Buck Hales
I think I should
dedicate this, my tenth marathon, to El Nino. It was unseasonable
warm for the Twin Cities, in fact, it was HOT! This was the first
time I ever ran a marathon as a part of a "team" and it
was very fun. It so happened that several other Clydesdales who
are members of the "Clydesdale virtual racing team"
(CVRT) were also going to run Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) so a
gathering was planned. CVRT is an email list with some 130
members all over the country. Perhaps the most notorious member
of CVRT is Bubba (David Gelly) who was featured in Don
Kardong’s article in the April issue of Runner’s World.
Bubba has run each and every TCM and included it on his 5-0 tour.
The CVRT was going to show up in force for Bubba’s marathon,
complete with special CVRT "chasing Bubba" singlets and
a hospitality suite at the Radisson. We drove up to St Paul on
Friday and early Saturday morning I checked in at the hospitality
suite to get my singlet and meet the other Clydes. I really
enjoyed finally meeting the other members of the CVRT in person
and putting faces (and bodies) with their virtual personalities.
I seldom find myself in the company of individuals amongst
whom I am not one of the largest. What a novel experience
feeling like a midget!
I particularly enjoyed meeting and running with Bubba himself. I
showed up at the suite just in time to find the crew heading out
for an easy run. I hadn’t planned on running just then, and
in fact had my Birkenstocks on, but what the heck, I ran
with them anyway. As I stumbled along Bubba noted my shoes
and was impressed "here I meet Buck and he goes running
in his bed room slippers!"
The race. It was eerily warm when we boarded the bus for the start, nearly 70 already. As we road in the dark, Dan commented that we couldn’t see the other runners, everyone was like a ghost, a silhouette. He conjured up a complete mythology where we were as yet unborn, the bus like the womb, birth when the race starts, and then we progress through our whole lives as the miles pass, middle aged at mile 18, and yes, we die and go to heaven as we cross the finish line. It sounded more like a prognosis than a metaphor. The sky was pitch black when we left the hotel so there was no way of knowing it was cloudless and we would soon find ourselves baking in the sun. We wandered around the Humpy dome found the other CVRT people in their bright yellow singlets, and posed for a group picture. We connected with Steve went to the start but found ourselves on the spectator side of the fence with no way to get to the start. Finally, just before the gun went off, the fence was breached and we got to the pavement. It took 1:40 to get to the start. I felt great running through MPLS, on the wonderful scenic route. It is very winding and crowded and I lost Steve about mile 11. It was still cool and shaded until mile 14, then heat hit hard. The part of the course that goes over highway 55 is hot, open, and really formidable. But just around the corner I saw Karen and Donna. Karen gave me a kiss, a Starburst, and a great lift up.
The course wound around all the lakes in MPLS
then traveled parallel to the Mississippi on West River Road. The
whole course was lined with spectators and it was very scenic.
Truly, a beautiful urban landscape. At mile 17 on River Road Jeff
from the CVRT support crew picked me up and ran along with me. He
told me I was the first yellow shirt through. He gave me a
salt tab, a squirt of water and a hard candy, all of which
really picked me up. I felt excellent, strong, and was running
easy, over the bridge, through the "wall" to the
waterstop at 20. There were hundreds of people, music was blaring
and an announcer urging runners on. He picked me out of the crowd
and announced "here's virtual Buck"! What a kick. Then
the hills began. The course travels up Summit Blvd and gains
200 feet from river level at mile 20 up to mile 23 where it
flattens out and continues up to the old cathedral of St Paul,
the highest point in the city, at mile 25 ½ or so. Throughout
the earlier part of the race I had projected myself to mile
23, up Summit Blvd and I knew if I made it there, then I had it.
Mile 20-21 were no problem, I passed literally 100's of
people who were walking, many who were little skinny guys. I
chanted "hills are my friend, hills are my friend, hills are
my friend" then tried a little Pepe le Pew (uh huh huh
huh huhhhhh) as I chugged up the hill. The momentum carried me up
and up. It wasn't until mile 22 ½ that I started to
struggle. I hung on the yellow line, concentrated on my
posture, my breath and the swing of my arms. My pace
dropped from 9:15 to 9:43, then 10:00 mi/mile. Of course it
was very hot, sunny and hilly, but still, I was disappointed to
be struggling. I motored on, passing many
cheering spectators who really helped. One shouted "be
the bunny." Another one jumped out on the course and
shouted at me "number 2428 you are strong, you look
great, this is your race, you will finish!" I felt a surge
of energy and powered on. I reached mile 23, and expected it to
get easier. Though it wasn't quite as steep the rolling
hills were still a struggle. At mile 24 it got really hard.
I sucked it up, focused, and dug in. I said to myself
"this is what it is all about." All that training
etc. comes to this moment, when it hurts too much to go on,
when your mind is rebelling and your body has given up, you
reach very deep into the marathoner's toolbox and find
something there to carry you on. Time passed, and soon I was
nearing mile 25. I noticed dozens of Northwestern Club Run
runners heading back up the course picking up other club members
to run them in. I would have loved to have someone pick me up and
run me in. Kudos to NW Club Run. Finally, I saw the top
of the cathedral of St Paul at the highest point in the city and
thought I would soon be running down hill. Suprize! one last
hill. But then! Around the bend and down the hill, the last ½
mile drops nearly 100 feet. I could see the capitol, the
finish line, the crowds, and felt elation, a total body rush, an
emotional burst of gooseflesh and tears as I leaned
forwarded and let gravity propel me home. At mile 26 I
kicked, and finished in style. I felt great at the
end, giddy, excited, with arms raised and shouting with joy!
I loved it. My time 4:06:50 (official 4:08:28), was slower
than I wanted, but much better than I expected.
The only flaw in this perfect race was facing that
crush of people outside the secure finish area. It was
almost harder than the run, pushing through that crowd of
folks so desperate to meet their runner, they showed no respect
for the rest of us who ran. And it WAS hot. After we had
staggered back, the thermometer at the hotel showed 85F. I never
saw the CVRT after the race but spent most of the day Monday
reading my email, waiting for the next team member to post their
story.. Everyone complained of the heat and of doing so much
slower than expected. I hate to think this, but maybe I’m
getting used to running hot marathons.
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