March 30, 2014 - Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay, 5k, Kids
fun run
4:19:13 3of 19 in 60-64 310/693 overall
On 'relentless hills" we
finished in 4:19!!!
I shaved 24 minutes off my last marathon time and John Volkman was with me every step of the way! He was my rock!! SO incredibly blessed to have him and thankful to have both of our families there to cheer us on.
I shaved 24 minutes off my last marathon time and John Volkman was with me every step of the way! He was my rock!! SO incredibly blessed to have him and thankful to have both of our families there to cheer us on.
So posted
Jodi in Facebook after we finished the Knoxville Marathon. Yes, it was
“relentless hills”. My Garmin showed that we ran a total ascent and descent of
over 5000 feet.
I was running my 136th marathon, but this one was about running with Jodi who
was running her second marathon. She got a 25 minute PR (personal record over
her 4:44 at Two Cities in Fresno in Nov.) on what has to be about the third
hilliest course I’ve run, behind only Big Sur and Crater Lake. I was so proud
of how she was relentless on the
“relentless” hills: challenge accepted! The only walking she did was at the aid
stations. As those of you who run with me know, I coach that “hills are our
friends” and she was sure glad that we had trained on them. My cousin, Andy,
who lives in Knoxville and has run the marathon before, told me that there were
no flat stretches, and he wasn’t exaggerating. J!
(You can see a couple of examples of the hills in the photo slide show.) Andy
ran 3:21:27 this year finishing 54 of 693 runners and 17 of 61 in 30-34!
So it’s not
a BQ-type course, but it’s a wonderful marathon. We loved the varied scenery,
the enthusiasm and fun at the aid stations, and the overall organization of
everything. One stretch had signs with a variety of runner riddles, and we
actually remembered these two:
What happens if you run in front of a car?
You get tire-d!
What happens if you run behind a car? You
get exausted! (And, yes, they left out the “h”)
So we started off on our tour of
Knoxville with a rousing rendition of the Tennessee Volunteers’ fight song,
“Rocky Top”:
The start is on the
site of the 1982 World’s Fair by the Sunsphere:
We
ran the ups and downs, consistently hitting in the 9:20-9:30 range through 11
miles and going through 13.1 at 2:07:22. In the next 9 miles there were four
miles in the 9:50-10:00 range, but there were still five in 9:25-9:35. The last
four miles did show a drop-off in time coming in between 10:10-10:30, but there
was no drop-off in effort. Jodi’s hip started hurting her on the down hills
during the first half of the race so that forced her to stop and stretch it a
few times, but there was never any walking on the up hills which seemed endless,
even to the end! There was a very steep, albeit, short hill just before the
stadium, and then we had to go up hill into the stadium to finally finish on
the fifty yard line!
It was incredible to exit the tunnel
and enter the football field where our families were there to cheer for us
mightily! No; Peyton Manning didn’t make it (Jodi was raised in Indiana where
Peyton played for the Colts after starring at UT, so she loves Peyton), but his
retired number is on the stadium marquee! After a very challenging race, it was
very exciting to enter the stadium and hear our names being announced. They
sent us link that shows us finishing: http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/videoResults?rid=367&email=1&race=2056
Later on that evening, we found out
that I had placed 3rd in my age group. That was later moved up to 2nd
because the one in first was moved into overall grand masters’ winner slot.
================================================================================
MALE AGE GROUP - MARATHON 60 - 64
(3) BASED ON NET TIME
================================================================================
1
229 Steve Randolph Knoxville TN
60 3:44:40
2
367 John Volkman
Fresno CA 63 4:19:13
3
381 Douglas Wielfaert
Knoxville TN 62 4:36:25
Jodi’s mom, Nancy, also participated
in the weekend’s races, running the 5K and placing 2nd in her age
group and in top 45% overall. Here is what she posted on Facebook:
I had the most AMAZING week-end I
believe I have EVER had! I want to thank my husband Mike Hanover for his
continued support as I train and go to races. My family is amazing! Jodi Spencer Nili, John Jeffrey Spencer, Jenni Shepperd Spencer and
John Volkman. We had such
a GREAT time. It was an experience that I will cherish forever. The race...
WOW..It was nicknamed "Rolling Hills" HA...There is a reason for
that! I have NEVER had to run hills like that and I was NOT prepared....but I
have to say, PRAISE GOD FOR MY COACH, John Volkman! He really pushed with my
training prior to the race. Had I NOT listened to Coach, I would NOT have been
able to complete that course. Coach has been running for over 30 years, he said
this course ranked #3 in the toughest courses he has ever run! WOW......Then
coach and Jodi ran a FULL MARATHON on that MASS OF HILLS!!!
You
can see her proudly displaying her hardware in the picturesJ
Also, my mom had her own marathon on
Monday. I always say that the logistics of flying are harder than the marathon
so that’s why I do back-to-back marathons (Sat/Sun on 3 occasions) when I can.
Our plane was originally scheduled to land in SF at 4:30; we got in at 10:30.
So you can see my mom waiting in a wheelchair for the bus to Santa Rosa because
there was no seating in baggage area. Bill picked her up in Santa Rosa, and
they didn’t get home until after 1AM which is 4AM Knoxville time; nearly a 24-hour
day for Mom who charmed all the airline folks with her smile. We chatted with a
lady in the airport because she thought Mom was so sweet; she turned out to
have had 56 first cousins (actually topping the 39 that Bill and I had).
This was Marathon #136;18 states on 2d go round; 8
provinces.. Next up: Boston Apr. 21, 2014
Comments on the pictures: My mom and I stayed with my cousin, Kathy and her husband, Lloyd Smith in Concord which is a suburb of Knoxville. My Uncle Howie and cousin Darlene and husband John Bishop also stayed there. Kathy’s 2 sons and wives, Matt and Melody Smith and Andy and Michelle Smith also came by with their dogs. Matt and Melody have a daughter, Anilea. Jodi stayed at the host hotel located at the start line in World’s Fair Park with her mother, Nancy and her husband Mike. They were joined by Jodi’s brother, John and his wife Jenni. The day before the race we went to the expo and toured Neyland Stadium, home of the Tennessee Volunteers and the 4th largest football stadium, holding 104,000. We all had a great pasta dinner at Kathy and Lloyd’s. It included 5 kinds of ice creamJ! We met for post race food at Cracker Barrel and then visited Matt and Melody’s home in Knoxville.
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