Marathon Man

Marathon weekend began with me catching a ride Saturday morning with the first car that came along as i walked down Island Mountain Rd., a woman who was going all the way to Eureka. We stopped in Garberville for gas, where i gave her $10, and i was dropped off about a half-hour later at the Myers Flat exit off 101, 4.4 miles from where i had planned on spending the night: the Burlington Campground inside Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

After a hearty lunch in Myers Flat of a couple of turkey sandwiches and a container of pasta salad, i walked down the road, arriving at my destination around 1 pm. Everything was going just peachily, until i removed the tent that Sky had loaned me, to find that he had neglected to include the poles!

Fortunately it was neither that cold nor wet, and i managed to snuggle up warmly inside my trusty sleeping bag for a pretty good night's sleep (with a tarp Sky provided) that i'd lain on the ground both below and above me to keep dew away. i was pleased to wake up at 7:30 and find that there hadn't been any dew to speak of.

Sky has not yet been properly chastised for this glaring oversight.

The sponsors of the marathon, the Six Rivers Running Club, had set up a stand at a Visitors' Center next door where runners could pick up their race number. There was a really awful slide-show at 4 pm -- slides about 20 years old, all out of focus, no matter how far back they moved the projector -- after which i walked 2 miles down the road to the American Legion Hall in Weott (the Sinkyone name for the Eel River, still not sure what it means, though) for an all-you-can-eat pasta and salad dinner. Loaded up on 3 plates of spaghetti and sauce, a bowl of salad and a cookie before heading back for a good night's sleep.

Caught a ride in the morning with a couple of other runners, and was lined up with about 700 others for the start at 9 am: about 500 for a half-marathon, the rest for the full course.

What a delight to be running among the redwoods. The first half of the course ran next to the Eel River, and the view was breath-taking. i spent a few seconds at a time more than once simply gazing at the view down by the river, or the mountains above it, and most spectacularly, looking straight up at where the tops of the trees disappeared into the sky, some 350 feet above.

The Oct. 9 issue of The New Yorker has a great article -- which i was unable to find online -- called Tall for Its Age about the discovery this summer of three redwoods, all about an hour north of here in Redwoods National Park, and all taller than what had been until then the world's tallest tree, the Stratosphere Giant in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a true giant looming at 369 feet tall. The new world's tallest tree, nicknamed the Hyperion, is 379 feet tall, about the height of a 40-story skyscraper.

i'd been averaging about 11.5 minutes per mile during training on dirt roads loaded with hills, and had expected to run faster the day of the race, what with the course all on pavement and mostly flat. The big question was: how much faster? i'd calculated that in order to finish in under 4 hours, i'd need to run each mile in an average time of 9:15, although the marathoner/writer Jeff Galloway had advised first-time marathoners to focus simply on finishing without injury, without any thought of time. Still i wondered: was i capable of a sub-4-hour finish time?

I thought that it was a good omen of success that my first mile split was 9:15! But my next thought was: great, now i only have to run 25 more of these. Which i managed to do: throughout the first 2/3 of the race anyway, i was either on pace or 3 or 4 minutes faster. Even with my one-minute walk breaks -- during the first hour, every 8 minutes, and for most of the remainder of the race every ten minutes -- i found myself to be gaining on runners who i repeatedly passed.

But i admit that it was a bit of a let-down that two runners who i'd looked forward to finally leaving behind made a RIGHT turn at the 13.1-mile mark, to finish the half-marathon, while i made a LEFT turn to do the second half of the course, and suddenly found myself quite alone on the road!

The second half was even more inspiring. More giant redwoods, but on a much smaller road, with the trees coming right up to road-side, giving the illusion (?) of greater speed. But it was a bit more lonely. I only came upon one or two other runners during miles 14 and 15.

i could tell that my pace was beginning to falter around mile 21 or so, and that my margin for finishing below 4 hours was shrinking. When i came upon a young guy who was walking, i said, "Dude! Help me to finish in under four hours!" and he said, ok, started running again, and Kenji from Walnut Creek and i ran side-by-side for the rest of the race.

It was great to have someone to talk to, and to have something take our minds off of the pain our legs were feeling. i'm quite sure that running with him probably shaved a good five or ten minutes or so off my time in that last half-hour. i'd stopped taking walk breaks by this time, realizing that every minute was precious. We urged each other onward, but in the end it wasn't quite enough; i finished in 4:02.51, Kenji a couple of seconds behind. i was 5th in my age-group out of 11. i don't recall now my overall place; my time per mile worked out to 9:15. That damn two-tenths! Thank you very much Queen Alexandra!

The original marathon distance had been 25 miles, but for the London Olympics of 1908, the course was extended by 1.2 miles so that her friggin' majesty could watch the start from Buckingham Palace. The new distance became official: 26 miles, 385 yards. (The marathon is one of two sporting events that have taken place in every one of the modern Olympic games. Anyone who can name the other sport gets the opportunity to submit the answer with question to the makers of Trivial Pursuit.)

I hobbled around for a few minutes after the finish before lying down on a Heartwood massge table! This marathon has long been one of the public events that Heartwood students show up at to get in some practice, and i was there last year for just that.

Members of the Faithful Readership will recall that it was my old high school buddy Mike Morone who got me interested in doing a marathon; runners at last year's HRM mentioned Galloway's book to me, after i'd told them i was thinking about doing one.

It was very nice to be on the receiving end of a massage this year. i got one massage from a first-quarter student named Deborah, and then a second one from Michael Smith, a part-time instructor at Heartwood who has been organizing Heartwood's participation in the HRM for several years. My calves were pretty tender, but after the second massage, i was able to walk fairly normally again, although still with some soreness. And still more back to normal this morning.

Headed up to Eureka with 3 first-quarter students -- Brenna, Mike and Jessica -- to celebrate Jessica's 20th birthday, at the Eel River Brewery. A coupla pints of ale and some fish and chips were just what my doctor would've ordered, if i had one.

Now for a few days' rest before deciding which marathon to run next. Mike Morone, take note: the Avenue of the Giants Marathon -- same course, different day -- takes place on May 6, 2007.

IN CLOSING: a special thank-you to you, Mike Morone, without whose inspiration and encouragement i would most likely have never attempted such an endeavor. Training for and actually running a marathon has been an immensely positive, uplifting and huge (!) change in my life-style, and (if i may humbly say so), i am a much better person, in more ways than one, because of it.