On September 24, I ran the Clarence DeMar Marathon in Keene, NH. This is a relatively small race, but it’s a big enough event to fill all the hotel rooms in Keene. I was able to find a room at the Hampton Inn, but the rates were expensive. Fortunately, I had enough Hilton points to get two free nights.
Figuring out my flights
was also difficult. I could get a direct
flight to Hartford, but there weren’t many flight options and I had to allow
time for a 90-minute drive. There were
more flights to Boston, but the drive time to Keene form Boston was an hour
longer. To get to any of the other airports
in the region, I would need two flight segments, and I would still have a long
drive.
I eventually decided to
fly to Hartford Friday morning and fly home Sunday morning. There was just one problem. The race was on Sunday. Somehow, I thought it was a Saturday race
when I was making the reservations. I
didn’t realize my mistake until I started getting emails with race
information. My hotel, flights, and rental
car were all booked for the wrong days.
By the time I realized my
mistake, it was too late to change my hotel reservation. I couldn’t get the same room for another
night, because all the rooms of that type were booked. Also, when you book a room with points, it’s
difficult to change the reservation.
I called Hampton Inn and
explained my problem. The person I spoke
to was very helpful. She said I could
have a 2 PM checkout, and she made a note to that effect in my
reservation. She also gave me her name,
in case there were any questions. After
that I still had to change my flight and rental car reservation. The race started at 7 AM, so I clearly wasn’t
going to make it back to Hartford in time to catch an 11:45 AM flight. Fortunately, there was also a 6 PM flight out
of Hartford.
I arrived in Hartford just
before lunch on Friday. I didn’t need to
be in any rush to get to Keene, so I stopped for lunch in Springfield before
driving the rest of the way. After
checking into my room at Hampton, I had a few hours before packet pickup started. I used that time to go for a run. After three hours on a plane and almost two
hours in a car, my legs were unusually stiff, but they eventually loosened up.
My run turned out to be a
bit of an adventure. I didn’t want to
run on city streets, but there was a trail that was less than a mile from my
hotel. I thought I knew the way, but I
quickly encountered construction. The
sidewalk was newly paved, but there were sections missing. Then I encountered a roundabout that wasn’t
on any map.
That was the reason for
the construction. This roundabout was so
new that it wasn’t finished. As I made
my way around the roundabout, I found myself heading toward the downtown
area. I quickly realized I was on the
wrong street. I somehow missed a
turn. I saw another runner turning onto
a trail, so I turned there too, it wasn’t the Cheshire Rail Trail, but at least
it got me off of the city streets.
This trail only went one
block before I reached a dead end.
Should I turn right or left? I
turned right. As it turns out, I
should’ve turned left. Each time I
reached an intersection, I had to decide whether to turn or wait for the
light. When I turned, I always turned
left. I was starting to do a loop though
the downtown area.
I noticed a brewery on my
left that I had seen on a map. It was
across the street from where I was supposed to turn onto the Cheshire Rail
Trail. I looked across the street and
saw a sign for the trail. I had made a
big loop and was approaching it from the opposite direction.
I ran along the trail
until it seemed like I should turn around and go back. When I reached the point where I had entered
the trail, I turned right, thinking I was now on the most direct route back to
the hotel. Then I reached a dead
end. I was supposed to cross a bridge
over a stream, but the bridge was closed for construction. I had no choice but to backtrack and find
another place where I could cross the stream.
I eventually found my way
back to the same trail I had run on briefly before. Then I was able to retrace my route back to
the hotel. When I got back to the new roundabout,
I saw the turn I had missed. It was
closed for construction. I was now on
the opposite side of the same bridge. I
was only planning to run for three or four miles, but I ended up running closer
to five.
I could’ve picked up my
race packet on Saturday, but they were encouraging runners who could to pick up
their race packets on Friday. Friday
packet pickup was available for a few hours at a shoe store in Keene. When I parked my car, I saw this mural on a
building.
Besides the usual stuff
(race bib, T-shirt, safely pins, gear bag tag), my race packet included a
sticker, lip balm, a few food samples, a two-page bio of Clarence DeMar, and four
pages of race info. The race info was
mostly stuff I had seen in emails, but it’s worth noting that the pre-race
emails contained a wealth of information.
This race really does a good job with pre-race communication.
For dinner, I decided to
go to the same brewery that I had run by earlier. They had a fairly extensive food menu, and I
now knew the most direct way to get there, in spite of the construction.
The race wasn’t until
Sunday, and I already had my race packet, so I had all day Saturday to do sightseeing. After eating breakfast and doing a workout at
the hotel, I set out to find a few of New Hampshire’s covered bridges.
There were four covered
bridges in Swanzey, which is just south of Keene. My first stop was the Sawyer’s Crossing
Covered Bridge.
Next, I visited the
Thompson Bridge.
My next two stops were
the Slate and Coombs bridges.
To get to my next stop, I
needed to drive through Winchester, where I encountered a significant traffic delay. It was the day of the Winchester Pickle
Festival, which brought traffic to a standstill. While I was stuck in traffic, I rolled down
my window, so I could listen to the band.
When I finally made it through Winchester, I stopped at the Ashuelot Covered
Bridge.
I continued driving along
the Ashuelot River until I reached Hinsdale.
Then I returned to Winchester to eat lunch at a restaurant called The
Rustic Table. All of their daily
specials had pickles. I had their baked
Sea Scallops with a cup of Polish pickle soup.
After lunch, I returned
to my hotel. Before going out again, I
wanted to have all my clothes organized for the marathon. Then I drove up to Gilsum, where the marathon
starts.
From Gilsum, I drove the
course back into Keene. I stopped at the
Gilsum Stone Arch Bridge and climbed down to the river to get this view. The course goes across this bridge, but we
wouldn’t get this view during the race.
We would, however, get
this view as we crossed the bridge.
It was pretty easy to
follow the course. Signs marking the
turns were already in place. In the
early miles, there’s a lot of descending, but there were also uphill sections
that were noticeable, even driving a car.
The first half of the
race has a lot of nice scenery. I’m glad
I drove it, because I don’t always notice the scenery during the race.
There were two places
where I couldn’t follow the course, because a section was closed to cars. The first one was the last part of an out-and-back
on Surry Dam Road. There was a sign
saying, “Awesome views ahead,” but I would have to wait until the race to see
those views.
The other section was
where the race goes through Wheelock Park.
By the time I got there, I was already into the late miles, where the
course is going through Keene. I didn’t
know where I could pick up the course again, so I just drove back to my
hotel. The late miles would have several
turns, but not much elevation change (or so I thought). As far as I knew, I had seen what I needed to
see to mentally prepare for the race.
When I got back to the
hotel, it was starting to rain. I spent
the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel before going to dinner.
It took me a long time to
decide where to go for dinner. I finally
settled on an Italian restaurant on Main Street called Fireworks. When I got there, I saw a pizza on the menu
called pig & fig. I still have my
knack for finding the best pizza in any city.
I got to bed early. I didn’t sleep perfectly, but I got enough
sleep to be OK for the race.
The course was
point-to-point. It started in Gilsum and
finished in Keene. Having driven most of
it on Saturday, I had a pretty good idea of the elevation profile. The first half has a gradual downhill trend,
while the second half is mostly flat. It
can be a fast course, but you have to pace yourself appropriately. In that respect, it’s similar to the Boston Marathon
course. That’s appropriate, since Clarence
DeMar won the Boston Marathon seven times.
To get to the start in
Gilsum, I had to catch a bus that left from Keene State College. I was able to park in one of the parking lots
on campus. Much of the college campus was
used to support the race.
The marathon didn’t start
until 7:00 AM, but buses to the start left between 5:15 and 5:45. To get there in time to catch a bus, I had to
get up at 4:00. I’ve never liked the
logistics of point-to-point races, but it’s the fourth one I’ve done in the
last three months.
The temperature was in
the low 50s, with a chance of a passing shower.
I was initially planning to run in shorts, but when I went out to my
car, it was sprinkling, and I also noticed a surprisingly cool breeze. I didn’t expect the rain to last long, but
there was a chance we might get more rain during the race. I was ahead of schedule, so I made a
last-minute decision to go back and change into tights.
The race provided a gear
check, but I didn’t want to take the time to retrieve a gear bag after the
race. Instead, I wore warm-up pants that
I was willing to discard and a light jacket that I could tie around my waist
before I started running.
I got to the college
early, so I was on the first bus to Gilsum.
We got dropped off around 5:30, so we had a long wait before the race
started. We were able to go inside the gymnasium
to sit down and stay warm until it was time to walk to the start. The bathrooms in the building weren’t open,
but there was a long row of port-o-potties outside.
I had been awake for a
couple hours, but my digestive system wakes up on its own schedule. I was on the bus when I started feeling
pressure in my intestines. When we got
off the bus, everyone else went into the gym, but I went straight for the
port-o-potties. What I was feeling
turned out to be mostly gas, but you never know.
This was my first
marathon since the beginning of the qualifying period for the 2025 Boston Marathon. Since this race has a somewhat fast course,
an obvious goal was to qualify for Boston.
The qualifying standard is my age group is currently 3:50.
Registration for the 2024
Boston Marathon closed on September 15.
After registration closed, the B.A.A. announced that they received
33,000 applications from time qualifiers.
Last year, they only had 23,000 slots for time qualifiers, so it looks like
10,000 applicants will be turned away.
There’s no question that
the B.A.A. will tighten the qualifying standards, but it’s unclear when new
standards would take effect. Ideally,
they would want to tighten the standards for 2025, but the qualifying period
for 2025 started on September 1. This
was already the fourth weekend of qualifying, and there hasn’t been any announcement
yet about changes to the qualifying standards.
To announce tighter standards now would be somewhat unfair to people who
have already run a qualifying race.
When the B.A.A. changes
their qualifying standards, they generally change them by five minutes. I expect the qualifying standard for my age
group to be 3:45 for 2026, but I ran this race assuming the standard for 2025
will still be 3:50.
I placed in my age group
in my previous four races, so another obvious goal was to win an age group
award. To do that, I needed to place in
the top two among men aged 60-69. I didn’t
know how fast I needed to run to place in my age group, but that’s something I
would keep in mind in the late miles.
Another common goal of
mine is to run negative splits. That
didn’t seem like a realistic goal today, because the first half of the course
is much easier than the second half. My
primary goal was to get a BQ, and to do that I planned to really work the
downhill sections in the first half of the race.
We started on Main Street
in Gilsum. Running down Main Street, it
was sharply downhill. I’m getting pretty
good at downhill running, so I used the downhill start to get off to a fast
start.
As we turned onto Highway
10, it was still downhill, but not as steep.
I continued to run at a relatively fast pace, but not so fast that it
would be tiring.
Just before the turn onto
Surry Road, the road briefly turned uphill.
On the short uphill segments, I was willing to work to keep up my pace,
knowing I would quickly get a chance to recover when we resumed running
downhill.
Toward the end of the
second mile, there was a more noticeable hill.
Again, I was willing to work to keep up my pace. On this hill, I started to get out of breath,
but I knew there would be lots more downhill.
The first three miles
were the fastest part of the course. On
these miles, my average pace was 8:20. I
didn’t need to run that fast to break 3:50, but I was taking advantage of the
fast miles, knowing the course would level out later.
The next two miles were
still downhill, but it wasn’t as noticeable.
I maintained the same effort, but my pace was 15-20 seconds slower.
About five miles into the
race, we turned onto Highway 12A. From driving
the course on Saturday, I knew the next several miles would still have a
downhill trend, but the slope was gradual, and some sections were slightly
uphill.
I wanted to keep up a Boston-qualifying
pace, but it took more effort now. In
large races, I can stay on pace just by keeping up with the pack of runners
around me. In smaller races like this
one, I need to focus on individual runners.
Some runners were rapidly pulling away.
Other runners weren’t going as fast, so I was passing them. I noticed one runner who always seemed to be at
least 100 feet ahead of me, so I focused on keeping up with her. It was a woman in green shorts.
At times, it seemed like
I was gradually falling farther behind the woman in the green shorts. Then I’d pick up my effort. At times, I questioned if this effort would
be sustainable for the whole race. I
felt like I was pushing the envelope a little. In most miles, my pace was faster than what I
needed to break 3:50, but I expected the second half of the race to be slower.
At about 10 miles, we
made a sharp left turn onto Surry Dam Road.
Right after this turn, I passed the woman in the green shorts. With nobody to follow, I had to pay more
attention to my effort to make sure I kept up my pace.
Before long, we reached
the first section of the course that I wasn’t able to drive. We ran across the dam and then turned around
and crossed the dam again. The awesome views
here were of Surry Mountain Lake.
As I was crossing the
dam, I found someone new to chase. It
was a guy in a yellow shirt. He was
taking pictures as he ran. He looked
relaxed, but I had to work to keep up with him.
Coming off the dam, we
hit a downhill section. I took the
downhill faster than the guy in the yellow shirt, so I ended up passing
him. Once again, I was on my own to
maintain a fast enough pace.
At 11 miles, we turned
onto East Surry Road and ran by a golf course.
This mile had rolling hills.
Somehow, I didn’t notice that when I drove the course. I sped up by about 10 seconds in this mile,
but only because I was really working to keep up my pace on the hills.
Halfway through mile 13,
I reached an aid station that was at the bottom of a hill. I recognized this as the longest hill on the
course. It was gradual, but it was a
total rise of about 100 feet. For the
first half of the hill, I did a good job of keeping up my pace. In the second half of the hill, I slowed down. This hill took a lot out of me.
Since the beginning of
the race, I had been wearing gloves.
Running up this hill, my hands started to feel sweaty, so I took my
gloves off and stuffed them in my fanny pack.
When I reached the 13-mile
mark, I saw that I had slowed to 8:54 in that mile. That was my slowest mile so far, and I wasn’t
quite to the top of the hill.
I reached the halfway
mark in 1:52:59. I knew I was ahead of
my target pace, but I was still surprised.
I was on pace for 3:46, but I didn’t expect to keep up the same pace in
the second half. The first half was
mostly downhill. The second half would
mostly flat. It would take more effort
just to run at the same pace, and my current effort already seemed like it
might be unsustainable.
I was almost to the top
of the hill. Then there was a brief
downhill segment. There was one more brief
uphill segment, and then there was a long downhill section. I finally picked up my pace again. I ran the 14th mile in 8:34. That was reassuring.
Running downhill, my
hands got cold. Apparently, I took my
gloves off prematurely. It’s tough to put
gloves on when they’re already sweaty.
My hands were cold for the rest of the race, but I had to live with
that.
Next, we made a sharp
turn onto Court Street. That was sharply
downhill. Coming around that corner and
across Court Street, I could feel one of my insoles slipping forward inside my
shoe.
When I drove the course,
I noticed that the turn was downhill, but I didn’t notice how sharply downhill
Court Street was. I really picked up
speed on that section.
I started thinking about
how fast my first half was and how much room I had to slow down in the second
half. I wondered if I could break 3:50
just by running nine-minute miles the rest of the way. At the halfway mark, that wasn’t quite fast
enough, but I ran mile 15 in 8:24 after running the previous mile in 8:34. Now a nine-minute pace would be fast enough. That gave me a lot of confidence going into
the last 11 miles.
I found someone new that
I could chase. It was a guy in a while
tank top. When I first noticed him ahead
of me, I had to work hard to keep up with him.
Then I got closer. Then I was
right behind him, and he looked over his shoulder at me. I couldn’t be sure, but it occurred to me
that he might be old enough to be in my age group. I passed him.
At 16 miles, we turned
onto the loop that I had noticed when I drove the course. Recognizing this part of the course gave me a
feeling for where I was.
Earlier in the race, I
noticed every time my watch recorded a split.
Now I started missing them. I
didn’t see my time for the 16th or 17th mile.
Then I ran the 18th mile in 8:29.
I only knew my splits from two of the previous four miles, but those two
were both faster than 8:30. If I could
keep up that pace for the rest of the race, I might break 3:45. That seemed highly improbable. To do that, I’d need to run the second half a
minute faster than the first half. The
first half is much easier, and I didn’t feel like I was holding back at all.
It didn’t seem possible,
but it was a goal worth pursuing. 3:45
would be a BQ even if the B.A.A. tightened the qualifying standards. I didn’t know if I was running 8:30 or faster
consistently, but I was determined to keep up my effort until I got another
split.
At 19 miles, I missed my
split again. My watch was consistently
reading high. Whenever I saw a mile
marker, I looked at my watch and saw that it had already recorded that mile,
but I didn’t notice. At 19 miles, my
watch read 19.08. I never noticed the
vibration when it recorded a split. When
I looked at my watch, it was too late.
I was entering the next section
of the course that I wasn’t able to drive.
I was running on a trail through Wheelock Park. For the rest of the race, nothing was going
to look familiar. Now, I had to take each
mile as it came.
I continued to miss my
mile splits. I didn’t know how fast I
ran mile 20, or mile 21, or mile 22. I
optimistically assumed I was keeping up the same pace as before, and I kept
pushing. As I had fewer miles to go, I
was got confident that my effort wouldn’t break me.
I was now focused more
and more on my other goal. I wanted to
place in my age group. I was constantly
looking at the runners ahead of me. I’d
see a couple runners who were clearly younger than me. I didn’t need to complete with them. Then I’d look farther up the road, and I’d
see a couple guys who could plausibly be in my age group. To know for sure, I’d have to get
closer. I’d pass the younger runners and
gradually catch up to the older guys until I could see them more clearly.
Sometimes I’d see a guy
who looked like he was as old as me.
Then I’d pass him. Other times, I’d
realize the guy I was chasing wasn’t that old.
I’d pass him anyway. I was
relentless. I was passing everyone.
In a few places, there
were signs that were either inspirational or humorous. Just before we entered Greenlawn Cemetery,
there was a sign saying, “You’re entering a cemetery. Try to look alive.” It was easy to look alive at first, because
the road through the cemetery was sharply downhill. As it leveled off, I found myself
tiring. That often happened after a
downhill section. When the road leveled
off, I was still trying to keep up the same pace, but it took more effort. I never let up. Going downhill, I worked the hill. On the flat, I tried to go as fast as the
downhill. Going uphill, I tried not to
slow down any more than I had to. In
most races, I try to keep my effort consistent.
In this race, I was running the terrain.
There was another
downhill section, but eventually, I had to run uphill again. This hill was tiring. I was getting out of breath, and I could tell
I was slowing down. I did my best, but I
wondered if it would wreck me for the rest of the race.
That was in mile 23. I ran that mile in 8:54. That was as slow as mile 13, which had the biggest
hill of the race. When the road turned
downhill again, I couldn’t run it as fast as I ran other downhill
sections. By now, both of my insoles had
slipped so far forward that running downhill was getting uncomfortable for my
feet.
With 3.2 miles to go, I
had more than 32 minutes left to break 3:50.
I just needed to average 10 minutes per mile, and every mile so far had
been faster than nine minutes. It was
obvious that I would break 3:50, but it was just as obvious that I wouldn’t be
able to break 3:45.
In those last few miles,
I didn’t let up. I was no longer racing
the clock, but I was still trying to place in my age group. Even more than before, I tried to catch
anyone who looked like they might be older than 60. Since the middle of the race, I had passed as
many as 10 men who might be in my age group.
It made me wonder how many of them actually were in my age group. It also made me wonder how many might still
be ahead of me. Every time I passed one,
I saw another. How far back was I at the
halfway mark? Was I even in the top 10?
I ran mile 24 in
8:46. That was disappointing. I ran mile 25 in 8:42. That was better. Breaking 3:45 was out of reach, but 3:50 was
in the bank.
They had a sign at one
mile to go. I love races that do that. I did one last time check. To finish in 3:50, I just needed to run the
last mile in 12:38. Then it occurred to
me that I might be really close to 3:46 if I could speed up in the last
mile. I gave it all I had.
I passed another older
runner. Chasing him helped me to keep up
my effort. In the distance, I could see one
more older runner who was wearing a red shirt.
I couldn’t gain ground on him.
Even if I could, he was too far ahead for me to catch him before the end
of the race.
I was almost to the
college campus. I made the turn onto
Main Street. When I saw my split for
mile 26, it was 8:38. This was going to
be really close. I poured it on.
As I made the final turn
onto Appian Way, another runner passed me like I was standing still. He looked much younger than me, so I didn’t care. I ran hard to the line, and I finished in
3:45:47. I wasn’t close to breaking
3:46, but amazingly, I ran negative splits by 11 seconds.
People were telling me
where to get food and water, but I only cared about two things. The first was my finisher medal. The second was finding out how I placed in my
age group.
As I was walking toward
the results tent, I saw a BQ bell. You
were supposed to ring it if you qualified for Boston. It’s still possible that the B.A.A could
tighten the standards for 2025, but under the current standards, I qualified
with more than four minutes to spare. I
went over and rang the bell.
When I got to the results
tent, they entered my bib number and displayed my result. I was shocked. I was 6th in my age group, despite running a
solid race and passing everyone I could.
This was a competitive race.
Getting back to the hotel
proved to be a little bit of a challenge.
I was told I could get out of the parking lot without crossing the course
by exiting to the right. I didn’t see
any streets where I could turn right.
Other cars were going out to Main Street. Was I supposed to turn right on Main Street. That was impossible. There were runners on Main Street. Even if there was a large enough gap between
runners, it was impossible to turn onto Main, because there was already a long
line of cars backed up.
I found two runners who
lived in the area and asked them if there was another way out of the parking
lot. One of them told me that I could
get out by following a serpentine route west and north of the parking lot. That worked.
I eventually found my way out to Winchester Street. From there, I knew my way back to the hotel.
By finishing the race
faster than expected and leaving the finish area quickly, I was able to get
back to the hotel just after 11:00. I
didn’t need to check out until 2:00, but I managed to be ready to leave by
noon. I actually needed to leave by
1:00, because I needed to return my rental car by 3:00, and I wanted to allow
two hours to drive to Hartford and fill my tank.
About halfway through the
drive, it started to rain. This wasn’t just
a few sprinkles. It was steady rain for
the rest of the drive. The rain was
actually helpful. It made it easier to
fend off road hypnosis.
The rain reminded me how
lucky I was that it didn’t rain at all during the race. After the race, my fingers were turning
white. If it had rained, I would’ve been
much colder.
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