Marathon Man:   2004 Events

The year started with serious training for the Paris Marathon in sometimes brutal winter conditions.
After Paris, finally some 5K races!

Icicle Run 10 miler on a cold, rainy January day
Caesar Rodney Half Marathon before Paris
Think First 5K was my first 5K
Broad Street Run 10 Mi. in Philadelphia
Bay to Breakers in San Francisco
Rockwood Ice Cream Festival 5K
Summer training heats up!
Philadelphia Distance Run Half Marathon - Sept.

Three weeks after the excitement of Paris, Ray finally got around to running his first 5K race at Christiana Medical Center on a cool and clear Thursday evening. A number of the Rebel Runners were in attendance.

I was actually nervous, since my training had always been geared to longer runs where speed was less of a factor.

My strategy was to go out with the leaders and take it from there. My pace turned out to be a good one, since I was afraid of starting too fast or too slow. I was hoping not to have too much gas remaining in the tank at the finish and I was satisfied with the result. For much of the 3.1 mile race around the parking lots surrounding Christiana Hospital, I was a few steps behind a female runner. I caught her near the turnaround and held her off until she finally passed me in the final 200 yards. She was the top female finisher.

I came in 12th place overall, and 4th in my division.
Time was 20:28. A great result for my 5K debut! It was nice to have several friends in the race. The winner, Chris "Smarty" James, works for the race sponsor, not to mention being a fellow Paris Marathoner!

The Rebel Runners decided to make a real event of the Broad Street Run. Rich brought most of the group up to Philly in a mini-bus and we parked at the Sports Complex, where we'd hit a Phillies game after the race. We gathered at Jack's place in Wilmington, where we loaded the bus and set off on the 45 minute drive, with the typical rest stop to make it seem like a real road trip. After parking, we boarded the SEPTA subway train along with 10,000 other runners for the ride to the north side of town.

Weather was good. 63 and overcast, though a little humid. We had plenty of time to stretch and hydrate at the staging area at a high school track. Then we endured a 20 minute delay at the start line due to a small fire on the SEPTA subway line we had just taken. I started in the 7 minute pace group along with Greg, Rich and Smarty.

Broad Street is a flat course, touted as the "fastest 10 miler in the U.S." and it is! In 2003, I ran it in 73:29, so this time, I'd shoot for a flat 70:00. I maintained the pace well, checking my watch at each milemarker. This is a fun race, since not only does it make you feel fast, but there is decent crowd support. Of course, a fair amount of the spectators are actually people just trying to cross the street! Bad timing, as they must wait for 10,000 people to pass. Their other option is to gamble and try to sprint across Broad Street at the risk of being trampled. This is dangerous, and something for runners to watch out for.

I crossed the finish in 70:04, a bit disappointed that I was just not able to take off those extra few seconds! But it was a successful race overall, and I'd enjoy the food and drink that was awaiting us. Our group found each other while we stretched and re-fueled. Then we headed back to the parking lot to have a pleasant tailgate party for a couple hours before heading over to the new Citizens Bank ballpark for an exciting extra-innings baseball game.

If a "Marathon Man" award was presented, it would have to go to Lori, who did the 10 mile race, added another 6 miles of training, showered in the parking lot, attended the baseball game, and then headed to the ice arena for a Flyers playoff game!!!! That's a long day of sports.

T-shirt


Brooks Trance - after 2 marathons and 400 miles

Ray's stats:
Time: 70:04

Place (overall):
751 of 10,657
--- top 7%

Place (Male 40-44):
118 of 935
--- top 13%