Race Report: 2026 Tobacco Road Marathon

On March 15, I ran the Tobacco Road Marathon in Cary, NC, which is in the Raleigh/Durham area.  This race is held on the American Tobacco Trail, which is a trail built on a former railroad line.

I ran this race once before.  That was 15 years ago, when I was in the best shape of my life.  Back then, I ran this race in 3:07:18, which is an average pace of 7:09 per mile.  Now, I can’t even run that fast in a 5K race.  I wasn’t looking forward to seeing how much I’ve slowed down in the last 15 years.

I had all sorts of drama with flights.  I was originally scheduled to fly to Raleigh on Saturday, on a direct flight.  Delta changed their flight schedule, and they rebooked me on a flight that wouldn’t get me to Raleigh until after packet pickup had ended.  To get there on time for packet pickup, I had to make connections in Atlanta, and my flight to Atlanta would’ve left at 5:15 AM.  So far, this was just like my recent trip to San Antonio, but it didn’t end there.

On Friday, I got a notification that my flight might be affected by a winter storm, and I had the option of changing my flight at no cost.  As far as I knew, the storm wasn’t supposed to arrive until Saturday afternoon, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

I called Delta, and I was able to switch to a direct flight that left Friday afternoon and would get me to Raleigh around 6:00 PM.  By the time I made that change, I barely had time to pack a few last-minute things and drive to the airport.

When I got to the airport, I found out that my flight was delayed by about an hour.  That wasn’t the worst possible news.  I no longer had to stress about getting through security in time.  It also gave me time to make a few phone calls.  I had to change my hotel and rental car reservations.

I arrived in Raleigh around 7:00 Friday evening.  My hotel was close to the airport, so it didn’t take long to get there.  I’m not used to arriving so late in the day, so I got to bed later than usual.  Thankfully, both the hotel and the rental car company were able to accommodate me.

One nice thing about arriving on Friday is that I didn’t have to get up early to catch a flight Saturday morning.  I was able to sleep as late as I could and enjoy breakfast at the hotel.

Packet pickup was at the USA Baseball National Baseball Complex, which is also where the race started and finished.  While I was there, I could see people setting up the start/finish area for the race.

The day before a race is normally a rest day.  I never had time to go for a run on Friday, so went for a run on Saturday instead.  I used my run as an opportunity to refamiliarize myself with the American Tobacco Trail.  I drove to a parking area at the northern end of the marathon course.  I ran south along the trail for a few miles and then turned around and came back.

My recollection is that the trail was gravel, so I was surprised to see that this section was paved.

I had an early dinner at a pizza place just a few miles from my hotel.  Then I relaxed at my hotel and turned in early.

From the forecast I saw on Saturday, I was expecting it to be in the upper 40s at the start, but warm up into the upper 50s.  My legs don’t respond well to cold temperatures, so I was planning to wear tights and hope I wouldn’t get too warm later in the race.

When I got up Sunday morning, it was 54 degrees.  The hourly forecast still showed the temperature dropping into the 40s before warming up again, so I stuck with my decision to wear tights.  I decided to also bring a pair of shorts, in case I wanted to change my mind after I got to the race.

The race started and finished at USA Baseball.  Parking there is limited.  Those who registered early enough could buy a parking permit.  If you didn’t have a parking permit, you had to park at a remote parking lot and take a bus.  I was lucky enough to get a parking permit, which made my morning much easier.  I didn’t have to get up as early, and I didn’t need to bother with the gear check.  I was able to leave my extra layers in the car when I went to line up for the start.

An hour before the race, the temperature was still 54 degrees.  The hourly forecast had been updated.  Now, it wasn’t going to cool off any more.  I knew I would likely get too warm in tights, but I apparently forgot to bring my shorts with me.  They weren’t in the bag with my other race gear.  I was now committed to wearing tights.

As I was in the bathroom line, I heard people commenting about the humidity.  I didn’t feel it yet, but this was another ominous sign that I was probably overdressed.

I set a goal of 3:50.  The last time I ran that fast was last October, in Chicago.  This year, I’ve struggled just to break four hours.  I’d like to think I just haven’t had the right course under the right conditions.  This is a relatively flat course, so I decided to go for it, even if the conditions weren’t ideal.  I wanted to test myself.

They had pace groups, and one of the groups was a 3:50 group.  I met one of the 3:50 pacers in the start area, and I looked for him in the start corral.  As it turns out, the other 3:50 pacer is a runner I’ve met before.

Although we would mostly be running on the American Tobacco Trail, we had to run on city streets for just over two miles to get to the trail.  This part of the course has some hills.

The first mile is always chaotic, because it’s congested, and people are starting at different paces.  Sometimes that causes a pace group to take the first mile a little slow.  These two pace leaders got up to speed quickly.  I did my best to stay right behind them.  The pace felt fast, but I challenged myself to stay with them.

As we started climbing a hill, I found myself unable to keep up with the pace group.  I kept them in sight, but I couldn’t catch up until we turned a corner and started running downhill.  Even then, I had to work hard to catch up.

When we finished that mile, it confirmed my impression that we were starting fast.  Our target pace was 8:46, but we ran the first mile in 8:27.

I was hopeful that we would ease up in the second mile.  We did ease up a little, but not as much as I hoped.  That mile was 8:33, which is still fast.

I started the race with gloves, but I took them off just before we reached an aid station.  I knew I wouldn’t need them for the whole race, and I didn’t want to risk getting Gatorade on them.

Early in the third mile, we reached the trail.  Runners doing the half marathon turned left to do a long out-and-back on the southern section of the trail.  Those of us doing the marathon turned right to do a long out-and-back on the northern section.  Without the half marathon runners, the course wasn’t as crowded.  Now, it was easier to see who was in our pace group.

The first section of trail was gravel, but it wasn’t loose.  It probably had a lot of clay, because it was very firm.

Shortly after we got onto the trail, I started to notice a cool breeze.  My hands quickly got cold.  I expected to get hot later, so I wasn’t too worried about it.  The longer my hands felt cold, the better.

In mile three, we sped up slightly.  Through three miles, we were averaging 8:30 per mile.  The fast pace was taking a toll on me.  I still felt like I was working hard to keep up with the group.

After about a mile on the trail, the surface changed to pavement, but there was still a strip on one side that was gravel.  I ran on the pavement, but some runners chose to move over to the side that was gravel.

Over the next several miles, our pace moderated slightly, but it was still fast.  I was getting mile splits ranging from 8:28 to 8:40.  Some miles were faster than others, but we never had a slow mile.  The pacers didn’t seem too concerned that we were running fast, but I was working much harder than I should be this early in a race.

At times, one of the pacers would comment that we were on a hill.  If there were hills, they were very gradual.  It always looked and felt flat to me.

Just past the eight-mile mark, we reached the northern turnaround.  I briefly fell behind at an aid station and had to work hard to catch up.  I didn’t know how much longer I could do that.

We were almost to 12 miles when I began losing contact with the group.  I could see the handwriting on the wall.  The work it would take to stay with the group would break me.  As it is, I probably waited much too long to abandon the pace.

I never noticed what my time was for mile 13, but I reached the halfway point a minute ahead of schedule.  I could barely see the pace group by now, so they may have been as much as two minutes ahead of schedule.

I was still on pace for 3:50, but I knew that wouldn’t last much longer.  I was hoping I could still break four hours, but I worried that the wheels were coming off.

My pace for mile 14 was 9:25.  I knew I was slowing down, but I was surprised to have slowed down that much already.  With 12 miles to go, I tried to figure out what pace I would need the rest of the way to finish in four hours.  My best guess was something in the low 8:30s.

The trail was well-shaded, but soon we came into a clearing.  For the first time I felt the sun.  I started to feel hot, but only until we got back into shade.  I no longer had cold hands.

Soon, we crossed the street where we had turned onto the trail.  Then we continued onto the southern part of the course to begin another long out-and-back.  Runners doing the half marathon were already on their way back.

I worked harder to keep up with the runners around me.  In mile 15, I sped up slightly to 9:21.  Then, in mile 16, I sped up to 8:50.  After running fast for one mile, I settled back into my previous pace in the next one.

The northern part of the course always seemed flat.  The southern part definitely had uphill sections and downhill sections.  I could barely see the difference, but I could definitely feel it.  Mile 16 was evidently a downhill mile.  Mile 18 was an uphill mile.  I slowed to 9:50 in that mile.  I took solace in knowing that mile was balanced by the 8:50 I ran in mile 16.  On average, my pace in recent miles was in the 9:20s.

The 19-mile mark came just after the turnaround at the southern end of the course.  In that mile, I sped up to 9:10.  Right after the turn, I realized I had been running downhill.  Coming back, it was uphill, and it drained the life from me.  I slowed down to 10:00 in that mile.

I was starting to have serious doubts about breaking four hours.  The next mile was downhill.  It should have been a fast mile.  Instead, it was 8:32.  That was about what I needed to average.  What would happen in miles that were level or uphill?  I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Mile 22 seemed fairly level, but it took me 9:49.  There was no question I was slowing down.  Mile 23 was uphill, and I ran it in 10:34.

When I reached the 10-mile sign for the half marathon, I had 3.1 miles to go.  I did a quick calculation that confirmed that I no longer had any realistic chance of breaking four hours.

I still had one more goal worth fighting for.  I was still on pace to break 4:05, and that would be a Boston qualifier for my age group.

In the next mile, we left the trail and turned back onto city streets.  We needed to retrace our route back to the start/finish area at USA Baseball.  This section has rolling hills.

For the rest of the race, there wasn’t much shade.  The temperature was much warmer than it had been at the start of the race, and now I could feel the sun on me.  It’s likely that my deterioration over the previous four miles was caused, in part, by the rising temperatures and the humidity.  Direct sunlight only made it tougher.

My time for mile 24 was 10:25.  I was on pace to break 4:05, but if I slowed down any more, I might be cutting it close.

Mile 25 was rolling.  It was more up than down, so I was encouraged when I kept my pace under 10 minutes.  I knew mile 26 would have a nice downhill section, but first I had to run uphill.

I struggled going up a hill, turned a corner, and saw it was still uphill.  I grabbed a cup of water at the last aid station and walked while I drank it.  I couldn’t drink while running up a hill.

I regained my composure on a brief downhill section, but then there was one more hill.  I struggled with this one.  I needed to limit the damage.  I couldn’t walk or slow down too much.

Finally, I made the last major turn, and I started down a hill.  This is the same hill where I fell behind my group in mile one while running up the hill.  From here to the finish, it was much easier.

When my watch gave me a split for mile 26, it was under 10 minutes.  My watch was consistently giving me splits prematurely, so I knew I was still well short of 26 miles.  I couldn’t even see the “26” sign yet.

I had to get past the “26” sign before the finish line came into sight.  My friends, Julie and Miles, were watching for me near the finish line.  I heard Julie yell my name, and I looked just in time to see her.

I finished in 4:02:29.  For the third time this year, I got a Boston qualifier, but failed to break four hours.

How much slower was I now compared to 15 years ago?  Then, my average pace was 7:09.  This year, it was 9:15.  I’ve slowed down by more than two minutes per mile.

I felt hot in the last two miles, and the heat was probably affecting me much earlier.  I didn’t realize how hot I was until after I finished.  Then I felt hot and sweaty.

Finisher medals have been getting larger in recent years.  This medal was definitely a part of that trend.  It had a railroad theme, which was appropriate.

There were volunteers offing water bottles, but I didn’t take one.  I already had water in my car.

Anyone who qualified for Boston could get an extra T-shirt.  I didn’t ask for one.  I already have too many T-shirts.  I also didn’t eat any of the post-race food.  Instead, I saved room for lunch.

After I had time to go back to my hotel and get cleaned up, I joined Julie and Miles for a late lunch.  We had a nice visit.

I spent the rest of the day resting at the hotel.  I didn’t go out again.  I had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

I don’t need to fly home until Monday.  That’s just as well, because Minnesota is getting hit with a major winter storm.  Hopefully, the storm will be done before my flight home.  The drama with flights might not be done yet.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:02:29

Average Pace:  9:15 per mile

First Half:  1:53:59

Second Half:  2:08:30

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  7

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  579

Boston Qualifiers in 2026:  4

Lifetime Boston Qualifiers:  191

Race Report: Run the Alamo 26.2

On March 1, I ran the Run the Alamo Marathon in San Antonio, TX.  I’ve never been to San Antonio before, so this was a chance to not only experience a new race but also see a new city.

I flew to San Antonio on Saturday.  I had originally booked a direct flight, but Delta changed their flight schedule, eliminating the only direct flight that would get me there in time for packet pickup.  I was able to rebook on flights that would get me there in the early afternoon, but I had to leave Minneapolis at 5:15 AM.  That meant getting up way too early.

I was at the airport at 3:45.  After I got through security, I found out my flight to Atlanta was delayed.  They had to get a new plane, and the new departure time was 7:15.  I had a two-hour connection in Atlanta, so a two-hour delay meant I had no chance of making my connection.

I was able to get on a different flight to Atlanta, but it only left 15 minutes earlier.  That gave me a very tight connection, but at least I had a chance.  Just in case I missed it, they also reserved a seat for me on the next flight from Atlanta to San Antonio.  As I was waiting to board my 7:00 flight, I really regretted waking up so early.

After that, my luck got better.  My flight to Atlanta arrived early, and my next flight departed from the same concourse, allowing me to get to the gate while they were still boarding.  Despite all the drama, I arrived in San Antonio by 12:30.

The host hotel for the race was the Menger Hotel, which is one of the closest hotels to The Alamo.  I’m sure it’s a fine hotel, but I chose to stay a few blocks away at Hilton Palacio del Rio.  This hotel was closer to where the race started and finished.  It was also right on the San Antonio Riverwalk.

I needed to take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, but after that I could walk to everything, so I didn’t need to rent a car.

My first order of business after checking in at the hotel was to pick up my race packet.  Packet pickup was at the Intercontinental San Antonio Riverwalk.  That was about a 15-minute walk from my hotel.

If there’s one thing you need to see in San Antonio, it’s The Alamo.  That was my next stop after dropping off my race packet at the hotel.  You need a ticket, but it doesn’t cost anything.  You just need to go online and book it.

When you see pictures of The Alamo, the building usually pictured is the church, which was originally a Spanish mission.  This was my first stop.

After touring the church, I visited the Long Barrack and the various monuments and battlements around Alamo Plaza.  Other sections were closed for a private event.

I had been up early, and I never had lunch.  By the time I got back from The Alamo, I was starving.  I ate an early dinner.  Then I did my best to catch up on sleep.  It was best I slept before a race in months.

The race started at sunrise, which was at 6:59.  I was dressed and ready an hour before that.  I couldn’t figure out the fancy coffee maker in my room, so I went down to a Starbucks in the hotel lobby to get a cup of tea and a muffin.

The start/finish area was in the plaza in front of the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.  It was basically across the street from my hotel, so it didn’t take long to get there.  In particular, I didn’t have to bother with port-o-potty lines.  My hotel was close enough that I didn’t need to make any additional bathroom stops after leaving the hotel.

The weather was on the warm side.  It was 66 degrees at the start.  The forecast high was in the 80s, but I only expected it to get into the low 70s by the time I finished.  I started out with a goal of four hours.  I expected to be comfortable with that pace in the first half.  I had to wait and see how the heat affected me in the second half.

The race started with a cannon blast.  I was lined up with the 4:00 pace group.  As the people in front of me started moving, I had to pay close attention to keep from getting separated from the leaders of the pace group.

The first few miles were through the downtown area.  There were several turns, and it was congested.  I had to keep an eye on the pace leaders, while also watching my footing.  In the early miles, we ran on a variety of surfaces, including cobblestones.  I also had to watch out for reflectors on the lane lines.

In the downtown area, we were running between tall buildings.  That always causes GPS watches to give misleading distances.  Often, our watches didn’t have a direct line of sight to the GPS satellites.  The signals would reflect off the buildings.

There were mile markers, but they were small.  The pace leaders were able to spot them, but I didn’t see the first few.  I just followed the group and trusted them to keep us on the right pace.

For the first mile or two, we were going a little faster than our target pace.  When the pace leaders noticed that, they eased up.  I had to ease up too, to make sure I didn’t get too far ahead of them.

Although the pace felt easy, I was already feeling the humidity.  I had doubts about how realistic this pace would be as it started to warm up.

I was frequently talking to two other runners in the group.  We were often running in front of the group, so we kept an eye on each other, and we’d occasionally look back to see where the pace leaders were.

When we got out of the downtown area, we started running through the river valley.  Early, the course had been fairly flat, but now it was rolling.  A lot of the course was out-and-back near the river, but occasionally, we would turn onto a shorter out-and-back segment before returning to the river.

Near the river, we were sometimes on sidewalks, and it wasn’t really wide enough for a large pace group.

At about nine miles, the marathon and half marathon courses diverged.  Without all the half marathon runners, the course was no longer congested.

About this same time, we started a long downhill segment before crossing a bridge over the river.  I asked one of the pacers when we would have to go back up that hill.  He said we’d reach that hill in mile 22.

There were a few sections where we took a different route going out than we did coming back.  One such section was running through Mission San Jose around mile 12.

Our watches were all giving us different distances, and nobody’s watch agreed with the mile markers.  My watch seemed to consistently read lower than anyone else’s watch.  By my watch, we were a little bit behind schedule at the halfway point.  Others felt we were on schedule or ahead of schedule.

From 14 to 16 miles, we were running along one side of the river.  We had a slight headwind, which helped offset the heat and humidity.  From 16 to 18 miles, we were on the opposite side of the river, and we had a tailwind.  The tailwind did nothing to help cool us down.  I immediately noticed the difference after we crossed the river.

Up until now, I had no trouble keeping up with the group, but I had to work harder on the uphill segments.  Without the cooling effect of the breeze, I had serious doubts about whether I could stay on pace for the rest of the race.  If I couldn’t, my backup goal was 4:05.  That would still be a Boston qualifier.

Most of the aid stations had water and Gatorade.  I was drinking whichever was easier to grab from a volunteer.  A few aid stations had pickle juice, and a few had Coke.  At one of the aid stations, I accidentally grabbed a cup of pickle juice, thinking it was Gatorade.  I immediately followed it with a cup of Coke.

There were a few people in our group running their first marathon.  At 17 miles, one of them told us he would need to drop back and continue at his own pace.  We all gave him advice and words of encouragement.  I considered dropping back to stay with him, but I still felt like I had a good chance of breaking 4:05.  Two other first-timers were still with the group, so I stayed with the group too.

We were almost to 19 miles when the sun came out.  Up until then, we had cloud cover.  I had been hoping it wouldn’t get sunny until after I finished.  Now that I could feel the sun, I found the heat more challenging.  Soon, I began to fall behind the group.

We reached an aid station, and that gave me a chance to catch up.  While everyone else was walking through the aid station, I drank my water on the run.  That allowed me to not only catch up back actually get ahead of them.  It was only a matter of time, though, before I fell behind again.

In mile 20, I was on my own, but I was still running at a pace that would bring me in under 4:05. Then, I started to feel pressure building in my intestines.  At first, it forced me to slow down, so I could hold it in.  As I continued, it became apparent that I would need a bathroom stop.

As I started up a small hill, I saw a picnic area at the top.  I walked up the hill, hoping I could make a bathroom stop, but there were no bathrooms there.

After cresting the hill, I resumed running.  Then I saw an aid station at the top of the next hill.  I walked this hill as well.  When I reached the aid station, I asked a volunteer if there were any bathrooms there.  He said there were, but they were somewhat off the course at the top of a hill.  I detoured off the course and walked up the hill to reach a set of port-o-potties.

When I was done with my bathroom stop, I felt much better.  I ran back down the hill to the aid station, where I drank a cup of Coke and a cup of Gatorade.

Shortly after the aid station, my watch gave me a split for mile 21.  It was more than three minutes slower than the previous mile.  At this point, I no longer had a realistic chance of breaking 4:05.

The next mile had the long hill that we had run down much earlier in the race.  I ran most of it, but I had to walk the steepest section.  There was no longer any point in fighting for a faster pace.  Now, I just wanted to keep moving and eventually finish.

I ran that mile and the next one in 11 minutes each.  I felt like the heat had broken me.  At this slower pace, I would break 4:15, but not by much.

Then I spotted another runner who had dropped back from the pace group.  His name was Aaron, and he was one of the runners doing his first marathon.  I ran with Aaron for the rest of the race, so he wouldn’t have to do the toughest miles by himself.  I knew those miles would be slow, but I had a renewed sense of purpose now.

Aaron was having leg cramps, but he soldiered on.  He ran when he could and walked when he had to.  I stayed with him at whatever pace he could manage.

As we came back into the downtown area, we ran on the San Antonio Riverwalk, right alongside the water.  In the last mile, we left the Riverwalk and made multiple turns on streets I didn’t recognize.  I could recognize some of the buildings, including my hotel, but I didn’t know all the turns.

It wasn’t until the last turn that we could see the finish line.  Aaron sprinted for the line.  I didn’t have a faster gear, so I followed at the best pace I could manage.  I finished in 4:16:11.

The finisher medal was huge.  It’s shaped like a stagecoach, and it flips open to reveal additional artwork.

After I got my medal, I turned around to look for Melissa.  She was another runner who had been with the 4:00 group for at least half of the race before falling behind.  I spotted her on a short out-and-back segment with about three miles to go, so I knew she wasn’t too far behind us.

Melissa finished in 4:17.  Her previous best was 4:30, so this was a massive PR for her, in spite of tough conditions.

Besides the medal, there was also a finisher jacket.  That’s in addition to the T-shirt I got when I picked up my race packet.  The jacket was a light gray windbreaker with a hood.

After getting my jacket, I picked up a basket of post-race food and sat down to talk to a few other runners while I ate.  Then I got my post-race beer and sat down with a few members of the pacing team while I finished my beer.  I was within sight of my hotel, so I didn’t feel any need to rush back to the hotel.

When I finally got back to my room, I took a warm bath and tried to stretch.  My Achilles tendons were too tight.  They didn’t bother me during the race, but they both tightened up by the time I got back to the hotel.

Having had pastries and fruit after the race, I didn’t feel any need to eat lunch.  I relaxed at the hotel until it was time for dinner.  Then I went to one of the restaurants behind the hotel, next to the Riverwalk.

I didn’t fly home until Monday afternoon, which gave me the whole morning to explore more of the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:16:11

Average Pace:  9:46 per mile

First Half:  2:00:18

Second Half:  2:15:53

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  6

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  578

Race Report: 2026 Split Marathon

On February 15, I ran the Split Marathon in Croatia.  This race wasn’t originally part of my plan.  I had plans to visit Croatia, but I was going to run the Zagreb Marathon in October.

As I was planning my race schedule, I was having trouble finding a race for this weekend.  Ideally, I like to space marathons two weeks apart, and I already had races scheduled for February 1 and March 1.  There were good races this weekend in Fort Lauderdale and the Phoenix area, but the flights were outrageously expensive.  If I was going to spend that much on a flight, I might as well fly to Europe.

As I expanded my search to foreign races, I noticed the Split Marathon was this weekend.  Split is a popular tourist destination in the summer, but February is low season.  That was both good news and bad news.  The good news is that it wasn’t crowded, and hotel rates were incredibly affordable.  The bad news is that very few airlines have flights to Split at this time of year.

I could get to Zagreb on a Delta/Air France itinerary, but to get from there to Split, I had to book a separate itinerary with Croatia Airlines.

Thursday, February 12

I arrived in Paris on an overnight flight from Minneapolis.  I was hoping to get a nap on the flight, but turbulence made it impossible to sleep.

From Paris, I continued to Zagreb on an Air France flight that was operated by Croatia Airlines.  Because my flight to Split was booked separately, I spent one night in Zagreb before continuing to Split.  It’s risky to book flights with two different airlines on the same day.  If a delayed flight causes you to miss a connection, neither airline is responsible for rebooking you on a later flight.  Waiting until the next day gave me a cushion.  It also gave me a chance to visit Zagreb, which made this trip a two-for-one deal.

I took a taxi into town and checked into a hotel near the city center.  Then I had the rest of the day to do some sightseeing in Zagreb, which is the capital of Croatia.

I booked a free walking tour, but it didn’t start until 4:30 PM.  That gave me time to do a workout at the hotel and explore some nearby parks.

I’ve done free walking tours in several other cities.  It costs nothing to sign up.  After the tour, you tip the guide whatever amount you feel is appropriate.  I met the guide for this tour, Robert, at the Meteorological Post, at the north end of Zrinjevac Park.

Our first stop was Zagreb’s main square.  While we were here, Robert explained some of Zagreb’s history.

Our next stop was a smaller square with a relief map of the city.  Robert pointed out where we would go on this tour, as well as some places in the lower town that I might want to explore on my own.

Next, we went t the cathedral.  The outside of the cathedral is being restored, so I didn’t take any pictures.  By the time we were done touring the inside of the cathedral, it was already starting to get dark.  Consequently, I didn’t take as many pictures as I ordinarily would.

As we continued exploring the upper town, Robert pointed out several restaurants and museums and made a few recommendations.  Then we passed through the Stone Gate and continued climbing to the highest part of the city.

Zagreb’s best-known landmark is St, Mark’s Church.  It was already dark when we got there, but the church is lit up at night.

After descending several stairways, we detoured through a network of tunnels that were built during World War II.

We finished back in the main square.  It was already getting late, so I walked straight to dinner from there.

Whenever I visit someplace new, I have to try the local pizza.  I had dinner at a pizzeria that was more or less on my way back to my hotel.  After dinner, I had some rakija, which is an after-dinner drink that I discovered last year on a trip to Serbia.  It’s common in the Balkans, but I’ve never seen it anywhere else.

After dinner, I was able to get to sleep almost immediately.  I slept well for a few hours, but then I woke up and had trouble getting back to sleep.  I was just starting to sleep well again when it was time to get up.

Friday, February 13

My hotel was in the lower town, where there are lots of green spaces.  After breakfast, I went for a morning run through a series of connected parks, squares, and botanical gardens.  They form a U shape, so they’re collectively called “Lenuci’s Horseshoe.”

I flew to Split in the afternoon.  I stayed at a hotel that was just a few blocks from where the marathon starts and finishes.  Conveniently, it also made a good base for sightseeing.

My hotel was located within the walls of Diocletian's Palace, so you can’t drive right to the entrance.  I had my taxi drop me off at the waterfront, where a porter from the hotel met me to lead me to the hotel.  We entered the palace through this gate.

Then we walked through the lower level of the palace.  If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, it might look familiar.  Some of the scenes were filmed here.

Next, we walked up these steps to get to the main courtyard.

After going up more steps, we walked through the vestibule.

On the other side of the vestibule, we walked through this courtyard to get to the hotel entrance.

After checking into my room and unpacking a few things, I went to packet pickup, which was under a large tent in the promenade, next to the waterfront.

By the time I got back to my room, the sun was already setting.  It was getting too late to do any sightseeing, so I went to dinner at a restaurant that was recommended by one of the hotel employees.

I slept better that night, but I still wasn’t able to sleep through the night.

Saturday, February 14

This hotel only has seven rooms.  Breakfast is included, but it’s not economical to have a buffet for so few guests.  When I went down to breakfast, I was told to sit anywhere, and they would bring everything to me.  They weren’t kidding.  After the server brought me a pot of tea, she came back and set down a stand with three plates.  One had pastries and various spreads.  The next had various slices of fruit.  The third had meats cheeses, nuts and olives.  There was also a basket of bread.  She also gave me a menu, in case I wanted to order anything else.

After breakfast, I did a workout.  About the time I finished my exercises, I heard a loud clap of thunder.  It had been raining lightly, but soon it was pouring.  I didn’t venture out until the rain started to wind down again.

The vestibule has good acoustics, so people often gather there to sing.  From my hotel room, I could hear different groups singing.

I was signed up for a free walking tour of Split that started at 11:30.  As luck would have it, the rain had stopped by then.

I met the guide at the “Split” sign at one end of the promenade.  At least half of the tour was within Diocletian's Palace.  The palace is like a small city.  It was built for the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who used it as his retirement home.  Some of the features I saw on the tour were familiar.  Others I had not seen before.

This is the bell tower, which was built later than the rest of the palace.

Just outside the cathedral, there’s a sphinx.  The original parts of the palace are 1,700 years old, but this sphinx is 3,500 years old.  It was brought from Luxor, Egypt.

This passage is the world’s most narrow street.  The name translates to “let me pass.”

We left the palace through this gate, which was originally used only by the emperor.  After that, the rest of the tour was through other parts of the old town.

Outside this gate, there’s a statue of Gregory of Nin.  They say if you rub the big toe and make a wish, it’ll come true, but only if you don’t tell anyone your wish.  I rubbed the toe and silently wished for dry weather during the marathon.  My wish didn’t come true.

This is the altar from an ancient monastery that was only recently excavated.  It’s the only remaining part of the structure.

This is the main square of Split’s old town.  The city’s oldest restaurant and hotel are both located here.

This clock, near another gate to the palace, is noteworthy because it's partitioned into 24 hours instead of 12.

This building, next to a different square, is the only baroque building in the city.

After the walking tour, I took a brief rest break at the hotel.  Then I went back out to do some sightseeing on my own.  I started by climbing to the top of the bell tower.  The stone steps are much taller than normal steps.  Going up was tiring.  Coming back down was a bit scary.

The views from the tower were great, but I wasn’t prepared for how windy it was at the top.

Next, I went for a hike through Marjan Park, which is on a hilly peninsula at the western edge of the city.  I hiked to three observation decks.  From the first one, I had a view looking back toward the old town.  From the second one, I had a view across the bay to the other end of the city.  From the last observation deck, I could look out across the Adriatic Sea.

After that, I went to dinner at another restaurant that was recommended by an employee at my hotel.

Walking back from dinner, I was surprised how many runners I saw doing last-minute shakeout runs along the waterfront.

I got to bed earlier that night, and I slept well for most of the night.

Sunday, February 15

Sunday was race day.  The race didn’t start until 9:00, so I didn’t have to get up too early.  Nevertheless, I was awake before my alarm went off.

The first thing I did when I got up was to check the weather.  It was raining.  I showered, got dressed, and went down to breakfast, not knowing if the rain would stop in time for the race.

Knowing how much food they bring you for breakfast, I told the server to only bring bread and a pot of tea.

We had to be in the start corrals by 8:45.  My hotel was close to the start, so I didn’t leave until 25 minutes before the start.

It was still raining, and it looked like the rain would continue for the first half of the race.  The temperature was about 50 degrees, but with the wind and rain, it felt like low 40s.  I didn’t expect it to warm up noticeably during the race.  I started the race wearing a plastic rain poncho.

At packet pickup, we were given color-coded wrist bands.  According to the pre-race instructions, we needed these to get into the start corrals.  In practice, nobody was checking.

I wasn’t sure what my goal should be.  The course is moderately hilly, with roughly 1,000 feet of total elevation gain.  I was also concerned about the wet conditions.  I knew there were sections of cobblestones where we ran through the old town, and they can be dangerously slippery when they’re wet.  I started the race with a wait-and-see attitude.

I was assigned to corral B based on my estimated finish time.  I saw a 4:00 pace group who were also in corral B, so I lined up next to them.  I didn’t know if I could run that pace for the whole race, but it seemed like a reasonable pace to start.

We started on the promenade.  From there, we followed the waterfront toward Marjan Park.  The pavement was mostly smooth asphalt, but we sometimes ran over crosswalks that were paved with cobblestones.

I was paying so much attention to the cobblestones that it was difficult to keep an eye on where the pace leaders were.  The first kilometer or two were congested and people weren’t all starting at the same pace.

I found myself getting ahead of the 4:00 group, but I saw a 2:00 group for the half marathon.  They had the same target pace, so I followed them.

The first seven or eight kilometers were an out-and-back section that took us around the southern edge of Marjan Park.  As we ran up a hill, my impression was that it wasn’t as tiring as I expected.  Later, we reached a bigger hill, and I had to work harder to stay on pace.

There were timing mats every 5K and at the turnaround points of each out-and-back section.  Each time I crossed a timing mat, I briefly lifted the front of my rain poncho, so it wasn’t covering my race bib.  In all likelihood, my timing chip would have registered through the plastic poncho, but I didn’t want to take any chances of missing a timing point.

The aid stations didn’t all have the same beverages.  Most had water and Isotonic (sports drink).  Some just had water.  A few had Coke.  Even at the stations with Isotonic, there was typically only one or two volunteers handing out cups of Iso.  At most of the tables, I just saw water.  On the rare occasions that I got a cup of Iso, I drank the whole thing.  When I had to settle for water, I just drank a sip.  Conditions were cold enough that I didn’t need to drink much to stay hydrated.

Coming back toward town, I started to notice a strong headwind.  I was running behind a large group, so I was somewhat sheltered from the wind.

As we came back through the old town, I reached another aid station.  I was trying to reach for a cup of water, but a few other runners suddenly darted between me and the volunteers.  I had to briefly come to a stop to get around the other runners to get a cup of water.  That caused me to fall behind the pace group.

As we turned away from the waterfront, I had to fight the wind by myself at the same time I was going up a hill.  I quickly realized that it would be too tiring to catch up to the pace group.

I knew the 4:00 group was somewhere behind me, but I didn’t want to slow down enough for them to catch up.  I continued running at the same pace, even though it meant fighting the wind by myself.

For the next few kilometers, we were running through the old town.  We made a number of turns, and some of the streets were cobblestone.  I managed to keep up a consistent pace, but I was cautious about my footing.

By the 10K mark, we were beginning another out-and-back section that took us through more modern neighborhoods.  Going out, we had a strong headwind, and I really wished I was still running with the 2:00 group.  Fighting the wind by myself took a lot of extra energy.

I saw a group of women who were singing.  They were really good.  They sounded like a professional choir.  As I got closer, I noticed they were all nearing red scarfs.  During my walking tour on Saturday, our tour guide told us about groups of professional singers who would sometimes gather in the palace vestibule to sing for the tourists.  You can recognize them by their red scarfs.

In addition to running into the wind, I was also going uphill.  When I saw that I was getting closer to the pace group, I worked hard to catch up to them.  It took a lot out of me, but I caught up to them near the top of the hill.  After that, I had a group of runners in front of me to shield me from the wind.

We were still a distance from the turnaround, but now we were running downhill.  I started to get ahead of the pace group, but I was able to follow a line of runners who had all moved to the same side of the street.  Running behind them gave me shelter from the wind.

I was relieved when I reached the turnaround.  Now, instead of a headwind, I had a tailwind.  I had to run back up the hill, but it was much easier with the wind at my back.

Before long, I crested the hill again.  Now I was going downhill with the wind at my back.  That gave me a chance to recover from that long section that was into the wind.

Somewhere around 16K, we reached the end of that out-and-back section.  After two turns and another kilometer, we reached the point where the marathon and half marathon courses diverged.  Runners doing the half marathon turned left.  Those of us doing the marathon turned right to begin another long out-and-back section.  Like the previous one, this one was into the wind going out.  Also, we again had to go uphill on the first part of this section.

By now, the rain had stopped.  I no longer needed my rain poncho to keep me dry, but I had mixed feelings about getting rid of it.  The wind was cold, and I was worried I would get too cold without having the poncho to help retain heat.  The downside of keeping it was the added wind resistance.  When there was a strong wind gust, my poncho acted like a sail, increasing my wind drag.

At one point there was a gust of wind so strong that it briefly brought me to a standstill.  Then I had to fight hard to get back up to pace.

I could no longer follow the 2:00 pace group, as they were doing the half marathon and had turned the other way at the previous junction.  I could see a runner who I had been following on the previous out-and-back section, but I didn’t know if I could catch up to him.

I found a different runner to follow, but it seemed like the wind was slowing him down.  My choices were stay behind him but go at a slower pace or continue at the same pace but have to fight the wind myself.  I chose to keep going at the same pace.

I caught up to another runner, but before long I passed him.  That happened a few times.  As I started to pass one runner after another, I assumed everyone was slowing down on this section.  After all, we were going uphill into a strong wind.  Then I got a split from my watch for mile 13.  I sped up to 8:36 in that mile.  It was my fastest mile of the race.

I saw a pace group coming back on the other side of the street.  It was the 3:00 group.  At this point in the race, I figured they were about 30 minutes ahead of me.  That meant I still had to fight the wind for 15 more minutes before reaching the turnaround.

A few moments later, a pace group caught up to me.  It was the 4:00 group.  I was surprised to see them right behind me when I had just run such a fast mile.  They apparently were going a little faster than their target pace.  When I reached the halfway point, I saw that I was two and a half minutes ahead of schedule for a four-hour finish.

As the road turned downhill, I got ahead of the group again.  As we neared the end of this section, we made a couple of turns.  After the first turn, the wind was at our side.  After the second turn, we had a tailwind.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that I could see it was uphill on the last leg before the turnaround.

I reached the turnaround right at 22K.  Now I was running into the wind, but it was downhill.  I continued to stay ahead of the 4:00 group.

At the bottom of the hill, we turned out of the wind.  After another turn, I had a tailwind.  My rain poncho was still acting like a sail, but now it was helping me instead of hurting me.

Coming back, we again had to go uphill at first, but after cresting that hill it was downhill with the wind at our backs.  This was another chance to recover.

I eventually reached the end of that out-and-back section.  Then we merged back in with the half marathon course.  We continued in the same direction for a short distance and then turned to enter a stadium.  I had seen this same stadium from one of the viewpoints during my hike through Marjan Park on Saturday.

We ran one lap around the track and then left the stadium again.  There was an inflatable arch at the entrance to the stadium, and the wind almost blew it over.

After leaving the stadium, we had to run up a short hill.  This hill was steep enough to force me to slow down.  It was tiring, but it was brief.  Then I turned the corner and started heading back toward the old town.

Just after that turn, I reached an aid station.  This one had water and Coke, but only in bottles.  I grabbed a bottle of Coke and started to take the cap off.  Immediately, foam poured out of the bottle.  My motion as I ran was shaking the bottle.

I had to pour off the foam before I could drink.  I drank what I could, and then I tossed the bottle to the side of the road.  I couldn’t drink the whole bottle without stopping to walk, and I didn’t want to slow down.

Soon, I was running downhill again, but the previous mile was a slow one.  I didn’t get discouraged.  I reminded myself that it was only a slow mile because of the hill.

After another turn, I was running into the wind again.  My rain poncho was a liability again.

I saw another runner stop and put something into a trash bin.  I considered taking off my poncho and stuffing it into the same bin.  Then it occurred to me that we were running through a residential neighborhood, and that trash bin belonged to one of the local residents.  I didn’t feel it was appropriate to be using someone else’s trash bin, so I continued to run wearing the poncho.

As the miles got tougher, I questioned whether I would be able to stay on pace to break four hours.  I was on pace for now, but I didn’t know how much longer I could keep it up.  My backup goal was to break 4:05, which would still be good enough for a Boston qualifier.  At this point, I could do that just by averaging 9:40 the rest of the way.  My slowest mile so far was 9:30.  I kept that in mind, but in the meantime, I was still fighting for 4:00.

As we got back into the old town, I was seeing kilometer markers for the half marathon and the 10K race, but I couldn’t remember when I last saw one for the marathon.  I was relieved when I finally saw the 31K sign.  I didn’t know when the courses diverged again, so I was relieved to know I had not missed a turn.

As we got close to the promenade, I saw the 42K sign.  Apparently, we would come this way again at the end of the race and finish the same way the half marathon finished.

As I reached the promenade, I finally saw where the courses separated.  Runners who were finishing turned onto the promenade to run toward the finish line.  Those of us doing the marathon would reach this same junction twice.  The first time, we continued straight just a little farther to turn onto a sidewalk right at the water’s edge.  We were running parallel to the promenade, but a short distance away.

We still had to do one more out-and-back before coming back into the old town.  It was a little more than 5K each way.  I already knew that we would have a headwind going out and a tailwind coming back.

At one of the aid stations, I saw volunteers holding out white cups that I assumed were water.  Then I heard one of them say, “Cola.”  I was almost past her, so I had to stop and reach back to get a cup.  It was much easier drinking Coke from a cup.

This out-an-back section was always close to the shoreline.  At times, we ran by different bays.  That’s where the wind was always strongest.

Early in this section, I saw a hill.  I was relieved to see the runners in front of me turning to leave the road.  Instead of going up that hill, we followed a sidewalk alongside some railroad tracks.  Our route was level – for now.

We only followed the railroad tracks briefly.  Then we turned and ran past one of the bays.  There were several ladders at the water’s edge, making this bay look like a giant swimming pool.

A wind gust briefly halted my progress.  The next 5K weren’t going to be easy.  I was constantly fighting strong wind gusts.

After that bay, we went up a ramp.  Halfway up the ramp, there was a switchback.  That gave me an opportunity to look for the 4:00 group.  Looking back across the bay, I couldn’t see them coming.

I was slowing down, so it was a relief to know that I still had a comfortable lead over the pace group.  That gave me confidence that I could still break four hours.  If I could stay ahead of the group until the turnaround, it would be easier coming back.

I ran over a hill that was gradual going up but steep going down.  I knew I would eventually have to go back up that steep hill.  I wasn’t looking forward to that.

I ran by another bay that had a beach area.  There were metal barriers on either side of our route, but the wind had toppled them.

There was a line of palm trees between the sidewalk and the beach.  From the way the wind was blowing the trees, it looked like I was running in a powerful storm.  That’s what it felt like too.

When I started to see pace groups coming back, I was able to estimate how much farther it was to the last turnaround.  It always seemed too far.

When I saw the 35K sign, I figured I probably had about one more kilometer of fighting the wind.  That turned out to be a pretty close estimate.

Suddenly, two runners passed me.  It wasn’t the pace group, so I didn’t panic.  Still, it occurred to me that it had been a long time since anyone had passed me.

In the distance, I saw a yellow truck.  I wondered if that was where the turnaround was.  It was actually an aid station, but when I got there, I could see the turnaround a short distance ahead of me.

After making the turn, I looked for the 4:00 group.  I couldn’t see past the crowd of runners at the aid station.  When I reached the aid station, I could see the pace group.  I estimated that I was about a minute ahead of them.  I still had about six kilometers to go, but the wind was at my back now.  I was pretty sure I could stay ahead of them.

When my watch gave me a split for mile 23, it was slow.  That mile had been mostly into the wind.  My previous two miles were also slow, but they were also into the wind.  When I eventually finished mile 24, I saw that I had brought my pace back down.  I was running out of gas, but the toughest miles were behind me.

With about a mile and a half to go, I had to run up the steep hill that I had run down earlier.  I saw other people walking the hill.  I ran most of it, but I had to walk for five or six steps at the very top.

When I got my split for mile 25, it was slow, but I attributed that to the hill.  As far as I knew, that was the last major obstacle.

In the final kilometer, I crossed the promenade to come back into the old town.  The course would loop back around to the other end, but first I had to run up a hill.  I also had to fight a headwind on this hill.  Then I reached a lumpy cobblestone section.  Could this hill get any more difficult?

I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the top of the hill, turned out of the wind, and got back onto smooth pavement.  Then, I accelerated.

I still had to cross two more short sections of cobblestones.  Those were the only places where I wasn’t fighting to pick up the pace.  On the cobblestones, I just wanted to get through safely.

With just over 200 meters to go, I turned back onto a street I had run before.  Then I saw the 42K sign again.  Just past that, I made the turn onto the promenade.  As I reached the finish line, I made a point of lifting up my rain poncho so it wasn’t covering my race bib.  Then I stopped my watch.  I was a little slow stopping my watch, so it read 3:58:11.  My official time was 3:58:09.

I had been worried about the rain, the hills, and the cobblestones.  It turns out the wind was the toughest part of this race.  Somehow, as tiring as it was, I still broke four hours.  It’s reassuring to know that I can still do that, even under tough conditions.

As I continued through the finisher chute, I received my medal.  I saw a long line for medal engraving.  I didn’t know if that was something they did for everyone, or if it was an option we paid for when we registered.  If so, I didn’t pay for it.  Without knowing, I didn’t want to wait in a long line.  I headed back to the hotel, so I could take a long hot shower.

My race packet included a gel packet, a bottle of Powerade, and a protein shake.  I refueled with those and waited until later to eat a real meal.

When I was ready to venture out again, I went to a restaurant that was inside Diocletian's Palace.  I didn’t want to walk any farther than I had to.

Monday, February 16

I slept so hard that the 6:00 AM church bells didn’t even wake me up.  I also slept through my phone’s alarm.  Fortunately, I didn’t need to be up early.

When I got up, my Achilles tendons were so tight I could barely walk to the bathroom.  After a hot shower and some stretching, I could walk normally, but they were still tight.

My flight back to Zagreb wasn’t until the afternoon, so I was able to have a leisurely breakfast and do a workout before getting ready to leave.

The hotel arranged for my taxi to the airport.  They told the driver where to park and escorted me to meet my driver outside the palace.

My flight to Zagreb was on Croatia Airlines, but my remaining flights were booked through Delta.  For that reason, I’m spending one more night in Zagreb.  I need to be at the airport in time for a 6:30 AM flight on Tuesday, so I checked into a hotel that’s close to the Zagreb airport. 

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  3:58:09

Average Pace:  5:39 per kilometer (9:05 per mile)

First Half:  1:57:28

Second Half:  2:00:41

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  5

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  577

Boston Qualifiers in 2026:  3

Lifetime Boston Qualifiers:  190

Countries:  58