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
Tucson Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:04:10, Place overall: 35, Place in age division: 6
Total Distance
27.50
Great marathon on a perfect, overcast day, but not the
result I was looking for. Below are my splits:
Mile 1: 6:15 Fast down hill start
Mile 2: 6:41 Settled into race pace
Mile 3: 6:51 Enjoyed the desert sights as the sun came up
Mile 4: 6:49 Hit some hills
Mile 5: 6:37 Rural road hits a major street
Mile 6: 6:24 Fast downhill
Mile 7: 6:25 More fast downhill
Mile 8: 6:28 Sun goes behind clouds and course hits another
major road
Mile 9: 6:28 Steady downhill
Mile 10: 6:31 Steady downhill
Mile 11: 6:52 Turn toward Biosphere 2
Mile 12: 7:21 Challenging hills
Mile 13: 6:46 More challenging hills
Half split 1:27:00
Mile 14: 6:53 Up the hill and back out to the major road
Mile 15: 6:43 Tried to settle into race pace again
Mile 16: 6:44 Pace feeling OK
Mile 17: 6:44 Still feeling OK
Mile 18: 6:53 Road begins to intersect a 6 lane highway
Mile 19: 6:55 Legs starting to feel very heavy.Began walking through water stops
Mile 20: 7:30 Doing the math in my head and worried
Mile 21: 7:42 I can fell it slipping away as I smell car
exhaust
Mile 22: 7:34 Decent mile, but I need to pick it up
Mile 23: 7:47 More highway, will this ever end
Mile 24: 7:49 Getting ready for the last major climb
Mile 25: 8:39 Course runs through an alley way behind a
grocery store with big uphill
Mile 26: 8:04 Course flattens out, but I’m done.
Mile 26.22: 1:36 One more major climb to finish line then a
turn onto a dirt track
Total: 3:04:10
I didn’t have the training I wanted for November and it
showed at mile 20.I still wanted to
give myself an opportunity and I felt strong at the ½ point.My overall goal was 2:58:00, but at mile 20
I knew this was not going to happen.I
didn’t have any major cramping, but my legs felt like bricks at the 20-mile
mark.I felt well enough to run, but
I’ve been trying to shake a nasty cold for the last four days.If I would have hit my goal, I would have
placed in my age division.
The race organizers did a great job, but there is not very
much crowd support.The winner
(Kenyan?) of the past years blew up with 5K to go and had to drop!He was leading by over 5 minutes!
I would recommend this race.The first ½ is incredible on rural roads.The turn toward Biosphere 2 is challenging
and last 7 miles are on a major 5/6 lane road open to traffic.
Kudos to Bill. I saw him at the finish and he had a great race:
Good run. Your run today sounds a lot like my Chicago Marathon 2005. On 2:52 pace through 19 miles and ended up with 3:10. More miles under you and you pull all the way through.
Good job Mark. Sounds just like my TOU performance from this year.
From Jacobi on Mon, Dec 08, 2008 at 03:57:05
Well done, sorry to hear you didn't achieve your goal, keep working though and I'm sure you'll achieve it
From cody draper on Mon, Dec 08, 2008 at 09:58:27
Nice Job Mark. A solid run given the training and course challenges. That last 10K is always ugly for me too. I may think about doing that marathon next year.
From RivertonPaul on Mon, Dec 08, 2008 at 10:45:42
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I was disappointed with the last 10K, but at least I gave it a shot. I'll try again for the sub 3:00 at Desert News!
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