Race Report: 2024 Route 66 Marathon

On November 24, I ran the Route 66 Marathon.  I needed a marathon in Oklahoma to finish my fifth circuit of 50 states, and this is my favorite Oklahoma marathon.  It was also one of the quarterly reunions of the 50 States Marathon Club, so I was motivated to finish at this race.

Friday, November 22

There aren’t any direct flights from Minneapolis to Tulsa.  Flying on Delta, I had to go through Atlanta, so it took most of the day to get there.  I wanted to attend the 50 States Marathon Club meeting on Saturday, so I flew to Tulsa on Friday.

Whenever I do this race, I stay at the same hotel.  The Doubletree in downtown Tulsa is connected by skyway to the Cox Business Center, which was the site of the expo and also the club meeting.  Doubletree has an airport shuttle, so I didn’t need to rent a car.

When I arrived at the airport in Tulsa, I called Doubletree to request an airport shuttle.  Nobody answered the phone for 20 minutes.  When I finally got through, I was told that it would be another 30 minutes before an airport shuttle was available.  I didn’t want to wait that much longer after already waiting for 20 minutes, so I took a taxi.

When I checked in at Doubletree, the hotel manager was apologetic about the delay and reduced my room rate by the amount I paid for the taxi.

I could’ve waited until Saturday to pick up my race packet, but the expo was close, so I went over there as soon as I was unpacked.  Instead of a T-shirt, my race packet included a nice warm vest.  I have hundreds of T-shirts, so I like it when I can get something different.

There are a number of breweries on the east side of the downtown area.  I found one that has Detroit-style pizza, so I went there for dinner.  After dinner, I spent most of the evening talking to another runner who belongs to a local hashing club.  His club was planning a run for Sunday.  He tried to talk me into joining them, but I didn’t think I’d be up for another run after the marathon.

Saturday, November 23

I had breakfast at Doubletree and then went for a morning run.  I was staying at the western edge of the downtown area, so it didn’t take long to get over to the Arkansas River.  Then I followed a paved trail along the river.  This same trail is part of the marathon route.

I didn’t coordinate plans with anyone, but I knew a lot of other runners who were doing this race.  As I was walking to lunch, I saw several familiar faces.  Most were runners.  One was a race-walker I remembered meeting at the National Senior Games.

After lunch, I had time to do a workout and organize my clothes for the race.  Then I went back to the convention center for the reunion meeting of the 50 States Marathon Club.

When you finish a round of marathons in every state, the club mails you a trophy.  The next time you attend one of these reunions, you can bring your trophy and talk about your experience.

This was my first club meeting since finishing my fourth round of states at this same race a year ago.  I told the group how I saw spectators offering donuts during last year’s race, but I didn’t stop, because I was going for a fast time.  This year, I planned to stop for all the food and beverages being offered by the spectators.

I was worried that the downtown restaurants would all be busy the night before the race.  I didn’t want to walk for 15 minutes only to find out that I couldn’t get a table, so I had dinner at the hotel.  Their restaurant had flatbreads.

After dinner, I went to a bar that was two blocks from my hotel.  I had a great conversation with the bartender, and I met a woman who used to live in Burnsville, MN, and went to the University of Minnesota.  This is why I love going to bars.  I always meet interesting people.

Sunday, November 24

This race has had cold weather in the past, but this year was relatively warm.  It was 55 degrees in the morning, and I expected it to get up to 70 by the time I finished.  It was a windy day, and I anticipated going slow and taking walking breaks, so I dressed warmer than I normally would.  I wore tights instead of shorts, and I wore a thin T-shirt underneath my 50 States Marathon Club singlet.

This race always rolls out the red carpet for members of the 50 States Marathon Club and Marathon Maniacs.  They had a VIP tent we could use in the start area with a private gear check and port-o-potties.  They also had a professional photographer to take pre-race group photos.

The race started at 8:00 AM.  I left the hotel at 6:45, which gave me plenty of time to walk to the start before the group photos.  When I arrived, I waited in the tent at “Maniac Corner” until it was time for the group photo.

Over the years, the course has changed several times.  This year’s course was similar to last year’s course, but there were a few differences.  We were warned that there would be more hills.  Last year, I qualified for Boston on this course.  This year, I opted to stay in my comfort zone and just take it easy.

I was finishing my fifth circuit of states, so I chose to view this race as a victory lap.  Instead of running for a fast time, I was celebrating all the races I ran to get to this point.  If I saw a beer stop or a spectator offering food, I was going to stop and partake.

I didn’t start as fast as I normally would.  I was following the runners around me, but I was also holding back a little.

About halfway through the second mile, I saw some spectators in the street handing something to any runners who stopped.  When I saw that they were small bottles of Fireball, I went over to get one.  That set the tone for the rest of the race.

I knew I needed to pace myself, so I didn’t drink it all at once.  I took a sip, put the cap back on, and carried it with me.  I drank it gradually over the next mile.

About halfway through the third mile, I saw some guys on the side of the road with a cooler full of beer.  I still had my bottle of Fireball, so instead of stopping for a beer, I raised my bottle to toast them, and then I finished my Fireball.

The first five miles of the course were hilly.  I didn’t want to wear myself out on the hills, so I sometimes took short walking breaks on the hills.

At about four miles, I saw a spectator holding out a basket.  When I saw the basket was full of bananas, I kept running.  Bananas at races are common enough that I wasn’t tempted.

About halfway through the sixth mile, I saw some spectators dressed as clowns.  They were holding baskets with Jell-O shots.  I took a Jell-O shot and ate it as I continued running.

I was just about to the 10K mark when I saw another beer stop.  This time, I stopped for a small cup of beer.

In the next mile, I saw spectators holding boxes with glazed donuts.  Last year, I skipped the donuts, so I wouldn’t have to slow down.  This year, I took a walking break while eating a whole donut.

There were aid stations at every mile, and they all had water and Gatorade.  Some also had bananas or gels.  I was looking ahead to the aid station at the 7-mile mark when I noticed that I was passing a table with cups on it.  It was another beer stop, but I was already going by it by the time I saw it.

The aid stations all had port-o-potties.  After drinking Gatorade at the aid station, I made a bathroom stop.

Right after my bathroom stop, I saw a table with a sign that said “shots.”  They were Fireball shots.  This time, I stopped.

I was only about seven and a half miles into the race, and I had already stopped twice for Fireball, once for beer, and once for a Jell-O shot.  I didn’t think I could keep up that rate of alcohol consumption for the whole race.

I started to feel a strong tailwind pushing at my back.  We had just turned onto a road that follows the river.  To my left, I could see the same path that I had been running on the day before.  I realized we would be following the river for the next two miles.

The good news is that running with the wind at my back would feel easier.  The bad news is that the wind was no longer cooling me off.  I started to get hot on this stretch.

Looking to my left, I could see runners on the bike path that was closer to the river.  These were the race leaders.  They were about four miles ahead of us.

Most of the food and alcohol is in residential neighborhoods.  People living along the marathon route are encouraged to organize block parties.  Along the river, there weren’t as many spectators, so I wasn’t expecting to see any more beer or Jell-O shots.

At about nine miles, I saw a table on the left side of the road.  There were two women there handing out Jell-O shots.  I took a Jell-O shot and turned to see guys on my right with Fireball shots.  Since I already had a Jell-O shot, I skipped the Fireball.  That would be the last time I saw any alcohol for several miles.

In the next mile, my friend Angel caught up to me.  Her pace was a little faster than mine, so I had to speed up to run with her.  The pace felt tiring, but I knew we would get a cool breeze cool as we crossed a bridge over the Arkansas River.

On the bridge we were high above the river, so we were much more exposed to the wind.  It was no longer a tailwind.  On the bridge, it was a crosswind, and it felt good.

This bridge is a part of the historic Route 66.  This was the only time we were actually on Route 66, although we had crossed it earlier in the race.

After we crossed the bridge, the marathon and half marathon routes diverged.  The runners doing the half marathon did a U-turn and crossed the bridge again.  Then they followed Route 66 a bit farther on their way back into downtown.

Those of us doing the marathon turned left and got onto a pedestrian bridge that runs parallel to the Route 66 bridge.  We crossed the river on that bridge, went underneath the Route 66 bridge, and started following the bike path.

Now we had a headwind.  At first, I felt good, but it wasn’t long before the wind gusts started to get tiring.  I had mixed feelings about that.  I was overdressed, so I really needed the wind to cool me off.

At 13 miles, Angel made a bathroom stop, and I continued on my own.  Fighting the headwind was tiring, so I slowed down.  I assumed it wouldn’t take long for Angel to catch up to me.

We had to go about two more miles in this direction before turning around.  I kept expecting Angel to catch up to me at any time, but I made it all the way to the turnaround before I saw her.  She caught up to me shortly after the turn.

Now the wind was at our backs again.  I also had mixed feelings about that.  I was relieved that I no longer needed to fight the wind, but without its cooling effect, I quickly got hot.  I was starting to regret my clothing choices.

We came back along the bike path for two miles.  Then we turned and followed another paved trail for the next two miles.

At about 19 miles, we turned back onto city streets again.  The next few miles were hilly, and the trend was uphill.  We started walking the steepest part of each hill.

I was getting really hot and sweaty.  As we were walking up one of the hills, I took off my T-shirt.  It wasn’t easy, because I had to take off my hat and singlet before I could take off the shirt.

My T-shirt had short sleeves, so I couldn’t find any way to tie it around my waist.  It was too bulky to fit into my fanny pack, where I was already carrying my phone and a pair of gloves.  Then I remembered that I had an extra safety pin.  I put the shirt around my wait and used the safety pin to hold the sleeves together.

I was so preoccupied with my T-shirt that I didn’t realize we passed a spectator offering Jell-O slots.  On the next hill, Angel told me that I missed it.  It had been 11 or 12 miles since I last had any alcohol.  I needed the break, but now I was ready again.

The next few miles were around the Tulsa University campus.  Then we started coming back toward downtown.

At 23 miles, I saw some people on the left side of the road holding buckets.  I moved to my left to take a closer look.  The buckets held small bottles of Fireball.  I took a bottle and downed it immediately.  With only a few miles to go, I no longer needed to be conservative.

Coming back toward downtown, the trend was downhill, but we still occasionally encountered a short uphill section.  Each time, we walked it.  We were both struggling, but in different ways.  I was hot.  Angel had an upset stomach.

At 24 miles, I saw a table on the right with a variety of beverages.  The guy said he had Fireball, Coke, and mimosas.  I had never had a mimosa during a race, so I tried one.  It didn’t really taste like a mimosa.  I think it was actually a beermosa (beer mixed with orange juice).

I knew where we were now, so I knew when we were approaching Dead Armadillo Brewery, which is just outside of downtown.  I knew there would be a beer stop in front of this brewery.

Before drinking, I asked them what beer it was.  It was a beer I’ve tried before.  It was Dead Armadillo’s “Pickle Recovery” beer.  Most people would find it to be a bit weird, but at 24.5 miles into a marathon on a hot day, it was just right.

There’s a place in downtown Tulsa called the “Center of the Universe.”  It’s a spot with unusual acoustics.  When you stand in the center and talk, you can hear your voice echo.  People standing a short distance away don’t hear it.  The Center of the Universe isn’t on the marathon route, but it’s a short distance away.  When you register for the marathon, you can choose to take a detour to the Center of the Universe.  The detour adds 0.3 miles to your race.

In the past, I’ve always been trying for a fast time, so I’ve never wanted to run this extra distance.  This year, I wasn’t trying for a fast time, so I signed up to do the detour.  Angel also took the detour.

To get to the Center of the Universe, we had to cross a bridge over some railroad tracks.  We walked the uphill side of the bridge.  We ran past the Center of the Universe until we reached the turnaround point.  At the turnaround we each received a souvenir coin.  They also had a beer stop there, with three different beers from local breweries.

On the way back, we stopped briefly at the Center of the Universe, so Angel could experience the echo.  I’ve been there before.  Then we crossed the bridge again to get back to the marathon course.

We had two more turns and one more hill.  Then we reached 25.9 miles, where there was a digital clock and a chip transponder.  For people who didn’t do the detour, this clock wasn’t particularly meaningful.  For us, it was actually 26.2 miles (including the detour), so it was our marathon split.  For what it’s worth, my marathon time was 4:40:45.  Of course, I still had to keep going to reach the actual finish line.

After two more turns we could see the finish line.  Neither of us had the energy to speed up at all.  I crossed the line in 4:44:14.

They had different versions of the finisher medals, depending on which club you belonged to and whether you had also done the Oklahoma City Marathon.  My medal was the one for members of the 50 States Marathon Club.

Finish line food included pizza.  I didn’t even look at the other food.  I ate a slice of pepperoni pizza and kept walking until I reached the beer tent.

On our race bibs, we each had two beer coupons.  They had the same three beers at the finish line that were available on the detour.  I tried one at the detour, and I tried the other two in the finish area.

Next, we went to “Maniac Corner,” which was our VIP area in the finish area.  We had food, beer, and couches to sit on.  In cold years, we would all huddle inside a heated tent.  This year, it was 73 degrees and sunny, so we could be comfortable outside.  I spent about two hours talking with other runners at “Maniac Corner” before finally walking back to my hotel.

For the first half of my walk back to the hotel, I followed the marathon route.  I saw three friends who were nearing the finish.  In all, I had to walk more than a mile to get back to my hotel.

By the time I got cleaned up, it was almost time for dinner.  I didn’t feel like going out again, so I had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.5 miles (including Center of the Universe detour)

Time:  4:44:14

Average Pace:  10:44 per mile

First Half:  2:15:01

Second Half:  2:29:13

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  534

Oklahoma Marathons/Ultras:  5

Circuits of Marathons/Ultras in Every State:  5

Race Report: Andorra la Vella Marathon

I belong to two running clubs that are all about running marathons in different countries.  One is Marathon Globetrotters.  The other is the Country Marathon Club.  Sometimes, a member of one of these clubs will organize a marathon in a country that doesn’t have one.  That was the case with the Andorra la Vella Marathon.

In July, I learned that several runners were planning to run marathons in Andorra, Gibraltar, San Marino, and Monaco, all within an 8-day span in November.  The first three races were small races organized by club members.  The race in Monaco was an existing race.

I chose to just do the race in Andorra.  I passed on the race in Gibraltar, because the other people running this race were planning to stay in Spain and just make a day trip into Gibraltar.  Likewise, I skipped the race in San Marino, because they were planning to stay in Italy and just make a day trip into San Marino.  I would’ve been interested in running marathons in these counties, but only if I was going to stay overnight and have a chance to do some sightseeing there.

I passed on the race in Monaco, because it was an 8-day race.  The other runners were planning to arrive on the second day and run just long enough to finish 26.2 miles.  If I was going to do a multi-day race, I would want to run as far as I could.

Andorra is a small country in the Pyrenees, between Spain and France.  The race was in Andorra la Vella, which is the capital of Andorra.

Friday, November 8

I arrived in Spain on Friday, after an overnight flight to Amsterdam, a 3-hour layover, and a connecting flight into Barcelona.  I wasn’t going to meet up with the other runners until Saturday, so I had an afternoon and evening on my own in Barcelona.

Hotels near the popular tourist destinations were expensive, so I stayed at a hotel that was closer to the airport.  I’ve been to Barcelona before, so I didn’t need to do all the sightseeing again.

After getting settled in at my hotel, I went for a run.  My hotel was about two miles from the Magic Fountain of Montjuic.  The fountain is currently shut down because of draught conditions, but it was a familiar landmark.  I started by running to the fountain.  From there, I gradually worked my way up Montjuic until I reached the Olympic Stadium, which is at the top of the hill.  I took a different route down.  I had to detour around some construction, but I eventually found my way back to the hotel.

There weren’t many restaurants near my hotel, so I spent the evening in the city center, where there are lots of dinner options.

I had been awake since the previous morning, so I had no trouble getting to sleep.

Saturday, November 9

I didn’t need to be up early, but I set an alarm, so I could force myself to get used to the local time zone.  That gave me time to do a workout at the hotel before leaving for Andorra.

The original plan was to meet at the airport and carpool to Andorra, but that turned out to be complicated.  It’s a three-hour drive through the mountains, and we would be required to have snow tires and chains.  Also, everything in Andorra la Vella was close enough that we wouldn’t need a car while we were there.

There are two different companies with express buses from Barcelona to Andorra la Vella, so most of us took a bus.  I caught the bus at a bus station outside Barcelona’s central train station.

The bus ride took about three hours.  There wasn’t a bathroom on the bus, so I was really glad I used the bathroom at the bus station before boarding the bus.  We drove through a little bit of rain, but it wasn’t raining when we arrived in Andorra.

From the bus station in Andorra la Vella, I was able to walk to my hotel.  I stayed at the same hotel where packet pickup was held.  It was about a block away from the small city park where the race started.

After checking in, I attended a pre-race briefing and picked up my race number.  Then several us walked out to where the race would start in the morning,

I spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing.  Andorra la Vella is in a valley.  From different places in the city, you can get views of the surrounding mountains.

One of the attractions is Casa de la Vall.  This historic manor, built in the 16th century, was formerly the headquarters of the Consell General, which is the oldest parliament in Europe.

Another attraction is the Church of Saint Esteve.  This church dates back to the 12th century.

A river runs through the city, and there are a number of interesting bridges.

There are also several interesting sculptures around town.

For dinner, I went to an Italian restaurant near my hotel.  For the record, I’ve now had pizza in 51 countries.

Sunday, November 10

Sunday was race day.  The race was originally scheduled at start at 9:00, but there was an early start at 7:30 for runner who needed extra time.  When I found out everyone else was taking the 7:30 start, I decided to also start at 7:30.  We met in the lobby at 7:10 and walked to the start together.

The temperature was about 40 degrees at the start and climbed into the upper 40s during the race.  I was expecting to go at a slow pace, so I dressed warmer than I normally would.

The course was a loop that we ran five times.  We started at Parc Central.  From there, we ran on a bike path alongside the river for about 2.6 miles before coming back on the other side of the river.

In general, we were always on the left side of the river, but there were a few exceptions.  Sometimes, we had to cross a street, and there was only a crosswalk on one side of the river.  In those spots, we would cross the river, cross the street at the crosswalk, and then cross the river again on the other side of the street.

This was a small race, with only 31 runners.  There weren’t any aid stations, so I needed to carry a bottle with me.  There was a drinking fountain in the start/finish area, where I could refill my bottle after each lap.  I brought a few packets of Gatorade powder, so I could mix it each time I refilled my bottle.

When Raoul, our race director, measured the course on Saturday, he found it to be a little short.  To make up the distance, we needed to do two laps of a much shorter loop.  Raoul called these “penalty laps.”  We ran our “penalty laps” first, which gave Raoul time to begin marking the turns on the main loop.

By the time we finished our first “penalty lap,” it was clear that there were four runners who were starting much faster than everyone else.  I started out at an easy pace.  I quickly found myself trailing the four leaders, but I was ahead of everyone else.

Some of the runners had walked the entire loop on Saturday, so they were familiar with all the turns, and in particular, they knew were to turn around.  I wanted to follow somebody who knew the course, and it quickly appeared that the only way I could do that was to stay within sight of the four leaders.

I accelerated enough to keep from falling too far behind.  I ran the first mile in 9:05.  That’s faster than I was planning to run, but it wouldn’t break me to run at that pace for a few miles.

The second mile was faster.  I ran that one in 8:12, but I was still barely keeping pace with the leaders.  That pace felt a little tiring, but not as tiring as I would have expected.  I didn’t realize it yet, but as soon as we started our first full lap, we were going downhill.

In the first half of each lap, we were following the river downstream.  The river descended fairly rapidly.  There were rapids almost everywhere.  That made the fast pace seem deceptively easy.

Before the turnaround, we crossed Pont de Madrid, which is an easy landmark to recognize.  We were still on the same bike path, but now we were on the opposite side of the river.

Next, we ran by this gas station.  I knew the turnaround was somewhere near the gas station, but I didn’t know exactly where.  It was the first place after the gas station where there was a road going to the right.

By the time we reached the turn, I was catching up to the four leaders.  Then we made a big 180 degree turn that led us onto a street that gradually brought as back toward the river.  We ran on a sidewalk until we got back to the river.

Immediately after the turn, we started climbing.  Going uphill, I could no longer keep up with the leaders.  I dropped farther and farther behind, but I worked to at least keep them in sight.

As the road came back to the river, we got onto a bike path again.  Later, as we ran by a large athletic complex, the paved bike path was replaced by a rubberized surface resembling a track.  I enjoyed running this section, but I was still falling farther behind the leaders.

In our pre-race briefing, Raoul had told us that there was a place where the path would end, and we would have to cross the river.  I knew we were getting close to it, when I got a glimpse of two of the leaders on the other side of the river.  I wanted to keep at least one of them in sight long enough to see where we crossed the river again to get back on the left side.

I saw one runner making that turn.  By the time I got there, I had lost sight of everyone ahead of me, but I recognized where I was.  I was about to run past the bus station.  I knew the way from there, because I had walked from the bus station to my hotel on Saturday.

By now, another runner had caught up to me.  His name was Ricky, and he was from Denmark.  I ran with Ricky for the rest of the lap.

Lap one was tiring.  In lap two, I slowed down, but only a little.  I was talking to Ricky, and I wanted to keep up with him.  We ran together for all of the second lap.  It wasn’t as fast as my first lap, but it was still tiring.

Halfway through the second lap, as we turned around and got onto the sidewalk, there were several metal posts that we had to avoid.  I got distracted by our conversation and ran into one of them with my right shoulder.  I hit the post so hard that my shoulder hurt for the rest of the race.  It’s good that I didn’t hit my head.

We continued running together for the rest of that lap.  At the end of each lap, we each ran into the park to refill our bottles.  There were bathrooms in the park, so I stopped briefly to pee.  As I was leaving, Ricky told me he was also going to use the bathroom too.  I went ahead and started my third lap, but at a slower pace.

I expected Ricky to catch up to me, but in the meantime, I had time to stop and take a picture.  By now, the morning sun was hitting the mountains ahead of us.  This is the type of view we had throughout the race, as we ran through the river valley.

Ricky caught up to me as I was putting my phone back in my fanny pack.  I ran with him briefly, but I could no longer keep up with him.  I gradually fell behind.

I no longer had any reason to keep running fast.  In the first lap, I was trying to keep the leaders in sight.  In the second lap, I wanted to have someone to run with, so I ran at Ricky’s pace.  Now, I realized I would probably be on my own for the rest of the race.  It was time to slow down.

We were mostly running on bike paths, but there weren’t many bikes.  In my third lap, I was passed by a few bikers, but I didn’t see any before that.

Now that I was going at a slower pace, I could afford to stop and take a few pictures.  All of my pictures of the course were taken in the third lap.  Here’s a picture of the river that I took in the second half of the lap, when I was following the river upstream.

To take pictures, I had to take my gloves off.  It was still too cold for that.  My hands were getting cold, so I had to put my gloves on as soon as I was done taking pictures.

It was during that lap that I reached the halfway mark.  I was on pace to break four hours, but only because I had started fast.  I expected the second half to be slow.

By the time I finished my third lap, I was feeling pressure in my intestines.  I needed to make another bathroom stop when I got back to the start/finish area.  This one was going to take longer, but I was no longer worried about losing time.  The rest of the race was going to be slow anyway.

I had to take my gloves off to use the bathroom.  After my bathroom stop, I didn’t feel any need to put them on again.  It had warmed up noticeably since my previous lap.

I felt a little sluggish as I started my fourth lap.  That didn’t last long.  I was back on the downhill side of the course.  That made it easier to gradually pick up the pace.

About a mile into that lap, I started to feel more pressure in my intestines.  I wasn’t done yet.  I was going to need to make another bathroom stop, and I couldn’t wait a whole lap.

Raoul had told us about some other bathrooms along the route, but I never noticed where they were.  I remembered the gas station just before the turnround.  I knew I could use a bathroom there, but it was still more than a mile away.  I had to hold it in, and running downhill didn’t make it any easier.

When I finally got there, I ran into the gas station and found the bathrooms.  I was in there for a long time, but I was confident I wouldn’t need to stop again.

By the time I left the gas station, my watch was reading just over three hours.  The last time I ran by this gas station, it was still less than two hours.  It had taken me more than an hour to run one lap.  That was discouraging.

As I made the turn and began the uphill half of the loop, I saw a few runners just ahead of me.  At this point in the race, I was sometimes passing slower runners who were a lap behind me.  I caught and passed a couple runners, but one runner was always about the same distance ahead of me.  I eventually realized that he must be on the same lap as me.  I never saw him ahead of me before, so he must have passed me while I was in the gas station.

The first half mile after the turnaround was the steepest.  I always struggled there.  I was working hard to try to catch up to the runner ahead of me.  That was the only reason I worked hard going up this hill.  Having someone to chase kept me motivated.

Now I was hot.  Earlier in the race, I needed the warm clothes I was wearing, but now I felt overdressed.  I would be hot for the rest of the race.

I followed the same runner for the rest of the lap, but I couldn’t catch up to him until he stopped in the start/finish area to get a new bottle.  I needed to stop to refill my own bottle and mix in more Gatorade powder.  By the time I started my last lap, he was well ahead of me again.

On the downhill side of the course, I was able to gain ground.  I caught up to him, and we ran together for a few minutes.  His name was Martin, and he was from France.  We were both on our last lap.

As we got to the steepest part of the descent, I started to pull away from Martin.  I wasn’t trying to get ahead of him, but I always pick up speed going downhill, and it was steepest in the last half mile before the gas station.

When I reached the uphill side of the course, I slowed down substantially.  It helped to know that I was running this for the last time, but it was still a tough uphill grind.

By the time I finished the steepest section, Martin had caught up to me again.  We ran together for the rest of the race.

I was just reading a split from my watch when Martin asked me what distance I had.  I told him I was at 24 miles.  His watch was reading in kilometers.  His was just over 38 kilometers.  As I thought about what was left, I was skeptical that we still had 2.2 miles to go.  I told him if my watch was reading low as we approached the finish, I was going to run an extra “penalty lap.”

We continued, and as we got within sight of the bridge we crossed at the end of each lap, I took another look at my watch.  It was obvious that my watch was going to measure less than a marathon.  Martin’s watch was also coming up short, so instead of crossing the bridge, we each began a “penalty lap.”

I thought for sure that would be enough, but as we ran into the park, my watch was still a little short.  I did a little extra running through the park until my watch read 26.22 miles.  Then I stopped.  I finished in 4:18:52.  Martin’s watch was also still reading short of a marathon.  He continued to run for a few more minutes after I finished.

My second half was more than 20 minutes slower than my first half.  Bathroom stops accounted for at least 10 minutes of that.

After finishing, I talked to a few other runners who were still in the finish area.  Everyone I talked to had the same experience.  Their watches were reading short, so they did extra “penalty laps” to make up the difference.

If this was a certified course, I would trust that the course was measured accurately, and I wouldn’t worry if my watch read low.  It doesn’t happen often, but it happens.  Under the circumstances, we all felt it was important to keep running until our watches had recorded a long enough distance.

How much of a difference was there between the first and second halves of the loop?  Here’s the elevation profile my watch recorded.

Ricky said his legs were already getting sore.  I didn’t have sore legs, but my shoulder still hurt.  When I got back to the hotel, I looked to see if there was a bruise.  I couldn’t see any bruising, but it hurt with any movement.

After I had time to get cleaned up and recover, I went walking with Ricky and Lone, who were both from Denmark.  We walked through a part of the city I had not seen yet.  Then we stopped at a bar for beers.

Later in the afternoon, there was an awards ceremony at the hotel, where everyone received their medal and finisher certificate.

I went to dinner with Ricky, Lone, Raoul, and Peter.  Raoul and Peter are both from Finland.  We wanted to eat right away, but most of the restaurants didn’t open until 7:30 or 8:00.  The restaurant I went to on Saturday opens at 6:30, so we went there.  Everyone seemed happy with that restaurant choice.

Monday, November 11

When I woke up on Monday, I still had some soreness in my shoulder, but it wasn’t as bad.  It no longer hurt to move my arm.  Other than my shoulder, I felt fine.

I had breakfast with the same runners I had dinner with the night before.  After breakfast, I had time to do a workout at the hotel before taking the bus back to Barcelona.  Several of the other runners were on the same bus.

Some of the other runners flew to southern Spain, so they could drive to Gibraltar the next morning.  I was planning to fly home, but first I had one more night in Barcelona.

I stayed at the same hotel in Barcelona, so I was already familiar with everything nearby.  After checking in, I went for a run.  I could’ve run the same route that I ran on Friday, but that would have been too strenuous for a recovery run.  I started with a few level miles.  Then I started up Montjuic, but I didn’t go all the way to the top.

After a quick shower, I went into town. I had a little time before sunset but not much.  I went to La Sagrada Familia.  I toured the basilica in 2017, but it was still under construction.  I wanted to see how it looked now.

I arrived as the sun was going down, so there wasn’t much light for pictures.

While I was there, I randomly bumped into Ricky and Lone.  We stayed to see the basilica at sunset.  Then we went to dinner together.

Tuesday, November 12

I woke up early on Tuesday.  While I was trying to get back to sleep, I heard my phone vibrate.  That surprised me, since I usually put my phone in airplane mode overnight.  I apparently forgot to do that.

I had a series of notifications from Delta Airlines about delays to my flight from Barcelona to New York.  It was originally scheduled to depart at 10:15 AM.  That was delayed to 12:30 PM.  Then it was delayed to 1:45.  Then it was delayed to 3:15.  That last delay meant I would arrive in New York too late to make my connection.

As soon as I was awake enough to be coherent, I called Delta.  They were able to rebook me on different flights.  Instead of connecting in New York, I connected in Atlanta.  That was good news, since it’s easier to make an international connection in Atlanta.  The flight times were similar to my original flights, but my seats were less desirable.  They gave me a $100 credit for the inconvenience.  After I got off the phone, I saw another notification.  My original flight was cancelled and the next available flight to New York wouldn’t be until Thursday.

I had a little bit of a scare when I got to the airport.  I went to a kiosk to print my boarding passes, but it would only give me the boarding pass for my first flight.  It didn’t show me having a second flight.  I could see that flight in the app, but it wouldn’t show me my boarding pass.  Thankfully, the gate agent was able to print my boarding pass.  It would've made me nervous to arrive in Atlanta without a boarding pass.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.22 miles

Time:  4:18:52

Average Pace:  9:52 per mile

First Half:  1:59:06

Second Half:  2:19:46

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  533

Countries:  50

Race Report: 2024 City of Oaks Marathon

On November 3, I ran the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh, NC.  This race has easy logistics.  If you stay in a downtown hotel, you can walk to the start and walk back from the finish.

When I ran this same race two years ago, it took me more than four and a half hours to finish.  There were several reasons for that.  First, I had a cold.  Second, I wasn’t in peak shape.  Even on a good day, I wasn’t fast enough to break four hours.  Finally, it was a warm day, and I was feeling the humidity from the first mile.

This year I had every reason to expect to be faster.  I’m healthy, I’m in better shape, and the weather was cooler.

I ran Boston qualifying times in my last four races, but they were all on courses that were mostly flat.  This race has lots of hills.  Running a qualifying time on this course would be more challenging.

I flew to Raleigh on Saturday.  On my way into town, I stopped at the LeRoy Martin Magnet Middle School to pick up my race packet.  Each year, there’s some type of gift at the expo.  This year, it was a pair of socks.

After packet pickup, I continued to my hotel in downtown Raleigh.  Then I spent most of the afternoon walking around the downtown area.  I’ve been to Raleigh twice before, so I wanted to do some different sightseeing.  This time, I followed a walking route I found online that connects several buildings that have murals.

This mural is called “All Are Welcome.”  It was hard to get an unobstructed view of this one, because there was a car parked right in front of it.  As a bonus, I saw another mural on the same building.

This mural, outside Shaw University, celebrates their 150th anniversary.

This one depicts Ann and Allen Iverson.

This mural is called “No Damsel.”  This isn't the whole thing, but I couldn't get it all in one picture.

This mural on the side of the Lincoln Theater is called “Honest Abe.”

This one is called “Abstraction Motion.”  It incorporates Google Fiber, so you can both see and feel it.

This mural of John Prine was painted during the 2018 World of Bluegrass International Festival.

This mural is called “Color Pop Corner.”

There’s artwork on the back of the convention center that’s lit up at night, but it’s nothing special during the day, so I didn’t take a picture.  I did, however, take a picture of the statue next to the front of the building.

There was one mural on the tour that was missing.  It used to be on a building that’s now part of a reconstruction project.  While I never got to see that one, I saw several other murals that weren’t part of the tour.  I also saw other forms of artwork.

I didn’t have any lunch, so I had an early dinner.  I went to Raleigh Beer Garden, which was just around the block from my hotel.  Their menu includes pizza, and they have more than 300 beers on tap.

This was the weekend that we set the clocks back.  Before going to bed, I checked to make sure the alarm clock in my room was set up to change automatically.  I also manually changed the clock on the microwave, so I wouldn’t be confused if I happened to notice it when I got up during the night.

When I got up on Sunday, the temperature was in the upper 40s, but it looked like it might get up to 50 by the time the race started.  That’s my usual threshold for wearing shorts.

In my last four races, I wore tights, and at times I felt too warm.  This time, I was going to wear shorts.  Thirty minutes before the race, I checked the weather.  It was still only 46 degrees, so I made a last-minute decision to wear tights.  It was the usual trade-off between being cold in the first half of the race or possibly getting hot in the second half.

They had a gear check, but I didn’t need to use it.  The starting line was just a few blocks from my hotel, so I didn’t go outside until 20 minutes before the race.

I didn’t know if there would be pace groups until I reached the start corrals.  They had pace groups, but their target times were all multiples of 15 minutes.  My goal was 3:50, and I expected that to be challenging on this course.  On a flat course, I might have started with the 3:45 group.  Instead, I lined up about 10 feet behind them and started at my own pace.

When I was walking around downtown Raleigh on Saturday, I couldn’t help but notice that every block was either uphill or downhill.  None of the hills was steep, but there weren’t any streets that were flat.  That made it difficult to know how fast I was starting.

The first few blocks were slightly uphill.  It seemed like I was starting at a slower pace than I usually do, but I was breathing harder than usual.

After a few blocks, we turned a corner and started running downhill.  Suddenly, running was easier.  I sped up, but I wasn’t working as hard.

During those first few blocks, the 3:45 pace group got so far ahead of me that I lost sight of them.  By the end of the first mile, I could see them again.  They were about half a block ahead of me.

To finish in 3:50, I needed to average 8:46 per mile.  I was surprised to see that I ran the first mile in 8:10.  The 3:45 group was evidently starting kind of fast.  Their target pace was 8:35, but they started even faster than I did.

The second mile was mostly downhill.  I still found it hard to gauge how fast I was running, because I couldn’t really go by perceived exertion.  Instead, I just kept up with the people around me, even though I had reason to believe it would be too fast.  My second mile was a little faster than my first mile.  As a result, I was now getting closer to the 3:45 group.

Early in the third mile, we turned a corner and started going up a hill.  I was careful not to work too hard on the hill.  I gradually dropped back from the 3:45 group.  Then I reached an aid station, and I briefly slowed to a walk while I drank some Gatorade.  That caused me to fall farther behind the 3:45 group.

The more I drifted back from the 3:45 group, the more it felt reasonable to keep up with the people around me.  That gave me more confidence that I would stay on a consistent pace.

There were lots of turns in the early miles.  Depending on which direction I was running, I sometimes felt a cold breeze.  It wasn’t windy enough to feel tiring, but it made me glad that I wore tights.  For the time being, I wasn’t in any danger of getting hot, but without the tights, I probably would’ve been cold.

After a couple fast miles, it seemed like the 3:45 group settled into the right pace.  I was running pretty close to their target pace, and I was always about a block behind them.  Then we reached a long downhill section, and I inadvertently caught up to them.

It was a large pace group, and they were spread out across the road.  I was running right behind them, but I was careful not to let myself get ahead of them.

The next time we reached an uphill section, I gradually drifted back from the 3:45 group.  Then we reached a downhill section that was steeper, and I accidentally got ahead of the group.  I eased up as much as I could without actually resisting the hill, but I was still in front of the group.  When the road turned uphill again, I fell behind them for good.  For most of the race, I could see them in the distance, but I never caught up to them again.

Around seven miles, we turned a corner and merged in with runners who were doing the 10K race.  I’m not sure how many miles those runners had run by now, but their pace was definitely slower.  There were lines of slow runners that I needed to pass.

I could no longer be confident that I could stay on pace just by keeping up with the runners behind me.  I had to pay attention to keeping up with the faster runners, while moving around the slower ones.  We were going up a hill at this point, so I had to pick up my effort to keep up with the faster runners.  Going up that hill, I got warm enough that I finally took off my gloves.

At the top of the hill, the 10K runners had a turnaround.  Those of us doing the marathon or half marathon kept going straight.  Now, I was once again surrounded by runners who were all going at the same pace.

I was relieved to be done with that hill.  I was also relieved that there were no longer any slower runners on the course.  At the same time, I also knew that I was nearing the end of the easy part of the course.  In another mile, we would leave the streets to begin a long out-and-back section on the Reedy Creek Trail, which is a paved bike path.  On roads, there were hills, but they were all fairly gradual.  The hills on the trail are sometimes steeper, and the abrupt changes in slope make it harder to stay in a consistent rhythm.  So far, I was running faster than my goal pace, but I expected that to be more difficult on the trail.

I wasn’t running with a pace group, but I wanted to be able to compare my pace to other runners.  Before we reached the trail, I was hoping to pick out one or two runners who seemed like they were running a consistent pace.  My plan was to follow them through the various undulations along the trail.

There had been different runners around me at different times, but as I looked around, I spotted one runner who always seemed to be about 20 feet in front of me.  It was a woman in a pink top and white shorts.  I didn’t know, however, if she was doing the marathon or the half marathon.  I wouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out.

Shortly after the eight mile mark, we reached the point were the marathon and half marathon routes diverged.  The woman in the pink top was doing the half marathon.  Those of us doing the marathon left the roads and entered the Reedy Creek Trail.

I took note of which runners were immediately in front of me.  One was a guy wearing a red shirt and a camelback.  Another was wearing a blue shirt and a white hat.  I kept up with these two guys over the next few ups and downs.  Then I inadvertently got ahead of them.  What’s surprising is that I passed them going up a hill.  When we reached a long downhill section, I sped away from them.

I remembered how much the hills on this trail took me out of my rhythm when I ran this race two years ago.  I didn’t remember that there was a downhill trend on the way out.

Over the next two miles, it seemed like we were mostly running downhill.  That scared me, because I would eventually have to run it in the uphill direction.

Mile 10 was mostly downhill, and I ran it in 7:56.  That was my fastest mile of the race.  I was back to being only about 30 seconds behind the 3:45 group.

Mile 11 was also mostly downhill.  That was my second fastest mile of the race.  I was getting closer to the 3:45 group, although it would take an effort to catch up to them.

I wasn’t trying to catch up to the group, but I wanted to keep them within sight.  Behind the group, there was a big gap.  My choices were to either stay close to the group or resign myself to running completely by myself.  As long as I could see the group, I could tell if I was maintaining a similar pace.

At one point, we went under a bridge, turned a sharp corner, and them climbed a ramp up to street level.  Then we crossed the same bridge that we had just gone under.

Going under the bridge, I was as close as I would get to the 3:45 group.  Going up the ramp, I was careful to conserve energy.  I slowed down, and as a result, I fell farther behind the group.

After crossing the bridge, we turned back onto the trail and went deep into the forest again.

Most of the time that we were on the Reedy Creek Trail, we were surrounded by trees.  We were sheltered from the sun, but not from the wind.  There was a constant breeze, and it felt surprisingly cold.  With each mile, my hands felt colder, until they felt like ice.  I told myself to enjoy it while it lasted.  I still expected to get hot later in the race.

For a long time, I was running by myself, but then I was passed by a runner wearing an orange shirt.  I wanted to run with him, but his pace seemed too fast.  It occurred to me that he was going to catch up to the 3:45 group.  If I could keep up with him, he would pull me up to the group.

I stayed with him for a while, but then we reached a steep hill.  The hill was short, but it forced me to slow down.  That was as close as I would get to catching up with the 3:45 group.

That hill took us up to a street, and for the next several blocks, we were running on a concrete sidewalk.  I was worried about tripping on an uneven seam between two sections of sidewalk, so I ran more cautiously here.  That caused me to slow down.

The halfway point was on this concrete section.  When I got there, I was on pace for 3:42.  I was three minutes ahead of my goal pace.  The 3:45 group got there at least 30 seconds ahead of me, so they were still going fast.

I knew that I would have more uphill running in the second half of the race, so I expected to slow down.  I was optimistic that I could run a Boston qualifying time, but I definitely wasn’t going to try for negative splits.

The section on concrete sidewalk was initially uphill, but them it turned downhill.  Even going downhill, I had to take it at a cautious pace.  At the end of that section, we reached an aid station.  Then we crossed the street and backtracked a short distance to where we could get back onto the trail.

As I grabbed a cup of Gatorade at the aid station, a drop of Gatorade flew into my left eye.  I had forgotten how much that stings.  I briefly had difficulty keeping that eye open.

Now that I was back on the trail, I was able to pick up my pace.  It was getting more tiring though.  I usually find it easier to push myself when I’m in the second half of a race.  This race was an exception.  I was still almost three miles from the turnaround.  As long as I was still heading out, I didn’t feel like I was in the second half of the race.  For now, I could only think about how far it still was to the turnaround.

By now, I was starting to see faster runners who were already on their way back.  Now that we had two-way traffic on the trail, we had to keep to the right to make room for the runners who were going the other direction.  We could no longer run the tangents going around the turns.

I started to encounter more and more things that took me out of my rhythm.  Sometimes it was a hill.  Sometimes it was a sharp turn.  Sometimes it was a wooden bridge.  At one point, it was all three at once.  We were on a wooden pedestrian bridge that went underneath a larger bridge.  There were sharp turns and some rapid ups and downs as we went under the bridge.  I slowed down so much here that five runners passed me in rapid succession.

After that, we went up the steepest hill in the race.  I wondered if I would need to walk it.  When I saw the runners ahead of me walking it, I followed suit.

At the top of the hill, we came to a clearing.  This was one of the few places along the Reedy Creek Trail where spectators could easy watch the race.  I recognized this as the spot where some friends were watching for me two years ago.

Next, we ran past a small lake.  Then we went deep into the forest again.

I was now within a mile of the turnaround.  As I got closer, I saw a pace group coming back from the turnaround.  I was surprised to see it was the 3:45 group.  I thought I was still half a mile from the turnaround, but it was actually just ahead of me.

Coming back from the turn, I started to run with more confidence.  I spotted the runner with the red short and the camelback.  I had passed him several miles earlier.  Then he passed me in one of my slower miles.  Now I was on the verge of catching him again.  He was going faster than most of the other runners around us, so I followed him.

Although I wasn’t keeping up with the 3:45 group, I was usually running a similar pace.  In miles 14 through 16, my average pace was 8:46, but before that, my pace was usually in the 8:30s.  It’s worth noting that 8:46 was my goal pace.  Those miles felt slow, but only by comparison with all the faster miles.

In mile 17, I sped up to 8:32, while chasing the guy in the red shirt.  He was setting a good pace for me.

Toward the end of that mile, I ran down the same steep hill where I had to walk going uphill.  It was so steep that running it in the downhill direction was uncomfortable.  I felt one of my insoles slip forward in my shoe.

Right after that, we reached the wooden bridge with hills and turns.  I took it faster in this direction, but I tripped on something just before the bridge.  I didn’t fall, but it scared me.  After that, I accelerated, and I passed the guy in the red shirt.  Mile 18 was another 8:32 mile.

I was pleased with my pace in those two miles, but I still had five more miles on the trail, and they were going to have an uphill trend.  In the next mile, I reached a hill that was long enough that I had to walk the steepest part of it.  That mile was slower.

I was discouraged at first to have slowed to 8:58 in mile 19.  That was my slowest mile so far.  Then it occurred to me that it was only 12 seconds slower than my goal pace.  I wasn’t keeping track, but I knew had to be at least three and a half minutes ahead of schedule going into that mile.  I could easily afford to give back 12 seconds.

In mile 20, I picked up the pace again.  I gained back seven seconds of the 12 that I had lost in the previous mile.  I knew the next three miles would be slow, but I had a large cushion.  I was confident that I could maintain a steady pace when I got back onto city streets.  My concern was losing time on the hills in the last three miles of the trail.

Mile 21 had another hill that forced me to walk.  I was disciplined and only walked for 30 seconds.  I gave back 37 seconds in that mile.  Mile 22 also had a hill that forced me to do some walking.  In that mile, I gave back 19 seconds.

I was giving back time, but I was limiting the damage.  I estimated that I still had a cushion of at least two and a half minutes.

Mile 23 was the toughest.  There was a hill that was so long that I couldn’t see the whole thing at once.  I walked the steepest part of the hill.  Then I resumed running to what I thought was the top of the hill.  I turned a corner and saw that I wasn’t even halfway to the top.  I had to take another walking break.

That wasn’t the last hill in that mile, but it was the last one that forced me to walk.  When I crested the hill, I accelerated.  I started passing most of the other runners, but there was one runner who kept up with me going downhill.  She passed me, but I kept pace with her.

At the end of that mile, I was running strong, but overall, that mile was slow.  It was by far my slowest mile of the race.  In just one mile, I gave back more than a minute of my cushion.

I was thinking we would leave the trail before the 23 mile mark, but I was wrong.  We still had about half a mile on the trail.  Fortunately, this section was mostly downhill.  Then we finally came out onto the streets again.

I knew the rest of the race would have a downhill trend, but the first few blocks were slightly uphill.  I fought my way uphill without losing much time.  When I finished mile 24, I saw that I had gained back more than 20 seconds.

I had been trying to keep up with the woman who passed me in mile 23, but she was too fast.  Then she stopped briefly at an aid station.  I passed her at the aid station and accelerated as I began a long downhill section.  I ran that section as fast as I could, but she was a strong closer.  She eventually passed me gain, and I couldn’t keep up with her, even though I sped up to 8:10 in that mile.

Coming back into the downtown area, we had a strong headwind.  Up until now, the wind was always my friend.  It kept me from getting hot.  Now, the wind was tiring.

With 1.2 miles to go, I knew I would break 3:50 by a comfortable margin, but I could see another hill ahead of me.

Another fast runner passed me.  I wanted to try to keep up with him, but I had to conserve energy for the hill.

That was the last hill of any significance.  After the hill, it was almost all downhill to the finish.  At first, I wasn’t recognizing any of the buildings or street names.  Then I ran past a fast food restaurant that I had walked by on Saturday.  I had a better feel for where I was.

As I approached what I thought was the final turn, I saw a runner who had already finished and was walking back to his hotel.  He said, “Get around the corner, and it’s downhill to the finish.”

I rounded the corner, but I still couldn’t see the finish.  On the plus side, it was noticeably downhill.

I raced down the hill, and I reached the “26” sign.  I ran that mile in 8:12.  I was crushing it, but I still couldn’t see the finish line.  There were still two more turns.

I made the first of those turns, and I immediately saw the second one.  It was just one short block.  It was slightly uphill, but my momentum carried me to the last turn.  Then I could see the finish line, and the final approach was downhill.

This was my first race using a watch that I’ve only had for 10 days.  It’s similar to my old watch, but saving the data from a run is more complicated.  There are two extra steps.  I have to rate how hard I ran and how I felt.  I was so preoccupied with saving my data, that I never looked at my time.  I knew I beat my goal by at least a few minutes, but I walked away from the finish line not knowing my time.

I love the design of the finisher medal.  It features a large acorn that spins.  There are also acorns and oak leaves on the ribbon.

There were volunteers handing one water bottles, but I didn’t take one.  My hotel was less than two blocks away, and I had plenty of water there.  I did, however, make a point of getting some post-race food.

A volunteer at the food tent handed me a banana and a bag with other snacks.  At another table, they had cookies and skewers with cold cuts.  I took a cookie, but I passed on the cold cuts.

When I got back to my hotel room, there were several things I wanted to do first.  I wanted to download the data from my watch.  I wanted to look up my official result.  I wanted to eat my snacks.  I wanted to use the bathroom.  I wanted to get out of my sweaty clothes and take a bath.  More important than all of those was getting out of my sweaty shoes and socks.  I could not do that fast enough.

Shortly after downloading the data from my watch, I noticed I had an email with my official result.  I finished in 3:45:50, which was good for third place in my age group.  I qualified for Boston by more than four minutes, and I did it on a hilly course.  I had BQs in my previous four races, but those were all on relatively flat courses.

I never regretted wearing tights.  Later in the race, it was getting warmer, but I seemed to get a cold breeze whenever I needed one.

In case anyone is wondering, the hotel I stayed at is the Hampton Inn.  If you’re planning to do this race, you should be aware that this hotel has pros and cons.  On the plus side, you can’t beat the location for race day logistics.  It’s about half a block from the back of the start corrals and only three blocks from the starting line.  It’s also only about a block and a half from the finish area.

The big negative of this hotel is also the location.  It’s in a nightlife district, and there’s a place next to the hotel that plays loud music until at least 2 AM.  I was fortunate.  I had a room on the side of the hotel that’s farthest from the noise.  I occasionally heard a loud truck or motorcycle, but I didn’t hear the music.  I talked to runners with rooms on the other side of the building, and they were kept awake by the noise.  To their credit, the hotel staff provides earplugs to all their guests.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:45:50

Average Pace:  8:37 per mile

First Half:  1:50:59

Second Half:  1:54:51

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  532

Boston Qualifiers:  173

Place in Age Group:  3rd