Save 15% when you purchase by clicking on this banner!

Save 15% when you purchase by clicking on this banner!
Save 15% when you purchase by clicking on this banner and entering code AMB-bee4a78d!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

#33- The Ogden Marathon!

I love the Ogden Marathon. It's no wonder the race sells out faster and faster every year. It is extremely organized and has one of the fastest and beautiful courses I have ever run.

Since most of my Utah Maniac friends opted to run the half this year, I was hoping not to be running all alone. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind running alone. My fastest times have come from races I ran without by pals by my side and I always pick up a new "race friend" (or two, or three) along the way, but running with friends does make the miles go by faster. Then came Teota!

I thought she was also running the half until a week or so before the race. She had just run the OC marathon a couple of weeks before finishing with a PR of 5:08ish. Here goal this year was to break 5:00 hours. I told her if she wanted to run under 5:00 hours, Ogden was a good course to try and I would help her.

Now, I am not fast, but I have run under 5:00 pretty consistently, so I told her to stick with me and I promised her she would run under 5:00 hours (provided I didn't blow up).

We got on the bus to the start at 5:00am (which I thought was later than years past) with fellow kilted Maniac and comedian, Tim Gill. Once we go to the start the sun had come up, but it was a little cold. We hit the port-a-potty and made our way to one of the campfires where we stayed put until it was time to meet for the Maniac photo.

Maniacs at the start.

Before we knew it, the race had started and we were off! The weather was perfect. Teota and I headed down the course at a nice pace enjoying the beautiful scenery.


My told Teota my plan was to get us to the half by 2:20, that way if we had to wait at a port-a-potty ,we would have banked a little time. Everything went to plan and even with a potty stop, we still hit the half at 2:20.

Cute 80's Water Stop!

Teota at the 80's Water Stop.

As we continued with the rest of the race we just focused on having fun and enjoying the run.




As we got to the last 3 miles, I knew we were in good shape and would finish under 5:00 hours. We pick up another Maniac named Gus from New York. The three of us told stories and the last three miles flew by. As we came in we saw Liz and Marsha cheering us in which was really nice! As we crossed the finish line, Teota looked at the clock and the pride rolled down her face! Not only did she reach her goal of 4:59:59, she smashed it! Official time 4:47:02! It was AWESOME to see her so happy!  It was a great day!



Teota and I at the Finish!

Teota, Tim amd I at the Finish!

Maniacs at the Finish!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

#32- The Eugene Marathon! Oregon, Check!

With all of the drama surrounding the Salt Lake City Marathon this year along with the fact that I had run the race 3 times, I decided to take my April marathon elsewhere this year. That somewhere was the Eugene Marathon. Not only did I need Oregon in my 50 State quest, who wouldn't want to run in track and field's Mecca? As a runner in high school, my goal was to make it to Eugene to train and run with the greats! That never happened, but I was super excited to be running there now.

My friend and fellow Maniac Marsha and I (we missed you Teota) flew to Portland, picked up the rental car and made the two hour drive to Eugene. We went straight to the expo. The incredible Meb Keflezighi was speaking and I really wanted to meet him.

Meb is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and the 2012 Olympic trials champion, but his win at the 2009 New York City Marathon was what made him a real hero to me. I ran NYC that year and was still in Brooklyn when I got sight of a jumbo-tron just as Meb was running in to win. A large group of runners and I literally stopped running to watch the first American win the New York City Marathon since Alberto Salazar (my running hero in High School) won in 1982. I can still hear everyone chanting USA! USA! USA! as Meb ran in pointing at the USA on his shirt. Meb said that race was special to him, but it was special to us too. The excitement felt at that moment was incredible!!

I was so excited to finally meet Meb Keflezighi and give him a big hug!

Meb signing my book! What a story he has!
I literally almost cried when I read his inscription. That's right, we shared the road! ;-)

The Eugene expo was pretty big. Marsha and I walked around, shopping and running into other Maniac Friends.


Richard, Patti, Myself and the Prez himself, Steven Yee!


Luckily, we were staying at the Hilton (the host hotel), so after the expo, we checked in, went up to our room to unpack. We had about an hour until we were meeting our Maniac friends for dinner at Lucky Noodle.

We got to dinner and of course the place was packed. While we waited for our table the Prez and I talked over some 2012 MM reunion business. When we got our table it was a patio table outside, which was awesome and the weather was nice. 

 Marsha, Patti and I at dinner.


Marie, Steven and Tom at dinner.


Maniacs ready to carbo load!

After a lovely (and at sometimes hysterical) dinner, Marsha and I headed back to our super cozy room, got our race day prep done and hit the hay!

We got a good night's sleep and woke up ready to run (OK, I really wanted to crawl back into my bed, it was so comfy)! The hotel was offering breakfast bags for $5 which included an oatmeal, banana and a bagel and cream cheese. That was exactly what I wanted and I didn't have to schlep to the store. It was awesome!

When we were ready, we got the free shuttle to Hayward Field where we were meeting the others to take the Maniac photo.


  Me in front of Hayward Field. Track and Field's Mecca!


Maniacs at the start.


After the photo, we hit the port-a-potty and the bag check and we were ready to run! It was a little chilly out so I brought my throw away foil blanket and my airline blanket to stay warm until the gun went off.


Marsha and I at the start getting ready to go!

The half marathon and the marathon started at the same time, so the course was pretty crowded for a little while, but it was nice to have so many people to run with. The course was beautiful! We ran through the streets of Eugene and on these awesome paths surrounded by woods.


On the road with Marie and Deb!

Go Ducks?

I don't know what this guy was, but he was cute!

Loved it!




HAD to get a photo in front of the house that Pre built!

The weather for the race was ideal. Overcast for the first bit and the sun came out late enough that is wasn't too hot. There were a lot of aid stations as well and the volunteers were all amazing. I loved all the different kinds of music I heard along the course as well. Everything from guitar players and drummers to a guy playing a didgeridoo (Google it)!

One of the many drum groups on the course.
There was also a lot of crowd support as well. Everything from old hippies sitting on their lawn and large groups like cheerleaders to people dressed is crazy costumes. They all came out to show us some love!

I LOVED her!! She reminded me of something my mom would have totally done!

My favorite part of the race was the finish. Not only because it's always great to be finished, but at mile 26 you turn the corner an run the last 385 yards in the stadium and on the track at Hayward Field. When my feet hit that track, I thought of all the great runners that had run there before me. Then I heard my name, "Finishing now is Angeline Whitworth Pace"! I looked up and saw myself on the huge jumbo-tron in the stadium!


The jumbo-tron!
The finish!

Now, I will say the only down point of the moment was the lady I was trying to beat, cut the course by running on the inside lane of the track (the course was marked with cones and runners were to stay to outside of them in lanes 4-8) so she beat me! Grrrr!. I mean really, you just ran over 26 miles, why cheat the course now? Oh well!  I still had a great time at a great race! Marsha did great too! She came home with a PR (Personal Record)!! WAY TO GO MARSHA!!

A few of us Maniacs at the finish.

After the race Marsha and got showers and hit the road back to Portland to catch our flight home. With a minor setback trying to return out rental car, we barely made the flight, but once on the plane, the flight attendants noticed our marathon medals and treated us like royalty! We had a great time! Eugene is a must do race!!