On August 17, I ran the Bound
for Boston Marathon in Maple Grove, MN. This
race is put on by Five Star NTP, which also has “Bound for Boston” marathons in
several other cities.
I only learned about this
race a few months ago. I was pleased to
discover a local race that I could run in August. Deb had knee replacement surgery two weeks
ago, and I don’t plan to travel anywhere until she’s farther along in her
recovery. If I was going to run a
marathon in August, it had to be a local race.
I was so excited to find
a race I could do without traveling that I didn’t look too closely at the
details of the race. It wasn’t until
later that I discovered that this race was first held in 2024. When I looked up last year’s results, I saw
only seven names listed. Of those, only
five finished. I’m not sure what
surprised me more, the small number of participants or the fact that two didn’t
finish.
I belong to various clubs
like the 50 States Marathon Club and Marathon Maniacs. They have rules about what’s considered to be
a marathon. It can’t just be a few
friends getting together and running a 26.2-mile training run. It has to be an official race.
This race met most of the
rules. There was a website, they
provided advance notice of the race, the course was measured to be at least
26.2 miles, there was a race director and independent timekeeping, and they
publish results. There was only one
potential problem. Those clubs require a
minimum number of finishers. Five isn’t
enough.
I initially attributed
the low turnout to the fact that 2024 was the first year. I didn’t know about this race last year. Maybe other people didn’t know about it either. I was cautiously optimistic that they would
have a higher turnout in their second year.
The course is certified,
and the race is billed as a good place to qualify for Boston, because the
course is flat. I was skeptical of
that. To run a fast time, you also need
favorable weather, and August isn’t known for cool temperatures.
About two weeks before
the race, I noticed something else that I had previously overlooked. As I was looking up the race morning schedule,
I saw that packet pickup started at 5:45, and the race started at 6:30. That’s all fine. Then I noticed that the course closes at
10:30. What? That’s only four hours after the start. I had to doublecheck. The time limit was four hours.
Now I understood why so
few people do this race. Apparently,
they’re only expecting runners who are trying to qualify for Boston. Four hours is a tight enough time limit to
deter many middle-of-the-pack runners.
It completely excludes back-of-the-pack runners.
I know several runners
who do most of the local races. In
general, they’re always looking for an opportunity to fit an extra race into
their schedule. Unfortunately, four
hours is just too fast for them. I
couldn’t even be confident that I could finish in four hours. On a good day, I can run a time in the 3:40s,
but that’s with favorable conditions. If
it was a hot day, finishing in four hours might prove to be difficult.
I was expecting
temperatures in the 70s with high humidity.
The wildcard was a possible thunderstorm. A large storm system had stalled over the
Midwest. The day before the race, we had
periods of heavy rain with thunder, and there were flash flood warnings.
I set my alarm for 4:00
AM, but a loud noise woke me up ay 3:30.
I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I ate breakfast and started getting
ready. I was relieved when I looked
outside and didn’t see any rain.
I checked the weather app
on my phone. It said heavy rain would be
starting in about an hour. I looked at
the weather radar and saw a large storm system was slowly moving up from
farther south.
Would they cancel the
race if there was a thunderstorm? I
checked my email and saw a new email form the race organizers. It made no mention of the weather. It was just the QR code I would need to pick
up my race packet. I left a little
early, in case I had to drive through heavy rain.
The race venue was
Fernbrook Elementary School. The course
was 24 laps of a 1.1 mile loop going around the school grounds. It was mostly paved, but had a section of
wooden walkway.
I showed up with several
concerns. Could I stay on pace for a
four-hour finish in these conditions?
How many other runners would be running?
If I finished in time, would my running clubs even count it? Would I be running in a thunderstorm?
I was going to give it a
try regardless. It’s been three weeks
since my last marathon, and my next one isn’t until September. If nothing else, I needed a long training run
to bridge the long gap between my last marathon and my next one.
I got in line behind two
other runners to pick up my race bib.
The runners ahead of me were both doing the half marathon. When it was my turn, I asked the race
director how many people were running the marathon. He said 24 runners were signed up for it. That assuaged my first concern. The race was large enough.
Another runner asked
about the time limit. The race director
said they only say four hours, because they don’t want runners signing up who
will need seven hours to finish. He went
on to say that he wouldn’t pull anyone off the course if they weren’t done in
four hours. He just didn’t want us to
still be on the course at noon.
I talked to two other
runners before the race who both said they were expecting times between 4:00
and 4:30. If I couldn’t break four
hours, I would still get an official finish, and I wouldn’t be the last runner
on the course. That took care of my
second concern. I would try to break
four hours, but it wouldn’t be a big deal if I took a little longer.
My last concern was the
weather. When I left the house, it
looked like heavy rain would arrive about the same time we were starting. After making a bathroom stop, I checked my
weather app again. Either the storm was dissipating,
or it was missing us. At worst, we might
have a few periods of light sprinkles.
As it turns out, we didn’t get any rain at all.
The path we were running
on was wide enough for two runners side-by-side, but it wasn’t wide enough for
a large group. To keep the first lap
from being congested, we had a staggered start.
We formed a line, and we were started a few seconds apart. The race was chip-timed, so nobody lost any
time waiting for their turn to start.
As I started running, I
was on my own to establish the right pace.
I started somewhat aggressively.
Beyond that, I was scouting the course.
I had never run this loop before.
We had some periods of
heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, so I was looking to see if any parts of the
course were flooded. I saw one puddle,
but everywhere else we had dry footing.
As advertised, the course
was flat. As for the wooden section, it
was a long bridge over a marshy area.
Bridges like this always make me nervous, but it was in good condition,
and I never tripped.
We didn’t all line up in
the same order we would eventually finish.
Inevitably, I passed a few runners, and a few runners passed me. By the end of the first lap, however,
everything shook out. We were spread out
far enough that I was running by myself, but I could always see the runner in
front of me.
I felt like I was running
too fast. When I got my split for the
first mile, it was 8:15. That confirmed
my suspicion. To break four hours, I
only needed to average 9:09 per mile.
For a Boston qualifier (3:50), I needed to average 8:45. I was 30 seconds faster than that.
After that, I eased up a
bit. My second mile was 8:40. That was more reasonable, but it was still
fast enough for a Boston qualifier. That
wasn’t my goal at the start of the day, but I decided to go for it. If there was a hard four-hour cutoff, I would’ve
paced myself more conservatively, to make sure I finished within the time
limit. Knowing there wasn’t a hard
cutoff emboldened me to run more aggressively.
I risked blowing up, but I knew I would get a chance to finish.
Early in my third lap,
another runner caught up with me. His
name was Brian. He was in town on
business and saw this race as an opportunity to run a Minnesota marathon while
he was already here. Before the race, I
met another runner who said the same thing.
I asked Brian what his
goal was. It was 3:45. That was faster than my goal, but it wasn’t
completely unreasonable. I decided to
run with Brian for a while and see how it went.
Although me didn’t have
rain, we still had overcast skies. That
was a blessing. The temperature was 70
degrees, and the dew point was 66, so the humidity was high. Fortunately, we had a nice breeze that helped
counteract the humidity. The conditions,
while not ideal, were about the best I could’ve hoped for at this time of year.
Brian and I were in our
fifth lap when a faster runner came up on our left. The fastest runner was already lapping us. That wasn’t surprising, as this is a race
that’s designed to appeal to faster runners.
There were tables in the
start/finish area where runners could leave bottles or other nutrition. They also had a table with cups of water and
Gatorade. As we were finishing our sixth
lap, Brian needed to stop to refill his bottle.
I went ahead on my own.
Running with Brian, my mile
times were in the 8:30s. I was planning
to ease up a bit while I was waiting for him to catch up, but I kept going at
the same pace.
About halfway through the
next lap, two more fast runners lapped me.
Then Brian caught up to me. I
didn’t expect him to catch up so quickly.
It seemed like he was running a little faster now. I had to work harder to keep up with him.
I was drinking Gatorade
at the end of each even-numbered lap. As
I paused to drink at the end of our eighth lap, I fell behind Brian. I wasn’t able to catch up to him. I had to let him go and run at my own pace. My pace wasn’t as consistent now, but most of
my mile times were still in the 8:30s.
I was in my ninth lap
when the lead woman lapped me. Her name
was Olivia. Before the race, I heard her
tell another runner her goal was 3:35.
It’s not surprising that she lapped me, but it was surprising that she
did it so early in the race.
After 12 laps, I was half
done. I wasn’t keeping up with Brian,
but I was still on pace to break 3:45.
The cups at the aid
station only had about an inch of Gatorade in them. I was more conscious of the humidity now, and
I realized I wasn’t drinking enough. In
the second half of the race, I drank at the end of every lap.
During my 14th lap, I
realized I was catching up with Brian, so I worked a little harder to close the
gap. When I caught up to him, I realized
he was slowing down. I ended up going
ahead of him.
When I paused to drink
some Gatorade at the end of that lap, Brian caught up to me again. I eased up a bit so I could run with him. We were less than halfway through that lap
when Brian told me he was fading and I should go on ahead on my own. My time for that mile was 8:51, which was my
slowest so far. In the next mile, I sped
up to 8:45, which was the pace I needed to average for a BQ.
As I was coming to the
bridge in my 16th lap, I recognized Olivia in the distance. She was just coming off the bridge. It was a long bridge, but I was still surprised
to see her. I though she would be much
farther ahead of me by now. Two other
women had lapped me, and I didn’t see either of them, so Olivia was no longer
leading the race.
In the next lap, as I got
onto the bridge again, I saw Olivia was still on the bridge. I wasn’t as far behind now. I challenged myself to catch up to her. I brought my pace back down into the 8:30s.
Early in my 18th lap, I
saw that I was going to catch up to Olivia.
I wondered if she still expected to break 3:35. I was still a lap behind her, but I wondered
if it made sense to run with her for the rest of the race.
I was just about to catch
up to Olivia when she started walking, so she could drink some water. I passed her and continued running on my own.
After 18 laps, I was three
quarters done, but it was getting more difficult. I was feeling the humidity in a big way
now. The conditions had not changed. They just gradually took a toll on me. Other runners were slowing down. So far, I was keeping up a consistent pace,
but it was getting more difficult.
For two more laps, I kept
up the same pace. I had built up a
cushion, and I wondered if I was going to give it back now.
The race director had a
PA system. Whenever someone finished a
lap, he announced their name, how many laps they completed, and their time for
the lap they had just finished. When I
finished my 20th lap, my time for that lap was 9:29. To stay on pace for a Boston qualifier, I needed
to average 9:35 per lap. With four laps
to go, I just needed to average 10:15 per lap the rest of the way.
At this point, I began to
slow down. My split for mile 22 was 8:54. The next mile was 9:04. In lap 22, I felt like I was running out of
gas, but I fought to keep from slowing down too much. As I neared the end of that lap, I saw that I
sped up to 9:02. That was reassuring.
As I started my 23rd lap,
it occurred to me that I just had 2.2 miles to go. I was fading, but I was pretty sure I could
keep it together for 2.2 miles. I might
slow down, but I would still break 3:50.
I fought hard to keep up
my effort for another lap. If I could
hold pace for one more lap, I would have room to slow down in the last lap.
In mile 25, I slowed to
9:13. That wasn’t too bad. As I finished lap 23, I checked my time. To break 3:50, I needed to run my final lap
in 12:08. So far, all my lap times had
been under 10 minutes.
I could afford to average
almost 11 minutes per mile in that last lap.
The scary thing is that I often run as slowly as that in summer training
runs. If I allowed myself to slow to a
pace that felt comfortable, it might not be fast enough. I had to force myself to keep up my effort
for one more lap. I knew I could do it,
but it wasn’t going to feel good.
I only slowed down by a
few seconds in my last lap. I finished
the race in 3:47:46.
Immediately after I
finished, one of the volunteers handed me a bottle of water and a bottle of
Gatorade. I don’t usually feel like
drinking after a race, but I knew I would need both of them. I also drank a cup of Gatorade from the aid
station.
They had the same medals
for both races, but marathon runners also received a pin that said “Marathon.”
I was also handed another
pin. There were awards to the top three
men and women overall, the top master (over 40), the top grandmaster (over 50),
the top senior grandmaster (over 60), plus age group awards. I expected to win the senior grandmasters division. I was surprised to find out that I was third
overall.
When I got back to my
car, my clothes were soaked, and I was still sweating profusely. Sweat from my forehead was dripping into my
eyes, making them sting. I really could
have used a towel, but I didn’t think to bring one. Four hours after getting home, I was still
working to get rehydrated.
This race took a lot out of me, but I couldn’t be happier with my result. I originally just wanted another marathon to bridge the gap between two marathons that were seven weeks apart. I would’ve been content to run it like a training run. Instead, I got a BQ and a third-place finish.
