The Cult Marathon
We all run different roads to arrive at the same starting line. I’m running the 2017 Boston Marathon. This is the start of my journey.
August 25th, Dog Days of summer, 90 degree heat, 9 laps around around a reservoir, 26.2 miles.
This is the guarantee of the Sri Chinmoy (Self Transcendence) Marathon. Where do I sign up?
What depraved mind state brought me to the starting line at Rockland State Park in New York?
I wanted a Boston Marathon qualifying time.
The Buildup: I swore that last marathon would be the last.
Disney, a couple years ago. The training went ok but my heart wasn’t in it. I made it through mile 22 with my sights firmly set on a 2:55 finish. I stepped onto the track at ESPN zone running fine, I stepped off the track a scant 300 yards later with a funny limp caused by a sudden and painful onslaught of IT Band tendonitis.
I did not finish. I was distraught. This was my Final Marathon. I was CERTAIN.
Just as I was sure 10 years earlier that the Cape Cod Marathon was my first and last. First thought at that finish: ‘Never Again.’
Just as I was sure after my PR in the Chicago Marathon 6 years previous. First thought: ‘Never Again.’
But then I started coaching the St. Jude charity marathon team and damn it, on race day, watching them run by, I wanted in. I wanted to run Boston. I want the hometown crowd, I want the hills, I want the history, I want the challenge. I WANT HOLYFIELD!
Discover & share this Holyfield GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.
I also want to do the race on my terms, which means qualifying.
There aren’t too many marathons scheduled in the Summer. Why? Heat, it turns out, can really kill your ability to run 26.2 miles. Who knew? There was one in Indianapolis in early August with the unfortunate name of ‘The Beaver Chase Marathon’. I told a few friends I was thinking of running the ‘Beaver Chase’ and they’re reply:
‘Can I have your T-shirt?’
So I kept looking and found this little gem of a race on August 25th. 9 loops around a reservoir which means it’s pancake flat. This is where I’d make my stand.
The Training: Training began in May. I was crazy busy at work but managed to up the long runs steadily. 2 weeks up, one week down. This progressed until I absolutely crushed an early July 20 miler in 6:20 pace. The reason I ran a 20 so early was I going on a cruise through Europe from 7/15 to 8/1.
The cruise was an amazing experience (including a magical run through Liverpool England) but while running along the top deck I was stabbed in my right calf. Or at least it felt that way. I did not panic. I continued to walk, to do yoga, I practiced some nerve glides to reduce the pain but I did not run a step from 7/28 through 8/4. There was pretty legitimate pain all the way up to 8/2. Shooting pain on one side. Not a good sign.
Then the pain, in response to some of the care I was giving it, vanished. August 5th I ran a five miler that went pretty well. This didn’t mean that I was ready for 26 so I readied another test.
August 8th was a Monday. It was hot. I carved out a couple hours in the afternoon to try and run a 10. I ran a flat waterfront loop from my home in Jones Hill (Dorchester) around Umass Boston and the JFK Museum to Castle Island. I coasted for 3 and then felt sluggish as I rounded Castle Island. I finished dejected, ready to throw in the towel on this marathon until I saw I ran 6:20’s for the entire run. I went for a 15 miler that weekend and crushed it in 6:30 pace. It was worth the risk. I was heading to New York!
Pre Race: This race goes off at 7 am on Thursday morning. Cool. I do some of my best running Thursday morning at 7 am.
I arrived at 6 am, took a short walk to the start, picked up my number and then went back to the car to dump my stuff. There were plenty of bathrooms, and some pre race amenities like gatorade and watermelon.
A few days prior to running the race I checked out the list of entrants to confirm I was in. I was expecting to be running with a couple of people from Massachusetts, Connecticut and then a ton of New York and New Jersey Runners, but a glance at the field showed something interesting. This was a truly international field. There were runners from South Africa, Sweden, China. I was expecting a local running club vibe but this was an international affair.
I Updated my Facebook Profile: “Running the Self Transcendence marathon in :35. Good vibes appreciated.
Rod Tidwell is the real MVP.
St. Jude Inspired.
In the Immortal words of Rod Tidwell:
That scene pumps me up.
Go time. Like my Grandmother used to say ‘it’s time to snap necks and cash checks.’
Lap 1: The temperature was around 70-75. The early miles of a marathon are crucial because your thinking/cautious side doesn’t want to go out too fast, buuuuuuuut you’re tapered, you’re pumped up, you’re READY. You can hold back and still drop a fast couple of miles (whoops). That in mind I positioned myself towards the front of the pack but I let the leaders go. Given the up and down nature of my training my only goal was to qualify for Boston.
It did not have to be pretty. In 2016 you had to beat your qualifying time by about 2 minutes to get in. That meant I had to run about 3:08. I set a goal of 3 hours just to be safe. 9 laps @ 2.96 miles per lap meant roughly :20 per lap. I settled into a groove and hoped for the best.
My big criticism of the race is that there was no running clock on the course for the first half. I don’t run with a watch so I was flying blind for a little while.
The first lap gave me the lay of the land. Mile 1 (also 3, 6, 9 etc) was in the sun. Mile 2 was shady but turned a lot. Mile 3 was shady and felt pretty straightforward.
It felt good to be underway.
Lap 2: Every single mile was marked, meaning you ran past each marker 9 times. The loop was 2.94 miles so there were 3 stretches of mile markers all positioned .06 miles apart. To keep things straight I would tap the mile marker that reflected the distance I had run. On this lap I forgot to tap the 5 mile marker. My superstitious side lamented on this for a while. Later on I forgot to tap 18 so I had to turn around to tap it and appease the Running Gods.
Just kidding. I have 1 running superstition: DO NOT CROSS A FINISH LINE UNTIL YOU FINISH. Don’t pretend you’re finishing the day before and run across, don’t drive over it on your way to the mall. Stay away until race day. Twice I have seen this happen against my dire warning and both times it was BAD.
If you live are running Boston this means you can’t go down Boylston between the day you commit to running and race day. And definitely don’t take selfies (ugh) standing on the finish line when you come to the expo to pick up your number. Your pics can wait.
Lap 3: I think I was in 4th or 5th place. The guy right ahead of me took off and the part of me that still thinks I’m 21 and weigh 155 wanted to go with but thankfully I remembered that I am actually 37 years old, 182 lbs and recovering from an injury. I held back. This is when I started to lap other runners. Because the course was loops I was going to be passing people pretty much non stop for the rest of the way. The downside of constant passing is maneuvering around them. 2 yards here, 3 there; if you’re not careful you can run 26.5 miles.
.3 miles is a negligible distance… until you tack it onto the end of a marathon.
Lap 4: There was a clock at the 10 mile mark! I have banked 10 minutes already. Wow! I’m on pace for 2:40 (a PR). I know this is not realistic. Time to slow it down.
Lap 5: Current mind state: This is easy. I’ll hold back until lap 8 and then crush it for 2. I’m purposefully slowing myself, protecting the time I’ve banked and feeling pretty good.
Lap 6: It’s getting hot. I’m still feeling good, taking water at every mile. A sip down the hatch then the rest gets dumped on my head to stay cool. I’m purposefully slowing down but I still ran a :19 lap.
Lap 7: And now the race begins. I’m starting to feel really hot (I’d later discover it was 88-90 degrees). Slowing it down but I still manage to run a lap around :20-:21.
Lap 8: I’m out of gas. So much for hammering the last two laps. This always happens. I’m good for about 20-21 miles and then I just run.out.of.gas. Maybe I should have banked more time when I was feeling good. Aaaargh.
This is the agony of the Marathon. The race is so long that you run perfectly for 90% of it and still die a slow horrid death.
Song in my head: Nikes by Frank Ocean. Slow paced, laconic beat. Good song the first time I heard it a couple days ago. Now I HATE IT. ‘These bitches want Niiiiiiiiikes…’ That’s the only part of the song I know. I keep repeating it over and over in my head and can’t let it go. Decent song, but it’s killing me now.
I once ran 17 miles with the chorus to ‘Livin’ the vida Loca’ in my head. Just the chorus. ‘Upside, Inside out, Livin’ la Vida Loca’.
I could run with music and control what I was hearing but that would make me a Jogger and I came to RUN today.
Gut check. Keep pushing. Just get that qualifying time. ‘All Heart!’
Lap 9: On fumes. I’ve been passed 5 times. I’m walking through water stops and the heat has defeated me. I’m hemorrhaging minutes here. Just destroyed. Just get it done.
‘These bitches want Niiiiiiiiiikes’. Ugh.
Running a loop course is advantageous here. The other runners are very supportive and by this point I know the course very well. I can check off landmarks. Push to where you saw the gopher (mile 1), push around the S curve, get to the straightaway etc. Having the small goals/distractions helped.
The Good news: I’m done. 11 minutes and change ahead of the Boston Qualifier. It was not pretty, but I’ll take it.
My Social Media is blowing up. If a runner qualifies for Boston and doesn’t post it on Social Media does it even count?’
The bad news: the way I look in this photo:
Possible Caption: Victory and Defeat, simultaneously.
Ugh… You know a guy that passed me with 2 miles to go ran 2:54. That’s how much I sucked on the last lap.
At least I have 8 months to figure out how to fix the last 3-4 miles. I think I need more calories during the race.
The negatives on the Self Transcendence Marathon are obvious. It’s run on a Thursday which means you’re taking a sick day and your cheering section is most likely working. There was no clock for 3 laps so if you’re watch averse like myself then you may fly blind for a while. The last negative is August. You take the chance that the race will be hot. This year it got up to 90, but I never felt really cooked. The previous year the race was won in a much slower time. I’m thinking it may have been hotter then.
The Self Transcendence Marathon is also called The Shri Chinmoy Marathon. He was a Monk who believed in using fitness (running, yoga, weight lifting) to elevate the spirit. Shri was an accomplished runner and lifter himself. I was googling him to find a quote I could throw into this blog post and some of the articles that came up suggested this group was somewhat of a cult which made me question the water stops (Kool Aid anyone?).
Rest easy. There were no uniform black Nikes and even though they have my email and phone number no one has reached out to get me to join the movement or wear a tinfoil hat.
The positives vastly outweigh the negatives. The course is flat and fast. The runner support was great. Passing each aid station 9 times allowed me to build camaraderie with a few of the volunteers. Running a loop may get boring for some but I found, especially on the last lap, the familiarity I had with the course kept me calm.
The first of many roads leading to Hopkinton.
