Ok. So I signed up thinking the marathon was actually going to be run at Midnight. My mistake, it was at a more reasonable, yet less enchanting 8am. Not only was it an opportunity to improve on my perpetually slow marathon times, but also to support a great cause - Leukemia research - as part of Team-In-Training. Stacy raised over $4200 in donations and the Greater Los Angeles Chapter raised over $250,000! Beyond that, it was a chance to go NORTH TO ALASKA as well as represent AREC (I'll go to any lengths to get a AREC "first place" points).
Moreover, hitching up with Frankie's TNT Saturday training runs allowed me to continue to "push the envelope" of my long runs with fellow sufferers. Tapering for this "norther" was easy. A couple of colds, end of semester grading deadlines, and general laxity allowed this sojoumer to toe the line in an usually well-rested condition.
Stacy, having taken a couple of weeks to recover from knee problems, maintained her highly conditioned aerobic state (it must be nice to be a former high school runner with good genes) through cross training.
After a day of sightseeing (Look! A moose....! think....Look! a grizz...maybe it’s another moose....) on the glacially- enhanced drive to Seward and a great pasta party with John "The Penguin" Bingham as keynote speaker, we ARECers joined the other TNTers for this classic feat of endurance.
Close to 3000 marathoners and half-marathoners enthusiastically (it was after all, 8 am!!) set off on this herculean task... After a rather nondescript first couple of miles along Alaskan Highway 3 bike path, we headed toward awe-inspiring scenery. We had hooked up with some other Long Beach-area runners and sort of agreed to stick together and pull each other along with a steady clip. Well, with the crowd on a single track and us all finding our natural pace, that covenant lasted about as long as the Alaskan summer and we were more or less on our own.
Fine...great day for a pleasant run in our 49th state. The weather was fantastic. About 50 degrees at gun time and 60 degrees at the finish with, at times with a slight mist. We Irish would call this a "soft day". The path turned "up mountain" through a golf course. (Head steady... shoulders aligned... keep the left arm straight...) You know there's a 103 separate muscular movements to the golf swing! All we had to do was place was place one foot in front of the other and, mathematically, figure our pace from mile splits...which becomes nearly impossible for some of us arithmatically challenged after only a few short miles.
It became a trail run from mile 7 to mile 16. Hills. Creeks. Rocks..Roots.... (Look! a moose...! I think) Being a city boy, I kind of got a bit bored seeing all this nature. Traffic, noise, pollution, drivers taking important cell-phone calls is where I call home...
Oh well, soon we were back on terra familia and good old macadam roads. Stacy encouraged me to pick up the pace by dropping this 10 minute a mile nonsense and breezing through miles 16 to 20 in about 30 minutes. I wasn't about to be the 2nd AREC finisher, so I answered the challenge. I've always assumed that I would hit the wall well before mile 20 AT ANY PACE, so I figured I would just expedite the process. There were rumors of a wild moose at mile 20, but it must have migrated up to Fairbanks by the time we arrived.
Unfortunately, we encountered more real obstacles. My right foot was starting to hurt (apparently I am just not designed for slanted trailrunning) and Stacy began experiencing some debilitating stomach problems. We commiserated with each other as we traversed the last 10 kilometers.
The other LB runners passed us, but we were still on our feet. The last few miles were not the easiest, but not altogether unpleasant. The Anchorage Hash House Harriers lifted spirits by passing out "adult beverages". ON ON! The projected 4:20 time goal is just going to have to wait til October and the International City Marathon at Long Beach.
Coincidentally, even though started at slightly different "chip times" both of us finished at the same official time (4:45 and change). More importantly, it was a great time for a great cause. Stacy, a nurse, ran for one other patients, Nicole, and I ran for my late golf buddy. Vie. Thanks to Frankie, Tom, and all the mentor coaches from Leukemia Team in Training.