Race Report: 2022 Hawaii Bird Conservation Marathon

On December 18, I ran the Hawaii Bird Conservation Marathon on the Big Island.  I’ve run this same race twice before, most recently a year ago.  It’s a fast course, which gave me hope that I might be able to get a Boston qualifier for 2024, even though I’m not in shape right now.

Flights to Hawaii are expensive.  You don’t just fly there, run the marathon, and then fly home.  If I was going, I was going to spend a few days there.  The race wasn’t until Sunday, but I arrived on Wednesday, giving me three full days of sightseeing before the race.

As recently as a week before my trip, I thought I would have the opportunity to see two active volcanoes.  Kilauea was still erupting, and Mauna Loa started erupting at the end of November.  By December 10th, both volcanoes had stopped erupting.  I was disappointed that I wouldn’t see active lava flows, but I was able to pivot to other sightseeing options.

Wednesday, December 14

Delta has direct flights from Minneapolis to Honolulu, but I had to connect to a Hawaiian Airlines flight to get to Hilo.  My connecting flight was delayed, so I didn’t arrive in Hilo until almost 8:00 PM.  There’s a four-hour time difference between Minnesota and Hawaii, so to me it felt like midnight.

Having been to Hilo a year ago, I knew the layout of the airport.  Last year, it took me a while to find the Budget Rent-A-Car counter.  This year, I was able to walk straight to it.

I stayed at the same hotel where I stayed last year.  It was only a few miles from the airport, and I knew the way by sight.  I also knew where to park, so I didn’t have to waste time moving my car after checking in.

I keep my hotel room colder than most people would.  I can’t sleep if the room is too warm.  When I got to my room, I immediately turned down the thermostat.  I was tired, but I needed to give the room time to cool down before I could go to sleep.  After unpacking, I went to the hotel bar to unwind while I waited for my room to cool down.

Thursday, December 15

It wasn’t until Thursday morning that I opened the drapes and saw the view from my hotel room.  I had a room overlooking Hilo Bay.

I was on the top floor of the Mauna Loa wing of the hotel.  I was high enough that I could see over other parts of the hotel.  Looking to my left I could see Coconut Island.  In the distance, I could see Mauna Kea.

I was planning to be on the go all day, so I tried to pack up everything I might need before I left for breakfast.  I couldn’t shake the feeling I was forgetting something, but I didn’t know what it was.

For breakfast, I went to Ken’s House of Pancakes, which has interesting flavors of pancakes.  This was a restaurant recommended by one of my sisters.  I had their coconut pancakes.

After breakfast, I drove to the southern end of the island.  As I was driving, it started sprinkling.  Then I realized what I forgot.  I was supposed to check the forecast.  I was on the rainy side of the island, and my plans included a long hike.  Thankfully, the rain stopped after only a few minutes.

My first stop was Punalu’u Beach.  This is one of Hawaii’s black sand beaches.  The sand in most beaches consists of rocks and sea shells that have been ground up by the action of the waves.  Black sand beaches consist of ground up lava.

Next, I drove to South Point, which is the southernmost point in the United States.  I drove as far as I could, but after parking the car, I still had to walk about a quarter mile and then scramble over some rocks.  There aren’t any signs directing you where to go, so I let my phone direct me.  I went as far south as I could without going into the water, but my phone showed me just short of the southernmost point.  Then I looked up the timing of the tides.  I was there near high tide.  At low tide, the shoreline would be farther out.

While I was there, I found a message.

The beach that interested me the most was Papakōlea Green Sand Beach.  To get there, I had to hike for almost three miles.  First, I drove to the closest place I could park my car.  I was surprised to see how many cars were already parked there.  Were there really that many people willing to hike more than five miles (round trip) to get to this beach?  When I got out of the car, a man asked me if I was taking the shuttle or hiking?  I said I was hiking.  I was amazed that it was even possible to drive a vehicle over a trail that I had read was somewhat rugged.

As I started hiking, I discovered that there were multiple trails that all led to the same place.  The original trail, which stayed fairly close to the coast, would not have been drivable.  Now, there are also what appear to be ATV trails.  Was their “shuttle” an ATV?  No, it was a pickup with a high clearance.  Still, it had to have been a difficult drive.

Had I known in advance that I could get to this beach quicker, I might have done that, but I already planned my day around having enough time to do this hike.  Besides, I spent most of Wednesday sitting on airplanes, so I really needed to get some exercise.

The hike to the beach took almost an hour.  When I got within sight of the beach, I was up on a cliff overlooking the bay.  Then I realized getting down to the beach would be the most difficult part of the hike.

The climb down to the beach was steep, but I could see the easiest way down by following other hikers.

The green color comes from a mineral called olivine, which is high in iron and manganese.  There are only four green sand beaches in the world.  As a geology geek, it was worth going out of my way to see one of them.

I got lucky on the weather.  It didn’t rain at all while I was hiking.  I realized, however, that I forgot something else.  I left the hotel without applying any sunblock.  I didn’t notice the sunburn until later in the day.

After my hike, I drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was on the way back to Hilo.  It rained heavily for about half of the drive, but the rain stopped by the time I got to the park.  After stopping at the visitor center to talk to one of the rangers, I went to the Kilauea Overlook.  There’s no longer any new lava entering the crater.  All you can see now is older lava and steam.

It wasn’t raining, but there were still dark clouds, so I didn’t do any hiking in the park.  Instead, I drove back to Hilo.

By the time I got back to Hilo, I had been hiking or driving for eight hours.  I stopped at the hotel to recharge until dinner time.  For dinner, I went to Cronie’s Bar & Grill, which was another restaurant recommended by my sister.  They have a pizza with Kalua pork & pineapple.

When I went to bed, I finally noticed the sunburn on the back of my neck.  My forearms were also pink, but they didn’t feel as irritated.  For the rest of my trip, I was more diligent about applying sunblock.

Friday, December 16

On Friday, I did some sightseeing north of Hilo.  After breakfast, I drove to Akaka Falls State Park, where they have a short trail loop leading to viewpoints for two waterfalls.  It was raining intermittently, and I could see a rainbow in front of me for most of the drive.  The first of the two waterfalls was ‘Akaka Falls.

The other waterfall was Kahuna Falls.  My view of Kahuna Falls was partially obstructed by the trees.

Next, I continued up the coast to see some scenic beaches.  I wanted to go to Hakalau Beach Park, but the road leading into the park was closed.  I suspect the road is impassible because of damage from a recent storm.  Everywhere I drove, I was seeing utility workers clearing tree branches.

I continued up the coast to Laupehoehoe Beach Park.  Like many of the beach parks, this isn’t a swimming beach.  It’s a place where you can have a picnic lunch while getting views of waves crashing on a rocky coastline.

There are more beaches further up the coast, but the farther north I drove, the farther I’d have to drive to get back to Hilo.  I had been noticing sciatic nerve discomfort after long drives, so I decided to head back to Hilo.  On my way back, I stopped at Onomea Bay.

I didn’t realize it until I got there, but I’ve seen Onomea Bay before.  Last year, I got views of this bay while hiking the trail loop through the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.  This time, I hiked down from the highway on a public access trail.  From the trail, I got different views of the bay from the ones I had last year.

When I got back to Hilo, I went to the hotel fitness center to do a workout.  By now, I was getting hungry.  I was tempted to eat lunch, but I was planning to have a big dinner, and I didn’t want to eat too many big meals.  Instead, I went to the hotel bar to rehydrated with pineapple juice.

There’s a bridge from Liliʻuokalani Gardens to Coconut Island, and the walking distance to the island from my hotel was only half a mile.  The island has swimming beaches, so I spent part of the afternoon swimming and relaxing on the island.

It’s about two miles from my hotel to the downtown restaurants.  After checking the forecast, I decided to walk to dinner.  I had dinner at Café Pesto, which is my favorite restaurant in Hilo.  They also have a pizza with Kalua pig and pineapple, but they call it a luau pizza.

Saturday, December 17

It was a clear morning.  While I was eating breakfast at the hotel, I had a nice view of Mauna Kea in the glow of the morning sunlight.

After breakfast, I drove to Kaumana Caves, which are just outside Hilo.  The caves are actually a lava tube formed by a lava flow from Mauna Loa back in 1881.  From the main entrance, the caverns extend to either side.  In one direction, you can only go a short distance before reaching the end of the cave.  In the other direction, the cave extends for two miles, but most of it is under private property.

On my way back into town, I stopped at Rainbow Falls.  I’ve seen the falls before, but it was only a minute or two out of my way.  The water looked cleaner this year than it did last year.

When it got warm enough, I went swimming.  I skipped lunch again, in anticipation of having an early dinner.

Packet pickup was Saturday afternoon.  In the past, packet pickup has been at a Boy Scouts of America camp that’s right next to the finish line.  This year, we weren’t able to use the Boy Scouts camp.  There was some type of accident at a Boy Scouts camp a few months ago, and none of the Boy Scouts camps are currently taking reservations from outside groups.  This year, packet pickup was just outside the gate of the Boy Scouts camp.  I had to find parking along the road, so I got there shortly after packet pickup started.

I had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.  Their menu included pizza, and one of their pizzas was – you guessed it – Kalua pork.  Pineapple was an option on all pizzas, so I added that as well.

Since arriving in Hawaii, I had done my best to stay on an early-to-bed, early-to rise schedule.  My alarm was set for 3:00 AM, so I went to bed early, in hopes of getting a full night’s sleep.  I slept well for a few hours, but after waking up during the night, I had trouble getting back to sleep.  Pre-race nerves were kicking in.  I slept half the night, which is better than nothing.

Sunday, December 18

Sunday was race day.  It’s a point-to-point race, so I needed to take a bus to the start.  In past years, buses to the start left from the boy scout camp.  We couldn’t use the boy scout camp, so this year the buses picked us up on Banyan Road, near Reed’s Bay Beach Park.  As luck would have it, my hotel was on Banyan Road.  Instead of driving and parking, I could walk there.  The buses left at 4:15 AM, which is why I had to be up so early.

Because of the elevation difference, the temperature in Hilo is typically much cooler than the temperature in Hilo.  Last year, it was 50 degrees at the start.  This year, it was 59.  By comparison, the overnight low in Hilo was in the upper 60s.  In past years, the temperature at the finish was about 70 degrees.  This year, it was forecast to get up to 75 before I finished.  The  warmer conditions had me questioning whether I would be able to qualify for Boston.  My fastest recent marathon was 4:07:57 in the Chicago Marathon.  My goal was to qualify for Boston, but to do that, I needed to be 18 minutes faster than I was in Chicago.

In past years, finish times were recorded manually.  That meant our official times were “gun” times.  If you didn’t cross the starting line until 10 seconds after the gun went off, that was time you lost.  This year, they added chip timing.  That was important.  I didn’t even know if I could run fast enough to qualify.  If I did, I expected it to be really close.  I assumed that ten seconds might make a difference.

The drive time to Volcano can vary, so the race didn’t start until 6:00 AM.  When we arrived, it was almost an hour before the start of the race.  They had a gear check, so I wore warm-up layers to keep warm until it was almost time to start.

We started before dawn, so we had to start the race with flashlights or head lamps.  I opted for a flashlight, since I knew I would only need it for the first three miles.

We started on Plimauna Drive, next to the Volcano Golf Course.  I worked harder than usual to establish a fast pace.  Within the first few minutes, I was already feeling soreness from the proximal hamstring tendon in my left leg.  It’s been injured since June, but it’s been gradually healing.  It doesn’t bother me if I run at a moderate pace, but today I was pushing the envelope.  I decided in the first few minutes of the race that I was going “all in” on qualifying for Boston.

We quickly turned onto the shoulder of Highway 11.  This is the only road from Hilo to the south end of the island, so it’s a busy highway.  We were required to stay on the left shoulder.  Any runner seen crossing the white line into the traffic lane could be disqualified.  The cars go by pretty fast, and they’re not expecting to see runners.

We had to go slightly uphill for a short distance before the road turned downhill.  I could see the sign on the opposite side of the highway marking the highest elevation on the road.  When I passed that sign, I knew it would be all downhill for several miles.

Because the first mile wasn’t completely downhill, I continued to put extra effort into establishing a fast pace.  I continued to feel some soreness in my left leg, but it wasn’t getting worse.

To qualify for Boston, I needed a time of 3:50.  That’s an average pace of roughly 8:45 per mile.  I expected the second half of the race to be slower than the first half.  That’s partly because there are a few hills in the late miles, but mostly because it would gradually get hotter.  I wanted to average 8:15 or faster in the first half of the race.  Then I could afford to slow to an average pace of 9:15 in the second half.

I ran the first mile in 8:18.  That’s about the pace I wanted, but I felt like I was working much too hard.  In the second mile, I sped up to 7:48.  I didn’t need to be that fast, so I gave myself permission to back off a little in my effort.

When we reached the turnoff to Old Volcano Road, there was an aid station where we could drop off our lights.  The first two times I ran this race, I put my flashlight in my fanny pack.  This year, I handed it to one of the volunteers.  I didn’t want to be carrying any excess weight.  It’s bad enough that I’ve put on a few pounds lately.

The next mile and a half were on Old Volcano Road, which goes through Volcano village.  This road didn’t have any traffic, so we were allowed to run anywhere on the road.  It was nice to be away from traffic and have more room to run.

When I got the split for my third mile, it was 8:00.  I told myself that I could ease up some more.  Volcano Road must’ve had more elevation drop than I remembered, because I sped up to 7:40 in the next mile, even though I was no longer working as hard.

When we turned back onto Highway 11, we had a wider shoulder.  We were now starting the fastest part of the course.  Over the next three miles, I focused on taking short rapid strides.  I wasn’t putting any extra effort into running fast.  I just “spun the wheels” and let gravity do all the work.  My next three miles took 7:24 each, but I wasn’t working as hard.  For the first few miles, my effort felt like it would probably be unsustainable.  Now I felt like my effort was about right.  The pace was faster than I expected, but as long as I could do it with no extra effort, I wasn’t going to second-guess the pace.  That’s something I’ve learned about downhill races.  You just have to stay relaxed and go with it.

Eventually, the road leveled off a bit.  It was still downhill, but not as much.  The next five miles weren’t as fast, but they were still in the range of 7:39 to 8:03.  On average, I was going much faster than I expected.  As long as I didn’t wear myself out, I would be able to slow down in the second half, as it got hotter.

I was expected to have a slight headwind for most of the race.  I didn’t feel much wind in the first nine miles, but then I started to notice it.  It wasn’t strong enough to be tiring, but it helped mitigate the effects of the high humidity.

I was also expecting to have cloud cover.  I didn’t notice much sun in the first ten miles, but after that the sun came out.  That made it feel hotter.

Sometimes a change of the grade would make it look like we were about to run uphill.  That was an optical illusion.  The road leveled off at times, but it wouldn’t actually turn uphill until much later in the race.

Mile 13 was a mostly level mile.  I had to be careful not to work too hard.  It was OK if I slowed down a little.  It’s wasn’t OK if I worked too hard and wore myself out.  I made that mistake last year.  I ended up running mile 13 in 8:40.  That was my slowest mile so far, but I had lots of fast miles.  Overall, I was doing just fine.

My halfway split was 1:43:17.  I was almost 12 minutes ahead of the pace I needed for 3:50.  At this point, I could slow down to roughly 9:30 in the second half.  I expected to slow down at least that much in the last three miles, but until then, I still had lots of downhill miles.

There were signs on the right side of the road marking every 500 feet of elevation change.  Because we were running on the left shoulder, I didn’t always notice them.  Midway through the 14h mile, I saw one that said 2,000 feet.  We started above 4,000, so I had already descended more than 2,000 feet.  In the remaining miles, I would have roughly 1,700 feet of net descent.  I emphasize “net,” because there would be uphill sections in the late miles.

It occurred to me that I no longer noticed much soreness in my hamstring tendon.  It bothered me in the early miles, when I was pushing the pace.  Once I backed off in my effort, I stopped noticing it.  There was a little soreness, but not as much as before.

For the next several miles, I ran at a pace ranging from 7:47 to 8:09.  It wasn’t as fast as my pace in the first half, but it didn’t have to be.  The longer I kept running a pace that was close to eight minutes, the more margin I had if I blew up in the late miles.  I was careful not to push too hard.  I tried to keep up a consistent effort and let my pace vary depending on how much elevation drop there was in each mile.

In the second half of the race, there were a few places where we had to cross intersections.  There were course martials at those intersections.  They were able to change the traffic lights for us, so we didn’t have to stop for traffic.

In the last third of the race, I was constantly recomputing what pace I needed the rest of the way to break 3:50.  With nine miles to go, a 10:00 pace would be fast enough.  With seven miles to go, an 11:00 pace would be fast enough.  I ran mile 20 in 8:26.  I could’ve been discouraged that I slowed down, but instead I told myself that I added another two and a half minutes to my cushion.

For most of the race, I was maintaining a rapid cadence.  Taking short rapid strides is something I always do on downhill courses to guard against overstriding.  On one of the more level stretches, I noticed I was starting to run with a more natural stride.  That wasn’t a conscious decision, so it must’ve been a sign I was getting fatigued.  Shortly after that, I felt some soreness near the bottom of my left calf.  Given the conditions, it’s possible it was a mild cramp.  On the other hand, it could’ve been my Achilles tendon.  I forced myself to return to short rapid strides, just in case.

I ran the next two miles in 8:40 each.  I was still putting time in the bank.  Now I just needed to average 13 minutes per mile.  I was confident I could do that, even if I blew up in the heat.

By now, I was running with Glen Marumoto.  Glen lives in Hawaii and has run this race every year since its inception.  We’re in the same age group, and we both had a goal of qualifying for Boston.

Running with Glen, I sped up to 8:25 in mile 23.  Then we started the tough part of the course.  It wasn’t all downhill any more.

There’s a tiring hill that starts with about 2.6 miles to go.  Going up this hill, I could no longer keep up with Glen.  We both slowed down, but I slowed down more.  On the plus side, I wasn’t tempted to walk.  Last year, I had to walk about half of this hill.

At the top of the hill, there was an aid station.  Glen stopped briefly, and I was able to catch up to him.  I saw that I ran the 24th mile in 9:20.  That was my first mile that was slower than 8:40.  I optimistically assumed that it would be my slowest mile of the race.  I was wrong.

As I started running downhill, I wasn’t able to speed up.  The hill forced me to work a little harder and that’s when the heat finally wore me down.  By now, it was 75 degrees, and the humidity had been high for the whole race.  I was stuck in a lower gear for the rest of the race, even going downhill.  I briefly got ahead of Glen while he was still at the aid station, but it was only a matter of time before he passed me.  After that, I was running alone.

I started to notice more traffic on the highway.  Each time a car went by, I felt a draft from its “wake.”  There wasn’t much wind, so those brief drafts were the only thing cooling me off.

The last two miles are more downhill than uphill, but there were still two more small hills.  The first was about half a mile after that last aid station.  The second one would come at the very end of the race.

I ran the 25th mile in 10:00.  I realized by now that I would qualify for Boston by at least 10 minutes.  I tried to keep up the same pace, but I was 10 seconds slower in the next mile.  It’s always discouraging when your last two miles are much slower than the rest of the race, but I knew that would happen.  I wanted to run the first half fast, so I could budget 11 minutes each for the last two miles.

The last turn on the course comes after the 26 mile mark.  Then we turned onto Stainback Highway, which goes by the Boy Scouts camp.  That’s where the finish line was.  At this point, I only had about 200 meters to go, but it was uphill, and I still couldn’t see the finish line.  There’s a bend in the road, so you have to get about halfway around the turn before you can see the finish.

For weeks, I had been visualizing those last 200 meters.  I imagined myself having to fight for every second, while going uphill.  As it turns out, seconds didn’t matter so much.  My only goal was to qualify for Boston, and I was crushing that goal.  I maintained my effort until I could see the finish.  Then I was inspired to finish as strong as I could.

I finished the race in 3:36:27.  That’s only three minutes slower than last year, when I was in much better shape.  How fast is this course?  Even on a hot day, I ran 31 minutes faster than my fastest recent time on a flat course.

This was a small race, so you might think I won an age group award.  I didn’t.  60-64 is always a competitive age group at this race.  I came in 5th in my age group.  The winner of my age group finished in 3:00:12!

The finisher medal is silver and is shaped like a dog tag.  This style of medal has been the tradition at this race.

It’s amazing how you can tune things out when you’re focused on your effort.  Within moments of finishing, I urgently needed to pee.  Before finishing, I wasn’t conscious of that at all.  Fortunately, there were port-o-potties right next to the finish.  I also suddenly realized how much I was sweating.  From head to toe, sweat was dripping off of me.

There were a variety of post-race food and beverages.  After eating a banana, I drank a can of fruit juice.  It made my throat sting.  I’ve experienced that at least once before, when I was dehydrated.  I was drinking at every aid station, but I was losing much more fluid than I was replacing.  After finishing the fruit juice, I also had a can of Pepsi.  Then I had a bao bun with pork.

I had to sit for a while before I recovered enough to get up and retrieve my gear bag.  The volunteers had already put my flashlight in my bag.  Then I waited for the next bus back to Reed’s Bay Beach Park.  From there, it only took a few minutes to walk back to the hotel.

As I was walking back to the hotel, I noticed soreness in my left calf.  There was no longer any question that it was the muscle and not my Achilles tendon.  When I got back to my room, I took a bath, massaged my calves, and did several stretches.  Most of my stretches were for my lower back, but I also stretched my calves and my Achilles tendons.  For good measure, I also stretched my quads.  Some of the other runners were complaining of sore quads.  Mine felt fine.  I’ve learned how to run downhill without beating them up.

I did have some soreness from that hamstring tendon in my left leg.  It felt sore when I sat down.  That’s something I’ll have to keep an eye on.  If I have to, I’ll cut back on my training for a while.  Now that I have a Boston qualifier for 2024, I can take my time getting back in shape.

I spent the rest of the morning and half of the afternoon at the hotel, relaxing and rehydrating.  When I felt like I was ready to go out again, I went to Cronie’s Bar & Grill for an early dinner.  I already tried their Kalua pig & pineapple pizza, but I wanted to try their sweet Thai chili chicken pizza.

I went to bed early and crashed hard.  I slept for almost 11 hours.

Monday, December 19

My flight to Honolulu wasn’t until the afternoon, so I was able to have a leisurely breakfast, do a workout in the fitness center, and take my time packing.

I’ve often said the hardest part about the race is getting to the starting line.  Getting home can also sometimes be difficult.  As I was getting ready to check out, I learned that my flight to Honolulu was delayed by 30 minutes.  That wasn’t a big deal, but after I checked out, I was notified that my flight was delayed an additional 48 minutes.  I’m posting this from the Hilo airport, where I have some time to kill.  For now, I still have a safe connection in Honolulu, but I worry about further delays.  I’m told it’s a weather delay.

Wish me luck on getting to Honolulu in time to catch my flight home.

UPDATE:  While I was at the airport in Hilo, I was notified of another delay, yet the flight status board was still showing the original departure time.  Another Hawaiian Airlines flight, which had been delayed for four hours, was finally boarding.  I was sitting next to the gate for that flight when a Hawaiian Airlines employee came over to me and asked me if I had a confirmed seat on a flight.  Then she asked me which flight and if I had checked any bags (I didn't).  Then they put me on the flight that was about to depart.  They were in such a hurry that they didn't have time to print a new boarding pass.  They just wrote the seat number on my old boarding pass and told me to get on the plane.  I was the last person to board.  Instead of being delayed by two hours (or more), I was only delayed by about an hour.  That gave me more than enough time to make my connection in Honolulu.

UPDATE #2: After I got to Honolulu, I found out my original flight from Hilo was delayed again.  If I wasn't moved to the earlier flight, I would've missed my connection.  Getting on that flight was just dumb luck.  It wouldn't have happened if I wasn't sitting right next to the gate of the departing flight when they were looking for a passenger to fill the last available seat.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:36:27

Average Pace:  8:15

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  472

Boston Qualifiers:  151

Race Report: 2022 Rehoboth Seashore Marathon

On December 3, I ran the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  This was the third time I’ve run this race.  It always has a good post-race party, and I knew several other runners who were planning to be there.  There were so many 50sub4 runners that it was an unofficial club reunion.

There aren’t any major airports in Delaware.  The closest cities with large commercial airports are Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.  I opted for Philadelphia, since I was already familiar with the drive.

I flew to Philadelphia Friday morning .  From there, the drive time to Rehoboth Beach was about two hours.  I had a meal on the flight, so I didn’t feel any need to stop for lunch.  I got to Rehoboth Beach in the early afternoon.

The last two times I did this race, I stayed at a hotel that was about four miles from the city center.  This year, I was able to get a room at a hotel that was closer.  After checking in, I didn’t need to drive again until Sunday.  I was able to walk to everything.

For most of the year, I’ve had sciatica on my right side.  Early in the year, I usually felt it in my right hip or on the right side of my lower back.  In September, I started having pain along the outside of my right leg.  At the end of September, I had a cortisone shot near my L5/S1 joint.  Within days, I felt good as new.  For the next seven weeks, I had no pain at all.

Unfortunately, that didn’t last.  Two weeks ago, I started having minor discomfort in my right leg.  At first, I thought I pulled a hamstring in my right leg.  It felt tight and slightly inflamed.  I had gone so long without symptoms that it took until the next day before I realized there was nothing wrong with my leg.  It was my sciatic nerve again.

It feels worst when I spend too much time sitting.  It feels best when I keep moving.  Since then, I’ve made a point of walking or running for at least a few miles each day.

Friday, I did more sitting than I’ve done in the last two weeks.  First, I was sitting in the airport waiting to board my flight.  Then I was on the plane for three hours.  Then I had a two-hour drive.  By the time I got to my hotel, I was feeling more discomfort than I’ve had in weeks.

Packet pickup was under a large tent across the street from Rehoboth Beach Running Company.  It was about half a mile from my hotel, which was my first opportunity to do some walking.  Besides my race bib and T-shirt, I also got the wrist band I would need to attend the post-race party.  After picking up my race packet and bringing it back to the hotel, I already felt better.  After that, I continued to walk around town.

First, I walked to Cinnabon to pick up some rolls for breakfast.  Then I walked over to Dogfish Head Brewery for a beer flight.  I never had lunch, so I also had a bowl of chowder to tide me over until dinner. While I was there, a few friends arrived, so I sat with them until they were done eating.

I had dinner with ten other runners at Shorebreak Lodge.  It was nice walking to dinner and not having to drive around looking for a parking space.

I had no trouble getting to sleep, but halfway through the night, I woke up with a sour stomach and had trouble getting back to sleep.  I eventually felt better, but I never fell asleep again.  I rested in bed until it was time to get up.  I felt like a zombie, but I started getting ready.

The race started next to bandstand, which is close to the boardwalk.  The bandstand was only two blocks from my hotel.  Last year, I had to leave early, so I had time to drive into town and find a good parking spot.  This year, I didn’t have to leave the hotel as early.  I got there about 30 minutes before the race, so I could join other 50sub4 runners and Marathon Maniacs for group pictures.

The temperature at the start was in the low 50s.  That would be ideal, except for strong winds and periods of rain.  I dressed a little warmer than usual to compensate.  I wasn’t expecting it to rain for the whole race, but I kept a plastic rain poncho folded up in my fanny pack, just in case.

The course has a mixture of surfaces.  Parts are on city streets, parts are on gravel trails, about a mile is on the boardwalk, there are two wooden bridges, and there’s also a steel grate bridge late in the race.  When I did this race last year, I was still recovering from a knee injury, so I had to walk the boardwalk and the wooden bridges.  This year, my knee is 100 percent, so I was able to run those sections.

The parts of the course that concerned me this year were the trail sections.  They’re pretty runnable, but there are some small rocks imbedded in the trails, particularly in the last few miles.  Last year, I managed to trip and fall three times.  I just wasn’t picking up my feet.  With that in mind, I decided to run this race at an easy pace.  I didn’t care too much about my time.  I just wanted to run cautiously and stay upright.

As I was lining up to start the race, I noticed my friend Shane was leading the 4:20 pace group.  That was a little faster than I expected to run, but it seemed like it might be a reasonable pace to start, since the first two miles have good footing.  My friend Heather also lined up near Shane, although she didn’t expect to run as fast as 4:20.  As we were waiting for the race to start, the sun rose over the beach behind us.

The first two miles were a loop around the city center.  I started out running close to Shane.  The pace felt pretty easy at first, but I was careful not to get too far in front of him.

By the end of the first mile, I was running with Heather.  We started to get a little ahead of Shane.  By the end of the second mile, we had turned so that the wind was at our back, and I immediately felt warmer.  I had started the race wearing a Tyvek jacket, which was open in the front.  I knew we would have the wind at our back for several miles, so I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.

There wasn’t any rain before the race, but I started feeling drops as soon as we started running.  It wasn’t a steady rain – just a few small drops.  With the wind at my back, I wasn’t too worried about this small amount of rain, but I knew we would get more rain at some point.

After two miles, we turned onto the boardwalk.  I paid close attention to my footing, but I didn’t have any problems.  We were on the boardwalk for about a mile.

Shortly after leaving the boardwalk, we turned onto a road to begin a long out-and-back section, which would take us several miles from the city center.  Runners doing the half marathon had a much shorter out-and-back.  We could already see the fastest runners coming back.

We didn’t recognize the fastest men, but two of our friends were among the fastest women in the half marathon.  Sadie was in second place, and Krista was also on a fast pace.

Each time we saw one of our friends, Heather stopped to take a picture.  When I realized I was suddenly ahead of her, I slowed to a walk until she caught up.  We still had the wind at our back, and my hands were getting sweaty.  I had been wearing polypro gloves since the start of the race, and I decided to take them off, even though I knew I might need them again later.  Waiting for Heather gave me time to take off my gloves and stuff them into my fanny pack.

I was starting to feel some indigestion.  My dinner on Friday included more meat than I usually eat, and it felt like it was still in my stomach.  My dinner entrée tasted good, but it probably wasn’t the best choice for the night before a race.  At the aid stations, I drank Gatorade.  That seemed to gradually settle my stomach, but it took a long time before I felt better.

Heather and I were constantly talking.  When I talk, I have a tendency to speed up.  More than once, Heather told me she needed to slow down, so I slowed down too.  The pace didn’t feel as easy as it did at first, so I was more than happy to slow down when I realized I was going too fast.

As we continued along the road, the trickle of runners coming back became a dense pack.  Then we went around a circle, where an aid station was set up.  After the aid station, we started heading back.  Those of us doing the marathon made an immediate right turn and left the road for a gravel trail.  The runners doing the half marathon kept going back the way they came.

The first time I ran this course, I found this junction somewhat confusing.  I had not yet reached the circle, when I heard volunteers saying, “marathon runners turn right.”  I saw runners on the trail, but that was on my left.  The volunteers were talking to runners who had already gone around the circle.  To them, this was a right turn.  This year, I knew what to expect here.

The next several miles were on a trail that was mostly gravel, but occasionally had some small rocks imbedded in the trail.  The rocks weren’t a big deal, but I paid close attention to them.

By now, we were noticing more rain.  It wasn’t raining hard, but it was more than a few stray drops.  With the wind at our backs, I wasn’t too worried about getting cold, but I knew we’d eventually have to come back and run into the wind.

Since the first mile, Heather and I had been ahead of Shane’s 4:20 pace group.  By the middle of the sixth mile, we could hear them behind us.  They eventually caught up to us.  At one point, I no longer saw Heather.  I realized she must be behind the pace group, but it was tough to see her through a dense pack of at least a dozen runners.  I wanted to move behind the pace group as well, but that was easier said than done.  There wasn’t much room on the trail for such a large group.  I found myself running just ahead of them for a few minutes before finally working my way back through the group.  Then I saw Heather and slowed down until she caught up to me.  This was just before the six mile mark.

We had been running through a wide clearing next to some wetlands.  Eventually we reached a bridge over a marshy area.  Last year, I walked the bridge.  This year, I was able to run it.  The surface was a bit springy, but that no longer bothers my knee.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the surface was fairly runnable.  I didn’t see anything I could trip on.  The bridge was wet, but that also wasn’t a problem.  The wood had a coating that gave us good traction.

After the bridge, we returned to a gravel trail, but it wasn’t long before we turned onto a road.  It was somewhere along here that Heather’s friend Barb caught up to us.  After that, the three of us ran together.

Overall, I was staying warm enough, but my hands were getting a bit cold.  I had to put my gloves on again.  Pulling them on over hands that were already wet took some effort.

As we continued along the road, we had to climb a hill.  It was the first time I had found the terrain to be tiring.  Overall, this race is fairly flat.  This was the biggest hill, and it wasn’t really that bad.

Much of the course was outside of town, so there weren’t many spectators.  When we heard cheering, we knew we were getting close to an aid station.  The loudest cheers were from the aid station at Fort Miles Artillery Park.  This was a landmark I remembered from last year.

After running through Fort Miles, we turned and ran down a small hill. Eventually, we would need to run up this same hill.  That was something else I remembered from last year.

I don’t recall when we first started seeing the fastest runners coming back, but after Fort Miles we started seeing runners we know.  Each time, I knew Heather would stop to take their picture, so I took a walking break until she caught up to me.

One of the friends we saw along this stretch was Karen, who was finishing 50sub4 at this race.  Shortly after we saw Karen, we saw a pace group approaching.  We eventually recognized them as the 4:00 pace group.  Karen needed to stay ahead of them to break four hours, which she did.

Eventually, we saw Shane’s 4:20 group coming back.  They were much farther ahead of us now.  That wasn’t a surprise.  We knew we had been slowing down.

The turnaround point for this out-and-back was at roughly 11 miles.  Before we got there, we saw friends who were running faster.  After the turnaround, we started seeing friends who were behind us.  The first person we recognized was Glen.  Glen and Heather have a friendly rivalry.  Heather wanted to finish ahead of him, but she was surprised how close he was.

As we saw more friends, Heather continued to stop and take pictures.  Barb and I kept running.  At one point, I wondered if Heather would catch up after taking pictures of several friends in rapid succession.  When Heather eventually caught up to us, we learned that she had briefly fallen behind Glen before passing him again.

When we reached the 13 mile sign, I looked at my watch for the first time.  I looked at it again when we reached the halfway mark.  We were on pace to finish in about 4:26, but we continued to slow down in the second half.  When we reached the short hill before Fort Miles, we walked part of it.

After running through Fort Miles, I knew we were getting close to a downhill section.  By now, water had soaked all the way through my shoes.  I wear orthotics with replacement insoles, and if water gets between the insole and the orthotic, the insole can slip forward.  I was worried about running downhill, because that’s where it’s most likely to happen.  As we ran down the hill, I could feel one insole slipping forward.  So far, it wasn’t too bad, but there were a lot of miles left.

We were running into the wind, but I didn’t feel it too much until we got back to the bridge.  On the bridge, we were high enough off the ground that we were much more exposed to the wind.  After the bridge, we were running through an open area.  In other places, we were somewhat sheltered by the trees.  Here, we felt the wind resistance.  We couldn’t wait to get through this section.

Eventually, we got back to a wooded area, but only briefly.  Then we reached the road, where we were exposed to the wind again.

By the time we reached the road, my insole was getting worse.  It had slid forward so far that it was bunched up under my forefoot, with no padding under my heal.  When that happens, there’s not much I can do about it.  Even if I found a place to sit down and took off my shoe to adjust it, it would only be a few minutes before it slipped forward again.  Every step was uncomfortable, but I just had to do my best to tune it out.

After we got onto the road, I noticed the rain was picking up.  For the first 18 miles of the race, it was only sprinkling.  For the rest of the race, it was a steady rain.  Running into the wind with this much rain, I started to get cold.

I still had a Tyvek jacket tied around my waist, but it was as wet as the rest of my clothes.  Putting it on now wouldn’t do much good.  I still had a rain poncho in my fanny pack.  I didn’t think I would need it, but I was wrong.

I asked Heather and Barb if they could take a walking break while I put on my rain poncho.  I could get it out of my fanny pack while I was running, but I had to slow to a walk to put it on.  It took longer than I thought.  The wind was blowing, and my gloves were wet.  By the time I finally got it on, Heather and Barb were running again.  I had to work to catch up to them.

We had to run into the wind for another mile before we turned .  Then we were no longer going directly into the wind.  Our new obstacle was standing water in the street.  There were puddles everywhere.

Earlier in the race, I was having indigestion.  Now, Heather’s stomach was bothering her.  Every now and then, she would tell us she needed a break, and we would walk until Heather was ready to run again.  More than once, she told me I could go on ahead if I wanted to.  I had no interest in that.  I was cold, wet and miserable.  Running with Heather and Barb helped pass the miles.  I didn’t really care about my time, but I definitely didn’t want to run the remaining miles by myself.

As we ran past the street where we would eventually finish, we briefly got to see faster runners approaching the finish.  They were coming back from the out-and-back section that we were about to start.

We still had about six miles to go.  About a third of that was on city streets.  The rest was an out-and-back section on another trail.

As we left the downtown area, we had to cross a bridge over a canal.  Going out, we ran on the sidewalk.  The runners coming back were in the street, where the bridge was a steel grate.  I didn’t look forward to running on that surface when it was wet.

After crossing the bridge, we turned, and we got to experience a tailwind.  Running with the wind at our backs was easier.  It also wasn’t as cold.

After about a mile on streets, we reached the last trail section of the course.  It was here that I tripped on small rocks and fell three times in last year’s race.

The trail surface was mostly gravel, but the drainage wasn’t as good as the trails we ran on earlier.  There were puddles.  I didn’t initially see any rocks.  It was hard to believe I was frequently tripping on this section last year.

Most of the trail had a nice runnable surface, but eventually, I started to see a few spots where the soil had eroded enough to expose some small rocks underneath.  This year, I was watching for them like a hawk.  I saw every rock, and I made an effort to pick up my feet as I ran over them.

We had to run about two miles on the trail before we reached the turnaround.  On the way out, we saw the faster runners coming back.  On the way back, we saw slower runners who were still on the way out.  Heather once again looked for Glen.  It was several minutes before she saw him.  There wasn’t any question that he wouldn’t be able to catch her.

When we finished the trail section, I felt a sense of relief.  I had made it through this section without tripping.  We still had more than a mile to go, but we would be on pavement the rest of the way.  Unfortunately, we were running into the wind again, and it was getting tiring.

Often, Heather or Barb would say something that reminded me of my experience at some other race.  Then I would tell them all about that race.  I think my story-telling helped distract them from the fatigue of each mile.  With less than a mile to go, I finished telling one story, and Barb asked me to tell another.

When we got back to the bridge, there weren’t many runners still on the way out, so we were able to move over to the sidewalk.  We stayed on the sidewalk until the next turn.

The last aid station was in a small park.  When we left the park and returned to the street, we had about half a mile to go.  It wasn’t until we made the last turn and got close enough to the finish line to see it that we started to speed up.  In the last block, we saw several of our friends cheering for us.  They had already finished.

The three of us finished with a few seconds of each other.  I crossed the line in 4:35:13.  I received my medal and a heat shield.  Then the three of us posed for a finish line pic.

This race always has a large post-race party, with food, beer, and music.  Just past the finish line, there was a buffet line under a tent.  I think I enjoyed shelter form the rain as much I enjoyed as the food.

I picked up a plate and filled it with a biscuit, a scrambled egg patty, bacon, and macaroni and cheese.  There were many other foods, but that was as much as I felt like eating.

The party was held at two locations.  We could either go to a restaurant called The Culture Pearl, which was on one side of the street, or we could go to a large tent on the other side of the street.  Inside the restaurant, there were tables and chairs.  Inside the tent, there was no place to sit, but they had a DJ, and everyone was dancing.  Most of my friends started at The Cultured Pearl.  It was nice to be able to sit down.

Our wrist bands for the party each had three beer coupons.  Inside The Cultured Pearl, we could choose either of two beers from Dogfish Head Brewery.  I had one of each.  Later, after everyone was done eating, we went across the street to the tent, where we met the rest of our friends.  They had different beers there, so I had one more.  Besides the beer, people were coming around with trays of Fireball shots.  I love Fireball, but I didn’t want to get hammered.

Several of my friends were celebrating big milestones.  Karen finished running sub four-hour marathons in all 50 states, and she was one of four runners who ran their 100th marathon at this race.

Others were celebrating good race results in the half marathon.  Sadie won the masters division in that race.

I’m not sure how long I was at the party, but eventually, I had to go back out into the cold wind, so I could walk back to the hotel.  I felt a little bit of fine drizzle, but the rain had mostly stopped.

After getting out of my wet clothes, I took a good long soak in a hot bath.  Then I did some stretching.  I needed some time to recharge.

Later, I joined about a dozen of my friends for drinks at Cooter Brown’s Twisted Southern Kitchen.  Most of them had already eaten dinner, but I had dinner at Cooter Brown’s.  They had an entrée called a Piggy Mac Bowl, which was pulled pork served over macaroni & cheese.  That’s comfort food.

I slept better Saturday night.  At one point, I had trouble getting back to sleep after getting up to go to the bathroom, but when I got back to sleep, I crashed pretty hard.  I slept so hard that I slept through my alarm.

There wasn’t an alarm clock in the room, so I was depending on my phone alarm to wake me up.  Apparently, if I’m sleeping hard enough, I can sleep right through it.  When I woke up, I looked at my phone to see what time it was.  It was 6:06.  I had set the alarm for 5:15.

I needed to drive back to Philadelphia for my flight home.  I wanted to get on the road by 7:00 AM.  Fortunately, I had given myself a generous amount of time to get ready.  I already had food for breakfast in my room.  Instead of taking my time, I had to rush, but I was still able to pack up and check out on schedule.  My wet running clothes had time to dry overnight, but I had to pack my shoes while they were still damp.

Leaving Rehoboth Beach on a Sunday morning there wasn’t much traffic.  The drive to Philadelphia was quicker than I expected, so I arrived at the airport with plenty of time before my flight.

The first time I did this race, there was a snowstorm in Philadelphia, and the airport was shut down for hours.  Since then, I’ve always been nervous about flying out of Philadelphia in December.  This year, the weather in Philadelphia was nice, so I had no trouble getting home.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:35:13

Average Pace:  10:30

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  471

Delaware Marathons:  5