Winnipeg, Manitoba  June 18, 2013   4:09:25   8/17 AG   303/636 finishers

            Arriving in Winnipeg on Sat. afternoon, I headed to the expo to get my packet. In the parking lot of the football stadium, I met two young ladies who were just as confused as I was as to where the expo was. It turned out that they were reps for Red Bull and driving the car I had noticed with the Red Bull can on top. I told them that my running friend had just bought some Red Bull the other afternoon for her office because everyone seemed to need a boost that day. They were so impressed that they gave me 3 free sample cans of their new flavors. So I got the marathon off to a Red Bull start the next morning since the motel didn't have coffee.  We eventually found the expo, and I got my packet and signed up for a massage the next day. I had never been to a marathon that had a massage signup the day before; considering my hamstring, I thought it might be a good idea.

            Saturday was a short night with my having to get up at 5AM (3AM PDT) to get to the 5:45 shuttle. This was the 35th edition of the Winnipeg Marathon so they had everything down perfectly. I was able to easily drop my sweat bag in the tent where it would be waiting at the end of this out-and-back course. I jogged some to warm-up and didn't feel too bad, but wondered what the hamstring would allow and what my conditioning would give me. To the sounds of "Chariots of Fire" over the speakers, the race started and I found that 8:50-9:00 pace came very comfortably, and was what I'd like to stay at, and maybe bring down in 2d half. I was wearing a Boston Marathon cap and was inspired by a number of spectators calling out, “Boston Strong.” I was trying to be, but mentally I wasn't really where I wanted to be. I started to feel the competitive juices flowing as the pace seemed comfortable and I hoped I could hold it. (Actually it was delusions of stealing a faster time than I deep-down knew I was trained for; darn reality!)

            The course was flat; this is prairie land here in Manitoba. The sun was out and it was high 50s, but there were lots of trees and shade so I felt cool enough. I had stretches where the Garmin hit 8:30-40 and I kept the pace under 9. I hit half at just over 1:55 and kept that pace going until about 16. I was dreaming of finishing strong and getting 3:45-50. But lo, it was not to be. Funny how the body does what it's going to do in spite of your great plans. It was a classic example of hitting the wall: one minute I'm doing 9 min miles and the next minute, the same effort is now closer to 10. Miles 17-20 were 9:20. Doing the math at 20 I realized that 3:50 was gone and I'd be lucky to break 4. Well, I sure wanted to do that so I pushed, but the times wouldn't budge below 9:30. In fact 21-22 were over 10. So, discouraged I walked a bit which didn't help much, but gave me time to feel sorry for myself and then get over it. I couldn't believe that the thought of quitting went through my mind. Forget that! And I started running. Running 10s sure beat walking 15s. I was going to get as close to 4 as my beat-up legs would let me.

            It sure didn't hurt any less to walk, and if I just forgot how slow I was running, I would eventually reach the finish, battered, but not beaten! It was really pride that was getting in my way. Just because I couldn't break 3:50 or 4:00, I wanted to throw in the towel. I could keep running as long as I wasn't concerned about the pace. I did try to go faster at points, but just couldn't sustain it. The lack of long runs and speed-work because of the hamstring injury made a difference. If you don't/can't do the homework, you will not Ace the test! So now it was time to see if I could slide by with a "C". Originally, I'd hope to place in this race. (I see that 3:50 was 3d so I could have.) So 23-26 averaged just under 11. I was disappointed, but had to realize that I did the best I could with what I had on that day and under the circumstances of the last few months.

            After I finished, I was taken to the massage area which was inside the field house. They had my name in their computer and I was able to clean-up and then get my massage from Derrick who had done his training in Sydney, Australia. He explained that he had dual citizenship since his mom was Aussie, but he'd been raised in Winnipeg. He had gotten his chiropractic license 6 months ago so I got an adjustment as well as a massage. How great was that to get both! My body felt so much better afterwards!

            Now it's time to rest and rehab some more. The hamstring is much improved from 4-5 months ago and I hope with 2 weeks easy, it will be good to go for some serious training. I'd sure like to improve my Boston qualifying time just to be sure I get in. Amazingly, my BQ for 2014 is the 3:47 I ran in the driving rain at CIM in Dec. That is more than 5 minutes faster than the required 3:55 BQ time so I'm in 3d group, but I'd sure like to get under 3:45 and get in 2d group just to be safe. Motivation! I have given one talk to a group about Boston and my marathon career, and am scheduled for a Rotary group next month. It's for sure I want to run Boston next year no matter what it takes! And if you don't think so ask my cat. (Boston, the tabby, insists I honor his name!)

Marathon #132; 7th province; still at 16 states on 2d go round. Next up Santa Rosa or Ventura at end of Aug or first of Sep; still deciding)

            On Sunday afternoon, I got the obligatory hamburger and fries and then took a boat ride on the Red and Assiniboine rivers which was fun, relaxing, and informative. I had my post-race ice cream after having a salad for dinner. On Monday I took a tour of the mint. (Did you know I worked in the SF mint for 6 weeks after I graduated from Westmont? That was to be my career path, but then I got my draft notice. It was the end of the Vietnam War and I ended up at Fort Ord for basic training in August 1972. I wasn't thrilled at the time, but looking back, I'm so glad that the Lord had other plans for me and I ended up as librarian/teacher and coach.) At the recommendation of the mint guides I went to the Exchange District to eat at Smoke's Poutinerie. Pountins are basically French fries smothered with gravy and meat of your choice. Great for day after a marathon, but not really in training diet otherwise. I ate them while listening to jazz band in the park there. Later on I visited the Manitoba Museum seeing a lot of natural and local history and seeing a planetarium presentation. I met a lot of friendly people in Winnipeg which they told me is something the city prides itself on. And I can vouch for that and a well-organized marathon.

Marathon #132; 7th province; still at 16 states on 2d go round. Next up Santa Rosa or Ventura at end of Aug or first of Sep; still deciding)

Pictures at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1JcNWbVkxYrI 

Volkman ran hard to reach milestone

Volkman ran hard to reach milestone
Published online on Tuesday, Jun. 09, 2009

By Matt James / The Fresno Bee

My favorite John Volkman story is not the time he lost five toenails during a race and went into shock.

It isn't the time he was so distraught that he and a girlfriend had broken up that he lost 20 pounds and ran his best marathon in years.

It isn't the time he ran two marathons in two states on the same weekend. (He's done that twice, actually.)

It isn't even the time he and his brother Bill flew to Arkansas to run in a marathon together in honor of their father who had just died.

No, my favorite John Volkman story is that he has written two somewhat noteworthy books, one of which sold 3,000 copies, and that seems quite a lot for a book about "collaborative library research."

It is amazing what we don't know about each other.

Many of us are great listeners. Many of us are great talkers. But there are few who do both well. Volkman is one of those people.

His stories roll downhill, in the sense that he gets excited telling them and they get faster and faster. But you can also see he's paying attention when you talk, not just thinking of what he's going to say next. That's too much of a rarity these days.

Volkman makes today's Sports section because Sunday in Casper, Wyo., he ran his 100th marathon, an accomplishment only two other Fresno runners are known to have achieved: Bob Lindsey and Juan Sobenes.

Lindsey ran 114 marathons before retiring. Sobenes was 68 years old when he ran his 100th in Boston in 2006.

There's no telling how many Volkman will run. He has three more this fall -- Omaha, Neb., Detroit and Philadelphia -- before he's run a marathon in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. After that, he can rattle off another dozen marathons he wants to run for the first time, and then a few in Europe. With classic librarian efficiency and planning, he says he's been "waiting for the exchange rate to get better."

Not that he's had time to go abroad anyway. Volkman has run 47 marathons since 2001. At age 58, he's relatively young for having already reached this milestone, and his Wyoming time of 4:03.54 this weekend is pretty remarkable for a 100th. Especially when you consider Casper was his fifth marathon in eight weeks.

The man didn't limp to 100; he sprinted downhill.

As for possibly running on all seven continents, he has no interest in going anywhere near Antarctica.

"You know there are 10 provinces in Canada," he says.

Ah yes, there's always the northern tour.

After playing basketball and baseball in high school, Volkman didn't start running until age 30, after a teacher at Sanger High dared him to run the local 10k. From there, he was hooked, training so hard that within a year, the spring of 1981, he broke three hours in his first marathon (2:58.43).

After graduating from San Jose State, Volkman moved to the Central Valley from Calistoga to be librarian at Sanger High. He did that for 10 years, then was librarian at Hoover High for 16 years, and he's been a librarian at Reedley High for the past seven years.

Then, in 1998, he applied to be the coach for the local chapter of Team in Training, and since then, the Fresno group has raised $15 million for cancer research. Volkman gets the best of it all. He gets to be part of the honorees' lives, some with sad endings and others who become inspirational survivors. He gets to turn everyday people into marathon runners, their lives and bodies transformed.

"You look at old pictures," he says, "and you don't even recognize some of them."

And he gets paid to do it, funding all his own marathon trips and paying off his house early, which is, of course, not why he does it, but still pretty nice.

"I get double satisfaction," he says. "You just go down the list. It's just incredible personal stories, peoples' lives who I've been able to be involved with."

He has plenty of his own stories -- that time his shoes were too tight in an ultramarathon and all his toenails fell off. Every fast step downhill sent pain screaming through his body. But he kept going fast. It's the only way he knows.