Jack and Jill North Bend, WA July 24, 2024

 

Jack and Jill Marathon

North Bend, WA

July 24, 2024

4:54:39 – 643/815 Overall - 6/8 in 70+

            Jodi and I flew to Seattle Thursday night in order to run the Jack and Jill Marathon near there in North Bend area. I ran the full in 4:55:39 for my 187th marathon overall (still at 44 states done at least twice) and Jodi ran the half. The weather was so cool compared to Fresno where we've been running in 80 degree weather. It was 57 at the start and got up to about 70 but most of the course was in the shade because of all of the wonderful trees. The course is a rails-to-trails path with mostly packed dirt and and a gradual downhill most of the way.

            The gradual downhill was great for running faster, but it took its toll on my calves and quads which have been much more sore than after a normal marathon. I was pleased that I did my run/walk of 4min run/:30 seconds walk most of the way. When I was running, I easily ran around 10:20 often going closer to 10:00 without much effort. I was still running those paces even in the last miles and just did a bit more walking then.

            On Friday Jodi and had gone to the Space Needle area and where we ran into running friend from Fresno, Rhonda and her husband; small world! We took the short monorail ride to downtown and got to eat lunch at Pike's Market where we had Piroshkies, a stuffed pastry from Russia. My Russian roommate at Westmont, Peter Trozan introduced me to them when his mom made them for us over 55 years ago. After that, Jodi and I got our bibs in Snoqualmie and had pasta dinner with Anita Lee and her brother, Alan. We had our "PR ice-cream", too.

            Jodi had to be at the half bus pickup at 4 am Saturday so she left very early; Anita, Alan, and I drove to a different location a bit later for the full. Both races started at 6AM. The full starts with a 2.5 mile run through a pitch-black tunnel so everyone wears a headlamp; you can see the collection of lamps that they brought to the finish area for pickup in one of the pics Jodi took after she finished the half.

            The course is beautiful with lots of trees and views of rivers and valleys as you run over some bridges. Five years ago in 2019 I got a BQ time and Jodi and I ran Boston together in 2021. But this year, I was happy to run comfortably fast and enjoy the race. I was 643/815 and 6/8 in 70+.

            On Sunday we went to church with Mark and Ginny Duncan and then went over to their home in Izzaquah just outside Seattle for lunch, chatting, outdoor activities and later, pizza. We were also joined by their 3 youngsters and Johnny and Diane Bishop and their two very young ones. If you’re family, you might enjoy seeing their pictures at the end of the Shutterfly album.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/1806120368964377

This was Marathon #187; 44 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathon: Erie, PA Sep. 8, 2024

 

Denver Marathon May 19, 2024

 

Denver-Colfax Marathon

May 19, 2024

5:38:54 - 1927/2214 Overall - 6/11 in 70+ 

     I arrived in Denver on Friday to go to the expo and get a bit acclimated to the elevation. At the expo I got my bib and shirt and also a special award for having already run 1 marathon in 2024. It’s a cool coaster with a Denver montage on it as you can see in bottom right of the photo.

Jodi joined me on Saturday (she was not thrilled to have a 5AM flight out of Fresno) but arrived early so we could eat breakfast together. The expo was at the the NFL Broncos’ Empower Stadium so I showed Jodi that and then we took an hour and a half tour of the stadium. It was quite fun and informative to see the press boxes, luxury boxes, locker rooms, team memorbilia and even walk on the field. We also drove to see the outside of the Denver Nuggets arena (where they played game 7 that night and lost) and Rockies ballpark.

            Sunday morning it was great to have Jodi drop me off at the start so I didn’t need to park somewhere. The race started and ended in a large city park with only street parking. Thankfully it started early at 6AM because it was 58 at the start and warming quickly.

The Denver-Colfax Marathon was one of the most challenging marathons I've run due to the mile-high altitude and thehigh temperatures which reached 82 during my last few miles. Due to the conditions, I ran/walked 2 min/:30 at the start and later did 1 min/:30 as the temperatures rose. I wore my water belt and was glad to be able to sip repeatedly as 2 miles between aid stations (which used to be fine at 15 minutes or so but are now close to half an hour for me) would not have been nearly enough water to drink.

It was great to have Jodi meet me at numerous spots with the first one at mile 3 just before we actually ran through a fire station. She then met me at mile 9 where there was a loop of Sloan Lake and then at 11 when we completed the loop. When I headed out further, Jodi was able to do her own loop of the lake and get in about a 5 mile run/walk before meeting me again at the same spot which was now mile 19. She was a sight for sore eyes (and legs) as I was getting tired. She then met me at 24 and the finish line. Jodi commented that it was a very spectator-friendly marathon meaning she found it was easy to get around to various spots and that there were many other spectators with her.

We ran through city streets (Colfax is longest street in America at 26.5 miles https://www.uncovercolorado.com/east-west-colfax-avenue-denver), residential areas, on the field at Empower Stadium going out and coming back. There were some moderate hills which weren’t all that steep, but which now force me to walk much of them.

            Saturday night we went to dinner with 13 other marathoners who were celebrating Penny Willbanks doing her 49th state. We met her on the plane to the Eugene, OR Marathon in 2019 and also ran with her in the New Mexico Marathon in January 2023. She's doing #50 at Anchorage in June.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/1799780969611986

This was Marathon #186; 44 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathons: WA 7/27/24

Newport, RI Marathon April 13, 2024

Newport, RI Marathon

April 13, 2024

4:54:30  810/875 Overall  3/4 in 70-74 

            For our latest adventure, Jodi and I were joined by Nick for a 10-day trip to New England. We ran a race in Rhode Island, watched the Boston Marathon, and ventured into Maine and New Hampshire.

In Newport, Jodi and I enjoyed some beautiful ocean scenery for much of the race. There was also a lot of wind so we saw lots of waves. We also saw some of the 1.2 million daffodils that are out this time of year and ran by some of the mansions we had toured the day before.

I ran strong throughout the marathon and went up the hills steadily with some walking, and down them at a nice pace sometimes at 9:30 or so. The elevation gain was 1093 feet which by comparison is twice as much as hilly Napa Marathon which has 576 feet of elevation gain. I was happy that my fastest mile was the last  one (Jodi was at mile 25.7 to take pictures and cheer for me coming in) at 10:36. Overall, I ran at 11:13 average (doing 4min run/:30 walk) and got 3d in my age group.

We learned a lot about the Vanderbilt family when we toured the Breakers Mansion on Friday. It was very interesting and beautiful, but the thought of living in what felt more like a museum than a home seemed odd. I also toured the Tennis Hall of Fame and saw some very historic players and memorbilia. On Sunday we headed to Boston where we watched a Celtics game at TD Garden and had pasta and cannolis in Little Italy. Monday Nick went to the Red Sox game while Jodi and I watched the Marathon at mile 23. We got to cheer the first American, our friend CJ Albertson from Clovis; other friends I’ve coached; stars like Sarah Hall and Des Linden and the last American winner Meb Keflezighi. (Jodi had gotten to see Meb at the top of Heartbreak Hill when he won in 2014. It was also the year I proposed to her there.)

Tuesday we took a tour of TD Garden which highlighted many moments in Boston sports history. That night we took in a Bruin game; first hockey game attended by Jodi and Nick!

Wednesday we visited the JFK Library and took an informative boat cruise of Boston Harbor. We alo saw Bunker Hill Monument and Old Ironsides. No trip is complete without going to the Boston Common where we rode the swan boats and saw the Make Way for Ducklings statues.

            Thursday and Friday we went to Maine and New Hampshire where we toured a submarine in Portsmouth and saw an historic library in Kittery, ME (where I found Make Way for Ducklings on the shelf and enjoyed touring the towns. We also got to have dinner with John and Linda Duncan who were our long-time connections in CT when we ran Boston, but now live in ME and NH. Saturday we headed back to Fresno.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/1797229969670995

            This was Marathon #185; 43 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathons: CO 5/19/24 

Napa Marathon and Mom's Burial 3/2-3/2024

 

Napa Marathon

March 3, 2024

4:54:17 1141/1699 Overall  7/15 in 70-74

Jodi-Half 2:41:03 1769/2579 Overall  54/94 in 50-54

 

 Jodi and I headed to the Napa Valley with dual purposes: run our races and bury Mom. Both were accomplished successfully. Driving there was a bit scary as Friday was rainy. We had a fun dinner in Rio Vista at Lucy’s Café, but then the rain really came down hard the rest of way and resulted in limited visibility.

            But we made it safely, and Saturday morning picked up our bibs, and then headed to Calistoga for the burial at Pioneer Cemetery. The rain let up during the ceremony and then started up just as we were all leaving; great timing! (See pics below)

Jodi and I then went downtown to have lunch at the Café Sarafornia (derived from founder Sam Brannan’s misspoken “Calistoga of Sarafornia instead of Saratoga of California.) We happened to meet the owner who had Boston roots so had fun talking about the Boston Marathon and all things Boston with her.     

            We drove around Calistoga and noted a few things: the church is being remodeled into a community center; the golf course is closed and is just a grass field; the high school track is still a dirt track (not all-weather); and someone new was moving into our old Centennial Circle house. We also, sadly, noted all the fire damage from the Glass Fire two years ago as we drove back to Napa on the Trail.

            It was not supposed to rain early Sunday morning, but it did so we drove to the bus pickup spots in the rain. Thankfully for me the rain stopped before the marathon, but Jodi’s half-marathon started earlier and in a different spot so she got pretty soaked. But overall, it was ideal running weather in the high 30s and mid 40s with overcast skies most of the way. On the bus ride from Napa to the start in Calistoga I talked with a young lady from Austin, TX who works with a winery. It was interesting to chat about some of the marathons we’ve both run such as Austin, Houston, Chicago, and Eugene.

            Due to the great weather and some good training, I was able to run my best time since Nov 2021. It was also my first time under 5 hours since Sep 2022 largely because all 5 races between then and now were too hot (70s) for good times. I was able to stick to my run 4 minutes/walk :30 most of the race except on the longer, steeper hills, I’d go to 2/:30. The Silverado Trail on which most of the race is run has a lot of rolling hills so that was fun as well as challenging. The vineyards all along the route are, of course, beautiful and full of mustard plants this time of year. My splits were very consistent all the way staying very close to 11:12 range with 14 of the splits being around or under 11 and the slowest being 11:35.

            Jodi has been struggling with hip issues for quite awhile and not able to run a lot of miles, but was very pleased to do her run/walk intervals and not feel any hip pain so was very pleased with her race. After she finished she got to see one of Katie’s Westmont classmates, Rachel finish the marathon. Jodi then waited for me to finish and we headed back to our hotel for an ice bath (me, only), a shower and a nap. We then drove to Gotts (Taylor’s) in St. Helena for the traditional post-race hamburger and ice cream (milkshake, this time). We drove back to Fresno Monday morning after a leisurely breakfast.

 See photo link below for pictures of many of the things described.

 This was Marathon #184; 42 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathons: Newport, RI 4/13/24, CO 5/19/24

Marathon photos: https://link.shutterfly.com/DiNDM4qWKHb

Video of Mom’s burial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx1N5RiFqfA

 

Madison, WI Marathon 11 12 2023

 

Madison, WI Marathon

November 12, 2023

5:57:57  1368/1659 Overall  4/6 in 70-74

 

          The Madison Marathon was a welcome change from the last 5 marathons which have been too warm for optimum running. It was 34 at the start and got up to 50 at the end. I kept my arm warmers and gloves and earmuff hat on all the way; I did shed a top layer long-sleeve after about 4 miles. However, it was very windy and the course had a lot of hills especially in the second half. The hills really slowed my pace. But overall, I was extremely pleased in how I ran; I felt strong running the whole race and stayed very consistent at around 11:15/mile. I did my 4/:30 run/walk intervals and my running on the flat or downhills was mostly sub 10:30 and even some sub 10s; it was fun to be able to feel like I was racing and not just dragging along like I felt in those hot weather marathons. This was the 5^th marathon I ran in 2023 and 16^th since I had the stent put in and started taking heart meds back in January 2020.

            I had a very interesting trip as you can see if you look at the photos at the link below. I arrived in Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon and then drove the rental SUV about an hour and a half to Madison. I went first to packet pickup and then went to my motel. The motel had a fine Italian restaurant aross the street so I had a nice dinner of minestrone and fried raviolis (something Jodi and I had learned about in St. Louis in April). Friday morning I awoke to 29 degrees and solid frost on the windshield. Now, I found out why the car had the ice-scrapy stick in it. Thankfully, it was the only night under 32. I discovered The Original Pancake House where I had breakfast 3 times; love these pancake especiality breakfast places.

            I had a ticket to go to the UW-Northwestern football game at Camp Randall Stadium Sa and figured out it was easiest to just Uber there rather than hassle with the traffic. I arrived very early and got to see the many tailgates and sports bar get-togethers. At the stadium I got to see the band perform before the game, and then see the players warmup and then later enter the stadium for game time. Even though the Badgers are not doing well this season, the stadium was full at game time (unlike Bulldog Stadium where announced sell-outs mean 2/3 of the seats are occupied). UW is bad and lost 24-10 with their loneTD coming with 8 seconds left.

            Marathon morning I got to the race start area very early and found street parking 200 yards from the start so it was easy to just leave my sweats in the car. After the race, it was convenient to put them on and get some good post-race food of pizza and macaroni.

            Monday morning I drove to the UW campus to do a little exploring. It’s a beautiful campus and I enjoyed looking around and also checking out the libraries. I actually found a copy of my first book Cruising Through Research on the shelves. It’s less than a mile between campus and the capitol so I walked over and did a little self-guided tour. The highlight is going to the top deck and being able to look out in all directions. Walking the street between campus and the capitol was a lot like walking on Telegraph Ave. near the Cal Berkley campus with the leftover-hippie feel.

            I drove back to Milwauke later in the afternoon and checked-in to my downtown hotel. It’s great to be in the center of activities, but it’s also a pain to not be able to self-park and to pay $40 a night for that privilege. ☹But I could walk less than a mile to the Bucks-Bulls NBA game at Fiserv Stadium. It’s a beautiful new arena and was a lot of fun to explore and see all the banners. The Bucks feature Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak and also have Brook Lopez who (along with his twin 7-footer, Robin) went to SJM High School here in Fresno). Bucks easily beat the Bulls.

            Tuesday I did an audio walking tour of the downtown area. The starting point and highlight was the Public Library. The architecture outside and in is fantastic. It also has great library facitlities and displays and was fun to explore. There is even a Hans Christian Anderson stained glass window. Milwaukee also has many other buildings with classic early 20^th century architcture. Along the Riverwalk is a statue of Fonsi since “Happy Days” was set in Milwaukee. I also saw the side of a building painted with a picture of Giannis. That evening I enjoyed having deep-dish pizza with my Westmont College buddy, Ken Anderson whom I’ve known for 55 years. I also went to Kopps for frozen custard that night and also again Wed for lunch. Love that frozen custard; amazingly better than ice cream!

            Wednesday morning I had enough time to visit the unique Bobblehead Hall of Fame a couple miles from my hotel. It’s quite a collection. I enjoyed seeing groupings of not only Packer, Brewer, Buck players but also Giant, Warrior, 49er ones. I got to the airport in plenty of time, only to sit in my seat for 2 hours while the cockpit door was being repaired. I continued to sit for 3 ½ hours for the flight. Five and a half hours was longer than running the marathon, and remarkably, I never got up as I was in a window seat and it would have been a chore. But I eventually got into Fresno (FAT) just a few minutes before Jodi who arrived from her trip to Florida to visit and assist family members. It was great to drive home together and catch-up on our adventures😊

 

            This was Marathon #183; 42 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathon: Newport, RI 4/13/24

Marathon photos: https://link.shutterfly.com/icttbvjCZEb

 

Air Force Marathon 9 16 2023

 

Air Force Marathon-Dayton, OH

September 16, 2023

5:15:05  732/1070 Overall  6/15 in 70-74 

Sep. 16, 2023 was an eventful for day for Jodi and me as Jodi was doing the Cloud’s Rest climb at Yosemite while I was running my marathon 3 time zones away.

After training all summer in Fresno where the temperatures most mornings were in the low 70s, it was refreshing to feel the chill in the air race morning of 47 degrees! I even had a long sleeve shirt and gloves on before the race started because my summer-acclimated body felt cold. The Air Force Marathon is a fairly large race with about 8500 total runners in all of the events. I was instructed to arrive 1.5-2 hours before race start due to the parking congestion and the one mile walk to the starting area. It was indeed stop-and-go traffic getting into the extensive grass fields where we parked. I saw the fireworks go off for the 10K which started in the dark at 6:30. I made sure to mark the number of my parking area and take a picture of my rental car. (Of course, by the time I got back, most of the cars were long gone.)

            Anyway, I used the mile walk as a bit of a warm-up and wake-up as I got up at 5:00 EDT (2:00 Fresno time). I had tapered a lot the last 3 weeks and had a great massage on Tuesday, so my legs felt really good as I started off. After the first mile, we went up about a mile long fairly steep hill where I did a lot of walking. After the opening hill, most of the first half was flat and I did 4 min run/:30 walk. I was happy that my comfortable run pace was back at 10:20-10:40 after the last 4 marathons not feeling comfortable at all at 11-minute pace (all warm-weather). I kept leap-frogging with a pace group doing 1 minute run and :30 walk. They were really irritating (as are most pace groups) because they took up the whole road and I had to weave to get by them. They were running sub 10 when they ran so weren’t very helpful for what I wanted to do.

            I got to half-way in 2:29 feeling pretty good, but by then the temperature was getting into the 60s and soon the low 70s. I went to 3/:30 and then at about 16 to 1:20/:40. I just didn’t feel like running for long stretches, but the good news was that when I ran, I still was in 10:30 range and sometimes saw some 9:55s. However, in the last 6 miles, there were 3 or 4 more extended hills that I mostly walked. I was getting really bored and tired of the whole thing when the 5:15 pacer (different then the 5:00 pacer earlier) who was doing 1 min/:30 and running my pace. It helped a lot to have company as she had 4 or 5 other runners and I could think about something besides how I wanted to be done. Lol

            When I finished, I felt really tired and just wanted to sit for awhile. I found a chair and did that as I sipped a recovery drink. One of the bad things about finishing later is that there isn’t much food left and not many other runners or spectators so it’s a bit lonely. Finally, I recovered to make the mile walk back to the car and do the 25-minute drive back to the hotel. When I got there, I just took off my shoes and socks and took a nap. That nap really gave me renewed energy so I could get my ice bath and shower.

            Meanwhile, Jodi had texted me near the top of Cloud’s Rest and I was able to encourage her to make the last scary ascent at the end and she did indeed make it. Here’s her description on Facebook:

“Yesterday I conquered Clouds Rest hike in Yosemite. With the help of some amazing people I faced a lot of fears: traveling through the darkest mountain roads with no service, getting murdered at the Lodge, scaling rocks at nearly 10,000 feet of elevation, heart pounding and unable to breathe, and then making it back down without falling and breaking a body part, completing my longest hike of 13 miles. It was all through prayer, determination and grit.”

            Back in Dayton, I set out to get a good burger and then ice cream. I did both with great success at the Buckhorn Tavern with huge burger and then found JD’s Old Fashioned Custard where I got Pumpkin Pie Concrete (like DQ blizzard). Since my primary thought during the second half of the race was about burgers and ice cream, I got my wishes in spades. (Maybe I should just skip the run part. 🤔)  

            I flew into Cincinnati on Thursday and drove to Wright St University arena for packet pickup. The next day I visited CarCarillon Park and learned so much about the Wright Brothers who originally ran a bicycle shops in Dayton. Even though they didn’t finish high school, they were inventive geniuses who worked tirelessly to invent a machine that would fly using mathematical principles they learned from their bikes and other flying machine inventors. Dayton also was the headquarters of NCR which sold new and better cash registers and much more and DELCO and it’s many automotive innovations. Downtown there is another museum honoring them and the black poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and a walk of fame with plaques of some I noted. One was for Cathy Guisewite who created the comic strip “Cathy” for 34 years.

            The National Museum of the Air Force is where the pasta dinner was held and next to where the race started. We got to hear from a general and a Lt. Col who gave the inspirational talk. I walked around the museum that night and then for a couple hours Sunday morning. It features planes used starting in WWI and WWII and going into Stealth bomber and 3 presidcential planes. They also had ICBM missles on display and great displays on spacecraft. I was fascinated to learn about the importance of the food the astronausts had to eat and to learn how GPS makes it possibleel for our Garmins and map apps to work.

This was Marathon #182; 41 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathon: ?

Marathon photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/1777413844664420

 

Maine Coast Marathon May 7 2023

Maine Coast Marathon

May 7, 2023

5:26:47 216/251  Overall 1/2 in 70-79

 

            I finished the Maine Coast Marathon for my third marathon this year after New Mexico and St. Louis. It was my slowest time ever, but my legs actually felt better than they had in the previous two. There were a lot more rolling hills than I had expected and it was a very warm day. There was some pretty running on the coast for the first few miles, but then it was mostly inland with rolling hills and thankfully a lot of trees and shade. I knew that the temps would quickly get into the 70s so I did 3run/:30 walk from the beginning and also walked as needed on the hills to preserve my energy. At this point in my marthon running career, I treat the race more as a long hike than as something to race. but I did get 1st in 70+. After the race I got my ice bath and a nap, and then got seafood dinner and later traditional Blizzard at DQ.

            I flew all day Thursday, getting into Boston about 5 EDT. Walking in the airport I did see a fun area dedicated to some of the children’s authors from the area. After a long wait to get to rental car garage, I finally got on the road and drove about an hour north getting into Wells, ME about 8. Friday I drove about 2 ½ hours north to visit my cousins, John and Linda Duncan. I had stayed with them many times when I was running the Boston Marathon and they lived in CT. But they retired and sold that home and moved to ME. It was great to catch-up with them and hear about some of their future plans. Their daughter, Bethany and her family of 6 children live just a couple miles away so I got to see her and their home. Her husband is a builder so they have a farm with all kinds of animals and plants and various buildings. I even got to see a baby goat that had been born the day before!

 This was Marathon #181; 40 states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.

Next marathon: ?

Marathon photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/1765647724347505