Race Report: Across the Years December 31 Marathon

Today was day four of Across the Years.  My motivation for doing marathons each day instead of one of the fixed-time ultras was to run a quadzilla in Arizona.  To do that, I needed to run marathons on four consecutive days.  Today was the day I was completing my quadzilla, so I wore a T-shirt from the Seattle Quadzilla.

I’ve been waking up before my alarm every day.  Today, I was up much earlier than usual, so I decided to do a strength training workout before breakfast.  I have a routine that I normally do three times a week, but I had not done these exercises since Saturday.  I’m always too wiped out after running a marathon.  I thought doing a workout in the morning might be a good way to start getting some blood flow into my muscles.  It seemed to work.  After my workout, my legs felt normal for the first time since Sunday.

This course has long sections that are dirt.  Even with gaiters, a certain amount of dust will gradually work its way into your shoes.  I’ve been wearing the same pair of shoes for the last three days, so today I switched to a clean pair.

The weather was similar to the last few days.  It was upper 50s at the start with a forecast high in the low 70s.  I was once again hoping for clouds in the afternoon.

I didn’t do any walking in my first lap, because I was feeling chilly.  I needed to run until I got warmed up.

Starting with my second lap, I did the same run/walk mix as yesterday.  I walked two short ramps going through the stadium, and I also walked a section of sidewalk that comes later in the loop.  Everywhere else I ran, but at a relaxed pace.

Yesterday, I noticed early in the race that I was in the lead.  Today, I did my best to avoid looking, so I wouldn’t get too caught up in competing.

I always start the race wearing gloves, but I usually take them off after a lap or two.  Today, I ran three laps before I was ready to take my gloves off.  It was cloudy, and there was a bit of a breeze.

One of the cool things about this race is seeing all of the accomplished ultrarunners who are doing the 6-day race.  Some of them I’ve met before, like John Geesler and Ed Ettinghousen.  This year, there was a new face.

On Sunday, I saw a woman moving around the course slowly using a walker.  I didn’t know who she was at first.  The next time I saw her, I got glimpse of the name on her race bib.  It was Ann Trason.

Ann is a living legend.  She was winning races and setting course records when I first started running ultras.  Among other things, she won the Western States Endurance Run 14 times!

Over the last few days, I’ve noticed that several other runners had their race bibs signed by Ann.  Today, I had my opportunity.  I happened to reach the aid station when Ann was there, and a saw a sharpie on the table.  When she was done talking to another runner, I asked Ann if she would sign my race bib.  She said she would sign mine if I signed hers.  She had obviously made the same deal with dozens of runners.  Her race bib was covered with autographs.  We each signed each other’s race bibs, and then I got on my way again.

Since Monday, I’ve been eating solid food during every fifth lap.  I started doing that so I would have more than just liquid in my digestive system.  I’ve found since that what food I eat is less important than the psychological benefit of segmenting the race and having something to look forward to.

During my fifth lap, I ate a breakfast burrito.  Rather than eat it while moving, I stayed at the aid station long enough to finish eating it.  Because I spent so much time at the aid station, I skipped my last walking break that lap.

My longest walking break was on a sidewalk that I call the “Avenue of Flags,” because it’s lined with state flags on both sides.

In my sixth lap, I was feeling the cool breeze more, and my hands started to get cold.  I considered skipping my walking break at the “Avenue of Flags.”  Instead, I ran about half of it and only walked the other half.

One lap later, my hand were still cold, so I had to put gloves on again.  I talked to another runner who had the same experience.

I reached the halfway mark in the middle of my 10th lap.  I was about one minute slower than yesterday.  When I finished that lap, I finally looked to see what place I was in.  I was 11th overall and 7th among men.  Yesterday, going at about the same pace, I was winning.  Obviously, today’s race had a more competitive field.

Toward the end of my next lap, I was passed by a runner who had already lapped me earlier.  I was talking to him before the race, so I knew he was also doing the marathon.  I sped up enough to stay with him for the rest of that lap, because I wanted to see what place he was in.

When we each crossed the line, I looked for his name to come up on the timing display.  I was shocked to see he was the 5th place male.  He was 2.8 miles ahead of me, yet he was two places off the podium.  At this point, it was pretty obvious that I wouldn’t come anywhere close to placing in this race.

Knowing that was kind of liberating.  Instead of pushing the pace, I could just take it easy for the rest of the race, knowing my time didn’t really matter.

After that, I cruised through my laps at a slower pace.  I wasn’t doing any more walking, but my running became more of a slow shuffle.

About this time, I started to feel drops.  It was only sprinkling, and it didn’t last long, but I never had to worry about getting hot today.  It stayed cloudy all afternoon.

Besides the fixed-time and fixed-distance races, there was also a last person standing race.  That race started today at noon.  The runners in that race needed to run a 1.41-mile lap every 20 minutes.  That had the potential to create some extra congestion near the start/finish line if I happened to come through when those runners were lining up to start their next lap.

As it turns out, that never happened.  At first, I was coming through a few minutes before they started their next lap, so I would see those runners resting in the heated tent next to the starting line.

My laps were never as slow as 20 minutes, so I gradually came through farther ahead of their start times.

Paradoxically, the slower I got, the more tiring my laps felt.  Maybe it’s because I had no sense of urgency.  My brain wasn’t in “race mode.”  Without that sense of urgency, I was probably more apt to notice the cumulative fatigue from running four marathons.  It’s also possible I was feeling the effect of waking up at 3 AM.

It wasn’t until my last two laps that I started to pick up the pace again.  I skipped my last two walking breaks, not because I cared about my time, but just because I wanted to get done.

I finished in 5:26:44.  I didn’t win an award, but I earned something else.  Anyone completing a multiple of 100 miles receives a belt buckle.  Most people do in a single race.  I did it by running four marathons.

I also completed my Arizona quadzilla.  Now I’ve run quadzillas in 10 different states.  To join the 50 States Marathon Club, you need to finish marathons in at least 10 states.  I’ve often joked that if I could run quadzillas in 10 states, I could be the founding member of the 50 States Quadzilla Club.

Tonight is New Year’s Eve.  For runners who are on the course tonight, there will be festivities at midnight.  I won’t be staying up.  I have another race tomorrow morning, so I need to get as much sleep as I can.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.8 miles

Time:  5:26:44

Average Pace:  12:11 per mile

First Half:  2:38:08

Second Half:  2:48:36

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  37

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  572

Lifetime ATY Miles:  490.05

Quadzilla States:  10

Race Report: Across the Years December 30 Marathon

Today was my third of six daily marathons at Across the Years.  Yesterday’s race went better than I expected, so I started the day feeling optimistic that I can hang in there for four more days.

When I rolled out of bed this morning, walking to the bathroom was slow and painful.  It was slow, because my Achilles tendons were tight, forcing me to take small steps.  It was painful, because my feet were sore.

I wasn’t drinking during the night, so by morning I felt dry.  The first thing I did was to drink a pint of water.  I’m wondering if dehydration is contributing to the soreness in my feet, which is always worst in the morning.

By now, I’ve developed a consistent routine for getting myself ready.  By the time I left for the race, I was walking normally.  When it was time to run, I knew I would somehow do that too.

Today’s weather was similar to yesterday, but there wasn’t as much wind.  I was cautiously optimistic that we would get some cloud cover in the afternoon.

Yesterday’s nutrition plan worked OK, so I did the same thing today.  I drank a variety of beverages, and I ate some solid food every fifth lap.

There were dozens of runners starting at 9:00 AM.  Some were doing today’s marathon.  Others were starting one of the various fixed-time races.  Most of them were starting with fresh legs, so we were starting out running.

Early in the first lap, several of us passed Ann Trason, who is doing the 6-day race.  As we went by, she said, “You’re all so fast!”  It was weird to hear a comment like that from someone who has set numerous course records.

Yesterday, I was running most of the route.  On most laps, I only walked on the two short ramps going through the stadium.  Today, I added a longer walking break on each lap.  The course has a lot of concrete, so rather than run all of it, I took a walking break each time I reached this sidewalk.

On my first lap, my hands were still cold.  I walked up the two short ramps, but I ran the section of sidewalk above, so I could get warmed up.  Starting with my second lap, I walked this section of sidewalk.

Whenever I finished a lap, I looked at the timing display to make sure my lap was counted and the lap count was correct.  After two laps, I noticed I was in first place overall.

After my third lap, I saw that I was still leading all the men, but I was now in second place overall.  I had taken a bathroom break in that lap, so I assume that’s when I got passed.

Yesterday, it took until the second half of the race before I noticed that my Achilles tendons no long felt tight.  Today, they felt OK after only a few laps.

When it was time to eat some solid food, they had breakfast burritos.  I ate about half of a burrito while I was still in the food tent.  I carried the other half with me and walked while I ate it.  I had to wait until the next lap to follow it with some ginger ale.

Because I had a walking break while eating my breakfast burrito, I didn’t take one where I usually walked.

After that lap, I noticed that I had regained the overall lead.  For the next few laps, I was leapfrogging with the lead woman, but I didn’t know who it was.  Presumably, we were always close to each other, but I somehow never noticed when we passed each other.

I looked forward to lap 10, because it was time to eat some real food again, and it was also the lap where I hit the halfway point.  When I got to the food tent, they were just putting up this sign.

I was going to have a hot dog, but I didn’t read the sign closely enough.  They would have hot dogs at 1 PM.  It wasn’t even noon yet.  Instead, I had a bean roll-up.

My time at the halfway point was about seven minutes slower than yesterday, but I was feeling really good.  I wondered if I could run even splits, or possibly even run negative splits.

I had been expecting it to be sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon.  Instead, it was the opposite.  It had been cloudy all morning, but now the sun was coming out.  That made the second half more difficult, as I started feeling the heat from the sun.

While I was on my walking break, I saw a woman go by who looked familiar, but I didn’t recognize her as she went by.  As it turns out, it was a runner from Australia who I met during yesterday’s race.  She’s also running marathons every day.

The timing display at the finish line updated each time a runner finished a lap.  They used different background colors for runners doing different races.  Runners doing the marathon were shown with a black background.

As I was finishing that lap, I looked to see my name show up at the top of the display.  I saw two rows with black backgrounds.  My name was at the top.  I was second overall.  Two lines down, I saw the runner who was first overall.  Her name was Annabel.

I looked ahead.  There were several runners just a short distance ahead of me.  One was the woman who had passed me during my walking break.  I assumed she must be Annabel.

I made a point of catching up to her.  We both got to the food tent around the name, which gave me a chance to look at her race bib.

The race bibs had a wealth of information.  Each one showed a bib number, a state flag, age/gender, runner’s name, and which race they were doing.  They were also color-coded.  Runners doing different races had different colors.

I assumed this was Annabel, but I didn’t see a name on her bib.  What I did see was that it was a different color than mine.  That confused me.  Now I didn’t know for sure who I was competing with.  When I took my walking break, I watched to see if anyone passed me.  Nobody did on that lap.

At the end of that lap, I was in first place overall, but I had passed a few other women during that lap.  I didn’t know for sure which one was Annabel.

I continued to take walking breaks each lap, but I paid attention to who passed me.  I was passed by some speedy young guys who were doing different races, but not Annabel.

After every lap, I check to see if I was still first overall.  I was.

In lap 15, it was time for another food stop.  It still wasn’t 1:00, but they had the hot dogs now.  I started eating a hot dog and washing it down with sports drink.  I realized right away that I wouldn’t be able to finish eating it without a beverage, so I had to stay at the food tent until I finished it.  I’ll never win a hot dog eating contest.

As I was eating, I was watching the runners who were approaching.  Most were men or were doing other races.  Then I saw a woman with a yellow cap who was approaching quickly.  As she reached the food tent, I looked at her race bib.  I didn’t see a name.  She was wearing the type of race bib that they assign to someone who signed up at the last minute.  It didn’t have any information other than her bib number.

Could she possibly be Annabel?  She was going awfully fast.  In all likelihood she was doing a different race, but I didn’t know.

By the time I finished my hot dog, the woman with the yellow cap was a good distance away, but I could still see her.  I gave chase.

I was running faster now that at any other point in the race, but I wasn’t gaining on her.  She was getting farther ahead of me.  I gave up on catching her and settled back to a more reasonable pace.  When I reached the sidewalk with all the flags, I still took my walking break.

After that lap, I saw that I was still first overall in the marathon.  The woman in the yellow cap wasn’t Annabel.

I kept grinding out laps, but it was getting more difficult now.  Ever since the sun came out, it was getting hotter and more tiring.

As I neared the end of my 16th lap, I needed to make a bathroom stop.  I was experiencing some chaffing, so I also took the time to apply some Aquaphor.  After that lap, I was still in the lead.

With two laps to go, I looked at the clock and realized that I might be able to run negative splits, but I would need a strong finish.  I still walked on the two short ramps, but I skipped the longer walking break on the sidewalk.

With one lap to go, I knew I could run negative splits, but only if I didn’t take any walking breaks.  I did my best to speed up, just to make sure.

I finished in 5:12:37.  I ran negative splits by almost two minutes.  I also won the race.

After finishing, I waited for Annabel.  It was, in fact, the woman from Australia.  I just didn’t know her name before.  After Annabel finished, I found out why her bib was a different color than mine.  She also had one of those bibs given to people who signed up at the last minute.

I’ve never won a race in Arizona before.  It’s the 13th state where I’ve won a marathon or an ultra.  That includes 10 states where I’ve been an overall winner and three others where I was first place male, but not first overall.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.8 miles

Time:  5:12:37

Average Pace:  11:40 per mile

First Half:  2:37:07

Second Half:  2:35:30

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  36

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  571

Lifetime ATY Miles:  463.25

Race Report: Across the Years December 29 Marathon

Today was day two of Across the Years.  For me, it was the second of six daily marathons.  I had hoped to go easy enough on day one that I could wake up feeling OK today.  My time yesterday was about an hour slower than it would be for an all-out-effort, yet it still left me feeling sore and stiff.

The scary part is that yesterday was the easy day.  It was the only race that I was starting with fresh legs.  For the rest of the week, every day will involve dragging myself through 19 laps on tired legs, refueling, getting as much sleep as I can, and then getting ready to do it again.

For the second straight day, I got up four hours before the race started.  I needed that time.  When I rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, the best I could manage was a slow shuffle.  My legs were stiff, and both Achilles tendons were tight.

After a long soak in the tub, I did my morning stretches and worked on my calves with a massage stick.  That helped.  By the time I went down to breakfast, I was walking normally, although my Achilles tendons were still a little tight.  The more I walked, the easier it got.  I didn’t know how running would feel until I started.

I was surprised when I checked my weather app.  I was expecting the weather to be about the same for the first four days.  At 7:00 AM, it was 10 degrees warmer than yesterday.  The forecast high was also 10 degrees warmer.  There isn’t much shade on the course, so staying hydrated as it warmed up was a bigger challenge today.

When I arrived at the race venue, I noticed another difference in the weather.  It was windy today.  Before the race, the wind made it feel cold, but I knew the wind would be helpful as the temperature climbed.

Every day, there’s a group start at 9:00 AM.  That includes people doing the marathon and people starting one of the fixed time races.  Yesterday, it seemed like a majority of the runners were starting the 6-day race.  All of those runners were already on the course, so today’s group start wasn’t as congested.

Yesterday, I was running the whole time until my last lap.  Today, I needed to incorporate some walking breaks.

The course is mostly flat, but we go up two ramps as we run through the stadium.  Yesterday, I always ran on the ramps.  Today, I usually walked them.  I would have walked them both on every lap, but the first ramp is at the beginning of the loop.  We were starting out into the wind, so I needed to run to stay warm.

I didn’t know how running would feel, but when it was time to run, I ran.  I felt mostly OK.  My Achilles tendons both felt tight, but running was manageable.

When I got to the second ramp, which is shorter, I walked it.  Starting with lap two, I walked both of the ramps and ran everywhere else.

My pace in the early laps was similar to my average pace yesterday, but I was expecting to do more walking as the race progressed.

Yesterday, I didn’t eat any solid food until my last lap.  I drank the same beverage for the whole race.  It’s a sports drink called Gnarly Fuel2O.  I don’t think I’ve ever had that before, so I was breaking a cardinal rule of races.  Don’t try anything new on race day.

I don’t know what caused my digestive difficulties yesterday, but I made three changes today.  First, I didn’t drink any fruit juices with breakfast.  Second, I ate some solid food every five laps, so I would have more than just liquid in my digestive system.  Finally, I drank several different beverages.

I started with Gnarly Fuel2O, but when my cup was empty, I filled it with ginger ale.  Later, I switched to Coke, them Gnarly Hydrate, then water.

In lap five, it was time for some solid food.  I ate a PBJ.  I didn’t want to stop at the food tent long enough to eat it, so I took it with me and walked until I finished eating it.  I wanted to follow it with some beverage, but I needed to wait until the next time I came around to the food tent.

That mile was slow, because of the extra walking.  After that, I got back to the same pace.  I kept up a consistent pace until lap 10.  Then it was time for more food.

They have different hot foods at different times.  Now, they had egg sandwiches.  That’s not something I could eat without washing it down, so I had to stop at the food tent long enough to finish eating it.

Later in that lap, I reached the halfway point.  I was roughly on pace for a five-hour finish.  My halfway split was much slower than yesterday, but I held up better in the second half today.  It helped that I wasn’t having any digestive issues.

In the second half of the race, the temperature climbed into the 70s, but the wind really helped.

There was another pleasant surprise in the second half.  My Achilles tendons no longer felt tight.  They gradually loosened up.

Yesterday, the last seven or eight laps were an ordeal.  Today, those laps felt more manageable.  They were slow, but I felt much more confident that I could keep up my pace.

The length of the loop doesn’t divide evenly into a marathon distance.  To finish a “marathon,” I needed to run 19 laps, which is actually 26.8 miles.  Yesterday, my watch read 27 miles before I finished.  I expected it would today too.  In the late laps, I had to constantly remind myself how far I needed to run to finish.  For example, when my watch read 20 miles, I wanted to think that I had 6.2 miles to go.  In fact, it was probably at least seven miles.

Whenever I finished a lap, I looked to see my name come up on the large screen next to the timing tent.  Yesterday, I never noticed the two columns on the far right, which showed what place I was in.  With five laps to go in today’s race, I saw that I was in third place overall and second among men.

I had intended to start taking extra walking breaks, but I never did.  Now that I knew I was on pace to win an award, I was determined to keep up the same pace for the rest of the race.

In lap 15, I had solid food for the last time.  I ate a bean roll-up.  Those were small enough that I could eat one quickly and get on my way.

In the last four laps, I was counting down every half lap.  Each time I told myself how many laps I had left, I immediately remembered how I felt at the same point yesterday.  Today, I was always more confident that I could keep up my pace.

As I was about to start my last lap, I spotted a woman from Australia who I had been talking with early in the race.  She was also doing the marathon.  When I saw her name come up on the display, I noticed that she was currently the second-place female.

Instead of walking up the ramp at the beginning of the lap, I kept running.  I wanted to catch up to her, so I could tell her she was on pace to win an award.  When I got to the second ramp, I ran that too.  It was the only lap that I ran the whole way.

I wanted to run my last lap without stopping, but with half a mile to go, I felt the urgent need to pee.  I didn’t think I could hold it for the rest of the lap, so I stopped at the last set of port-o-potties.  It was a brief stop, but then it was tough to force myself to run again.

At this point, I just needed to run through the parking lot and partway through the stadium.  I forced myself to run, but I was sluggish at first.

I finished today’s race in 5:04:33.  That’s slower than yesterday, but my pacing was much more consistent.  My second half was actually faster than yesterday.

For the second straight day, I went back to the hotel with a second-place trophy.

Today’s race went better than expected.  I’m now much more confident that I can keep doing this for four more days.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.8 miles

Time:  5:04:33

Average Pace:  11:22 per mile

First Half:  2:30:14

Second Half:  2:34:19

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  35

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  570

Lifetime ATY Miles:  436.45

Race Report: Across the Years December 28 Marathon

Across the Years is best known for fixed-time ultras, ranging from six hours to six days.  In recent years, they’ve added fixed-distance races as well.  They now offer the option to run marathons during any of the six days of the event.  I’ve done the 24-hour and 48-hour races in the past.  This year, I decided to run all six marathons.

My motivation for this was the opportunity to run a quadzilla in Arizona, which will be my 10th different quadzilla state.  For that, I just need to run marathons on four consecutive days.  Since I’m here, I plan to do all six.

For the second straight year, the race venue is the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, AZ, which is near Phoenix.  This is a facility used for spring training by the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres.  The course is a 1.4108-mile loop that goes through the stadium and around a few of the other baseball diamonds.  About half of the course is paved, and the other half is dirt.

In the fixed-time ultras, people run this loop as many times as they can in the allotted time.  For the marathons, I need to run the loop 19 times.  That works out to 26.8 miles, so the course is actually long for a marathon.

I flew to Phoenix on Saturday.  It’s tough to fit clothes and gear for six races into one bag, so I originally packed clothes and toiletries in one bag and shoes and other gear in another.  I’ve never had a problem with checked baggage on a domestic flight, but I didn’t have a good feeling.  If either of my bags got delayed, it would be a major headache.

Before leaving for the airport, I managed to repack everything into one roller bag.  It wasn’t easy to get the bag zipped shut.  When I got to the airport, I had to pack my jacket into the same bag, which made it even harder to zip shut.

When I saw the bag check lines, I was really glad I wasn’t checking a bag.  The lines were so long that they spilled out into the hallway.  The entire departures hall was wall to wall people.  Thankfully, I was able to go straight to security.

One of the items in my bag was a massage stick.  TSA wanted to inspect my bag, so they could take a closer look at the massage stick.  After looking at it, they didn’t have a problem with it, but I had to stuff everything back into my bag and zip it shut for a third time.

When I arrived in Phoenix, I drove straight to the race venue to pick up my race packet.  I’ll wear the same race bib every day, so I only needed to do packet pickup once.  At Across the Years, returning runners always get the same bib number.

My hotel was only half a mile from the race venue.  After checking in and unpacking, I did a workout.  Then, I went for a walk and randomly bumped into two friends who were also here for Across the Years.

I had dinner at an Italian restaurant that was just a few blocks from my hotel.

I got to bed early and slept well all night.  That rarely happens when I’m traveling.

The race didn’t start until 9:00, but I was up by 5:00, which gave me time to eat breakfast at the hotel before getting ready for the race.  I felt like I dried out during the night, so my breakfast was mostly liquids.

We had timing chips on our race bibs, but this year, they also wanted us to have tags on our shoes.  The purpose of these tags was to track which runners are somewhere on the course.  If you leave the race venue to go back to your hotel, they want you to return the shoe tag and then get another one when you come back.

The temperature at the start was 50 degrees.  I was chilly at first, but it warms up quickly here.  I dressed for the warmer temperatures that I knew were coming later.

My friend Chavet was doing the six-hour race as a training run.  Her pace was a little fast for me, but I ran the first lap with her.

They had a food tent with a variety of food and beverages.  There was a table where you could leave a cup or bottle.  I left a cup there before the race, so it would be there each time I arrived at the food tent.

The food tent was located about a quarter of the way through the loop.  The first time I went by, I didn’t need to drink yet.  On all subsequent laps, I was drinking one of the sports drinks.

The first time I stopped to drink was early in my second lap.  I stopped, while Chavet kept going.  After that, I ran by myself.

I intended to slow down, but I was still going a little fast.  When I finished mile three, I saw that my pace was 8:55.  After that, I throttled it back.  The next mile was a minute slower.

For the next several laps, my pace ranged from 9:52 to 10:31.  I wasn’t going as fast as I started, but I was still going faster than I probably should have, given that I wanted to keep plenty of gas in the tank for the next five days.

I made a point of noticing where the midpoint of the loop was.  When I was halfway through my 10th lap, I was half done with the race.  At this point, I was on pace to break 4:30.

Later in that lap, I needed to make a bathroom stop.  There were real bathrooms in the stadium, but I couldn’t hold out that long.  Fortunately, they also had port-o-potties in several places around the loop.

After my bathroom stop, I initially felt sluggish.  I wondered if my pace should be slower for the rest of the race.  I gradually got into a good rhythm again, but in my 12th lap, I needed to make another bathroom stop.  I had to stop again in my 13th lap.

After that, my digestive system seemed to stabilize, but I was running at a slower pace the rest of the way.

It was also getting warmer now.  It was a sunny day, and I heard a few other runners talk about how hot it was.  I didn’t feel hot, but I was getting increasingly thirsty, even though I was drinking every time I went by the aid station.

I had every intention to take it easy today, but with six laps to go, it definitely wasn’t feeling easy.  I was running at a slower pace, but I still wasn’t taking any walking breaks.  I was just trying to get done.

So far, I wasn’t eating any solid food.  They had common race foods, like PBJs all the time.  At certain times of the day, they had different hot foods.  I was on my second to last lap when I saw this sign.

I was planning to eat some food on my last lap, in place of a real lunch.  I wanted to have the grilled cheese and tomato soup, but I waited until my last lap.

Later in that lap, I saw my friends Karen and Cyd, who were walking together.  This was my last chance to share part of a lap with them, so I walked with them for about five minutes.  Then I resumed running, before I got too stiff.

I was almost done with that lap when I felt an urgent need to make another bathroom stop.  Fortunately, I was just running into the stadium, where there were real bathrooms.  I couldn’t have held out any longer.  When I got into the stadium, I ran right into the men’s room.

After that, I was OK for the rest of the race.  During my last lap, I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup.  Nothing could possibly have tasted better at this point in the race.

With less than a lap to go, I found it easier to keep running.  I finished my final lap, stopped my watch, and looked for my name on the large screen outside the timing tent.

Every time someone finished a lap, this screen showed their name, lap count, total mileage, total time, and what they ate for breakfast.  I always looked for my name after finishing a lap.

My time was 4:50:58.  That’s gun time.  If the official results show net time, it’ll be about eight seconds faster.

I went over to the awards tent next to the finish line, where I received my finisher medal.

Anyone finishing any of the races also gets one of these mugs.

There were awards to the top three men and women in the marathon.  Despite my problems in the second half of the race, I took second place today.

After the race, I went over to the timing tent to return my shoe tag.  Because I’m returning every morning to run another marathon, they told me to just keep the same tag all week.  They’re more concerned about runners who are doing the multi-day races and might leave the race venue during the race to go back to their hotel.  In my case, they know I’m done for the day, and they know when I’ll be back.

When I got back to the hotel, my priority quickly shifted to post-race recovery.  I took a bath and did some stretches.  Then I worked on my legs with a massage stick.

Since finishing the race, I’ve already finished a bottle of water.  I’ll drink at least one more before tomorrow’s race.  I’ll also eat a full dinner tonight.

I’m not sure what caused my digestive issues today.  Hopefully, that won’t be an issue tomorrow.  If it is, I’ll have to make adjustments in my diet.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.8 miles

Time:  4:50:58

Average Pace:  10:51 per mile

First Half:  3:13:44

Second Half:  3:37:14

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  34

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  569

Lifetime ATY Miles:  409.65

Race Report: 2025 Tucson Marathon

On December 14, I ran the Tucson Marathon.  Deb and I combined our trip to Tucson with a visit to her brother, who lives in New Mexico.

Saturday, December 13

We flew to Tucson on Saturday, arriving in the early afternoon.  From the airport, we drove directly to packet pickup, which was held at Pima Community College.  Then we checked into our hotel.

For the first two nights of our trip, we stayed at El Conquistador Tucson, which is a Hilton resort.  This was the host hotel for the race.  It’s a huge property, located near the Santa Catalina mountains.  We had this view from our patio:

We liked this resort enough that we spent the rest of the day there.  We had dinner in one of their restaurants.  The only negative about this resort was that the air conditioning seemed to be seasonal.  We could get heat or fan, but not AC.  That made it hard to get the room cool enough to sleep well.

Sunday, December 14

Sunday was race day.  The race was point-to-point, so I needed to take a bus to the start, which was at Biosphere 2.  A big advantage of staying at the host hotel was being able to board a bus right in front of the hotel.  Runners who weren’t at this hotel needed to park at Oro Valley Marketplace and take a bus from there.

I was on one of the early buses, so I got dropped off at Biosphere 2 more than an hour before the race.  I was expecting it to be cold at the start, but the temperature was in the low 50s, and there wasn’t much wind.  I brought warm-up clothes and a space blanket, but I really didn’t need them.

We waited in a staging area that was right next to Biosphere 2.  While we waited, we could go into the building and look around.  There was a gear check, so none of my warm-up clothes needed to be discarded.  After making a couple bathroom stops, I checked my gear bag and started the half mile walk to the starting line.

This course descends 1,493 feet, making it a fast course.  With that in mind, I was aiming for a fast time.  My fastest time so far this year was 3:44:40 at the Mesa Marathon, which was also downhill.  On this course, I was hoping to go faster.  They had a 3:40 pace group, so I started with them.  I didn’t know if that pace was realistic, but I wanted to give it a try.

Although the course is mostly downhill, the first mile is actually uphill.  When I joined the 3:40 group in the start area, the pacer was explaining how she planned to pace us.  She wasn’t going to run the same pace in every mile.  She had prepared a pacing plan that took the elevation profile into account.  On average, she would be running 8:22 per mile, but in the first mile, she was planning to go a full minute slower.

At first, I found it easy to keep up with the group.  As the road began to turn uphill, I started to get ahead of them.  Then the road got steeper, and the pace group caught up to me again.  I picked up my effort to stay with them, but the road kept getting steeper.  I was running hard enough to be short of breath, but I was falling behind the group.

Eventually, we crested the first hill, and I was able to catch up on the downhill.  By the end of the first mile, we were running uphill again.  This time, I was able to keep up, but just barely.

We ran that first mile in 9:34.  That’s more than a minute slower than the pace I was hoping to average for the race, yet it took a lot out of me.

The next two miles were rolling, but with a noticeable downhill trend.  The uphill sections were short.  The downhill sections were longer and steeper.  On one of the downhill sections, I got ahead of the group.  I assumed they would catch up to me the next time the road turned uphill.  I was wrong.  I ran the second mile in 7:50 and never looked back.

I spotted my friend Rainer, and I ran with him for about a mile.  His goal was to break 3:30, so I knew I couldn’t keep up with him for long.  I eventually had to let him go.

By now, we were past the rolling section of the course.  Now it was steadily downhill, but with a gentle grade.  For the next few miles, I kept my pace between 8:05 and 8:15.

By mile seven, I found myself starting to fall behind some of the other runners around me.  I slowed down a little, but not much.  For the next several miles, my pace was between 8:10 and 8:20.

By the seven mile mark, I had already made up the time from the slow first mile.  I was now on pace to break 3:40, and my recent miles were faster.

After the first few miles, we were running on the shoulder of a highway.  The pavement was rough in a few places.  More than once, I caught my shoe on some rough pavement and it threw me off balance for a split second.  I never fell, but it scared me.  As recently as three weeks ago, I had a hard fall on pavement, and I ‘m still recovering from that.

My pace felt somewhat tiring, but I was in a nice consistent rhythm now.  I run best when I can keep the same rhythm.  Some miles were more noticeably downhill, and others leveled out a bit.  I kept running with the same stride and cadence, so my pace stayed the same, even in the miles that were more level.  Those miles were more tiring, but I didn’t slow down.

By the halfway point, I was more than a minute ahead of schedule.  Now, I was on pace to break 3:38, in spite of that slow first mile.  If I could keep up this pace for the rest of the race, I might break 3:35.  I had doubts, however.  I questioned whether my current pace would be sustainable for 13 more miles.

As I started the second half of the race, I was counting down the remaining miles.  Each mile left me feeling slightly more tired, but I had fewer miles to go.  I kept wondering if I would run out of gas before I ran out of miles.  Experience told me I would, but I was determined to try for a fast time, and I was willing to risk blowing up.

I was drinking at every aid station, but the cups were small, so I probably wasn’t drinking enough.  Increasingly, I found my mouth getting dry long before I reached the next aid station.

In mile 18, the road turned more sharply downhill.  I needed to shorten my stride and increase my cadence.  I sped up to 7:57 in that mile, but I could see that the road would level off in the next mile.

The road leveled off, but then we left the road to run on a wide bike bath.  At first, the bike path was downhill.  Then, we went under a bridge, and we had to climb a small hill on the other side.  That hill really slowed me down.  More disturbing was what I saw next.  The trail leveled off.

My time for mile 19 was 8:33.  Looking ahead, the trail still looked level.  Before the race, I heard someone say the course levels off in the late miles.  I though she meant in the last mile or two.  I had no idea the course would level off with more than seven miles to go.

Mile 19 was only 10 seconds slower than the target pace for a 3:40 finish.  I had a big cushion by now.  Even if I ran this same pace for the last seven miles, I would still break 3:40.

Although I was running slower now, I was starting to pass runners who had pulled away from me earlier in the race.  Everyone seemed to be struggling now.

One runner said, “We need shade.  It’s getting hot.”  Indeed, there wasn’t any shade on this course, and the sun was getting higher in the sky.  The temperature was climbing near 70.  I wasn’t too worried about the warmer temperatures, but I hadn’t considered how much hotter it would feel in the sun.

In mile 20, I picked up my pace to 8:31, but each mile was taking more effort.  I had pushed a fast pace for too long, and it was taking a toll on me.  As long as the course was steadily downhill, I was able to stay in a consistent rhythm.  Now, I had to work harder, and the occasional turns or bridges made it hard to find a consistent rhythm.

We were running alongside a dry creek bed.  Every now and then, we crossed a bridge over the creek.  Each of these bridges was a small hill.

In mile 21, I slowed to 8:38.  I kept working harder, but I kept getting slower.  I started to question whether I would still break 3:40.  It would be embarrassing if the 3:40 group passed me after I chose to leave them behind in mile two.

All of the aid stations had water and Neversecond sports drink.  Some had bananas and/or Neversecond gels.  One aid station had Oreo cookies.  When I got there, I couldn’t even think about it.  I was still fighting hard to stay on pace, and eating cookies would’ve slowed me down.

I may have been somewhat complacent as I started the mile 23, but toward the end of that mile, I was really working to keep from slowing down.  I ran that mile in 8:48.

I had about three and a half miles to go when I heard someone ask me how I was doing.  It was the 3:40 pacer, who was now alongside me.  I told her I felt foolish about going ahead in mile two.  I also told her it got much tougher when the course leveled off.  She told me to just stick with her the rest of the way.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up.

If we were in the last mile, I would’ve fought hard to keep up with the group.  I couldn’t keep up that effort for more than three miles.  I started to fall behind.  Then I caught up at an aid station.  The 3:40 pacer finished drinking before I did.  As she accelerated, I had no hope of catching up.

Late in the race, I caught my left shoe on some uneven pavement.  I didn’t fall, but I lurched forward and had an awkwardly flat-footed landing on my right foot.  Both feet were sore from running downhill on rough pavement, but my right foot hurt much more now.

In mile 23, I slowed to 8:57.  Each mile was slower than the previous one, but my real fear was that this trend was going to accelerate.  I was blowing up.  Sure enough, in mile 24, I slowed to 9:20.

There was a half marathon that followed the second half of the marathon course.  When I saw the “11” banner for the half marathon, I had 2.1 miles to go.  I checked my watch.  Even if I averaged 10 minutes per mile the rest of the way, I would still break 3:45.  That gave me something to fight for.

In mile 25, I was keeping up with everyone around me, but only because they were slowing down too.  I slowed to 9:40 in that mile.

Mile 26 brought a new challenge.  I started feeling pressure building up in my intestines.  I could’ve just been gas, but I didn’t know for sure, and I didn’t want to find out the hard way.  I had to hold it in, and that limited how hard I could run.

I was pleasantly surprised when I ran mile 26 in 9:51.  I didn’t slow down as much in that mile.  My watch was reading a little high.  I wasn’t actually to the “26” banner yet.  To get there, I needed to run up a hill.

Just past 26, I saw where we were supposed to turn left to run to the finish.  A runner ahead of me continued to go straight.  As I got closer to the turn, I saw why.  There was also a 50K race.  Those runners had been following the same route as the marathon up until now.  Where we turned and headed to the finish area, they had to do a five-mile out-and-back.

After making the turn, I crossed a highway.  Then I entered Pima Community College and made the final turn before the finish line.  I finished in 4:43:53.  That’s my fastest time this year, but it was disappointing after thinking I would break 3:40.  It’s hard to be happy about a race where I ran positive splits by more than six minutes.

There’s a reason why I ran so aggressively.  I was hoping to get a qualifying time for the New York City Marathon.  The qualifying standard for my age group is 3:45.  I qualified in this race, but to actually get into the New York City Marathon, I needed to be much faster.  Running a qualifying time only gives you guaranteed entry if you do it in a New York Road Runners race.  For runners who qualify in non- NYRR races, there are limited slots, and they go to the runners who qualify by the widest margins.  Qualifying by more than five minutes might have given me a chance.  Qualifying by 1:07 won’t.  I’ll still try to register, but I’m not likely to get in.

I qualified for the Boston Marathon by more than 20 minutes.  This was my eighth BQ out of my last nine races.

After finishing the race, I received a water bottle and my medal.  The medal design features the Biosphere 2 dome.

I was about to leave the finisher chute, when I saw a sign saying no reentry.  I looked around to see if there was anything else I needed before I left this area.  I had totally missed the food tables.

I picked up a banana, a granola bar, and a package of Oreo cookies.  It was nice to get a second chance for Oreos after skipping them during the race.

I had to ask where the gear retrieval was.  After getting my gear bag, I boarded the next bus back to the resort.

When I downloaded the data from my watch, I looked at the elevation profile.  It was annoying to see that those last seven miles were actually downhill.  We just weren’t descending as rapidly, so it seemed flat in comparison to the rest of the course.

I also found out later that it got hotter than I realized.  I thought it would be 70 degrees by the time I finished.  After talking to other runners, I found out it actually got up to 80.  That may have contributed to my struggles in the late miles.

While I was running, Deb stayed at the resort.  They had an event that morning called Elf Hunt.  Deb was given a map of the resort showing 10 areas where there were display cases with an elf.  She needed to find each elf and write down its name.  She was only able to find nine of them.  An employee went with her to find the last elf, but he couldn’t find it either.  It turns out that elf had been temporary removed, so kids wouldn’t take it.

I usually recover well from races, but this one was an exception.  After sitting for a while, I found it difficult to walk.  Partly, it was sore muscles from all the downhill running.  Partly, it was a sore foot, from that one awkward landing.

I spent a good part of the afternoon at the outdoor hot tub, where I met several other runners and we traded stories for the longest time.  After that, my legs and feet both felt better.  Neither of us left the resort for the rest of the day.  After dinner, I was just about to head back to the room, when I bumped into another runner I know.  I’m not sure how long we talked before I finally went back to the room.  Deb was already sleeping.

Monday, December 15

Monday morning, my legs felt OK, but my feet were still sore.  My right foot was especially sore.

After breakfast, we drove to New Mexico.  From our resort, north of Tucson, it was a four-and-a-half-hour drive, not counting stops.  We spent the next two nights at a hotel in Las Cruces.

After checking in and unpacking, I did a strength training workout, while Deb went grocery shopping.

After my workout, I did a short recovery run on a paved trail that goes right by our hotel in Las Cruces.  My hamstrings were tight, but it probably helped to get some circulation in my legs.  I expected my feet to hurt, but they felt much better than they did during the marathon.  It helps that I was going slow and I wasn’t running downhill.

The last time we were in Las Cruces, we discovered a nice brunch spot.  We didn’t think they were open in the evening.  When we found out they were open until 8:00 PM, we decided to go there for dinner.

Tuesday, December 16

On Tuesday, we spent most of the day with Deb’s brother Jim and his wife Kath.  We visited them at their new house, and then we went with them to a Christmas party.

When we got back to Las Cruces, I had just enough time to go for a run before dinner.  My hamstrings were still tight, so I only ran a few miles.

My favorite restaurant in Las Cruces is Pecan Grill & Brewery.  I’ve been there every time I’ve visited Las Cruces.  This trip was no exception.

Wednesday, December 17

On Wednesday, we drove back to Tucson.  Along the way, we had some drama with our rental car.  We got a check tire pressure indicator for one of the tires, so we stopped at a gas station to add air.  The air machine didn’t seem to be putting any air into the tire.  If anything, we lost air each time we tried to read the pressure.

Shortly after we got back on the road, we got a warning that we should check the tire pressure immediately, when it was safe.  We couldn’t do much while we were on a remote stretch of I-10, so we had to continue for 11 more miles to get to the next town.

We found an auto repair and tire shop that was able to check all the tires and bring them up to spec.

As we continued on our way to Tucson, we got the same warning again.  At this point, we were only about 45 miles from our hotel in Tucson, so we pressed on.

When we got to the hotel, they didn’t have any rooms ready.  We only had to wait about 20 minutes, but it was after the advertised check-in time, so they comped our room.

After bringing our bags up to the room, I went back to the car to get something I forgot.  The tires didn’t look bad when we arrived, but one of them was now visibly low.  We weren’t scheduled to return the car until Thursday, but I returned it immediately, before the tire went completely flat.

Our hotel was so close to the airport that I could walk back to the hotel after returning the car.  We no longer had a car, but the hotel had a restaurant, and they also had an airport shuttle, so we didn’t need a car to get to the airport on Thursday.

After getting back to the hotel, I went for a run.  My legs and feet were feeling better, but I was pressed for time after taking the time to return the rental car.  For the third straight day, I only ran a few miles.

Thursday, December 18

After breakfast, I went for another run.  We didn’t need to leave for the airport until noon, so I had time to run a little farther.

I’ve enjoyed the warmer weather in Arizona and New Mexico.  We’re coming home to snow and subzero wind chills in Minnesota.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:43:53

Average Pace:  8:32 per mile

First Half:  1:48:42

Second Half:  1:55:11

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  33

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  568

Lifetime Boston Qualifiers:  187