11th Annual Air Force Marathon
Wright Patterson AFB (Dayton), OH
September 15, 2007
After a near PR performance at the Pig in May, I decided to run a fall marathon where I could build on my conditioning. Air Force was 19 weeks from the Pig which was just about perfect.
My goal at the start of my training was to run an open BQ time - under 3:11. I had just qualified at the Pig; now I was looking to move up in the corrals. Over the summer my 5k times dropped from 18:57 to 18:03. I was also participating in a series of trail races which meant lots of hills.
As September approached, I had to choose a goal time for AF. PacerChris[/URL" target="_blank"> suggested that 3:05 was within my reach. Having trained with him over the summer, I agreed with his assessment. He usually paces the 3:10 group for Clif but would be racing (not pacing) at AF.
Surprisingly, the forecast from two weeks out held and we had 48 degrees at the start and finished around 58 with an increasing wind.
The start and finish are at the United States Air Force Museum. There are more than a dozen aircraft on display outside of the museum flanking an old runway. This would ultimately serve to define the final tenth mile of the race...very cool!
As I was scanning the crowd I saw a guy in a gray shirt that had "Robert" written on the front. It was, of course, srlopez. I introduced myself and wished him luck with his busy weekend.
About 10 minutes before the start, the national anthem was sung. This is the first time at any race where I have seen all activity immediately stop and thousands of people pay appropriate respect to the flag and our anthem. Having served in the military myself, I was both honored and proud to be a part of that moment.
Dick Beardsley was introduced and stood on the podium at the start. An Air Force officer then started the wheelchair participants five minutes before the marathoners with a starter's pistol as well as a flyover by a fighter jet (F-15 I think).
The marathoners started promptly at 0735 hours (military precision of course) with our own flyover. I was on my way to completing my 5th marathon.
I caught up to PacerChris a few seconds after the start and wished him luck with his 2:50 goal (he PRed with a 2:48!). He slowly pulled away and I stuck close to the 3:10 pace group for most of the first mile. I pulled away from them on the first hill which started in the second mile.
Around mile 4 I started chatting with a guy that had been running next to me for a few hundred yards. He as an Air Force officer who was running his second marathon and was aiming to finish under 3:10. He asked if I minded if he paced with me for as long as he could. Since 90% of the race course is on a "closed" base, it would not be open to spectators except at the relay exchange points. I knew it would potentially be a lonely run and I welcomed the opportunity to have someone to talk to over the next 2.5 hours.
Rob and I picked up another runner about a mile later. Thomas had run AF 5 times and was very familiar with the course. The three of us would stick together for the next 15 miles. Rob, with his Garmin, would call out our pace at each mile marker and Thomas would give us an idea of what was coming up in the next mile.
About mile 15 our group of 3 turned into 4 when Kristopher, running his first marathon, pulled up alongside and asked if we minded if he tagged along. "The more the merrier" was the response. Rob continued to call out pace (hovering around 7:00 and 7:01/mile at this point). It turned out that we were all in different age groups so there would be no internal competition there. Thomas was the course veteran and the oldest at 48, I had just turned 41 a few days ago, Rob was 33 and Kristopher was 22.
Our small group stuck together for about 3 miles along the more desolate portions of the course. There were single runners that we'd overtake on occasion but nobody passed our pack. At one of the water stops near mile 18, Rob and Kristopher started to fall back and Thomas started to pull away. I kept an eye on him though.
Mile 20 was familiar territory as we were now following the same route in reverse to the finish. It was also the point where we joined the half-marathoners on their way back to the finish. The half started 30 minutes after we did so the people we were coming up on included more walkers than runners. It became a challenge to find the straightest route between the walkers while still running the tangents.
I passed the first place female runner around mile 22 which is just before the climb back up the big hill we had come down 20 miles earlier. I could still see Thomas and was able to close the gap and catch him right around mile 24.
This was the start of the long downhill toward the finish. About halfway down the hill, the finish area comes into sight across the airfield but is still more than 1.5 miles away! Thomas and I are running side-by-side and split occasionally to overtake walkers or slower runners. The 7:06 mile we ran on the way up turned into a 6:38 on the way back in.
Mile 25 is at the base of the hill and at the end of a runway which immediately flattens out. Turning to head for home up the runway also meant turning into the wind. There were more people here but with 100 feet of course width, they were pretty spread out.
Thomas tucked in a few feet behind me and we managed a 6:35 mile as the finish neared. There was a left turn then two quick rights that lead us through the gauntlet of planes that flanked the last tenth of a mile. Thomas dodged the crowd better than I did and pulled about 15 feet in front. It was at this point that I saw my family. To my surprise, my ten-year-old son jumped in and ran most of the way in with me. After crossing the finish line, an Air Force Colonel draped my medal over my head in the finisher's chute. That thing is huge and heavy!
Final Results:
3:02:30 - 6:58 avg. pace (PR by 11+ minutes)
1:31:14 - Half Split (PR also)
44th overall of 1640
7/198 AG
As my family and I were walking to the car to leave a few V-22 Ospreys and some C130s were flying routes over the crowd. The kids loved that (OK...so did I).
This was a fantastic race with a somewhat challenging course. It had some pretty big hills that were separated by 20 miles of very flat (and desolate at times) terrain. The medal is awesome with a C5 Galaxy on one side and a design commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Air Force on the reverse side. I would highly recommend this race.
------------------
Mike[/URL" target="_blank">
http://This message has been edited by R K Tekt (edited Sep-16-2007).
Wright Patterson AFB (Dayton), OH
September 15, 2007
After a near PR performance at the Pig in May, I decided to run a fall marathon where I could build on my conditioning. Air Force was 19 weeks from the Pig which was just about perfect.
My goal at the start of my training was to run an open BQ time - under 3:11. I had just qualified at the Pig; now I was looking to move up in the corrals. Over the summer my 5k times dropped from 18:57 to 18:03. I was also participating in a series of trail races which meant lots of hills.
As September approached, I had to choose a goal time for AF. PacerChris[/URL" target="_blank"> suggested that 3:05 was within my reach. Having trained with him over the summer, I agreed with his assessment. He usually paces the 3:10 group for Clif but would be racing (not pacing) at AF.
Surprisingly, the forecast from two weeks out held and we had 48 degrees at the start and finished around 58 with an increasing wind.
The start and finish are at the United States Air Force Museum. There are more than a dozen aircraft on display outside of the museum flanking an old runway. This would ultimately serve to define the final tenth mile of the race...very cool!
As I was scanning the crowd I saw a guy in a gray shirt that had "Robert" written on the front. It was, of course, srlopez. I introduced myself and wished him luck with his busy weekend.
About 10 minutes before the start, the national anthem was sung. This is the first time at any race where I have seen all activity immediately stop and thousands of people pay appropriate respect to the flag and our anthem. Having served in the military myself, I was both honored and proud to be a part of that moment.
Dick Beardsley was introduced and stood on the podium at the start. An Air Force officer then started the wheelchair participants five minutes before the marathoners with a starter's pistol as well as a flyover by a fighter jet (F-15 I think).
The marathoners started promptly at 0735 hours (military precision of course) with our own flyover. I was on my way to completing my 5th marathon.
I caught up to PacerChris a few seconds after the start and wished him luck with his 2:50 goal (he PRed with a 2:48!). He slowly pulled away and I stuck close to the 3:10 pace group for most of the first mile. I pulled away from them on the first hill which started in the second mile.
Around mile 4 I started chatting with a guy that had been running next to me for a few hundred yards. He as an Air Force officer who was running his second marathon and was aiming to finish under 3:10. He asked if I minded if he paced with me for as long as he could. Since 90% of the race course is on a "closed" base, it would not be open to spectators except at the relay exchange points. I knew it would potentially be a lonely run and I welcomed the opportunity to have someone to talk to over the next 2.5 hours.
Rob and I picked up another runner about a mile later. Thomas had run AF 5 times and was very familiar with the course. The three of us would stick together for the next 15 miles. Rob, with his Garmin, would call out our pace at each mile marker and Thomas would give us an idea of what was coming up in the next mile.
About mile 15 our group of 3 turned into 4 when Kristopher, running his first marathon, pulled up alongside and asked if we minded if he tagged along. "The more the merrier" was the response. Rob continued to call out pace (hovering around 7:00 and 7:01/mile at this point). It turned out that we were all in different age groups so there would be no internal competition there. Thomas was the course veteran and the oldest at 48, I had just turned 41 a few days ago, Rob was 33 and Kristopher was 22.
Our small group stuck together for about 3 miles along the more desolate portions of the course. There were single runners that we'd overtake on occasion but nobody passed our pack. At one of the water stops near mile 18, Rob and Kristopher started to fall back and Thomas started to pull away. I kept an eye on him though.
Mile 20 was familiar territory as we were now following the same route in reverse to the finish. It was also the point where we joined the half-marathoners on their way back to the finish. The half started 30 minutes after we did so the people we were coming up on included more walkers than runners. It became a challenge to find the straightest route between the walkers while still running the tangents.
I passed the first place female runner around mile 22 which is just before the climb back up the big hill we had come down 20 miles earlier. I could still see Thomas and was able to close the gap and catch him right around mile 24.
This was the start of the long downhill toward the finish. About halfway down the hill, the finish area comes into sight across the airfield but is still more than 1.5 miles away! Thomas and I are running side-by-side and split occasionally to overtake walkers or slower runners. The 7:06 mile we ran on the way up turned into a 6:38 on the way back in.
Mile 25 is at the base of the hill and at the end of a runway which immediately flattens out. Turning to head for home up the runway also meant turning into the wind. There were more people here but with 100 feet of course width, they were pretty spread out.
Thomas tucked in a few feet behind me and we managed a 6:35 mile as the finish neared. There was a left turn then two quick rights that lead us through the gauntlet of planes that flanked the last tenth of a mile. Thomas dodged the crowd better than I did and pulled about 15 feet in front. It was at this point that I saw my family. To my surprise, my ten-year-old son jumped in and ran most of the way in with me. After crossing the finish line, an Air Force Colonel draped my medal over my head in the finisher's chute. That thing is huge and heavy!
Final Results:
3:02:30 - 6:58 avg. pace (PR by 11+ minutes)
1:31:14 - Half Split (PR also)
44th overall of 1640
7/198 AG
As my family and I were walking to the car to leave a few V-22 Ospreys and some C130s were flying routes over the crowd. The kids loved that (OK...so did I).
This was a fantastic race with a somewhat challenging course. It had some pretty big hills that were separated by 20 miles of very flat (and desolate at times) terrain. The medal is awesome with a C5 Galaxy on one side and a design commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Air Force on the reverse side. I would highly recommend this race.
------------------
Mike[/URL" target="_blank">
http://This message has been edited by R K Tekt (edited Sep-16-2007).
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