Race Report: Humpy's Marathon

On August 16, I ran Humpy’s Marathon, which is part of the Anchorage Runfest.  Besides the marathon, they also have a mile race, a kids’ 2K, a 5K, a half marathon, and a 49K.

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of running a second Boston Qualifier in every state.  At the time, there were only six states where I didn’t already have two BQs, so I scheduled races in those six states.  Alaska was one of those states.

I got my second BQ in South Carolina, but I failed in my attempts in New Mexico and Ohio.  In June, I found out I was anemic, which explained why I was suddenly much slower.

About two months ago, I started taking iron pills.  Now, I’m feeling stronger.  I didn’t know if I’ve recovered completely, but I was ready to give it a try.

Friday, August 14

I flew to Anchorage Friday morning.  It was a six-hour flight, but there’s a three-hour time difference, so I still got to Anchorage before noon.

My hotel was in the downtown area.  I took a taxi to the hotel.  After that, I could walk everywhere I needed to go, so I didn’t need to rent a car.

It was too early to check into a room, so I left my bags at the hotel and had lunch.  After lunch, I walked to packet pickup, which was in a church at the other end of the downtown area.

This race was a reunion of the 50 States Marathon Club, so they had a booth at packet pickup.  I was talking to some of the other club members for about an hour before walking back to my hotel.

By the time I got into a hotel room, I was already starting to get tired.  It was only 4:00 in Alaska, but it felt like 7:00 to me.  I was originally planning to go for a run on the coastal trail, but I decided to have an early dinner instead.

After dinner, I was talking to a couple of guys at the bar.  When I finally got back to the hotel, I went right to bed.  It turned out to be a rough night.

I slept for a couple of hours.  Then I woke up feeling sick.  I felt like I needed to stay perfectly still or I might throw up.  For several minutes I waited patiently for this feeling to pass.  Then I suddenly felt flush from head to toe.  I recognized this feeling from the only other time I’ve had food poisoning.  I knew instantly that I needed to rush to the bathroom before I threw up.

I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from throwing up on the carpet.  I made it to the bathroom, but my mouth and nose were now full of vomit.  I emptied my stomach contents into the bathroom sink.  Then the diarrhea started.

I had to blow my nose several times, but the taste of that made me throw up again.  When I eventually felt ready to go back to bed, I still felt the residue of stomach acid burning my nose and sinuses.  That made it almost impossible to get back to sleep.  The good news is that the race wasn’t until Sunday, so I had all day Saturday to recover.

Saturday, August 15

I was finally drifting back to sleep when the sound of a phone alarm woke me up.  I simultaneously heard the phone vibrate and play a familiar melody.  I didn’t think I set an alarm, but I reached for my phone to check.  It wasn’t my phone making those sounds.  It must have been coming from the room adjacent to mine, and I heard it through the wall.

It was 3:30 AM, and I was now wide awake again.  I rested in bed until 6:00, but I never got back to sleep.  At 6:00, I heard a train whistle.  It was good to know that the trains don’t start until 6:00.

I got up, made a cup of tea, showered, and did my morning stretches.  By now, my digestive system seemed to have stabilized, so I went downstairs to eat breakfast.  I was still reluctant to put food in my system, but I knew I needed to eat.  I was feeling frail.  I also needed to start rehydrating.

I stayed at the hotel all morning.  I did some exercises, but I wasn’t ready to venture out until lunch time.  There was a pre-race pasta feed in a tent outside Flattop Pizza.  I skipped that in favor of having pizza inside the restaurant.

It was a large meal.  I didn’t know if my digestive system was still fragile, so I went back to the hotel to lay low for a while.  It was a shame to be in Alaska and not do any sightseeing, even within the downtown area, but my priority was saving my strength for the race.

The same tent used for the pasta feed was also used for the meeting of the 50 States Marathon Club.  The club meeting started shortly after the pasta feed was done.

One of the things they do at reunions is recognize people who have recently finished a round of marathons in all 50 states.  I completed my fifth circuit of states in 2024 at the Route 66 Marathon.  This was the first reunion I attended since then, so it was my chance to talk about my journey.

After the meeting, I had a light dinner and went straight to bed.  I slept for more than 10 hours.

Sunday, August 16

Sunday was race day.  The race started at 8:30 AM in front of Humpy’s Ale House.  That was close enough that I could walk to the start.

The temperature was in the upper 50s, and it was cloudy.  I had been worried about the possibility of rain.  It rained during the night, but it didn’t rain at all during the race.

For a Boston qualifier, I needed a time of 4:05 or faster.  A month or two ago, that time would’ve been unthinkable.  In the last two weeks, I’ve had some encouraging training runs, and I also had encouraging race results at the Minnesota Senior Games.  It was far from clear if I could run a marathon in 4:05, but if I squinted just right, I could convince myself it was plausible.  As long as there was a realistic chance, I had to give it a try.

All of my recent training and all of my recent races have been in hot conditions.  The cool conditions in Anchorage gave me the best possible chance for a BQ.  If nothing else, it was my first good chance to test myself.

I lined up behind the 4:00 pace group, and I stayed close to them for the first mile.  We started out on downtown streets.  As we left the downtown area, we ran down a steep hill, and I accidentally got in front of the group.  As we got onto the Coastal Trail, I let the group get ahead of me again.  By the end of the first mile, the pace was already starting to feel tiring.

Our pace for the first mile was a little fast, but it’s worth noting there was a lot of downhill running in that mile.  In the second mile, I fell back from the group to try to find my own pace.

For the next few miles, we had good views of the bay.  I was focused on running, but other runners have reported seeing beluga whales from this part of the course.

To finish in 4:05, I would need to average 9:20 per mile.  My watch tends to give me splits before I reach the mile markers, so I needed the splits from my watch to be a few seconds faster than that.

After falling behind the pace group, I was running by myself.  There were lots of people  running with the 4:00 and 4:15 pace groups, but only a handful of runners were in between.  I was in no man’s land, so I had to pay more attention to my effort to stay on a consistent pace.

Mile one had been faster than nine minutes, but the next two miles were 9:12 and 9:15.  After three miles, I was already coming to the conclusion that this pace was unsustainable.  It was already feeling too tiring.  In particular, I was breathing much harder than I normally do during a marathon.  My aerobic capacity still isn’t what it used to be.

I knew I wouldn’t stay on this pace, but in mile four, I only slowed down a little.  I ran that mile in 9:20.

A hiker on the trail pointed out a moose in the woods.  If there’s moose on the trail in front of you, you need to stop and wait for it to leave.  This one was far enough off the trail that I could keep running.

Because I was determined to try for a BQ, I didn’t bring my phone with me.  I didn’t want to be carrying any extra weight.  For the first time, I regretted that decision.  I couldn’t take any pictures.

Looking ahead of me, I could still see the 4:00 group.  They were going up a hill.  I had already run up and down a few smaller hills, but I could see that this one was going to slow me down.  Sure enough, three other runners passed me on the hill.

After that, there was another hill that also slowed me down.  I knew mile five was going to be slow, but it was still discouraging to slow down by more than a minute.  I ran that mile in 10:34.

After that, I had to find a pace that I could sustain for 21 more miles.  I settled into a pace of about 10 minutes per mile.  I was still working, but this pace wouldn’t break me.

We were running a long out-and-back on the Coastal Trail, which is a paved bike path.  When I saw the first runner coming back, I saw from the color of his race bib that he was doing the 49K race.  It surprised me to see a 49K runner ahead of all the marathon runners.  The 40K race started 30 minutes earlier, but their out-and-back was five miles longer.

I eventually started to see other runners coming back.  At first, there were just a few.  Then I saw the 3:30 pace group.  Before long, I would also see the 3:45 and 4:00 groups coming back.

I was almost to the 8-mile mark when the 4:15 group passed me.  At my current pace, that was inevitable.  Shortly after that, I reached the turnaround.

Coming back, I started to catch up with runners who had taken the early start.  Other than them, I wasn’t seeing a lot of runners going in my direction.  Mostly, I was seeing runners who were still on their way out.  Every so often, I saw another pace group: 4:30, then 4:45, then 5:00.  The groups were getting smaller.  One pacer only had one runner with her.  The last one I saw was by himself.

Just past the 11-mile mark, I encountered a hill that was steep enough that I had to walk most of it.  I had been keeping my pace pretty close to 10 minutes, but in that mile, I slowed to 10:36.

At the halfway point, I was on pace to break 4:20, but only because I had started with four faster miles.  At my current pace, I expected to finish with a time in the 4:20s.  My new goal, at this point, was to keep my time under 4:30.

Just before the 15-mile mark, we left the Coastal Trail to turn onto the Chester Creek Trail.  Now we were doing an out-and-back on this trail that took us across the city.

The half marathon started at the same time as the marathon, but their course didn’t go very far on the Coastal Trail.  They did the out-and-back on the Chester Creek Trail, but not the out-and-back I had just finished on the Coastal Trail.

Immediately after turning onto this trail, I started to see half marathon runners who were on their way back.  The first time I saw a marathon runner coming back, I did the math.  He was on pace to break three hours.  Faster runners had already gone by.  Shortly after that, I saw a 3:00 pace group for the half marathon.

The first four miles on the Chester Creek trail were relatively flat.  I had an easier time keeping up a consistent pace on this trail.

Although we were running through the city, we rarely saw any buildings.  We were running through the woods, so it felt like we were in the wilderness.

I was about two and a half miles from the turnround when I reached a junction in the trail.  There were arrows pointing to the right, but there was another trail that went to the left.  This is where I missed a turn the last time I ran on this course.  This time, the turn seemed pretty obvious.

After making that turn, I saw a long hill heading up to a bridge over the freeway.  This hill was steep enough that I had to walk most of it.  That resulted in another slow mile.

As soon as I reached the bridge, I resumed running.  After crossing the freeway, there was a brief downhill section, but there were more hills from there to the turnaround.

I once again started to see pace groups coming back.  I was still two miles from the turnaround when I saw the 3:30 group.  When I saw the 3:45 group, I was only a mile and a half from the turnaround.  Before I got there, I would also see the 4:00 and 4:15 groups.

When I saw the 4:15 group coming back, I started watching for the turnaround.  There were several turns on this section, and I couldn’t see the turnaround until after I came around the last bend.

As I made the turn, I checked my time.  I was three quarters done with the race, and I was now on pace to finish in about 4:23.  I was pretty confident I could keep my time in the 4:20s, but I still had to come back over the hilly section.

As I came around the first turn, I saw the 4:30 group.  I wasn’t expecting them to be so close to be.  I was determined to stay ahead of them, but I still had six and a half miles to go.

The next mile was another slow one, because of the hills.  Coming back up to the bridge was another hill, but in this direction, it wasn’t as tough.  After crossing the bridge, I had a nice long downhill section.  I used that to get back on pace.

After that hill, the trail leveled off.  All the way back to the coastal trail, I was able to keep every mile under 10 minutes.

Signs for the marathon and half marathon were every mile.  Signs for the 49K race were every 5K.  When I saw the 45K sign, I knew I had only 4K to go, since both races finish the same way.  Then I saw a 46K sign.  I realized then that the 49K race would now have signs every kilometer.

With about two miles to go, I turned back onto the Coast Trail, which would lead us back to downtown.  The next mile was slightly uphill, but I was able to keep up my pace.

Near the end of that mile, I saw several signs in rapid succession.  First, I saw the 47K sign for the 49K race.  Then I saw the 25-mile sign for the marathon.  Then I saw the 12-mile sign for the half marathon.  After that, there was a one mile to go sign.

I did a time check.  I would easily break 4:30, but I would have to work for it.  I remembered how much downhill running there was in the first mile.  Now I had to run all of that in the uphill direction.

I ran through a tunnel where I was greeted by a guy playing a saxophone.  He was playing “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”  Right after that tunnel, the hill got steeper, and my quads started to ache.

I was forcing myself to run uphill, but then I reached a short bridge with loose boards.  That was too uncomfortable for my aching quads.  I had to walk across the bridge, but then I forced myself to resume running.

I knew when I made the next turn, I would start up a steeper hill on city streets.  The approach to the turn was also slightly uphill, and that softened me up.  When I turned the corner and started up the steeper hill, I had to walk most of it.  Two other runners went by me.

After that hill, I was finally able to run the rest of the way.  When I made the last turn onto Fifth Avenue, I could see the finish line.

A runner passed me on my right.  He looked too young to be in my age group, so I didn’t make any effort to race him to the finish.

I finished the race in 4:22:53.  It was nowhere close to a Boston qualifier, but it’s my fastest marathon since March.  I’m not there yet, but I’m making progress.

Fishing is a big part of the local economy, so instead of finisher medals, they called them “fishiner” medals.  People sometimes think that’s a spelling error, but it’s deliberate.  I placed first in my age group, so I got an extra medal to put on my ribbon.

I also got a mug.

After the race, I went to the beer garden, where I saw several other members of the 50 States Marathon Club.  It had been cloudy all morning, but as soon as I got to the beer garden the sun came out.

I don’t need to fly home until tomorrow.  After getting cleaned up, I went to dinner at one of the local breweries.  I didn’t go back to the one where I got food poisoning.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:22:53

Average Pace:  10:02 per mile

First Half:  2:09:44

Second Half:  2:13:09

Place in Age Group:  1st

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  29

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  601

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: 2025 Bound for Boston Marathon

On August 17, I ran the Bound for Boston Marathon in Maple Grove, MN.  This race is put on by Five Star NTP, which also has “Bound for Boston” marathons in several other cities.

I only learned about this race a few months ago.  I was pleased to discover a local race that I could run in August.  Deb had knee replacement surgery two weeks ago, and I don’t plan to travel anywhere until she’s farther along in her recovery.  If I was going to run a marathon in August, it had to be a local race.

I was so excited to find a race I could do without traveling that I didn’t look too closely at the details of the race.  It wasn’t until later that I discovered that this race was first held in 2024.  When I looked up last year’s results, I saw only seven names listed.  Of those, only five finished.  I’m not sure what surprised me more, the small number of participants or the fact that two didn’t finish.

I belong to various clubs like the 50 States Marathon Club and Marathon Maniacs.  They have rules about what’s considered to be a marathon.  It can’t just be a few friends getting together and running a 26.2-mile training run.  It has to be an official race.

This race met most of the rules.  There was a website, they provided advance notice of the race, the course was measured to be at least 26.2 miles, there was a race director and independent timekeeping, and they publish results.  There was only one potential problem.  Those clubs require a minimum number of finishers.  Five isn’t enough.

I initially attributed the low turnout to the fact that 2024 was the first year.  I didn’t know about this race last year.  Maybe other people didn’t know about it either.  I was cautiously optimistic that they would have a higher turnout in their second year.

The course is certified, and the race is billed as a good place to qualify for Boston, because the course is flat.  I was skeptical of that.  To run a fast time, you also need favorable weather, and August isn’t known for cool temperatures.

About two weeks before the race, I noticed something else that I had previously overlooked.  As I was looking up the race morning schedule, I saw that packet pickup started at 5:45, and the race started at 6:30.  That’s all fine.  Then I noticed that the course closes at 10:30.  What?  That’s only four hours after the start.  I had to doublecheck.  The time limit was four hours.

Now I understood why so few people do this race.  Apparently, they’re only expecting runners who are trying to qualify for Boston.  Four hours is a tight enough time limit to deter many middle-of-the-pack runners.  It completely excludes back-of-the-pack runners.

I know several runners who do most of the local races.  In general, they’re always looking for an opportunity to fit an extra race into their schedule.  Unfortunately, four hours is just too fast for them.  I couldn’t even be confident that I could finish in four hours.  On a good day, I can run a time in the 3:40s, but that’s with favorable conditions.  If it was a hot day, finishing in four hours might prove to be difficult.

I was expecting temperatures in the 70s with high humidity.  The wildcard was a possible thunderstorm.  A large storm system had stalled over the Midwest.  The day before the race, we had periods of heavy rain with thunder, and there were flash flood warnings.

I set my alarm for 4:00 AM, but a loud noise woke me up ay 3:30.  I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I ate breakfast and started getting ready.  I was relieved when I looked outside and didn’t see any rain.

I checked the weather app on my phone.  It said heavy rain would be starting in about an hour.  I looked at the weather radar and saw a large storm system was slowly moving up from farther south.

Would they cancel the race if there was a thunderstorm?  I checked my email and saw a new email form the race organizers.  It made no mention of the weather.  It was just the QR code I would need to pick up my race packet.  I left a little early, in case I had to drive through heavy rain.

The race venue was Fernbrook Elementary School.  The course was 24 laps of a 1.1 mile loop going around the school grounds.  It was mostly paved, but had a section of wooden walkway.

I showed up with several concerns.  Could I stay on pace for a four-hour finish in these conditions?  How many other runners would be running?  If I finished in time, would my running clubs even count it?  Would I be running in a thunderstorm?

I was going to give it a try regardless.  It’s been three weeks since my last marathon, and my next one isn’t until September.  If nothing else, I needed a long training run to bridge the long gap between my last marathon and my next one.

I got in line behind two other runners to pick up my race bib.  The runners ahead of me were both doing the half marathon.  When it was my turn, I asked the race director how many people were running the marathon.  He said 24 runners were signed up for it.  That assuaged my first concern.  The race was large enough.

Another runner asked about the time limit.  The race director said they only say four hours, because they don’t want runners signing up who will need seven hours to finish.  He went on to say that he wouldn’t pull anyone off the course if they weren’t done in four hours.  He just didn’t want us to still be on the course at noon.

I talked to two other runners before the race who both said they were expecting times between 4:00 and 4:30.  If I couldn’t break four hours, I would still get an official finish, and I wouldn’t be the last runner on the course.  That took care of my second concern.  I would try to break four hours, but it wouldn’t be a big deal if I took a little longer.

My last concern was the weather.  When I left the house, it looked like heavy rain would arrive about the same time we were starting.  After making a bathroom stop, I checked my weather app again.  Either the storm was dissipating, or it was missing us.  At worst, we might have a few periods of light sprinkles.  As it turns out, we didn’t get any rain at all.

The path we were running on was wide enough for two runners side-by-side, but it wasn’t wide enough for a large group.  To keep the first lap from being congested, we had a staggered start.  We formed a line, and we were started a few seconds apart.  The race was chip-timed, so nobody lost any time waiting for their turn to start.

As I started running, I was on my own to establish the right pace.  I started somewhat aggressively.  Beyond that, I was scouting the course.  I had never run this loop before.

We had some periods of heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, so I was looking to see if any parts of the course were flooded.  I saw one puddle, but everywhere else we had dry footing.

As advertised, the course was flat.  As for the wooden section, it was a long bridge over a marshy area.  Bridges like this always make me nervous, but it was in good condition, and I never tripped.

We didn’t all line up in the same order we would eventually finish.  Inevitably, I passed a few runners, and a few runners passed me.  By the end of the first lap, however, everything shook out.  We were spread out far enough that I was running by myself, but I could always see the runner in front of me.

I felt like I was running too fast.  When I got my split for the first mile, it was 8:15.  That confirmed my suspicion.  To break four hours, I only needed to average 9:09 per mile.  For a Boston qualifier (3:50), I needed to average 8:45.  I was 30 seconds faster than that.

After that, I eased up a bit.  My second mile was 8:40.  That was more reasonable, but it was still fast enough for a Boston qualifier.  That wasn’t my goal at the start of the day, but I decided to go for it.  If there was a hard four-hour cutoff, I would’ve paced myself more conservatively, to make sure I finished within the time limit.  Knowing there wasn’t a hard cutoff emboldened me to run more aggressively.  I risked blowing up, but I knew I would get a chance to finish.

Early in my third lap, another runner caught up with me.  His name was Brian.  He was in town on business and saw this race as an opportunity to run a Minnesota marathon while he was already here.  Before the race, I met another runner who said the same thing.

I asked Brian what his goal was.  It was 3:45.  That was faster than my goal, but it wasn’t completely unreasonable.  I decided to run with Brian for a while and see how it went.

Although me didn’t have rain, we still had overcast skies.  That was a blessing.  The temperature was 70 degrees, and the dew point was 66, so the humidity was high.  Fortunately, we had a nice breeze that helped counteract the humidity.  The conditions, while not ideal, were about the best I could’ve hoped for at this time of year.

Brian and I were in our fifth lap when a faster runner came up on our left.  The fastest runner was already lapping us.  That wasn’t surprising, as this is a race that’s designed to appeal to faster runners.

There were tables in the start/finish area where runners could leave bottles or other nutrition.  They also had a table with cups of water and Gatorade.  As we were finishing our sixth lap, Brian needed to stop to refill his bottle.  I went ahead on my own.

Running with Brian, my mile times were in the 8:30s.  I was planning to ease up a bit while I was waiting for him to catch up, but I kept going at the same pace.

About halfway through the next lap, two more fast runners lapped me.  Then Brian caught up to me.  I didn’t expect him to catch up so quickly.  It seemed like he was running a little faster now.  I had to work harder to keep up with him.

I was drinking Gatorade at the end of each even-numbered lap.  As I paused to drink at the end of our eighth lap, I fell behind Brian.  I wasn’t able to catch up to him.  I had to let him go and run at my own pace.  My pace wasn’t as consistent now, but most of my mile times were still in the 8:30s.

I was in my ninth lap when the lead woman lapped me.  Her name was Olivia.  Before the race, I heard her tell another runner her goal was 3:35.  It’s not surprising that she lapped me, but it was surprising that she did it so early in the race.

After 12 laps, I was half done.  I wasn’t keeping up with Brian, but I was still on pace to break 3:45.

The cups at the aid station only had about an inch of Gatorade in them.  I was more conscious of the humidity now, and I realized I wasn’t drinking enough.  In the second half of the race, I drank at the end of every lap.

During my 14th lap, I realized I was catching up with Brian, so I worked a little harder to close the gap.  When I caught up to him, I realized he was slowing down.  I ended up going ahead of him.

When I paused to drink some Gatorade at the end of that lap, Brian caught up to me again.  I eased up a bit so I could run with him.  We were less than halfway through that lap when Brian told me he was fading and I should go on ahead on my own.  My time for that mile was 8:51, which was my slowest so far.  In the next mile, I sped up to 8:45, which was the pace I needed to average for a BQ.

As I was coming to the bridge in my 16th lap, I recognized Olivia in the distance.  She was just coming off the bridge.  It was a long bridge, but I was still surprised to see her.  I though she would be much farther ahead of me by now.  Two other women had lapped me, and I didn’t see either of them, so Olivia was no longer leading the race.

In the next lap, as I got onto the bridge again, I saw Olivia was still on the bridge.  I wasn’t as far behind now.  I challenged myself to catch up to her.  I brought my pace back down into the 8:30s.

Early in my 18th lap, I saw that I was going to catch up to Olivia.  I wondered if she still expected to break 3:35.  I was still a lap behind her, but I wondered if it made sense to run with her for the rest of the race.

I was just about to catch up to Olivia when she started walking, so she could drink some water.  I passed her and continued running on my own.

After 18 laps, I was three quarters done, but it was getting more difficult.  I was feeling the humidity in a big way now.  The conditions had not changed.  They just gradually took a toll on me.  Other runners were slowing down.  So far, I was keeping up a consistent pace, but it was getting more difficult.

For two more laps, I kept up the same pace.  I had built up a cushion, and I wondered if I was going to give it back now.

The race director had a PA system.  Whenever someone finished a lap, he announced their name, how many laps they completed, and their time for the lap they had just finished.  When I finished my 20th lap, my time for that lap was 9:29.  To stay on pace for a Boston qualifier, I needed to average 9:35 per lap.  With four laps to go, I just needed to average 10:15 per lap the rest of the way.

At this point, I began to slow down.  My split for mile 22 was 8:54.  The next mile was 9:04.  In lap 22, I felt like I was running out of gas, but I fought to keep from slowing down too much.  As I neared the end of that lap, I saw that I sped up to 9:02.  That was reassuring.

As I started my 23rd lap, it occurred to me that I just had 2.2 miles to go.  I was fading, but I was pretty sure I could keep it together for 2.2 miles.  I might slow down, but I would still break 3:50.

I fought hard to keep up my effort for another lap.  If I could hold pace for one more lap, I would have room to slow down in the last lap.

In mile 25, I slowed to 9:13.  That wasn’t too bad.  As I finished lap 23, I checked my time.  To break 3:50, I needed to run my final lap in 12:08.  So far, all my lap times had been under 10 minutes.

I could afford to average almost 11 minutes per mile in that last lap.  The scary thing is that I often run as slowly as that in summer training runs.  If I allowed myself to slow to a pace that felt comfortable, it might not be fast enough.  I had to force myself to keep up my effort for one more lap.  I knew I could do it, but it wasn’t going to feel good.

I only slowed down by a few seconds in my last lap.  I finished the race in 3:47:46.

Immediately after I finished, one of the volunteers handed me a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade.  I don’t usually feel like drinking after a race, but I knew I would need both of them.  I also drank a cup of Gatorade from the aid station.

They had the same medals for both races, but marathon runners also received a pin that said “Marathon.”

I was also handed another pin.  There were awards to the top three men and women overall, the top master (over 40), the top grandmaster (over 50), the top senior grandmaster (over 60), plus age group awards.  I expected to win the senior grandmasters division.  I was surprised to find out that I was third overall.

When I got back to my car, my clothes were soaked, and I was still sweating profusely.  Sweat from my forehead was dripping into my eyes, making them sting.  I really could have used a towel, but I didn’t think to bring one.  Four hours after getting home, I was still working to get rehydrated.

This race took a lot out of me, but I couldn’t be happier with my result.  I originally just wanted another marathon to bridge the gap between two marathons that were seven weeks apart.  I would’ve been content to run it like a training run.  Instead, I got a BQ and a third-place finish.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:47:46

Average Pace:  8:41 per mile

First Half:  1:52:20

Second Half:  1:55:26

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  25

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  560

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  114

Boston Qualifiers:  180

A Quadzilla Update

My primary motivation for running the Jackal Marathons was to get a quadzilla in another state.  I’ve been trying to run quadzillas in as many different states as I can.  It’s not actually possible to run one in every state.  There aren’t series of races in every state.  I’ll run the ones I can find.

The term “quadzilla” was coined by members of Marathon Maniacs.  Today, there are numerous series of races held over multiple days, but it wasn’t always like that.

When I joined the 50 States Marathon Club, I heard about other runners who would sometimes run a marathon in one state on a Saturday and then run one in another state on Sunday.  They called this a weekend double.

I ran my first double in 2005.  I was already signed up for a race in Connecticut called the Mystic Places Marathon.  Then I learned that there was a race in Newport, RI the day before.  Deb and I flew to Providence on Friday, spent one night in Newport, and then spent the rest of our vacation in Mystic.

Running a “double” was tough, but not nearly as tough as I expected it to be.  A year later, I did another double with races in Indiana and Kentucky.

The next step up was a triple.  I knew of only one place where you could to that.  It was the Tahoe Triple, which is in California and Nevada.  Over the course of three days, you run all the way around Lake Tahoe, with a little bit of overlap.

Before I ran my first triple, I joined Marathon Maniacs.  This club is all about running marathons frequently.  Some members, including the three founders, had done something they called a quadzilla.  In recent years, the Tahoe Triple has taken place over a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Originally, it was Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, making it possible to run another marathon on Sunday.  A few guys combined the Tahoe Triple with the Bizz Johnson Marathon, and the quadzilla was born.

I had my sights set on trying the Tahoe Triple in 2011, but then I learned about another triple.  There was a race in Portland, OR that was always held on July 4, regardless of what day of the week it was.  It was a race sponsored by Foot Traffic called the Flat Marathon.  In 2011, July 4 was a Monday.  Steve Walters, who lives in the Portland area created two smaller races on Saturday and Sunday.  These races could be combined with the Foot Traffic Flat Marathon for a triple over the long weekend.  Steve called it the Firecracker Triple, and he ordered T-shirts.

I ran the Firecracker Triple in July and then ran the Tahoe Triple in September.  The next step up was a quadzilla.

With the Tahoe Triple shifting to Friday through Sunday, it was no longer possible to do the original quadzilla, but now there was one in Seattle.  The Seattle Quadzilla consisted of four marathons over the Thanksgiving long weekend.

At the time, the Seattle Quadzilla was the only place in the United States where you could run marathons on four consecutive days.  Today, there are numerous multi-day series of marathons, but none of those existed yet.  The quadzilla was still the pinnacle.  For a Marathon Maniac, it was the most badass thing you could do.

Flash forward to 2013.  July 4 was a Thursday.  Steve Walter held races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  If you did those three plus the Flat Marathon, it was called the Firecracker Quadzilla.  I ran the Firecracker Quadzilla in July, and then I ran the Seattle Quadzilla in November.

On the second day of the Seattle Quadzilla, I was wearing my T-shirt from the Firecracker Quadzilla.  Another runner saw my shirt and said, “Look.  That guy’s a quadzilla expert."  Steve was standing next to me at the time, and it started a brief conversation.  We wondered how many states there were where you could run a quadzilla.  We didn’t consider the new series Mainly Marathons had where you could run marathons in several different states on consecutive days.

Besides the Firecracker Quadzilla in Oregon and the Seattle Quadzilla in Washington, we could think of only three others.  There was the Texas Quad, which was also held over Thanksgiving weekend, the Day of the Dead Series in New Mexico, and the Savage Seven in Florida.

It was this conversation that planted the idea in my mind.  I wanted to run a quadzilla in as many different states as I could.  I don’t know why I focused solely on series that were all in one state.  Maybe it’s because I was a member of the 50 States Marathon Club, and I saw running quadzillas in each state as a similar goal, even though I knew it was impossible.

I didn’t add my third state until 2015.  By then, the Day of the Dead Series had grown to a seven-day series.  I didn’t do the whole series.  I just ran the first four days.  That was enough to complete a quadzilla in New Mexico.

Mainly Marathons had been adding more and more multi-day series, but they all spanned multiple states.  I lobbied Clint Burleson to add a series in Hawaii.  Eventually he did.  It was called the Aloha Series.  It was a four-day series with every race on the island of Kauai.  I ran that series in 2017.

Clint also added an Alaska Series, giving him marathons in all 50 states.  Then he sold Mainly Marathons to two brothers from Minnesota.  They added a series of four trail marathons in Minnesota and called it the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series.  I ran the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series in 2019.

In 2019, I also did four days of the Savage Seven.  The Savage Seven was a seven-day series in Florida.  The series started the day after Christmas and ended on New Years Day.  I didn’t want to travel on Christmas Day, so I flew to Florida on the 26th and only ran days two through five of the series.  That was enough to get a quadzilla in Florida. I was able to fly home in time for New Years.

I had plans to run the Alaska Series in 2020, but I cancelled those plans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I had lots of race plans that got cancelled that year, but I found something epic to replace them.

The Rueckert brothers had rebranded their Minnesota series.  Now it was called Summer Camp, and they expanded it to six days.  They already had two other series that included races in Minnesota.  Their Heartland Series had races in seven different states, with the last one in Minnesota.  Their Prairie Series also had races in seven different states, with the first one in Minnesota.  Their grand plan for 2020 was to hold these three series back-to-back.  If you did all three, you could run marathons on 20 consecutive days.  There was just one problem.  The pandemic made it nearly impossible to get permits to hold races at venues in 13 different states.

Most of their series had to be cancelled that year, but they rearranged this one.  After learning what they had to do to get permits for races in Minnesota, they merged these three series and pulled all the races into Minnesota.  They called it Running Ragged 20 in 20.

I ran the Running Ragged 20 in 20 series, even though I already had done a series in Minnesota.  It was something epic to replace all the races that got cancelled that year.  Two months later, I did the Texas Quad.

In 2021, I finally did the Alaska Series, which was a four-day series.  I didn’t add any more new states until this week, when I did the Jackal Marathons to add Tennessee.  Now I’ve run a quadzilla (or more) in nine different states.

I’m planning to do Arizona next.  Aravaipa Running has multiple events going on at the same time during Across the Years.  Most of them are fixed-time ultras, ranging anywhere from six hours to six days.  During their six-day race, they also have marathons each day.  I’m planning to do all six, even though I would only need four to get an Arizona quadzilla.

If you’re reading this, please consider joining me in Arizona to run as many as six marathons from December 28 through January 2.  If you can’t make it for the whole series, consider doing the races on January 1st and 2nd.  I’ve looked at past results, and they get plenty of runners for the first four days, but not as many on the first two days of January.  I think too many people need to get home to return to work.  I’m hoping to recruit enough other runners to make sure there are at least 15 of us every day.

Running quadzillas in different states is sort of a silly goal.  I’m off in the weeds on my own for this one.  It’s silly for three reasons.  First, I know I can’t run them in every state.  I’m already running out of states that have quadzilla opportunities.  Second, running a quadzilla was once the be-all and end-all of running on consecutive days, but that’s no longer the case.  Finally, it ignores the many multi-day series that include marathons in more than one state.  Mainly Marathons has numerous multi-day series.  There’s also the Four Corners Quad Keyah and the New England Challenge.

I’m running out of serious goals, so I guess I’m down to the silly ones now.  In other news, the Jackal Trail Marathon was my second marathon starting with the letter J.  If I do one more race starting with Q, I could complete another round of the alphabet.

Race Report: 2024 Route 66 Marathon

On November 24, I ran the Route 66 Marathon.  I needed a marathon in Oklahoma to finish my fifth circuit of 50 states, and this is my favorite Oklahoma marathon.  It was also one of the quarterly reunions of the 50 States Marathon Club, so I was motivated to finish at this race.

Friday, November 22

There aren’t any direct flights from Minneapolis to Tulsa.  Flying on Delta, I had to go through Atlanta, so it took most of the day to get there.  I wanted to attend the 50 States Marathon Club meeting on Saturday, so I flew to Tulsa on Friday.

Whenever I do this race, I stay at the same hotel.  The Doubletree in downtown Tulsa is connected by skyway to the Cox Business Center, which was the site of the expo and also the club meeting.  Doubletree has an airport shuttle, so I didn’t need to rent a car.

When I arrived at the airport in Tulsa, I called Doubletree to request an airport shuttle.  Nobody answered the phone for 20 minutes.  When I finally got through, I was told that it would be another 30 minutes before an airport shuttle was available.  I didn’t want to wait that much longer after already waiting for 20 minutes, so I took a taxi.

When I checked in at Doubletree, the hotel manager was apologetic about the delay and reduced my room rate by the amount I paid for the taxi.

I could’ve waited until Saturday to pick up my race packet, but the expo was close, so I went over there as soon as I was unpacked.  Instead of a T-shirt, my race packet included a nice warm vest.  I have hundreds of T-shirts, so I like it when I can get something different.

There are a number of breweries on the east side of the downtown area.  I found one that has Detroit-style pizza, so I went there for dinner.  After dinner, I spent most of the evening talking to another runner who belongs to a local hashing club.  His club was planning a run for Sunday.  He tried to talk me into joining them, but I didn’t think I’d be up for another run after the marathon.

Saturday, November 23

I had breakfast at Doubletree and then went for a morning run.  I was staying at the western edge of the downtown area, so it didn’t take long to get over to the Arkansas River.  Then I followed a paved trail along the river.  This same trail is part of the marathon route.

I didn’t coordinate plans with anyone, but I knew a lot of other runners who were doing this race.  As I was walking to lunch, I saw several familiar faces.  Most were runners.  One was a race-walker I remembered meeting at the National Senior Games.

After lunch, I had time to do a workout and organize my clothes for the race.  Then I went back to the convention center for the reunion meeting of the 50 States Marathon Club.

When you finish a round of marathons in every state, the club mails you a trophy.  The next time you attend one of these reunions, you can bring your trophy and talk about your experience.

This was my first club meeting since finishing my fourth round of states at this same race a year ago.  I told the group how I saw spectators offering donuts during last year’s race, but I didn’t stop, because I was going for a fast time.  This year, I planned to stop for all the food and beverages being offered by the spectators.

I was worried that the downtown restaurants would all be busy the night before the race.  I didn’t want to walk for 15 minutes only to find out that I couldn’t get a table, so I had dinner at the hotel.  Their restaurant had flatbreads.

After dinner, I went to a bar that was two blocks from my hotel.  I had a great conversation with the bartender, and I met a woman who used to live in Burnsville, MN, and went to the University of Minnesota.  This is why I love going to bars.  I always meet interesting people.

Sunday, November 24

This race has had cold weather in the past, but this year was relatively warm.  It was 55 degrees in the morning, and I expected it to get up to 70 by the time I finished.  It was a windy day, and I anticipated going slow and taking walking breaks, so I dressed warmer than I normally would.  I wore tights instead of shorts, and I wore a thin T-shirt underneath my 50 States Marathon Club singlet.

This race always rolls out the red carpet for members of the 50 States Marathon Club and Marathon Maniacs.  They had a VIP tent we could use in the start area with a private gear check and port-o-potties.  They also had a professional photographer to take pre-race group photos.

The race started at 8:00 AM.  I left the hotel at 6:45, which gave me plenty of time to walk to the start before the group photos.  When I arrived, I waited in the tent at “Maniac Corner” until it was time for the group photo.

Over the years, the course has changed several times.  This year’s course was similar to last year’s course, but there were a few differences.  We were warned that there would be more hills.  Last year, I qualified for Boston on this course.  This year, I opted to stay in my comfort zone and just take it easy.

I was finishing my fifth circuit of states, so I chose to view this race as a victory lap.  Instead of running for a fast time, I was celebrating all the races I ran to get to this point.  If I saw a beer stop or a spectator offering food, I was going to stop and partake.

I didn’t start as fast as I normally would.  I was following the runners around me, but I was also holding back a little.

About halfway through the second mile, I saw some spectators in the street handing something to any runners who stopped.  When I saw that they were small bottles of Fireball, I went over to get one.  That set the tone for the rest of the race.

I knew I needed to pace myself, so I didn’t drink it all at once.  I took a sip, put the cap back on, and carried it with me.  I drank it gradually over the next mile.

About halfway through the third mile, I saw some guys on the side of the road with a cooler full of beer.  I still had my bottle of Fireball, so instead of stopping for a beer, I raised my bottle to toast them, and then I finished my Fireball.

The first five miles of the course were hilly.  I didn’t want to wear myself out on the hills, so I sometimes took short walking breaks on the hills.

At about four miles, I saw a spectator holding out a basket.  When I saw the basket was full of bananas, I kept running.  Bananas at races are common enough that I wasn’t tempted.

About halfway through the sixth mile, I saw some spectators dressed as clowns.  They were holding baskets with Jell-O shots.  I took a Jell-O shot and ate it as I continued running.

I was just about to the 10K mark when I saw another beer stop.  This time, I stopped for a small cup of beer.

In the next mile, I saw spectators holding boxes with glazed donuts.  Last year, I skipped the donuts, so I wouldn’t have to slow down.  This year, I took a walking break while eating a whole donut.

There were aid stations at every mile, and they all had water and Gatorade.  Some also had bananas or gels.  I was looking ahead to the aid station at the 7-mile mark when I noticed that I was passing a table with cups on it.  It was another beer stop, but I was already going by it by the time I saw it.

The aid stations all had port-o-potties.  After drinking Gatorade at the aid station, I made a bathroom stop.

Right after my bathroom stop, I saw a table with a sign that said “shots.”  They were Fireball shots.  This time, I stopped.

I was only about seven and a half miles into the race, and I had already stopped twice for Fireball, once for beer, and once for a Jell-O shot.  I didn’t think I could keep up that rate of alcohol consumption for the whole race.

I started to feel a strong tailwind pushing at my back.  We had just turned onto a road that follows the river.  To my left, I could see the same path that I had been running on the day before.  I realized we would be following the river for the next two miles.

The good news is that running with the wind at my back would feel easier.  The bad news is that the wind was no longer cooling me off.  I started to get hot on this stretch.

Looking to my left, I could see runners on the bike path that was closer to the river.  These were the race leaders.  They were about four miles ahead of us.

Most of the food and alcohol is in residential neighborhoods.  People living along the marathon route are encouraged to organize block parties.  Along the river, there weren’t as many spectators, so I wasn’t expecting to see any more beer or Jell-O shots.

At about nine miles, I saw a table on the left side of the road.  There were two women there handing out Jell-O shots.  I took a Jell-O shot and turned to see guys on my right with Fireball shots.  Since I already had a Jell-O shot, I skipped the Fireball.  That would be the last time I saw any alcohol for several miles.

In the next mile, my friend Angel caught up to me.  Her pace was a little faster than mine, so I had to speed up to run with her.  The pace felt tiring, but I knew we would get a cool breeze cool as we crossed a bridge over the Arkansas River.

On the bridge we were high above the river, so we were much more exposed to the wind.  It was no longer a tailwind.  On the bridge, it was a crosswind, and it felt good.

This bridge is a part of the historic Route 66.  This was the only time we were actually on Route 66, although we had crossed it earlier in the race.

After we crossed the bridge, the marathon and half marathon routes diverged.  The runners doing the half marathon did a U-turn and crossed the bridge again.  Then they followed Route 66 a bit farther on their way back into downtown.

Those of us doing the marathon turned left and got onto a pedestrian bridge that runs parallel to the Route 66 bridge.  We crossed the river on that bridge, went underneath the Route 66 bridge, and started following the bike path.

Now we had a headwind.  At first, I felt good, but it wasn’t long before the wind gusts started to get tiring.  I had mixed feelings about that.  I was overdressed, so I really needed the wind to cool me off.

At 13 miles, Angel made a bathroom stop, and I continued on my own.  Fighting the headwind was tiring, so I slowed down.  I assumed it wouldn’t take long for Angel to catch up to me.

We had to go about two more miles in this direction before turning around.  I kept expecting Angel to catch up to me at any time, but I made it all the way to the turnaround before I saw her.  She caught up to me shortly after the turn.

Now the wind was at our backs again.  I also had mixed feelings about that.  I was relieved that I no longer needed to fight the wind, but without its cooling effect, I quickly got hot.  I was starting to regret my clothing choices.

We came back along the bike path for two miles.  Then we turned and followed another paved trail for the next two miles.

At about 19 miles, we turned back onto city streets again.  The next few miles were hilly, and the trend was uphill.  We started walking the steepest part of each hill.

I was getting really hot and sweaty.  As we were walking up one of the hills, I took off my T-shirt.  It wasn’t easy, because I had to take off my hat and singlet before I could take off the shirt.

My T-shirt had short sleeves, so I couldn’t find any way to tie it around my waist.  It was too bulky to fit into my fanny pack, where I was already carrying my phone and a pair of gloves.  Then I remembered that I had an extra safety pin.  I put the shirt around my wait and used the safety pin to hold the sleeves together.

I was so preoccupied with my T-shirt that I didn’t realize we passed a spectator offering Jell-O slots.  On the next hill, Angel told me that I missed it.  It had been 11 or 12 miles since I last had any alcohol.  I needed the break, but now I was ready again.

The next few miles were around the Tulsa University campus.  Then we started coming back toward downtown.

At 23 miles, I saw some people on the left side of the road holding buckets.  I moved to my left to take a closer look.  The buckets held small bottles of Fireball.  I took a bottle and downed it immediately.  With only a few miles to go, I no longer needed to be conservative.

Coming back toward downtown, the trend was downhill, but we still occasionally encountered a short uphill section.  Each time, we walked it.  We were both struggling, but in different ways.  I was hot.  Angel had an upset stomach.

At 24 miles, I saw a table on the right with a variety of beverages.  The guy said he had Fireball, Coke, and mimosas.  I had never had a mimosa during a race, so I tried one.  It didn’t really taste like a mimosa.  I think it was actually a beermosa (beer mixed with orange juice).

I knew where we were now, so I knew when we were approaching Dead Armadillo Brewery, which is just outside of downtown.  I knew there would be a beer stop in front of this brewery.

Before drinking, I asked them what beer it was.  It was a beer I’ve tried before.  It was Dead Armadillo’s “Pickle Recovery” beer.  Most people would find it to be a bit weird, but at 24.5 miles into a marathon on a hot day, it was just right.

There’s a place in downtown Tulsa called the “Center of the Universe.”  It’s a spot with unusual acoustics.  When you stand in the center and talk, you can hear your voice echo.  People standing a short distance away don’t hear it.  The Center of the Universe isn’t on the marathon route, but it’s a short distance away.  When you register for the marathon, you can choose to take a detour to the Center of the Universe.  The detour adds 0.3 miles to your race.

In the past, I’ve always been trying for a fast time, so I’ve never wanted to run this extra distance.  This year, I wasn’t trying for a fast time, so I signed up to do the detour.  Angel also took the detour.

To get to the Center of the Universe, we had to cross a bridge over some railroad tracks.  We walked the uphill side of the bridge.  We ran past the Center of the Universe until we reached the turnaround point.  At the turnaround we each received a souvenir coin.  They also had a beer stop there, with three different beers from local breweries.

On the way back, we stopped briefly at the Center of the Universe, so Angel could experience the echo.  I’ve been there before.  Then we crossed the bridge again to get back to the marathon course.

We had two more turns and one more hill.  Then we reached 25.9 miles, where there was a digital clock and a chip transponder.  For people who didn’t do the detour, this clock wasn’t particularly meaningful.  For us, it was actually 26.2 miles (including the detour), so it was our marathon split.  For what it’s worth, my marathon time was 4:40:45.  Of course, I still had to keep going to reach the actual finish line.

After two more turns we could see the finish line.  Neither of us had the energy to speed up at all.  I crossed the line in 4:44:14.

They had different versions of the finisher medals, depending on which club you belonged to and whether you had also done the Oklahoma City Marathon.  My medal was the one for members of the 50 States Marathon Club.

Finish line food included pizza.  I didn’t even look at the other food.  I ate a slice of pepperoni pizza and kept walking until I reached the beer tent.

On our race bibs, we each had two beer coupons.  They had the same three beers at the finish line that were available on the detour.  I tried one at the detour, and I tried the other two in the finish area.

Next, we went to “Maniac Corner,” which was our VIP area in the finish area.  We had food, beer, and couches to sit on.  In cold years, we would all huddle inside a heated tent.  This year, it was 73 degrees and sunny, so we could be comfortable outside.  I spent about two hours talking with other runners at “Maniac Corner” before finally walking back to my hotel.

For the first half of my walk back to the hotel, I followed the marathon route.  I saw three friends who were nearing the finish.  In all, I had to walk more than a mile to get back to my hotel.

By the time I got cleaned up, it was almost time for dinner.  I didn’t feel like going out again, so I had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.5 miles (including Center of the Universe detour)

Time:  4:44:14

Average Pace:  10:44 per mile

First Half:  2:15:01

Second Half:  2:29:13

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  534

Oklahoma Marathons/Ultras:  5

Circuits of Marathons/Ultras in Every State:  5