On Sunday, I’ll be
running the Missoula Marathon. For the
second straight year, I’m doing something called the Big 3 Challenge, which
consists of a three mile beer run on Friday, the Tony Banovich 5K race on
Saturday, and the Missoula Marathon on Sunday.
Runners who do all three events get a surprise gift after finishing the
marathon. Last year, it was a blanket.
I flew to Missoula on Friday,
arriving in the early afternoon. I
stayed at a downtown hotel with a free airport shuttle, so I didn’t need to
rent a car.
I had a couple hours before
packet pickup started. While I waited, I
did a strength training workout at the hotel.
Later, I walked over to Caras Park to pick up my race packets for the
marathon and the 5K race.
I went back to the hotel to drop
off my race packets and change into my running clothes. Then I went back to Caras Park for the start
of the beer run.
The beer run isn’t a race. It’s free, you don’t need to sign up, and no
times are recorded. It’s just a fun run
with a free can of beer at the finish, courtesy of Big Sky Brewing.
The route for the beer run was
mostly on sidewalks and side streets. We
followed the Clark Fork River for most of the first mile. Then we crossed the river on a pedestrian
bridge underneath the Madison Street Bridge.
After that, we made a big loop around the University of Montana before
coming back to the bridge and retracing our route back to Caras Park.
Before the run, I was talking
to a runner in his mid-70s. We were
lined up within 10 yards of the starting line.
I wasn’t planning to go fast, so I thought that was plenty close. As it turns out, the runners in front of us
were going so slow that it was difficult to run at all.
The older runner went around on
the grass to get around the congestion.
I followed suit. Once we had room
to run, I found his pace to be faster than I would’ve started on my own. I followed, but I didn’t try to keep up with
him.
Soon, I found myself talking to
a younger runner, who was one of the local guides. His pace was comfortable enough at first, but
after crossing the river we sped up.
Our pace for the first mile was
a little faster than my training pace, but it wasn’t so fast as to be tiring
for a distance that was this short.
I enjoyed our conversation, so
I kept up with him even as we accelerated in the second mile. That mile was about as fast as my marathon
race pace. It felt a bit tiring, but I kept
up with him.
In the third mile, the pace
felt easier. I assumed we had slowed
down, but we actually sped up. Our last
mile was 8:03. It’s a good thing we only
ran three miles. Anything longer at that
pace would’ve been overdoing it.
When I finished, I was handed a
beer mug and a ticket for a free can of beer.
After finishing my beer, I walked back to the hotel and took a quick
shower before dinner. By the time I was
ready for dinner, it was 7:15. I didn’t
want to be out late, because I had a 5K race the next morning, so I had dinner
at the hotel’s restaurant.
The 5K race started at 8:00
Saturday morning. The start was on
Higgins Avenue, near the north end of the Beartracks Bridge. This is the same place where the marathon
finishes. Our starting line was the
marathon finish line.
I’m sure a lot of other people
doing the 5K race were also doing the marathon or half marathon. Most of them probably held back in the 5K
race, so they could save their best effort for Sunday. I took a different approach. I went all-out in the 5K.
I run dozens of marathons every
year, but I rarely run shorter distances.
I ran three 5K races last year, but before that I had not done one in 25
years. I’ll have lots of opportunities
to test myself at the marathon distance, but this was a rare opportunity to
test myself in a 5K. It was also an
opportunity to use the race as speed work.
Running this race may slow me down in tomorrow’s marathon, but it’ll
make me a better runner in the future.
Of the three 5K races I ran
last year, this one was my fastest. My
goal this year was to beat my time from last year.
I started at a pace that had me
out of breath before I was done crossing the bridge. Last year, I accelerated until I was out of
breath, and then I backed off a little.
This year, I didn’t back off, even though I was already in oxygen debt.
Another runner noticed my
Comrades shirt and asked me if I’ve run Comrades. I just said, “yup.” Normally, this would’ve been the beginning of
a conversation. I love to tell people
about Comrades. At the pace I was
running, one syllable was all I could manage.
We ran straight for about half
a mile before making our first turn. I
felt like my pace was unsustainable, but I was determined to maintain the same
effort until I finished the first mile.
After two more turns, I saw the banner for one mile. I got there in 7:40.
Last year, my time for the
first mile was 7:21. I was 19 second
slower, and it’s not as though I started too easy. There was no way I could go any faster. I was already at my limit. If anything, I would struggle to maintain my
current pace.
Halfway through the next mile,
we left the streets to run on a sidewalk that took us through the University of
Montana. The sidewalk was paved with
bricks, and I felt like I had to pay close attention to my footing. Then I remembered what I did last year. There was a narrow strip of smooth concrete
on either edge of the sidewalk. I moved
over to run on the concrete strip. Then
I could focus more on my pace and effort, instead of being distracted by the
bricks.
Before we were done crossing
the university campus, I noticed I was no longer keeping up with all the
runners ahead of me. Just before we got
back onto streets, we had to go up a small hill. I knew I was slowing down there, but I tried
to limit the damage. When we turned onto
a street again, we hit a section of road that was slightly downhill. I used that to pick up my pace again.
My second mile was two seconds
slower than the first one. That was
disappointing, but not surprising. As I
started the third mile, it was hard not to get discouraged.
We eventually turned onto a
paved trail that would lead us to the Madison Avenue Bridge. I was running behind a teenage boy who had a
long, relaxed stride. My cadence was
much faster than his, but I could barely keep up with him.
We crossed the river on the
pedestrian bridge underneath the Madison Avenue Bridge. From there, the rest of the route was
identical to the last part of the beer run.
After the bridge, several
runners passed me. I was fighting to
hang on, knowing I wasn’t having a good race.
Familiarity with the course
helped. I fought hard and managed to
speed up to 7:38 in the third mile. By
now, I should’ve been able to see the finish line, but there was a bridge
blocking my view of the finish. As I got
closer to the bridge, I could see the finish line beyond it. I got there in 24:05.
My time last year was
22:46. I was more than a minute slower
this year. I feel like I’m in better
shape now, but I’ve been training for longer distances. I’m really lacking in speed work.
I stopped by the results tent
to see how I did in my age group. I was
4th. I wasn’t expecting to win anything,
but it never hurts to check.
After the race, I hurried back
to the hotel, so I could shower and eat breakfast. I won’t do anything else strenuous today.
Tomorrow, I’ll be running the marathon. Stay tuned for my next race report. It’ll be interesting to see how my marathon time compares with last year.
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