Maniac questionnaire Name Brian Pulling Maniac #1165 How many marathons / ultra marathons have you run?6 to date What was the first race you ever ran? (Any distance) Concord Township Community 5K What was the first marathon you ever ran? What year did you run it? Did you have fun that day? I ran the Towpath Marathon in Peninsula Ohio.- It started off as a fun run, but got tough at the end. It was the same day as the Chicago Marathon Meltdown and I the temps at the end of the race were in the upper 80’s, so I don’t know I was prepared for that on my first race in October. I wanted to finish sub 4 but came in with a chip time of 4:00:39 - So from that point, I knew I had to run another one to get rid of that stupid :39 seconds. How long have you been a runner and why did you start running? I started a few years back just to stay in shape. My brother in law got me going. He ran the Cleveland Marathon 10k and I thought, if he can do that, so can I. Why did you decide to become a Maniac? Or what inspired you? Once I started running marathons, I kind of became ‘hooked’. I figure most people either run a marathon once and check it off their ‘to do’ list or they get the bug and keep on running. I must have caught the bug. I like the fact that there are others you can bond with to keep going, and I guess there are lots of other habits out there that are worse than running. My real inspiration to keep going was when I got involved with a loose knit running group called the Oak Hollow Runners. About 8 people who love to run, drink coffee (and a few beers) and encourage each other to keep going. Two or three of whom I believe will be Maniacs soon. Also, it is nice to know I am not alone in my addiction to running (and there are actually those worse off than me!) Of all the races out there in this world, which one would you most like to run? Boston (if I can qualify) or the Great Wall in China –I’d love to see that up close. If you could run a marathon / ultra accompanied by anyone either living or deceased, who would you choose and why? Albert Einstein, he seemed like a pretty cool guy and I’d like to know more about him. Just the simple stuff, like what does a genius eat for breakfast, or what flavor ice cream do you like? What was your most memorable marathon and why? The Towpath – it was my first full marathon – something I thought for sure I would NEVER be able to do. The best part of this race came right before the finish. My 5 year old son ran out of the crowd and grabbed my hand while I was running and then we both ran across the finish line together. That is something that I’ll never forget. If someone asked you to pick a race for him or her that they could run a PR at, which race would you suggest? I think the Towpath would be good for that, it is flat, mostly shaded and has plenty of aid stations along the way. I actually recommended that race as a BQ race to a friend who fell short of qualifying at Cleveland. She ran the Towpath this October and got her BQ! What was the furthest you’ve ever traveled for a race? About 1,200 miles to FL Do any of your non-running friends or family members thing that you’re crazy for running as much as you do? What are some of their comments to you? Yep – I heard a good one this weekend. My brother in laws girlfriend asked:”Why would anyone want to run a race where the distance was determined by where the first person who ran it dropped dead? If personal obligations or finances were not an issue, how many marathons would you run in one year? How many ya got? From what race did you receive your favorite finishers medal? Disney, it was the nicest, (but the small Towpath medal holds a special place for me) Where do you keep your finisher medals? Hanging off of a shelf in the home office Do you wear your race t-shirts? What do you do with the ones you don’t wear? Yep, I wear the ones that fit well, or have nice logos, those that I don’t care for I keep. I here you can get a quilt made out of old running shirts, I just might have to do that some day. If you could put on a marathon anywhere in the world, where would you have it? I would put it in Ireland, great views and fresh Guinness. – hey wait, I think that’s the Dublin Marathon right? Maniac Yellow, or Maniac Black? Yellow What is your favorite pre race meal? Post race meal? Pre Race is a bagel, Post-Race is pizza, Subway, Panini’s, or a steak with a Sam Adams What is your energy gel of choice? Sport drink of choice? I like the Powebar Gels, Latte flavor, they’re nice and thin. For Sports drink, I take whatever is on sale. Which race would you never run again and why? I would do them all over again, they all had something good to offer What was the most challenging race or combination of races you’ve ever done and why? Presque Isle was tough for me, race temps started out at 80 at 7:00 am in October, that was a little rough. I guess I am more of a cold temp runner What is a typical training week like for you? How many miles do you run? Any cross training? I do about 25-40, usually Tues/Weds/Thurs shorter runs and longer on Sat/Sun or both. I don’t really cross train now, but I know I should start. Do you have a training partner? If so, who is it? Several, I run with a group on the weekends. We also go to most races together. What kind of shoes do you train in? Do you race in a different shoe? I tend to train and race in the same shoes, I am still looking for the ‘Holy Grail’ of running shoes, but haven’t found it yet. The Nike Victory works well for ½ marathons for me, I used to use the Vomero for marathons, but have tried a few others and am still searching. What are your short-term running goals? Keep in shape to do more marathons What are your long-term running goals? 50 marathons in 50 states and Boston. Maybe an ultra? Assuming you have time, what do you do for fun other than run marathons? Try to do some weekend traveling, hit a few wineries and maybe eat some good food. Who is your favorite Beatle and what is your favorite Beatle song? The Beatles were best when they were all together. For some reason, I like Rocky Raccoon for my favorite song, don’t ask me why. |