Post Marathon reports....

Kathy wrote:

Finished my fifth Honolulu Marathon under 8 hours! (Stacie finished in 6:47 and Russel came in at 5:31). Not a record time for me, but considering that my training was limited to a Sunday run here and there it's a wonder I finished at all.  The good news is that I can walk normally today and don't have any major aches and blisters. 

We left Hale Koa at 3:15 in the morning and got to the starting line around 4 am.  Russel went off to meet his friends and Stacie and I watched the fireworks and everyone take off.  The weather conditions were ideal with a nice breeze that blew away the haze and humidity that was here during the previous week.  One of the highlights of the run was turning by Kahala Mall and seeing M&B with a ice cold can of coca-cola and the most delicious salted oranges and a refreshing spray of Sato-hap!

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Jerry wrote:
My Tucson marathon experience got off to an interesting start.  While at the airport Saturday morning around 9am, US Airways announced at 9:30am that our flight was delayed.... or soon to be cancelled.  The next flight out would be 12:40pm.  With this delay, my friends and I would not be able to get to Tucson before 5pm Arizona time to pickup our running packets.  Fortunately, my friend Ken was able to call the event director (Pam Reed, ultramarathon winner of Badwater 100+ miles run in the extreme heat of Death Valley) and explain our situation.  She asked that we send them our IDs via our cell phones and have one of our other friends who was already there pick up our gear.  Fortunately, that worked out!

As for the marathon(Sunday), I could not have asked for better weather conditions.  Weather was about 50 degrees at the start.  No usual wind.  Beautiful sunny skies.  Most of the course is a gradual downhill so it was fast.  The only challenging point was around mile 10 where we took a detour through the BioSphere project.  It was 4 miles of up and down rolling hills.  I slowed my pace through there but still felt like I just ran 4 miles directly uphill.  Through mile 17, I was on pace to a new goal of 3:05.  I was averaging around 7 min/mile pace and it felt good.  Around mile 20, I felt my right thigh started tightening up.  I tried to stay relaxed and just slowed my pace a little.  Around mile 23, my thigh cramp had really locked up my leg.  I had to stop and try to walk it off.  No success.  Every step got harder and harder.  Other runners started passing me and one of my running friends passed me (He finished 3:13).  I struggled the remaining 3 miles just to get to the finish.  I nearly fell apart.  Crossed the line at 3:15:56.  Missed the new Boston Qualifier by 56 secs :(   I was just glad that I finished in one piece.  Didn't PR either.....  Another marathon, another day...  Despite the hard run, I would recommend running Tucson again.  Awesome course, beautiful scenery, great race logistics, and small crowd (less than 2000 runners).

As of this morning, both my legs are in PAIN, especially my right thigh.  Can't walk easily up or down the stairs.  Physically and emotionally drained...  Looking forward to some downtime the remainder of the month to spend with family :-)