Continuing my streak of running every Brooksie Way ½ Marathon since the inaugural race in 2008, I ran today with an official time of 1:45:36 (hh:mm:ss).  I’m already planning on returning next fall to make it 5 consecutive years.

Links:
Brooksie Way Half Marathon http://www.thebrooksieway.com

Today I ran the Bayshore Marathon for the second consecutive year with an official time of 4:01:28 (hh:mm:ss). That was nowhere near my PR (personal record) of 3:35:59 (hh:mm:ss), but my goal this year was to enjoy the race and have fun.

My favorite part about this race is not the course as much as it is spending time in Traverse City afterwards. This year was especially nice, because Belinda and I brought the kids. Everyone had a good time and we are looking forward to coming back next year.

Links:
Bayshore Marathon http://www.bayshoremarathon.org/

Last spring I got to thinking that I really wanted to do a destination race. The kind where you travel somewhere far away, run a cool race, and then take a few days to relax before you come back home. I talked to some of my friends who have done similar things in places like Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, and of course Boston. Everyone had good suggestions, so to make the decision easier I decided the best thing to do would be to concentrate more on the when, versus the where.

Looking at my calendar I knew that I already had race plans for most of the summer and fall. There was the Bayshore Marathon in May, the Mohican in June, the Great Lakes Relay in July, the Crim in August, Dances with Dirt in September, and the Brooksie Way in October. That meant the earliest I could schedule anything would be sometime in November. And for me it seems like I always have some kind of non-running commitment every weekend in November and December. So that meant the next available time period would be sometime in January.

Now that I had the when decided, it was time to pick the where. Well, one of the easiest things about picking a race in January is that the numbers of options are limited when the goal is to run something long distance. A quick Google search for "January marathons" returned results for places like Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas.

I would like to say that I took some time and evaluated each race, but as soon as I saw Walt Disney World Marathon, my decision was made. Yes, the idea of running a marathon through the Walt Disney World Parks was really appealing. But the part that sealed the deal for me was the event they call the Goofy Challenge.

The Walt Disney World Marathon is a weekend long event consisting of a 5K (3.1 miles) on Friday, a 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday, and a Full Marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday. The Goofy Challenge is basically like registering for both the 1/2 and full marathons.

With the race picked out, the next major obstacle was to convince some friends that they should go to. This is not an easy task. Especially when the race requires time off work, travel by plane, and etc. It took a couple of months, but in the end I persuaded my girlfriend Belinda and two other couples to join us.

Overall I very impressed with Walt Disney World Marathon. It was the most well organized race I have ever participated in. There were practically no lines for the toilets. All of the aide stations were stocked with supplies and volunteers. And it seemed like the entire race course was lined with families, staff, or some kind of entertainment.

My only warning about running the Walt Disney World Marathon is that it will spoil you. Most of the races that I have run typically have problems like not enough toilets, aide stations that are not equipped, long stretches without any crowds, course not marked, etc. I understand that organizing a race is not easy task. There will be problems and I am ok with that. It was just nice to see that someone could actually do it near perfect.

There must be something about running in a big city that I enjoy, because I signed up once again for the Detroit Turkey Trot 10K (6.2 miles). This was my second consecutive year, and like the year before I set a new PR (personal record) by finishing in 46:23 (mm:ss). If I can keep breaking my PR, I may have to make this an annual tradition.

After running the Bayshore Marathon earlier this year, I decided that I would not spend my summer training aggressively for any race. Instead I would pick races that were new to me and fun. Like the The North Face Mohican Trail Run and the Great Lakes Relay events I ran earlier this year.

However, I still like to measure my performance from year to year. And one of my favorite ways to do that is to repeat an event that I have ran in the past. I want an event where the course has some challenges (i.e. not completely flat), and a distance that is more than 10 miles. For me, the Brooksie Way 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles) is an excellent choice. I have run this race in both 2008 and 2009, and the course is definitely a challenge.

So about a week and half before the race, it occurred to me that I should at least set some kind of goal for completing. I looked at my finish time from the previous year 1:52:09 (hh:mm:ss) - average pace 8:33 (mm:ss). I also looked at my recent finish time for the CRIM 10 mile 1:18:20 (hh:mm:ss) - average pace 7:50 (mm:ss). Based on this, my first idea was to run a 7:50 (mm:ss) pace for the 13.1 miles. But when I calculated (13.1 x 7:50) a goal time of 1:42:37 (hh:mm:ss), I didn't like the idea of finishing just a couple of minutes over one hundred. Therefore, I set my goal time to complete in under 100 minutes.

With a goal in mind, the next thing I wanted was a running partner. In order to run 13.1 miles in under 100 minutes, I would need to maintain an average pace of 7:37 (mm:ss) or better. This was going to be a challenge for me. Over the years I have found that the best way to run a race with an aggressive goal is to have someone beside me. Someone to help distract my mind and push me when I start to feel like giving up.

So I asked around in my running group if anyone wanted to run the same pace. Unfortunately for me, the majority of my friends were either training for the Detroit Marathon or the Columbus Marathon. With their races only two weeks away, most of them did not want to run that kind of pace. I understood completely. They have been training for their marathons all summer long, it was not worth risking an injury.

So I made up my mind that I would just do it by myself. But, on race day my friend Fritz showed up and said that he would run the same pace with me. Fritz and I stayed together for almost the entire race. That is until we were about a quarter of a mile from the finish line. That is when Fritz took off and finished two seconds ahead of me. But I didn't care, because I set a new personal record with a time of 1:39:02 (hh:mm:ss). Fritz, thanks for keeping me on goal.