A blast of cool air and the Notre Dame Fight Song greeted me as I entered the dark tunnel to the famous stadium. My 27th marathon would be finished in less than a minute, certain to be my fastest ever. The pride of a PR was 
tempered by the realization that I’d be short of my ultimate goal. Just two miles earlier, I thought success was practically guaranteed.
First half
We got to the start of the Sunburst Marathon with only 10 minutes to spare. Fortunately, in a marathon this small (595 finishers) that isn’t typically a problem. John Kelly and I checked our bags and were at the start line before the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. As soon as I replaced my hat and adjusted a single earphone in my right ear, the race started. I joggled with abandon giving little thought to my speed. When the clock at the 1 mile marker displayed 6:52, I knew I needed to slow down. This seems to happen to me in every marathon.
The early part of the race takes you along a river, through various neighborhoods, and along bike paths. The path winds around itself at numerous points so you can see all the other runners. You also have to fight the urge to jump ahead by cutting off parts of the course. The weather was perfect, none of my recent leg soreness was bothering me and I felt strong. The Red Badge of Courage playing in my ear kept me distracted from any unpleasant thoughts. The first 10 miles flew by.
Mile 10
In recent weeks, I had joggled two 10-mile races and was curious to compare my time in this race. 1:12:18 only a minute slower than my best 10-miler. I felt strong and confident. The various pains in my shins, knees, and muscles seemed irrelevant. I was energized more when I saw my wife cheering at mile 11. “Today, would be a special day,” I thought.
Mile 13.1
The half way point was an unceremonious chalk line drawn across an asphalt river path. There was a clock and a sign, but it lacked the fanfare expected of a half way point. I threw a bean bag high, looked at my watch and saw one of my fastest half marathon times ever. 1:35:19. Then Stephen Crane mentioned joggling.
“An officer was carried along by two privates. He was peevish. “Don’t joggle so, Johnson, yeh fool,” he cried.”
Mile 15
In the second half, the Sunburst Marathon course had more twists, turns and places where you backtracked. It allowed me to see dozens of faster runners whip by at an impressive pace. At mile 15, one of the leaders smiled when he saw my joggling. “That’s amazing!” he said. “Not as amazing as your speed,” I quipped back. Speedy runners impress me.
Mile 18
The Youth had finally discovered courage in the Red Badge of Courage as he proudly raised the flag in battle. But it wasn’t courage I felt around mile 18, it was uncertainty. To meet my goal I only had to run 8.2 miles in 67 minutes. I knew that was normally an easy task, but with 18 miles and two plus hours of running on my legs, I was tentatively confident. I focused on a guy in a green shirt and try to catch him. Unfortunately, I passed him by mile 19 and had no one to focus on after that.
He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage
Mile 22 – Silence
The reading of the Red Badge of Courage was over and stories from the Moth Podcast began. But just as the performer was finishing up a story about setting his hospital computer ablaze, my iPod went silent. For the rest of the marathon, I’d have to keep myself entertained. It wasn’t hard however. After mile 20, you don’t hear real sounds anyway. Mostly, you listen to yourself calculate finish times, yell to speed up, and fight against thoughts telling you how good it would feel to stop.
Mile 23
The flawless marathon was lost at just after mile 23. A bead of sweat had worked its way from my eyebrow down the side of my nose. The constant distraction of a drop of water hanging on my nose like a shingle on the side of a building was too much to ignore. I threw a bean bag extra high, wiped my nose with my right hand, and tried to resume the pattern. It’s a maneuver I had done dozens of times in the marathon. This time however, a puff of wind caused two bags to collide and one was sent falling to the pavement. I groaned when I picked it up. The pain in the last three miles is often the most excruciating.
“He now thought that he wished he was dead. He believed he envied those men whose bodies lay strewn over the grass of the fields and on the fallen leaves of the forest”
Mile 24
As I passed the 24th mile marker, the clock read 3:02:52. I calculated that all I needed to do was make it 2.2 miles in just about 18 minutes. That only required an average of 8:12 for the final stretch. I reminded myself of all the recent 2 milers I had done in less than 14 minutes. Then I thought, “Qualifying shouldn’t be a problem.” Unfortunately, pain, heat and a final hill were not factored into my calculations.
Joggling to the finish
Approaching the finish, the clock showed this wouldn’t be a qualifying time. But I was determined to end with style and threw a bean bag high over the finish banner just as I crossed the mat. As it fell back, I caught it then stopped my watch. It read 3:21:38 and only 1 drop.
I managed to set a PR beating my previous best by over a minute. I simultaneously experienced emotions of elation, pride, pain, and disappointment. My greatest joggling marathon effort was not quite great enough. I fell 39 seconds short of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. The time might still be good enough to get in, I’ll try, but right now the race remains elusive.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats on your PR. Keep pushing towards that Boston qualifying time, you’ll get it. You were going pretty fast at first, why don’t you try to run a even split? Or a negative split? What’s your strategy, time-wise?
If only I had a strategy. LOL. Actually, what I try to do is just run as fast as I can for 26.2 miles.
I’m too afraid to try and go slower at the start figuring that will just make me finish even slower. I have some anecdotal evidence that backs this up.
For example, in the Indy Mini marathon I started out quite slow due to being put in a crowded corral. I steadily sped up the rest of the race but still finished with only a 1:39.
I would probably be helped if I had a pacer. Since I don’t get to look at my watch, I never really know how fast I’m going. This time I clicked my watch at most of the mile markers but didn’t get to see how I was doing.
I really do need a new race strategy.
Congratulations Perry! That’s a great time and even more impressive because it was done joggling. With your training and joggling streak still going, you’ll be able to qualify at Chicago easily. (i’m going to make an attempt to qualify for NYC) I think we are the same age – when we hit 45, we’ll get an extra ten minutes to BQ. Should be easy!
Yeah, an extra 10 min will make things easier. But I just turned 40 so I won’t get my 10 min for a little while. I really hope to break through that barrier before then.
Good luck in your marathon training. Let me know how it goes.
So amazing! So inspiring. It really is an impressive feat! Kudos to you!
Great job! That is awesome time.
Yeah, having a pacer if grand. My pacer was reading out the time every few minutes during the last 13 miles when he was with me. I bet a good pacer would really help since you can’t look at your watch so much, yet I don’t know how you feel about using one. Haha, like your strategy
Finding that ideal pace is a delicate balance.
Having a pacer “is” grand (sp correction).
Hi Perry,
Well done on your marathon – that’s a seriously good time – even more so with the joggling streak so you haven’t had any rest leading upto the race.
I haven’t got a clue what pace I’m joggling at most of the time so end up asking people around me. Sometimes it’s a relief to drop the balls so I can take a look at the watch. Was thinking of getting a GPS watch (Garmin or something) where you can set the pace and it tells you how you are doing. Of course it’s no good if you’ve got your mp3 player on.
You could always buy one of these (http://yourfamily.o2.co.uk/o2familyjoggler) – there must be some copyright infringement there
congrats on the close finish. You should still consider applying by mail. The worse they can do is say no, but I’m pretty sure if you’re within a minute, they’ll let you in.
Great effort Perry! and congrats on the PR. I’m sure those 39 seconds raised a lot of “what ifs”, but not time to ponder. On to the next!!
Still think it was the worst marathon medal ever, but overall i liked the course.
Great job Perry – good write up. I’m sure they’ll let you in Boston – what race wouldn’t want the Joggler!:)
Previous comment was from me – sorry!
Congrats, Perry! That is awesome. Boston has to let you in! I’ll call my place of birth and tell them that you are in fact the GBOWR 50 miler joggler.
Great race, Perry. Run the first half a bit slower and next time you’ll BQ for sure.
Yes, if only I could pace myself! Can’t seem to shake those first few super-speedy miles. Of course, I also worry that I’ll finish even slower if I don’t run fast early.
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