Grizzly by Maniac marC

Brief: 4:13:03, 29th OA, 7th AG (M50-59), second slowest marathon, second

toughest course I've run (Crater Lake takes top in both categories), 51st

marathon, 12th state

Bit longer (actually one of my longer reports so settle in with your

favorite drink or hit the Delete key):

I think most of you have heard by now (ad infinitum) that I haven't had the

greatest training year. February was a wash out due to some sort of

bronchial infection and then I sprained my ankle in July. After my

disappointing race at Newport in the first weekend of June, my mileage has

been real poor. My weekly mile totals were

17,41,42,24,37,19,26,0,22,35

leading up to this race. This race was always just going to be a training

run but I really had no idea how I was going to do. Even I have never gone

into a marathon with such a lousy base, except maybe my first one when I was

25 years old a long time ago. So, I left on Amtrak with lots of trepidation

on Thursday afternoon. The train ride out was pretty uneventful and I even

managed to get a few hours sleep here and there during the 16 hour ride.

When I got off the train at East Glacier Park, waiting for me was the

smiling face of my one-time Boston teammate, Canadian triathlete, and soon

to be getting his BQ again, Lorne. We hopped into his car and off we went

to the town of Choteau which is the closest town of civilization to check

into our motel, complete with bird cleaning facilities and wireless

internet. At the packet pickup, there were, of course, a few Maniacs

hanging out and we chatted for a bit before going back to the motel and

taking a walk down Main Street (didn't take that long). Off to a very nice,

low-key pasta dinner (definitely recommend it if you ever plan on running

the race) and finally back to the motel where we started to read the

comments about the race on marathonguide.com. That really isn't a great

idea the night before a race, especially given the comments of this race.

All the comments only had nice things to say about the organization, aid

stations, pasta dinner, and locals. Oh, and they all mentioned the HILLS

again and again (one person compared the run up Hurricane Ridge to an

freeway overpass in comparison to the big hill in the race). Now this was

slightly different than the description given on the marathon's web site:

Elevation at the start/finish of the Marathon is 4830' and gradually drops

to a low of 4110' at mile 8. From there, the course proceeds up and down

several hills between miles 8 and 12 before resuming a mostly flat climb to

the course's highest elevation of 4930' at mile 19. After that, there are a

few small hills before the course finish. The first 7 miles of the course

are asphalt and the remaining 19 miles gravel (ranging from relatively rocky

in miles 8-10 to hard-packed and pebbles in miles 11-26).

The above doesn't sound too bad, right? Unfortunately, marathonguide folks

were a bit more accurate.

Lorne and I woke up bright and early, had our pre-race meals and were off at

around 5:15AM for the 30 minute drive to the start. When we got out of our

cars in was pretty nippy (at least for this non-Canadian) but I knew it was

going to warm up quickly since there wasn't a cloud to be seen. I also knew

that we would probably have zero shade since there are basically no trees in

this area of Montana. After the playing of both the Canadian (I think Lorne

might have bribed the RD) and American anthems we were off. The first 8

miles are paved and downhill and we decided to go out at an 8:30 pace. We

basically hit every mile right on pace but by mile 6, I needed to use one of

the many porta-potties (one at about each aid station, I think) so I told

Lorne I would meet up with him at the end. After my break, I continued on

for the next 2 paved miles still running comfortably at 8:30 pace. I did,

however, notice the altitude since my breathing was more labored than normal

for an 8:30 pace. But, it wasn't horrendous.

We then made a right turn onto the gravel and actually had about a mile in

the shade (the trees weren't tall but the sun wasn't up that high yet).

However, I immediately started slowing down. The first few miles of gravel

was pretty equivalent to running on Leif Ericson (for you Portlanders) and I

was definitely looking out since I didn't want to test my ankle. Plus we

hit the hills, which turned out to be unrelenting. I started running closer

to a 9:00 pace and finally got into a ultra trail running mode, which is to

walk through aid stations, chat at the stations with the locals, and just

enjoy the experience. My miles varied from 9:00 to 10:30 with the slower

ones coming as the race progressed. Did I mention that the hills were

always there. It sure seemed like we gained more than 800' from the turnoff

onto the gravel. And, running on gravel began to take its toll mentally.

Eighteen miles of this stuff is a lot of gravel to run. Even without the

hills and elevation, I think the gravel would have cost me 15-30 seconds per

mile. Plus the sun was bearing down on you and, while it didn't really feel

hot, the sun was definitely bright and taking a lot out of the runners.

There is a very nasty short hill right around the 18.5 mile mark, which is

the turnaround for a short out and back (when I saw Lorne coming back to me,

he said the hill was tough, especially going down). According to a book

about the race, you get a pin if you get to the top of the hill (19 mile

mark) in under 3 hours, which I did. On the way up where a few cheerleaders

which I helped with my own cheer -- Give Me An H, Give Me An I, Give Me An

L, Give Me Another L (I kept it clean for the locals). After the out and

back, you turn at the 21 mile mark and head for home where you are greeted

with a headwind for the last 5 miles. The headwind wasn't really too bad

and did help cool you down. Of course, the last 5 miles also had lots of

hills with very few downhills, or so it seemed. My last 4 miles were right

around 11 minutes a piece but it really wasn't a bonk. Just a tired boy

bringing it home. I knew I wasn't breaking 4 hours at the halfway mark so I

didn't really have a time goal except not to run any miles over 12 minutes

(the goal changed at mile 22 when I ran my first 11+ mile since my earlier

goal was not to run any miles over 11 minutes -- I'm flexible on my goal

setting if nothing else).

After the race, I was pretty sore and, as mentioned in an earlier email,

Lorne somehow convinced me to dip my toes (he went in a lot more) in this

frigid creek (Lorne did exaggerate a bit but not too much when describing my

wonderful behavior). There wasn't much reason to hang around since the sun

was brutal, there were no trees to get under, and not a huge amount to ear

afterwards (we didn't sign up for the post-race BBQ with your choice of beef

or buffalo burger). We drove back to the hotel, limped around, showered,

and went off to a bar for some pizza and beer. Then the drive back to the

train station for me and to Canada for Lorne. My train ended up being 90

minutes late so I had another beer at the Glacier Park Lodge overlooking the

Rockies -- not a bad way to wait out a train delay. This morning I'm

actually not as sore as I thought I would be and feel pretty good, just

tired.

I would recommend the race to everyone who wants a tough race that has no

spectators, altitude, gravel roads, lots of hills, no shade and strong sun

:-). Seriously, I do recommend the race. It is a small race (there were

100 marathon finishers) that is very well organized and everyone was super

friendly. Give me these types of marathons any day over mega-marathons,

except maybe for Boston because of its history. Make no mistake about it,

this is not an easy marathon. It isn't as hard as Crater Lake but not that

far behind it because of the gravel roads. Crater Lake is at a higher

altitude and has longer ups and downs but at least it has some nice

downhills (miles 14-22 are mostly gentle downhill at Crater Lake). Of

course, Crater Lake has the last 4 miles from hell but that is another race

and story.

As for me, I'm not sure what's up next. I've got to get my training up if

I'm going to continue running marathons and that means I've got to get my

aches and pains under control. I'm signed up for Skagit in 3 weeks but I'm

not sure if I will run it. Portland is very iffy (probably no

Decker-Frommer grudge match) since I would have to commit in the next couple

of weeks and I'm not sure I want to do that quite yet. I'm also signed up

for Carlsbad during our annual trip down south in January and I'll

definitely be at Boston in April. If I've decided to still run marathons

(yeah, right), I'm sure I'll be at Yakima, Eugene, and Newport next year.

Right now, I'm just going to play it by ear and get ready for a week without

a kitchen (they begin ripping out everything tomorrow morning).

Finally, let me say it was great hanging out with Lorne over the past few

days. Definitely one of the nice guys on this planet. We were talking

about maybe doing another adventure next year (I've always wanted to run the

Mt Rushmore Marathon since I've never seen Mt Rushmore -- I want to follow

in the footsteps of Cary Grant).

I think that's probably enough (actually more than enough).

marc