MANIAC QUESTIONNAIRE

 

1.   ......    Name:  Bob Dolphin

2.      Maniac #:  32

3.      State you live in:  Washington

4.      How many marathons/ultra marathons have you run?  366 (including 44 ultras)

5.      What was the first race you ever ran (any distance)?  As a 15 year old teenager, I ran a 3.5 mile race on paved roads in Worcester, MA, in October of 1944.  There was a field of about 50 from four high schools.  I came in 4th and had about a 6 minute pace that was good enough to get a letter for my school sweater.  The first race that I ran as a middle aged runner was the Human Race, a 10K in Columbia, MO, in May of 1980.  At age 50, I came in 2nd in the 50+ age group with a time of 42+.  This earned a trophy for me.

6.      What was the first marathon you ever ran, what year did you run it, did you have fun that day?  My first marathon was the Heart of America Marathon on September 1, 1981, Labor Day.  I ran a 3:53:45, but it wasn’t a fun day.  It was a “work day” with six major hills and hamstring cramps in the last 10K.  There was a sense of accomplishment for me at the finish line.  I received a T-shirt showing the race course and a finishers paper weight made of marble.

7.      How long have you been a runner and why did you start running?  I became a runner in 1979 at age 49, after my supervisor, a runner, loaned me his copy of Jim Fixx’s Complete Book of Running.  I had been walking two miles to my office, but after reading this book I started running this distance daily.

8.      Why did you decide to become a Maniac, or what inspired you?  I became a maniac because I admired the founders and other members and was impressed by the website.  After Lenore and I encouraged 50 Staters and 100 Marathon Club members to join, I signed up (for both of us).

9.      Of all of the races out there in this world, which one would you most like to run?  I would like to run a marathon in Seoul, Korea, to see the changes since I was there in 1954 during the Korean War.  It was a bombed-out shell of a city then.

10.  If you could run a marathon/ultra accompanied by anyone either living or deceased, who would you choose and why?  I would like to run a marathon with Bill Rogers.  I talked with him for about half an hour at the Bay Bridge Marathon Expo at Virginia Beach, VA, in 2002 and found him to be down-to-earth and friendly.

11.  What was your most memorable marathon and why?  My most memorable marathon was the Pikes Peak Marathon where it took me 8:21:46 to run the 28+ miles.  I had never climbed a major mountain before.  The scenery and natural history were magnificent!

12.  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 have run seven PR’s going from 3:53:45 to 3:00:12 in stages from 1981 to 1988.  Heart of America and Grandma’s Marathon (my time there was 3:11:33 in 1984) are the only two of the seven that are still in existence, so I would recommend Grandma’s.  I think that the Royal Victoria Marathon is a PR course.  I haven’t run St. George’s Marathon, but I’ve heard that it’s a good one for PR’s.

13.  What was the furthest you’ve ever traveled for a race?  The furthest that Lenore and I have traveled to a marathon is from Seattle to London for my 200th marathon in 1997.

14.  Do any of your non-running friends or family members think that you’re crazy for running as much as you do, what are some of their comments to you?  I don’t get many comments about my sanity for running marathons any more.  I suppose they’ve gotten used to the idea.  The comments that I get are, “When are you going to quite running marathons?”  I reply, “There is no age limit” and “When I can’t run them anymore, I’ll walk.  I like to walk.”

15.  If personal obligations or finances were not an issue, how many marathons would you run in one year?  If we could afford it, I would like to run about my present number (20-22), but I’d travel to more states and countries than we do now.

16.  From what race did you receive your favorite finishers medal?  My favorite finishers medal is the one from my first Boston Marathon in 1983.  I’ve had others that are bigger and more attractive, but I had to qualify to get to Boston and that is where the prestige is captured in the finishers medal.  Other favorites are my five from the Yakima River Canyon Marathon.  That’s because of my role as co-director of that race.

17.  Where do you keep your finisher medals?  We have a 75-cup rack that is mounted on a wall in our Yakima home.  Each peg can hold six or more ribboned medals.  This rack has about 400 medals on it. Most of them are finishers medals from marathons and some are age-division awards medals.

18.   Do you wear your race T-shirts, what do you do with the ones you don’t wear?  Most of the time I wear Yakima River Canyon Marathon shirts.  I never discard a race T-shirt, so I’ve filled a lot of closet space with them.  For the most part, I treat them as memorabilia.  Because I’ve run 366 marathons, I’m sure I could wear a different shirt all year without repetition.  I save shirts from shorter races, relays, triathlons, track meets etc., so my total count must be close to 1,000!  Lenore has made over 50 quilts, and one day (in her “spare time”) she’ll make a quilt for me from some of these shirts.

19.  If you could put on a marathon anywhere in the world, where would you have it?  The only place I would want to put on a marathon is in the Yakima River Canyon.  The next one there is on April 1, 2006.  This is our UTOPIA!!

20.  Maniac Yellow, or Maniac Black?  Maniac YELLOW is the better color.  Would Lance Armstrong look right in a black shirt on the winner’s podium???

21.  What is your favorite pre-race meal, post race meal?  For a pre-race meal, I don’t have any real preference, but I favor pastas, rice, potatoes, fruits and vegetables…..and not much meat.  After the race, I’ll eat what is set before me at home, and I prefer Mexican food if it’s on the menu at a restaurant.

22.  What is your energy gel of choice, sports drink of choice?  For energy gel, I like Goo, Hammergel, Clif Gel, and Powergel in that order.  I don’t know which is the most effective.  For Sports drink, I like Powerade for taste, but I think Gatorade is more effective even though it’s saltier than I like.  I know we need the salts, so I take E-capsules on the course.

23.  Which race would you never run again and why?  I may never run Pikes Peak Marathon again because I almost got altitude sickness there 20 years ago.

24.  What was the most challenging race or combination of races you’ve ever done and why?  The most challenging race that I’ve done routinely is the Crater Lake Marathon.  With an altitude of 6,000-8,000 feet, the air is too thin for fast running.  I’ve finished it 15 times.  This year (2005) I almost had a DNF, so next year I plan to run the half marathon there.  I had three attempts at Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run before I quit trying.

25.  What is a typical training week like for you, how many miles do you run, any cross training?  Most of my training has been running races.  So far in 2005, I’ve run about 541 miles in 9 months (39 weeks) for a 14 mile per week average.  Of the 541 miles, 498 were in races (15 marathons, one half marathon, Winter Series/Yakima, Resolution Runs, Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Relay, Hood to Coast Relay and several short races).  Most of my cross training has been brisk walking (2 marathons, Resolution Run 10, 15, 20 Milers) and some training walks.

26.  Do you have a training partner, if so, who is it?  I don’t have a training partner.  Lenore is my coach, advisor, editor, typist, trip planner, YRCM and 100 Marathon Club North America organizer etc.

27.  What kind of shoes do you train in, do you race in a different shoe?  I wear ASICS most of the time.  I quit wearing NIKE racing flats in marathons because of resulting leg injuries.  I use ASICS training and racing.

28.  What are your short-term running goals?  For short-term goals I want to run all of the race distances faster, while doing well in age-class competition.  I want to run in the 4:00-5:00 hour range in marathons again.

29.  What are your long-term running goals?  For long-term goals I want to reach 400, 450, 500+ marathons.  I would like to run some 50K’s to get to 50 ultras for a career total.  I wan to run 50 States (24 so far), the Canadian Provinces (2 so far), the continents (2 so far) and racewalk another marathon.  I want to run marathons for the rest of my life.

30.  Assuming you have time, what do you do for fun other than run marathons?  What I do for fun is study natural history and physical and biological sciences.  I try to identify plants and animals and learn something of their life history.  I do this while running/walking, also.

31.  What is your favorite Beatle song?  I remember when the Beatles came to New York and were televised to the screams of teenage girls, but I don’t remember the titles of the songs.  Put me down for Yellow Submarine.  I first saw the Beatles in black and white on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Elvis Presley came on about the same time period.  I was listening to Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, Peggy Lee, and a host of country singers, men and women in the Rock and Roll era.