30 in 30!!!

Massey, Canada is a sleepy little town east of Sault Ste. Marie. Probably not much happens here on a weekly basis, but once a year the Friendly Massey Marathon is held, and if you can stand 87% humidity, cool temps, and light breeze you are offered a fast course with that good old Canadian charm. I had completed 29 of 29 marathons and was 29 years old, turning 30 the day after the race. It seemed a fitting time to run one more.


Rod was supposed to be here, but the day before I stopped at his hotel room three times and searched the start line to no avail. It would have been nice for him to jump in the half and run with me for 13 miles, but I would go this one solo. I stuck with a 19-year-old who was running his first marathon and his dad, who wanted to run sub 1:30 for the half to qualify for New York. I knew from research that this kid had run a decent half, but no fulls. I wasn’t worried about him knowing the sting miles 13-18 can put on a first timer. We cruised the opening miles together but Ks of 4:16 and 4:18 (3hr pace is 4:16) got me nervous and since I was down on the leader by 1:48 by 6K, I figured enough was enough. The race was on.


For the next four miles I worked away from speedy and his dad trying to close the gap on the shirtless leader. He had gone out with the half marathon guys and tucked in, so I wasn’t worried because during the second loop he would be alone. But as I made the turn at 15K he had 2:41 on me! I was losing time after all that hard work, and the worst part was the boy and his dad weren’t even that far behind me. I was in for it with 16 miles to go.


I crossed the half in 1:26:xx. That was a shade fast for me (considering I run 25 miles a week and my occasional tempos aren’t even at that pace) and heard that he had gone through in 1:23, and if he were a 2:55 guy, I knew he could hold me off. I figured the only way I would catch him was that he would blow up while I maintained. I had to maintain, since I feared that when the kid behind me dropped his dad off at halfway, he would be fresher than me having conserved and then unload his speed and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.


By the time we hit our next “out and back” I had cut the gap to about 1:51. I was pleased, but my legs were stinging from a faster than usual pace, and it was getting warm. For the next several miles I tried to bring him back in, and I did, catching him at 34K. We exchanged pleasantries, but I warned of the talent in 3rd place. With a turnaround at 36K, I wanted to push to that point and back from it so that I could have 3rd see me first before he could see 2nd. I figured that would mess with his head, knowing that there had been a change of order and he had that much further to get me. But when I turned, I saw that I had not dropped the former leader with authority. The silver lining was that the rookie was much farther back than anticipated, probably cracking during the attempt to catch us.


It would be nice to portray the tale of the final 6K with drive, speed, and glory, but it was anything but. Although I didn’t lose time, I struggled mentally on the hills and could not drop the pace. I had never before “raced” nearly a whole marathon. I often reserved my energy to pace well and step up to close or beat people. This was a new game. I ran as fast as I could hold for the duration. It meant that my predetermined “kick points” had gone right out the window and I struggled in, still on a great pace but with no ability to shake it up.


I crossed in 2:50:17 for the win. It was my 30th marathon before my 30th birthday. It was my 3rd win, my 4th time under 3hours, and my 9th top 10 finish (damn that 11th place in March!). I set a personal best by over 5 minutes on less mileage per week than I have ever seriously ran. Second came in about 6 min back (stopping twice in the final 3K with leg cramps), and 3rd (the rookie) just missed with 3:00:30 (he was hurting at the end having experienced the full in all its glory). The only bittersweet moment was that I have secretly always wanted to have a time in the 2:40s. I know I can, but I left it short today. I never checked my watch from the half mark on, but I am not sure there was much I could do to get time back if I had. All in all, if you can set a PR, win, and reach a milestone race, it is kind of hard not to call it a perfect day.