2007 Marine Corps Marathon Race Report & MotionBased Stats

Well, where do I start? It’s been 3 days since the marathon and only now do I feel like I have some spare time to sit down and write about the experience. Friday was a wet and windy day in Virginia Beach, and the drive to DC in the early afternoon wasn’t the most relaxing experience. However, we made good time and arrived in one piece at our hotel in Pentagon City, which left plenty of time to visit the Race Expo on Friday night. This meant Saturday would be totally free to relax and prepare for the big race.

Packet Pickup was relatively quiet and stress free. We were able to browse all the vendor stalls and stands without fighting through huge crowds of people – a huge improvement over previous years where we left it until the Saturday to collect our race goodies.

Saturday was a mixture of rest & relaxation, eating & drinking and a quick walk round the stores to kill some time. We laid out our race gear and warm clothes for the morning trek to the Runner’s Village before heading out for an early dinner and a lucky pre-race Guinness!

After checking the weather forecast and setting the alarm for 5:15am, it was soon time for an early night and to think about what Sunday may have in store. At least the rain had cleared up and the temperature would be almost perfect for a marathon – the only negative looked to be the blustery wind.

All too soon the alarm was beeping and it was time to get up, get dressed and make up my pre-race breakfast – 3 scoops of Sustained Energy which would provide me with 343 calories and 24oz of much needed fluids. Sustained Energy is so much easier on my stomach than trying to force down a bagel, a muffin or a banana. Plus it doesn’t take hours to digest and provides me with almost instant energy. I can’t remember the last time I ate solid foods before a long training run or race. I also made up another 24oz bottle which I’d take with me to the Runner’s Village to keep my energy stores topped up. Oh yes, I also took 3 Endurolyte capsules which contain all the electrolytes I’d need to stave off muscle cramps during the race.

Fast forward an hour or two, and the wait for the start of the race is almost over. With minutes to spare, I make my way to the start line (or as close to the start line as I can manage) and wait for the off. As predicted, weather conditions are almost perfect and there’s not even a hint of any wind. Great!

If you read my race prediction, you’ll know I planned on starting at around 6:30 per mile pace, with the hope of speeding things up around the 20 mile mark if I was able to. The first mile, which is always hard to judge, was a 6:40 – not quite quick enough, but not way off the mark either. Still plenty of time to make up the lost 10 seconds 🙂

The first 3 miles are all uphill, so it’s important not to expend too much energy in this critical period of the race. I was also conscious of the fact that last year I started way too fast and paid the price late on in the race. Mile 2 was another 6:40 – still a bit off pace, but too early to panic. I also had unplanned company in the race – a friend from Norfolk had joined me and we just kind of ran together, engaging in chat every now and then. The company helped the miles pass fast, but it may have affected my focus somewhat.

The 3rd mile was a bit of a wake up call – 6:50 – which meant now I was 40 seconds off goal pace. I tried to be positive and tell myself there were still over 23 miles of racing, but looking back I think I may have planted an early seed of doubt in my mind. The knee jerk reaction on a downhill section of the race brought a 6:15 mile and reduced the goal deficit to 25 seconds – much better!

A couple more uphill miles (6:37 and 6:45) left me a lot of work to do despite having 20 miles to go. At the 5 mile mark, my average pace was 6:50 – 20 seconds off the goal. At last the course flattened out a bit and I finally felt like I could get into a rhythm. The next 4 miles were quicker (6:20, 6:28, 6:21 and 6:15) and actually felt really easy. I’m much happier running near my limit and I think during the early miles I was way too cautious and possibly a bit scared. No matter, at 10 miles my average pace was 6:40 per mile, which meant I’d managed to reverse the deficit somewhat.

The next 3 miles are a tourists dream – you run by the Lincoln National Memorial, Reflecting Pool, Constitution Gardens and many more of the famous DC landmarks. The crowd support is also superb on this portion of the course and quite predictably I got sucked in to a faster pace. Miles 11, 12 & 13 were 6:17, 6:20 & 6:17 respectively. I “slowed” to a 6:30 and a 6:22 for the next 2 miles and passed the 15 mile mark in 1 hour 39 minutes – 6:36 pace. Somehow I was turning around my slow start and getting closer to my goal of 6:30 pace. The good thing was I still had 11 miles to go and still felt great.

Traditionally the next 3 or 4 miles are tough as you run to Haines Point along the Potomac River and back to the Jefferson National Monument. Last year, the wind was strong on the peninsula, but this year it actually felt pretty good. At 16 miles my friend John started to drop back. I sensed he was struggling a little, but thought he’d work through it and catch me back up.

3 more swift miles of 6:23, 6:23 & 6:26 followed, and now it was almost time to run onto the 14th Street Bridge – the point in the race last year where everything went wrong. I was determined not to fall apart this early in the race and deliberately backed off the pace to “save something” for the last 6 miles/10km of the race – hence mile 19 in 6:35 and mile 20 in 6:33.

Now it was time to head towards Crystal City where this year there was an almost carnival atmosphere. I was still feeling good and had my fingers crossed that I could maintain this pace until the finish. Two more sub-6:30 miles – 6:21 and 6:27 – gave me an average pace of 6:34 at the 22 mile mark. Slowly but surely I’d chipped away at the slow start I’d made, and now I was in a perfect position to attack the last 4 miles (if attack is the right word in a 26.2 mile race!)

Just before mile 23 one of the female wheelchair competitors shouted to let me know my left shoelace was undone. I’d sensed it getting looser for the past half mile or so and hoped it would stay tied until I finished the race. However, the flapping white lace left me no choice but to stop and fix the problem. Unless you’ve run an endurance event like a marathon, it’s so hard to explain what happens when you stop, after running almost at your limit for 22 miles. I didn’t cramp (thank you Endurolytes!) and I didn’t take more than 5 seconds to retie the shoelace, but I must have lost some time getting the legs moving again. Mile 23 – 6:44 – slower, but not a disaster.

Lady Luck must have turned against me as the wind decided to pick up as I headed away from Crystal City. I was still overtaking runners who’d started faster than me and were now really suffering in the closing miles of the race, but as much as I wanted and needed to, I couldn’t run any faster. I’d reached the point of no return and my body was starting to resist my attempt to speed up.

Mile 24 was a 6:54 (slowest of the race so far), but that title was about to be transferred to Mile 25 and then Mile 26 – 7:02 & 7:13. It’s really hard to describe the closing miles of a marathon – it’s almost like one of those dreams where you’re running away from something, but it’s all in slow motion. Your mind is willing but the legs say “not today”. All you can do is tag along for the ride and hope they don’t let you down totally.

Despite the fade in the last 3 or 4 miles, I still manage to cross the finish line in 2:54:01, which is an average 6:38 per mile pace – not quite matching my lofty goal, but not a total disaster either. For the record I finished 107th overall out of over 20,000 runners and 12th in the 40-44 age group. My time was 5 seconds slower than last year, which I must admit is pretty consistent!

So, 4 months of training and mission almost accomplished. Now the question is “What’s next?”. I usually experience a slight low after a big marathon. You spend so much time working towards the goal, that you can easily lose sight of life after the marathon. Luckily, home and work life are both very busy and I have several low key races lined up between now and the end of the year to keep me motivated physically.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Sorry it was a long one 🙂 Feel free to leave a comment and if you have any questions, ask away!