In search of old age PRs

Lost Dutchman Marathon

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Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,USA

Member Since:

Sep 25, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Marathon Finish

Running Accomplishments:

All running accomplishments are Post Teenage Years:

17:06 5K--Murray 2014

16:58 5K (aided)--Running of the Leopards 2010

34:41--10K Deseret News 2018 (aided)

1:16--(aided) Hobble Creek Half 2009

2:43--St. George Marathon 2012

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub 2:50 Ogden Marathon

Sub 17:00 at Draper 5K

Long-Term Running Goals:

Sub 2:40 Marathon

 

Personal:

Married to Elizabeth (she got me running in 2003). We have three boys, Lucas (12) , Sam (8) and Ollie (5).

Many years ago, I read that the AVERAGE male is capable of a 2:40 marathon.  I decided to test that theory.  I began running in 2003 with Top of Utah as my first marathon (4:24).  I need 3 more minutes.

"Life is short...running makes it seem longer."--Baron Hansen

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Race: Lost Dutchman Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:57:00, Place overall: 9, Place in age division: 1
Total Distance
26.20

Went down to Phoenix with the family and ran the Lost Dutchman in Apache Junction.  The course was probably the toughest I've run.  It has 3 good climbs at 9-13 miles, 16-19 and 21-24.  Unfortunately, the web-site elevation profile was not exactly true to the course.  I drove it on Saturday and knew I would have a hard time breaking 3:00 hours (this was not going to be a PR course).  The first 6 miles had some spectacular scenery and the organization/volunteers were incredible.  The first 5-6 miles is dirt road.  The entire dirt section had short, steep pitches, but was where most of the elevation drop was recorded.  Over the entire course you lose about 400 feet. 

Below are my splits and you can see where the wheels came off!

Mile 1: 6:24.  118 feet drop.  Great start, right on time at 7 AM.

Mile 2: 6:22.  49 feet drop.  I began to sweat and threw my gloves away here.  This is usually bad news for cramping.

Mile 3.6:32.  42 feet drop.  There was a pack of about 15-20 runners in front of me, but I knew it was going to be a long race.

Mile 4: 6:24.  37 feet drop.  Starting to reel some runners in.

Mile 5: 6:21.  44 feet drop.  I caught my first two runners.  This is where the dirt road ends and pavement begins.

Mile 6: 6:24.  40 feet drop.  On a paved road now and my legs began to feel better.

Mile 7: 6:24.  84 feet drop.  This is where the residential part ends and you get on a major highway (Hwy 60).

Mile 8: 6:30.  25 feet drop.  I was able to finally get a pace working and caught two more runners.

Mile 9: 6:30.  24 feet climb.  This where a major hill begins.  I'm taking plenty of water and Heed (like Cytomax) at the aid station every 2 miles.

Mile 10: 6:39.  25 feet climb.  The bad part of these climbs is you can see them forever like St. George.

Mile 11: 6:46. 85 feet climb.  Tough section.  They had a Hammer gel station and I was able to get a small amount down.

Mile 12: 6:46.  40 feet climb.  Almost to the top with some sharp curves.

Mile 13: 6:35.  67 feet drop.  Over the first major climb!  Wahoo!  I passed one guy cramping.  I was really worried this was going to be me soon.  The heat was probably up to 65 degrees by now.  I know it was 77 degrees at the finished with no clouds!

Mile 14: 6:19.  58 feet drop.  My fastest mile.  I was feeling pretty strong and caught another runner.

Mile 15: 6:34.  76 feet drop.  Legs are starting to get a little tight.  This section put us back on the main highway (Hwy 60).

Mile 16: 6:34.  36 feet drop.  I can the next major hill looming.

Mile 17: 6:43.  11 feet climb.  Tough section.  We had to run on the far side of a ditch with big rocks because the road was too narrow for cars and traffic.  This created a lot of dust which made it hard to breath.

Mile 18: 6:56.  39 feet climb.  Another gel station.  The course is about to join the 1/2 marathoners, but the marathon people had to go beyond the half turn around..suck.

Mile 19: 7:14.  113 feet climb.  Out and back.  The steepest climb of the run.  Nothing like hitting this at mile 19.  I can see how far ahead the other runners are and know I can not catch anyone else.  I also get a chance to see how close the pursuing runners are.  I'm over 1/2 mile ahead, so I knew my placing was secure.  The person behind me would be the first woman finisher.

Mile 20: 6:48.  56 feet drop.  I tried to find some speed again, but began to do the marathon shuffle past the slower half marathon people.

Mile 21: 6:46.  48 feet drop.  I know I'm not going to find that 6:30 pace again unless I jump on a motorcycle.  Now I just don't want to walk.

Mile 22: 7:01.  15 feet drop.  The official elevation chart shows it is all down hill the last 10K, but I can see a big climb on the horizon.

Mile 23: 7:29.  67 feet climb.  Running with my head down now.

Mile 24. 7:33.  45 feet climb.  One more push uphill before the finish.  Great encouragement from the half marathoners.  They were hard to pass, but I'm glad they were there.

Mile 25.  7:22.  40 feet drop.  A little relief before the finish.

Mile 26. 7:29.  29 feet drop.  This is a little deceiving because you have to climb up a big shoulder to get on the higher road to the finish.

Mile 26.22.  8:14 pace.  34 feet drop.  I ran the last 0.15 my 3 year old.  It probably cost me 30-40 seconds, but we loved it.

I was glad to be done and did not walk although my 7:30+ were close to walks.  I got a very nice plaque for winning my age group, but they I saw all the 40+ guys that beat me!  There were several good runners there.  The course record was actually broken by the first four finishers.  The winning time was around 2:27 which I was really impressed with given the course.  I felt like this the most challenging of the 13 marathons I have run and am looking forward to the 3 billion feet drop at St. George this Fall!


Comments
From Andy on Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 22:54:55 from 198.60.114.178

Sounds like a great race. Very well done!

From Benny's on Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 22:58:13 from 24.174.249.108

Awesome run in a tough course~

From jtshad on Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 08:22:30 from 69.20.183.178

Great job and time on a tough course.

From jasro on Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 13:04:16 from 64.255.180.162

Congrats Mark!! I'm continually impressed.

From MarkP on Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 13:54:52 from 24.2.76.180

Thanks everyone. The course was tough, but the race was well organized. I recommend it for an escape out of the snow.

From Steve on Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 22:44:00 from 12.28.97.2

Nice race! It would have been cool to meet you down there. Maybe I'll see you at a few races in the valley this summer.

Great race report. Your comment made me smile about the elevation chart because the last 5 miles kicked my butt and when I downloaded my GPS on the plane I laughed at the difference.

It was up and down the whole race. I wish race directors could just suck it up and show us what we are going to run!

That hill at mile 14 was a kick in the pants!

I could not believe the scenery though. I think I'd do it again..

From Burt on Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 23:27:07 from 98.177.216.165

Great job Mark. The winner was from Bagdad AZ. That's really a small town in the middle of nowhere. My half sister used to live there.

Steve - what are you talking about you downloaded the GPS info on the plane? Weren't you driving the plane??? Keep your eyes on the road!

From MarkP on Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 23:36:50 from 24.2.76.180

Thanks Steve and Burt.

Steve: I hope to run the "Running of the Leopards 5K", since it is practically next to my house, but my wife has a baby due that week, so I'll see how the timing plays out...lol.

Burt: The guy from Bagdad that won had this huge head of hair. I remember seeing him at the start and thinking "...this guy could knock 10 minutes of his time with a visit to Great Clips." You should try this race if you have not run it already.

From jun on Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 00:14:30 from 97.126.237.192

Great job. Sounds like it was fun and challenging course. You had a great finish and overall good race. I don't think I could ever run that far in the 6s.

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