Jack and Jill Marathon Seattle, WA July 27, 2019

Jack & Jill Marathon, Seattle, WA

July 27, 2019

4:03:55  368/695 Overall   2/7 in 65-69

Jodi and I ran the Jack and Jill Marathon near Seattle with a light rain the whole race and temps in the mid-60s. I was able to qualify for Boston 2020 with a time of 4:03:55 (BQ for 65-69 is 4:05) and get 2d in my age group. The first 3 miles were in a tunnel where you needed to wear a headlamp to see the ground and avoid the numerous potholes....interesting and cooler, but glad to be done with it without falling. The whole race was on a hard-packed dirt trail with uneven surface and some gravel. With the rain falling, avoiding puddles became an issue in the second half. With a gradual downhill from 2500’ to 500’, I found myself able to keep a strong pace and feel like I was holding back most of the miles. I did a lot of my miles in the 8:55-9:10 range and I needed 9:20 pace to BQ so was happy that the paces came so well. I was 2:02:13 at the half so ran a consistent pace with an overall negative split.

Jodi: I came to WA well-trained and wanting to Boston-qualify, which I did not do. I finished Marathon #15 (4:24) on a beautiful downhill course through a 2-mile tunnel, through the forest, over bridges and past waterfalls with a continuous light rain. Unfortunately, the wet gravel surface was not my thing and I stopped twice to dump pebbles out of my shoes. At that point it became a training run. No BQ for me today but it was a blast seeing John and Begered fly by me. I’m not disappointed, I just have work to do for Plan B.

This was Marathon #165; 28 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Marathon photos: View 18 Photos

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Trip and picture info below:

Photos: View 346 Photos   “View Photos” link will take you to Shutterfly where you can sign-up for free account to view the slideshow. Hold Ctrl and Click “Enter” to go to website.

(The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)

On our first day in Seattle we went to the Space Needle and saw amazing views from on high including looking down through the revolving glass floor at the top. I remember when the Needle was made in time for the 1962 World’s Fair and now has become the symbol of Seattle. Katie and I even did a virtual bungee jump from the top. We ate lunch at Collections Cafe which has collections at each table. We drove through the University of Washington campus. Very cool to see football, basketball, baseball, track, soccer, tennis and crew facilities all within a mile of each other. Also, I just finished reading “The Boys in the Boat” which recounts the crew teams at UW as they prepared for 1936 Berlin Olympics. Great to see where they train and some of their memorabilia.

We enjoyed a Duckboat tour of Seattle on our first day seeing some of the highlights of the city including Pike Place Market and many house boats that people live in along Elliot Bay. We checked out the Klondike Gold Rush Museum. It displayed how in 1898, Seattle made its mark by being the jump-off spot for the Klondike Gold Rush. Miners had to carry 2000 lbs. of supplies up Chilkoot Pass; it took many trips up this 45-degree mountain.

It was nice that the race was on a Saturday so that we could go to church on Sunday. My cousin, Mark Duncan, his wife, Ginny, and their 3 youngsters live in Issaquah which was actually the town that our hotel was in. We joined them at their church, and then enjoyed lunch at their home. Sunday afternoon we saw the Mariners’ Stadium on the way to a harbor cruise around Elliot Bay. After a fish dinner on the wharf, we made our way to north Seattle to watch the Locks open and close for boats as they went between saltwater ocean and freshwater Lake Washington. We topped the day off with...ice cream! This time at Salt and Straw which has amazingly original flavors.

Monday, Katie, Jodi and I started our day at Pike’s Market. We enjoyed seeing all the fresh fish and fruit and the wide variety of wares for sale. We saw the wall where people stick their used gum...yuck. While the girls shopped, I went and took a nap; marathons do make you extra tired. The Seattle Aquarium was a bit fishy, but fun. The MoPop was a lot of fun with tributes to Seattle musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and exhibits of sci-fi and horror.

Our exploration of Seattle continued Tuesday with a trip to Volunteer Park Conservatory where we saw a wide variety of cacti, succulents, and other plants. We then went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit next to the Space Needle. The artist, Dale Chihuly, did some of his work in Venice where last summer we had seen a glass blowing demonstration, so it was extra meaningful to us. We then took the tour of Underground Seattle. After a fire in 1898 leveled the wooden buildings, Seattle was built in 2 levels using stone and metal with the lower level eventually being abandoned after the upper level was finished 10 years later.

We drove to Vancouver on Wednesday and took a hike in the afternoon over the Lynn Suspension Bridge where we saw guys jumping from the rocks into the river. We didn’t do that 😊, but we enjoyed the beautiful forest and river. Thursday we caught the 8AM ferry to Vancouver Island where we went to Butchardt Gardens and Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. We were in awe of the wide variety and beauty of the flowers. 30 years ago I had come here with my mom, dad, and Uncle Howie and Aunt Lena. So fun to share now with Jodi and Katie. We enjoyed walking around downtown Victoria and seeing shops and other sights such as the Empress Hotel.

Friday morning, we got to run in famed Stanley Park; this run turned out to be a highlight of the trip. There are 15 miles of trails; we did a section along the seawall with great views of Vancouver. Afterwards, we got crepes and a cream puff downtown. We also toured Gastown seeing the Steam clock, the 2010 Olympic Village area, and the A-Maze-ing Laughter monuments.

Saturday, we headed back to Seattle, but experienced a two-hour delay at the border because of all of the British Columbians heading to Washington for a long weekend since Monday was a holiday for them. But with some aggressive driving from Jodi, we made it with time to spare. Happy to get home Saturday night.

Eugene Marathon

April 28, 2019

4:27:39  1072/1484 Overall   8/18 in 65-69

       

    On a cool, crisp morning (37 degrees) that was perfect for running a marathon, I felt ready to shoot for a BQ or even a sub-4. Jodi and I ran together for the first half as she helped me go through at 2:01:40, right where I wanted to be to break 4:05. But after feeling great and dropping the pace to 9:05 for the next 3 miles, my body rebelled and told me that I needed walk. (Jodi had peeled off at 12 to finish her half-marathon in2:01:17. She then planned to meet at about mile 20 to help me finish.) So, the last 10 were run/walk and when Jodi met me again at 20, we tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the Willamette River and not worry about the pace. I was disappointed to not reach my goals, but I went for it and learned some things to use for next time.

            Just before the race we noticed a fast-looking Kenyan in the car next to us and figured he was going for the win. We asked for a picture, but he was in a zone and said, “maybe later”. If you look at the pictures, you can see the great note he wrote and left on our car, using the cardboard that his 2nd place crystal was in. Also, when we got home, I emailed him at the address he had included, and he called back and left a message. Very cool!

            Here’s what Jodi put on her FB page after the race: “I’m going to let John tell his own story but I had a BLAST out there!! Eugene Half Marathon for me at long run pace plus a few extra for total of 20 miles today. Nice way to kick off my marathon training. LOL #finishonthefifty)

This was Marathon #164; 27 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

-------- Trip and picture info below:

Photos: View 116 Photos “View Photos” link will take you to Shutterfly where you can sign-up for free account to view the slideshow. Hold Ctrl and Click “Enter” to go to website.

(The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)

            Jodi and I arrived in Oregon Duck country Friday night and enjoyed the blue skies, fresh and cool air, and Willamette River views. We had amazing pancakes at The Original Pancake House which has a lot of Duck memorabilia. There are a lot Steve Prefontaine posters as well as ones of other Duck stars in various sports. So cool to see two local track stars Hannah Waller (a teammate of Katie’s at Buchanan) and Jenna Prandini on the wall as well as Jordan Hasay. Jordan is from SLO area and I saw run and win CA state cross-country 4 times at Woodward Park.

            After breakfast we got our bibs and looked around campus seeing Autzen Stadium where the race will start and end this year while historic Hayward Field is being remodeled for the Olympic Trials in 2020. I also got very excited to also see MacArthur Court where the Ducks have a decided homecourt advantage in basketball. We really had a fun time in Eugene and hope to be back to visit it again. Jodi wants to retire there…

Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge

Jan. 20, 2019

4:05:20  358/890 Overall  1/13  in 65-69

            During the week leading up to the marathon, I kept checking the weather forecast hoping that it might warm-up a bit; it never did☹Race morning was 35 with wind-chill of 27 and winds of 10-12mph all morning. I didn’t toss my throwaway long sleeve shirt until mile 17 and it was still very chilly, but I didn’t care by then. Interestingly it had been 68 when I got up Sat. morning for my shake-out 15 minute run; I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished, but at 8:00AM the skies cut loose with rain and thunder and lightning causing the 10K to be cancelled and the kids’ races moved back to 10:00 when it was all blue skies. But the temperature kept dropping all day and through the night so that I wore tights for the race; one of the 4 or 5 times I’ve done that for a marathon.         I wore a stocking cap and gloves the whole race, but the chill did preserve energy and liquid as I wasn’t sweaty and my clothing wasn’t even wet when I finished.

            I followed my running plan very well with a comfortable start at right at 10 for first mile, 9:33 second mile and 9:18 3^rd mile. My goal was to be in 9:10-9:20 range as many miles as possible after that, and I did 16 miles at that pace. I ran a negative split with my first half being 2:03:01. Interestingly there were two guys in my age group who were at 1:59 in their first halves and they finished at 4:29 and 4:32. “The tortoise always beats the hare!” I was actually 5^th at the 10k mark and the guy who finished 5^th at 4:32 was still ahead of me at 18.

            This ended up being my best marathon time since CIM in Dec. of 2016, so I was very happy with the effort. The bad news is that I ended up 20 seconds short of qualifying for Boston 2020. Looking back, I can see that I needed to push harder in miles 24 and 25, but we had turned into the wind and there was an overpass that took some time off, too. That kick I used for the last 1.2 should have started earlier! You can see the tents where I got my 1^st place award and then BQ tent where I could have claimed a BQ shirt, if only…

This was Marathon #163; 27 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

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(The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)Trip and picture info below:

            My entry into Baton Rouge started at the airport where there are photos of many famous folks from Baton Rouge including Hank Williams, Tim McGraw, Bill Conti (Rocky Theme song which played at our wedding😊), and Johnny Rivers. At the expo there was a marching band that played many songs and of course did “When the Saints Come Marching In”. Also, there was a presentation of “Foodies” discussing their favorite foods and their restaurants. The MC has written a book including many of these folks. While walking downtown I discovered a library that I “checked-out”.

            You can see the rain coming down in buckets; cute to see a rubber duckie on dash in car in my motel parking lot. (BTW, I didn’t need ice bath after this marathon; it was 26.2 miles of ice-cold weather.) My waffle at breakfast Sat morning had the Saints logo in the middle of it. And note the gas at Exxon was $1.91; great to be away from the exorbitant California taxes. After the rain let up, I went to visit the race start/finish areas which were near to the old and new state capitols. I learned a lot touring both buildings. One of the key characters in 20^th century LA history was Huey Long. He was a true “populist” and mover and shaker with very mixed opinions about him. He died from bullets that ricocheted from his bodyguards’ shots when a disgruntled man took a swing at him. The docent there explained the full story to me. Interesting to look at the newspaper clippings and, like today, the NY Times had the story completely wrong and said that it was an assassination.

            I got to visit both of their legislative houses and then go to the top of the capitol building. Thanks to Huey Long’s influence, it is the tallest of all the state capitols. I ran into a couple from San Jose and talked to them because he was wearing a Santa Rosa Half-Marathon jacket. Going to the observation deck provided views in all directions which were great to see. Loved seeing the oil refineries which help pump the energy of progress.

            There was a food festival both Sat and Sun following the races so I checked them out Sat afternoon. Nothing there that I wanted to eat before the race, so I headed over to the LSU campus where I wanted to see the famous and impressive football stadium. Next to it are also the Pete Maravich basketball arena and the track. Fun to see some of their famous football players from the past. I had a delicious spaghetti dish for pre-race pasta. Post-race I tried some jambalaya and gumbo from the food festival. Dinner was the real treat with ribs and steak from TJ’s Ribs which was conveniently across the street from my motel. And I treated myself to their Pecan Meltaway which was delicious and, I felt, well-earned! 😊 For breakfast Monday morning, I had to go to the Waffle House which is a fixture in many southern states. I was able to get grits there to go with my eggs and waffle.

            I found out from Becky Cox (her and Dave’s daughter, Abigail, graduated from LSU) that there is a live Bengal tiger housed on campus and that I had missed it on Sat. So, I set out on a quest Monday morning (thankfully it was MLK holiday so no traffic on campus) to find Mike, the Tiger. And there he was in his zoo outdoor setting between the football stadium and basketball arena. I was so close to him on Sat taking a picture of his statue, but didn’t know to look for him until Becky told me. It was great fun to see Mike XI; the first Mike lived from 1936-1956.  I also got to see many more plaques of famous players on the side of the stadium I had not seen on Sat. You’ll see such stars as Odell Beckham, Charles Alexander and the old Green Bay Packer Jim Taylor. The biggest star is Billy Cannon, the 1959 Heisman winner.

            Across the street is the also very impressive baseball facility. The neighborhood around campus is an older neighborhood as you can see. And nearby is also an old plantation that I quickly toured before I needed to catch my afternoon plane. The privy with dual holes and the cramped sleeping quarters reminded me how much better we have things today.

            I got home late Monday night so everyone was in bed except Charlotte who was glad to see me and had been wondering where I’d been the last few days.

           

           

           

           

Bowling Green, KY Marathon and Half

Nov. 4, 2018

4:20:15  36/129 Overall  3^rd in 60-69/Jodi-1:57:50  92/365  Grand Master (over 50) Champion

                        When Jodi mentioned that she’d like to visit family in Indiana and Kentucky this November, I found that Bowling Green, KY has a marathon and a half that weekend, so I signed us up. That way I could get another state done on my second go round and Jodi could get a good training-run half-marathon race in. Bowling Green looked to have some serious hills and it did not disappoint with 4 long steep ones in the first 5 miles and then in miles 14-19 since it was a two-loop course. I wanted to see where I might be in running a BQ time of 4:05 so I ran a 2:02 first half that felt great after the hills with my paces right around 9 minutes after the first 3-4 miles. But then when I hit the first big hill again in mile 14 and the wind was in my face, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I decided to walk as needed especially on the hills and just finish. I sorely wanted to quit a couple of times. Thankfully Jodi met me on the course a few times and ran with me and kept me going. She ended up with 18 miles after running the half. After she ran me through the finish, it was so exciting to find out that she had won the Grand Masters award for fastest female over 50! That was particularly impressive after having walked the Indy half with her cousin and having been on her feet for over 4 ½ hours doing it the day before in Indy. (More on that below.) I gave back a lot of time in the second half and finished in 4:20:15. My quads and lower back were pretty sore during that second trip around the course, so I was very happy to be done. And along with Jodi’s big win, I found that I got 3^rd in 60-69 and was oldest male to place in age group awards! We also enjoyed starting and finishing at the ballpark used by the minor league baseball Bowling Green Hot Rods. I noted that a couple of current SF Giants played there: Matt Moore and Albert Suarez.

This was Marathon #162; 26 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Photos of Indy, Bowling Green, Mayfield, Nashville and Knoxville: View Photos

(The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)

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            Our trip to Indy actually started a year ago after we had run the Indianapolis Full (me)l and Half (Jodi). We spent some time with Jodi’s cousin, Clint. She offered to do the half with him if he would do some training for it because he was so inspired and hoped to get healthier and start running again. Friday night, Jodi and I ate dinner with her dad and step-mom, John and Judy and her sister-in-law, Jenni in a great restaurant which had been recommended by the owner of the Airbnb where we spent the night. It was a short visit, but so great to be able to spend some time with them while we were close to where they live in Kokomo. Well, Clint’s training turned out to be minimal, but he still wanted to go for it, and Jodi agreed to walk with him as far as he could go. She had even tried to talk him into doing the 5K instead of the half, but he was insistent on trying to do the half.

            They had many adventures including losing sight of the pack in the first mile and getting lost and trying to stay ahead of the “meat wagon”. I had dropped them off at the start and then gotten breakfast. The race course went close by where we were staying so I was able to walk to mile 9 and wait and wait and wait for them in the freezing cold. Interesting to observe the folks at the back of the pack and then finally see Clint and Jodi come into sight. It didn’t seem like Clint would get past 10 miles, but I met them at the finish and he seemed to have gotten a second wind. Since they had lost miles early attempting to locate the course, Clint insisted that they add 1.5 more miles to get 13.1 on Jodi’s Garmin. So, while they did that, I got a table at Steak and Shake so they could quickly get their hard-earned food rewards and recuperate. It may have taken 4:37, but Clint got it done! And then Jodi and I drove 3 hours to Bowling Green to get ready for the next days’ race.

           

            The Bowling Green packet pick-up and pasta dinner were at the Corvette Museum as BG is where they are made. We enjoyed being able to look around and even sit in one; close as I’ll get to driving one. We spent Saturday night in BG and ran the races on Sunday morning before heading to Mayfield, KY for the next 3 days to spend some time with Jodi’s mom and step-dad. In Mayfield we got to see the largest warehouse I’ve ever seen which is where Mike and Nancy work for a shoe-distribution company. The owner looks like Santa and has a huge guitar collection as you can see in the photos. Mayfield is similar to Mayberry, but it has a Wal-Mart and many other major chains. We saw a number of deer out in the country and enjoyed running in the cutest park. We also took a trip to Paducah where we saw some amazing historical murals along the Tennessee River overlook and the National Quilt Museum.

            On Wednesday we headed to Nashville where we took a two-hour bus tour of some of the sights there including the capitol, Ryman Auditorium and Country Music Hall of Fame, honky-tonks and recording studios, and Vanderbilt University. Plenty of things to visit in-depth on our next trip there, but we didn’t have time this trip as we quickly headed on to Knoxville to visit some of my cousins there.

            We got to see Kathy and Lloyd Smith and Darlene and John Bishop. Dar and JB retired from working close to 40 years at Camp Awana and now live in the penthouse at Kathy and Lloyd’s. It was a short time, but we shared some good meals and conversations. Dar and I even had time for a quick 9-holes on their par 3 course so that was a bonus. Jodi and I flew home from Nashville on Friday having gotten to see all those that we had hoped to see and do all the things we had hoped to get in, so it was a very successful trip covering over 987 miles in the car. We came home to Charlotte, Layla, and CIM who were very happy to have us home!

           

           

           

Bizz Johnson 50K Ultra-Marathon and Jodi’s 50^th Birthday Party

Oct. 7, 2018/Oct.13, 2018

6:05:33 16/17 of 31 Overall   Both 2^nd in Age Groups

       Be careful what you influence! 😊 Five years ago I coached Jodi to her first marathon and in the process got not only a bride, but a distance-running fiend! Many months ago, Jodi determined that she wanted to run a 50K to help celebrate her turning 50. However, she ran (no pun intended) into many obstacles. The perfect one by the Golden Gate Bridge at Rodeo Beach on her actual birth date was cancelled.            
     There were many other options including doing a marathon and adding 5 miles, but most ultras involved either/or too much travel and too much mountain climbing or too much hot weather. (I debated with myself whether I’d be able to run it with her because even though I’d run 50 milers in the past, it was the distant past as in the 1980s and my last 50K was in 1997.)

            Finally, Jodi decided that Bizz Johnson looked to be the most runner-friendly with service-road to run on that was not technical and net elevation-drop with minimal climbing. Michelle Gabrielson is from Susanville and had run the marathon many years ago and told me that I should do it since it was a lot of fun so that was a good recommendation. That helped me to think that I could do the 50K myself, too.

            We drove to Susanville on Saturday morning (a 6-hour drive, not counting stops). The small expo was at an historical railroad depot since the race was on a Rails-to-Trails path and was very quaint. Susanville has a population of around 16,000 and is an hour and a half from Reno and about 2 hours from the Oregon border. It is very remote and still reflects its old west beginnings. Its founder named it after his daughter, Susan. It was a mining, then logging town, but now its biggest employers are the two nearby prisons. (I learned all this from the history posters at the depot and the nifty visitor guide.)

            We didn’t have to get up too early Sunday as the race didn’t start until 8. We did have to be at the depot at 7 to be driven to the start at 5200’ and about 26 miles from town. It was 31 degrees, but the sun was up so we just wore short sleeves, shorts, and gloves knowing that it would soon warm-up. The 50K runners ran out about 2.5 miles and then back to the start area where we joined by the full marathoners who started at 9. There were about 100 doing the 26.2 miler so we had more company to run with along the way.

            We followed a run/walk pattern for most of the race of running until our watches hit a mile mark and then power-walking for 1-2 minutes. This technique allowed us to run very strongly and consistently at 9:30-9:40 pace in the run segments. We had fun chatting with numerous folks as we all leap-frogged each other during the race. The aid stations also took some extra time as we made sure to eat and drink enough and chat a bit, too. One guy helping is 80 now, but he had run the Crater Lake Marathon 40 years in a row and won it overall at age 57 in time of 3:07. (Next to Big Sur, Crater Lake is the hardest regular marathon course that I’ve run. I ran it in 2011 in 4:31.)

            The first half of the course was basically just trees for scenery so it got a bit monotonous, but the second half had more rocks, rivers, bridges and tunnels so was more interesting. Jodi made it interesting, too, by taking pics of horses, dogs, tunnels, and aid station food. We found that our legs were strong, and we didn’t bonk or hit the wall, but we were ready to be done after 6 hours of running. In fact, our last mile was our fastest! However, we were very glad to be able to sit-down and finally relax!

This was Marathon #161; 25 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Photos of both 50K and 50^th birthday: https://photos.shutterfly.com/story_invite/b6a79ebf-b5bf-4b03-82c4-3ba93b136cee/70232482266?cid=SHARALEMAIL&_branch_match_id=474416565644165351

(The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)

Jodi’s 50^th Birthday Party

            Since Jodi was born in 1968, we decided to have a 60s-themed birthday party. (I was all for that since I had saved my double-knit bell-bottoms that I wore in college for an occasion such at this one!) We found more costume-stuff from a co-worker of Jodi’s and, interestingly, at a vintage costume shop in Susanville. We talked to Virginie about incorporating 60s icons such as bell bottoms, VW buses, NBC Peacock for color TV coming into existence, and peace signs into a cake. Jodi chose her favorite flavor of pumpkin which is especially appropriate and prevalent in October.

            Since my brother, Bill and I had a huge collection of albums from the 60s we displayed some of them and had a little contest to see who could name the artists for each of them. We also had a 1968 trivia game where we could test everyone’s memory of some famous events and people. Some of the guests even dressed-up and we persuaded my mom to wear a tie-died top.

            Jodi’s response: “My birthday party was the best ever; it may be the only big bash I have ever had. I absolutely loved by cake!”

Cheyenne Marathon

Sep. 23, 2018

4:39:41 70/164 Overall   443/808 Male  1/2 in 65-69

            Marathon #160 (and #25 in doing 50 states at least twice) was a different kind of challenge for a lot of reasons: 6000’ elevation for starters (at my age, reduced lung capacity is already a problem); the first aid station was not until mile 6 and there were not enough the rest of way to help with dry air (10% humidity); dirt/gravel road for most of first 8 miles; seemingly 2/3 of the course being uphill; running solo for much of the run because there were fewer than 200 in the full; temps rising into high 70s by finish. It’s always a risk to run an inaugural marathon because they will make a lot of mistakes (and hopefully learn from them). All that being said, I actually enjoyed most of the run because I realized a fast time was not the goal. By slowing down and walking as needed, I finished without much soreness (my last mile was my fastest).

            The race started at 6:20AM, but it was still dark. We had to walk from the dark parking lot about ¼ mile to the starting line, also in the dark. There were no porta-potties and no open buildings, so I just waited in my car for the start. “Very rustic, out in the country and isolated” describes the start area. I ran the first few miles through rolling hills on a gravel/dirt road alone, but then the 4:25 pace group caught me and I enjoyed their company for 3-4 miles before they left me at the first aid station at mile 6. The course finally ran through the city on a good asphalt road surface and headed out to the other end of town. There continued to be long, steady uphills including one like Hospital Hill. We did get to run some down hill on the way back which was nice. We ran through the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo grounds, and then with about 3 miles to go I hooked up with 2 ladies from upstate New York. They were both in their 50s and had run Boston before, but like I was, they were just getting through this one. It really helped to have folks to chat with, and we had fun finishing up. Their families were cheering them with .2 to go and I thanked them for the fun I had with their moms/wives. After I finished, the lady in the green in the above pic asked to take my picture. She explained that she was Ms Wyoming, Mobility-impaired, and was grooming the girl in the chair to become so, too. The lady has MS and has had over 45 operations for it and some accidents she has had. She has been relearning to walk this last year. I told her that running a marathon is a lot easier than what she has overcome.

            So, my time was one of my slowest, but I got in a good long training running for running the 50k on Oct. 7 with Jodi to celebrate her turning 50 on the 13^th. I did get 1st in my age group and got the cute mug and a cool medal.

This was Marathon #160; 25 states on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/gallery/4feba295-4764-4379-930e-f53f8ac30145?type=shared (The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)

Cheyenne Trip

            I flew into Denver which is only an hour and a half drive from Cheyenne. On the drive to Cheyenne I took the long way so that I could visit Rocky Mountain National Park (and get in free with my Golden Eagle senior pass😊) and Estes Park. I saw a herd of elk and then saw one close-up as it crossed the road right beside me just as I was leaving Estes Park.

            Arriving at my motel in Cheyenne, I noted the decorated boot at the entrance. Later I found out that there are about 50 8-foot boots throughout the city so you will see a number of them in the pics. Saturday morning, I visited the historical museum and saw the capitol which is undergoing a 3 year renovation and (unlike High Speed Rail) is on time and on budget. Wyoming became the 44^th state in 1890 and has a population about the same as Fresno (500,000). When it became a state, it included suffrage for women; the first state to ever do that. I also took a tour of the old governor’s mansion. It is fully decorated in a décor of mid-1900s and included a Royal typewriter, game/sun room, and kids’ door with Beatles’ poster on it. Who remembers Jolly Time popcorn? We had that when we were kids in Calistoga.

            I picked up my bib at the Cheyenne Depot where there are a couple of more decorated boots and was were the race would finish. I enjoyed the speakers at the expo, both of whom live in Cheyenne: Brent Weigner has run over 350 marathons including in 160 countries and all 7 continents 10 times. Jerry Reif has run a sub 3 hour marathon and BQed in all 50 states. He just turned 50 and is hoping to run sub 3 in 4 decades. (See their stories at https://www.cheyenne.org/race/?RL=1 ).

            After the race on Sunday, I took a two-hour bus tour during which I learned a lot of old west history of Cheyenne. Wild Bill Hickock, Bat Masterson, and many other characters lived here. Like so many old west towns, it provided 3 things to the cowboys: alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes. Calamity Jane came from San Francisco to ply her trade. Unfortunately, she brought an STD that spread quickly to patrons and other “ladies”. Hence, the nickname “Calamity.” Cheyenne is also host to the largest rodeo in the world for 10 days each July. Our bus stopped for us to tour the rodeo museum. The statue of “Champion” Lane Frost shows him on a steer just before he was thrown off at 7.5 of the required 8 seconds. The steer then speared him; he was the last fatality at Cheyenne back in 1989.

            I had dinner at Sanford Grub and Pub and enjoyed perusing all the sports and historical memorabilia throughout it. I also got an amazing rib dinner for under $20. I also got gas in Wyoming for $2.75; great not to pay CA prices/taxes at the pump! On the way back to Denver on Monday, I headed toward Buffalo Bill’s grave/museum and Lookout Mountain. On the way I saw a turn-off sign for Regis University. I immediately took a quick exit to take a look at it because it is the very university from which Jodi received her nursing BS. Very fun find!

            Buffalo Bill was quite a colorful character. His Wild West show toured the world from late 1880s to mid-1910s. It included 4 stops in Fresno. Annie Oakley was one of his featured performers.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/story_invite/d0ae61e6-e81c-44aa-aa0f-3ee97f470683/70231134722?cid=SHARALEMAIL  (The description is roughly in order of the pictures.)

Volkman ran hard to reach milestone (100 marathons)

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.

The columnist can be reached at mjames@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6217. Read his blog at www.fresno