Bellingham Bay Marathon



Crusing along the race course.

One of my favorite parts about running marathons is the joy of traveling to new locations. Sometimes these adventures are planned out way in advance and then again sometimes they just fall into place at the last minute. My trip across the country to the great Northwest was one of those last minute choices. The original plan was to run a marathon in the Midwest this weekend, one I could easily drive to in a few hours. As luck would have it that race was full of entrants. This seems to be a trend in the running industry. I still wanted to compete in that race, as I have been successful there in the past, but after emailing the race director to see about getting entered into the event I was denied! This is the first time that a race has stated that they would not let me run due to being full. Most times race directors are gracious enough to accept another athlete, my credentials of a 2:25 marathon personal best and over 50 marathon wins is typically a good addition to any race. Now to play the devil’s advocate here, it is very likely that this particular race did not allow me into their event because they were afraid that adding one more 134 pound runner onto its course could cause the roads to buckle. That is about the only explanation I could come up with to justify their actions. Regardless of this I was not going to let it ruin my weekend. I quickly jumped at the opportunity to run in the Bellingham Bay Marathon out in Bellingham, Washington. This was my first trip to run in Washington, which raised my level of excitement greatly. I always enjoy racing in new places and seeing new faces on a different course.

Celebration lunch with Nina

Travelling across the country is really tiring, but the local running community in Bellingham is full of energy that I was able to feed off of. The race director, David Penrose, asked me to speak at the pasta diner. It was exciting to share my goals and journey with other athletes; likewise it allowed them to realize that marathon winners are no better than any other runner. We are all out there trying our best, enjoying the sport, and creating lifelong memories. One athlete, Nina Olinger, has a very unique story; she is a double-lung transplant survivor doing her first half marathon. Now I do not know about you but hearing someone overcome struggles like that puts running into perspective. How could I complain about a minor pain when she has struggled for a long time just to get to the starting line?



Trying to expand my early lead.

My goals entering the Bellingham Bay Marathon were to win the marathon, possibly break the course record (2:31:33), and try to run under 2 hours and 30 minutes. You might remember from previous blogs about my goal to run under 2 hours and 30 minutes in as many states as possible. I think winning a marathon with that type of time automatically makes it a legit win regardless of how many athletes are in the race. This was my 5^th marathon in the month of September, but I was not worried. Wearing Recovery Socks virtually daily this month have left my legs feeling fit and ready for war.

The race started off slowly with a 6:12 mile, but soon after that all the muscles were warmed up and ready to run. Since I felt really strong I decided to push the pace. Mile after mile clicked off in the 5:28 to 5:33 range, these miles added up to crossing the half marathon mark in 1:12:55. Time went by really quickly as I enjoyed one of the more scenic marathons I have run. By mile 20 I was informed that I had over a 4 minute lead. The goal of winning appeared to be achievable as did the goals of breaking the course record and running under 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Hanging out at Mile 22 aid station after the race.

There was a rumor circulating that the mile 22 aid station was going to be a rocking fun party. The anticipation of that exciting aid station kept me fired up. It was not a disappointment either! Soon after mile 22 we entered the hardest 4 mile section of the course. Suddenly my pace drifted from low 5:40s to over 6 minutes per mile as I tried to navigate the turns and scale the final few hills. Winning was going to happen, a new course record was going to happen, but running under 2:30 was in jeopardy. It would come down to a final sprint. I had 1 minute and 20 seconds to cover the last 385 yards of the race. Typically that is an easy feat, but one can never be certain about the accuracy of course mile markers. I could not risk it, had to make a change of pace. A little over a minute of pushing hard and I was safely across the finish line in 2:29:54. On this day all 3 goals were achieved, the flight home always seems a little shorter when you are happy with your race performance.

I will be racing marathons the next 4 weekends for a total of 9 marathons in a row. I look forward to setting new goals for each event and pushing my body to the limit to achieve them. I often say, "My desire to succeed far exceeds the pain I put my body through." Sure I might have minor pains but I make goals not excuses. Until next time folks...