.  I tried to lead Giuliana to a faster pace, but I had to be careful not to get too far ahead.

I saw the bridge.  It was slightly uphill getting onto the bridge.  I said, “this is the last hill.”  Then it occurred to me that this had been the only hill since mile three.

With two turns to go, we reached the 26 mile mark.  I was surprised how much we sped up in that mile.  We both found another gear.

I told Giuliana we were definitely going to break 3:40 now.  She sped up, so I sped up too.  I allowed myself to get ahead of her as we approached the last turn.

Now we could see the finish line, and the announcer called out our names as we approached.  I finished the race in 3:39:49.  Giuliana finished a few seconds behind me.

After a race, I don’t usually feel the need to drink more water.  This race was an exception.  I happily accepted a water bottle from a volunteer, and I started drinking it immediately.  The air had been dry for the whole race, and it got quite hot in the late miles.

They had two people giving post-race massages.  Neither massage table was occupied, so we were each able to get a massage without any waiting.

By now, I knew that I had placed second in my age group.  The age group awards had an image of a buffalo burnt into a slice of wood.

I noticed they were making grilled cheese sandwiches in the finish area, so after bringing my award to the car, I got into the line for grilled cheese sandwiches.  I don’t say this often, but even pizza could not have tasted better.

When I uploaded the data from my watch, I couldn’t help but notice that my step count was 42,200.  A marathon is 42,195 meters, so apparently my average stride length was pretty close to a meter.  It’s worth noting, however, that there were lots of places in the early miles where I wasn’t running the tangents.  On this course, you have to prioritize running safely.

Between the grilled cheese and snacks I had in my room, I didn’t feel any need to go out for lunch.  Instead, I spent most of the afternoon resting and rehydrating.  Later, I went out for an early dinner.

This race started in Wyoming but finished in South Dakota.  By the rules of the 50 States Marathon Club, I could choose whether to count this as a Wyoming race or a South Dakota race.  I chose to count it for Wyoming, because I needed a Wyoming race for my fifth circuit of marathons in every state.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:39:49

Average Pace:  8:23 per mile

First Half:  1:47:54

Second Half:  1:51:55

Place in Age Group:  2nd

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  526

Wyoming Marathons:  5

Boston Qualifiers:  168