Fox Cities Marathon Race Report - September 23, 2007

Fox Cities Marathon Race Report
September 23, 2007

It’s taken me a few days to getting around to writing this blog; there are a couple of reasons for this. One, I’m TIRED and ACHY. Two – I’ve been incredibly busy this week and basically sandwiched the Marathon in between other tasks and projects, including dispatching my partner Cayelin off to France on Monday - the day after the marathon - for a two-week sojourn, with a follow on two-week trip to North Carolina. (She’s basically gone for a month). And three, I had what can only be described as a “mixed” experience on this highly-touted Fall Wisconsin Marathon.

It is interesting to note that by my count, there are at least 10 marathons hosted annually in the state of Wisconsin. This makes the fourth Wisconsin Marathon I’ve run, adding to a list which includes the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, the ReMax Backbreaker, I mean, Trailbreaker Marathon, and the Medford Pine Line Marathon. I had heard a lot about Fox Cities and most everything was incredibly positive, including Course, Weather, people…….

Well here goes…

I drove up to Appleton on Friday to go to the Fitness Expo and pick up my packet. I had heard that you could wrangle race-day packet pickup, but I had some time on Friday, and Alice-the-Garmin-GPS put the trip at an hour and forty minutes. It was a nice day, so I headed out early afternoon to arrive for the 4:00 pm start of the Fitness Expo and Packet Pickup.

The event was held at the Fox Valley Technical College. Well, somewhere on campus, anyway. There was a huge parking lot on the side of a sprawling, multi-acre complex. The only clue was a banner and some not-yet-assembled finish chutes for the Saturday 5K that was scheduled.

So, I wandered in to this very quiet complex, past some classrooms with sparsely attended lectures going on (being as it was a Friday afternoon, I was not surprised to see some instructors lecturing in huge classrooms to only 4 or 5 sleepy-looking students) I bumped into another runner-looking person, who was just as lost as I was. Together we decided to head for the Common Areas (marked on a helpful wall-mounted map) to see if we could find someone. And luckily, this worked for we started seeing booths and banners marking the expo.

It was not as easy to find Packet Pickup as it was located in a classroom down a short hallway from the expo. When we finally found it, it was staffed by several very crabby volunteers, slamming packets around and looking very disgruntled and harassed.

Packet pickup was a reminder that the marathon wasn’t the only race going on that weekend. In addition to the Saturday 5K, there was also a “Kids Fun Run” (with 9 separate categories and start times) the Marathon, a Marathon RELAY, a Half Marathon, a Half Marathon Walk (or as they called it - a 13.1 Mile PowerWalk) which was both “Competitive and Non-Competitive” And by the way – all of these races boasted different Sponsorship. Imagine having all those different packets to sort and pass out to participants.

Also, though this didn’t register with me at the time (no pun intended), I should have been forewarned about all those “other races” and what that would mean on Sunday.

I finally ascertained which section was the Marathon Section, and approaching the grumpy Senior Citizen, I asked what she needed, which turned out to only be my Last Name. Easy. She handed me a bulging goody bag and also my Bib packet and chip. I rummaged through the bag and asked where the shirt was. She then informed me that I wasn’t getting a shirt until I actually finished the race. Eyeing mounds of different colored shirts, heaped up behind her, I was a little doubtful that she wasn’t just screwing with me because she could, but the last thing I really need is another T-shirt. No matter. She also recommended that I go get my chip checked in the Fitness Expo and make sure it was working.

I went to the Fitness Expo, and in 8 minutes had looked at everything there was to look at. A typical expo – Shoes, Clothing, running accessories – none of which were in my size. A great deal on Addidas shoes, but who needs a size 13 extra narrow? One interesting thing was that the local Hollywood Video was there selling thousands of used movies. Don’t know what that has to do with running, but hey, what do I know? And another thing was there was this huge table of free blue-painted Cowbells. You could ring them as a spectator, I guess. I refrained admirably, from adding one to my bag of swag.

So far, I had been unimpressed with the logistics of the Packet Pickup experience. This was further exacerbated when I tried to get my chip checked. The booth was staffed by the local running club, and was located dead center in the Expo (the strategy probably being that you would be tempted to buy all kinds of stuff that caught your eye as you wended your way through to get your chip checked) Anyway, apparently they hadn’t thought about what they really needed, and the story was that “someone forgot the extension cord” and as such they weren’t able to power up the computer to get chips verified. When asked when that would be available, the answer was a blithe “Oh, they’ll be here in an hour or so”

Forget that! I decided that I was going to trust the technology and not worry about getting the chip verified.

It gets worse, though. It suddenly occurred to me when perusing the Course Map that the Start and Finish line were in two separate parts of the Fox Cities. And there was a goodly distance between the Start and Finish areas. Like 4-5 miles or so. Where to park? What about shuttles? Will I have to WALK back to my car? So, I sought out an information booth to determine what the best course of action was.

Found two guys lounging at a table at the entrance who proved singularly unhelpful. Neither could answer simple questions like “Is there parking at the Start line?” “uhh, I think so! I’ve never actually been there…” How about Shuttles? “Yeah, there will be some shuttles to the Start line in the Morning.” How about back to the Start after the race? “uhhh I’m not sure, but I think so! It may be on the website, but here! Take this Map!” Not receiving what I would consider definitive information, I returned to the packet pickup area and was passed along three times until finally getting an again, very harassed and grumpy lady who informed me that yes, there were shuttles back to the Start line from the Finish – but I needed to check the website for the logistics. She then told me that all of this information should be at the information booth that I had started out at. Relishing the opportunity for a slight amount of revenge, I coolly informed her that I had tried to get it there, but that the two gentlemen there didn’t have a clue. “I’ll fix that!” she snapped, striding out the side door towards the unsuspecting slackers.
A minor victory for my frustration.

I headed back to Oconomowoc and spent time that evening on the website figuring it all out. The website wasn’t great but finally I found all the information I was looking for.

Sunday was early – as it was a long drive and by now I had some concerns about the race logistics, I decided to leave really early. And, as it turned out WAY to early. I can’t usually sleep the night before a Marathon anyway, so I was out the door, travel mug of tea and gym bag in hand, and in the Toyota at 4:20 am, for an 8:00 start time.

Time must have warped because the drive only took something like an hour and a half, because I found myself where I needed to be at 5:55 am – just in time, as it turned out, for the “early start” for the Marathon Walkers. I heard the announcement that said “And here is the start of the 2007 Fox Cities Marathon!!” A big cheer went up and about a hundred people took off. I’m thinking, “Crap! I did miss the start”. I thumbed through the race book to be safe and sure enough, there was an “early start” for those people taking longer than six hours.

The start line was held at the University of Wisconsin – Fox Valley Menasha campus and there was plenty of parking. I got a great spot, near, but upwind from the Portopotties, and settled in for a nap. Soon shuttle busses and other cars started flowing in, and by 6:45 the lot was jammed. So, I wasn’t that early...

I did the obligatory stand-in-line-at-the-portopotty, tossed my gear bag onto the truck and tried to head for the starting line. Tried, that is. By now it was 7:45 and the street where the race was to start was full to overflowing. It was near impossible to get actually in the street, but by falling in behind a crank-wheeled wheelchair participant, I managed to at least get in the street. Also, out of the whole crowd I found myself standing right next to a regular running colleague Carol, who was doing the Half Marathon that day.

I realized in looking around me that there were several colored racing bibs. As it turns out ALL of the races started at the same place and the same time. The Marathon, Marathon Relay, Half Marathon and Half Marathon Walk were all crammed in together. “This Sucks”, I thought to myself as, after some inaudible Starting comments, and, apparently, a “Runners take your mark….Go!” - The crowd started shuffling forward.

It was really hard to move in the first mile or two. All of the slower runners were pressed up front, and I was also regularly dodging twosomes and threesomes of Half Marathon Walkers who wanted, apparently, to get up front to get a good start. I weaved in and out, tried the curb, and even went on the grass but it was still really hard. The course headed directly east, for what seemed like the first hour, directly into the rising sun.

The weather at the start, by the way, was absolutely perfect. Cool, not a cloud in the sky, and, at least, at the start, no wind whatsoever.

In the first miles, one thing that stuck out for me was how many runners were wearing headphones, doing the Ipod thing. Indeed, there was a couple running together, Ipods at full blast with the noise leaking out of their ears so I could pick each of their differing selection. Whitesnake and Nora Dunn, I think. They were actually conversing with each other at the top of their lungs, oblivious to the fact that they sounded like total morons. “I don’t like to drink at the water stops!” He shouted. “Neither do I!” she brayed in return. And so on. Thankfully they weren’t in my pace group, so I soon was able to leave them behind.

Around Mile Three, after we ran up and over a big bridge, the Half Marathoners split off and the Real Runners (just kidding, Carol!) headed onto our own course.

Okay, parts of the course were okay. Mostly it was urban and suburban, everything from subdivision streets, to some highway stretches, and down some Main streets through the middle of town. Remember, this is called the Fox Cities – "Cities" being plural – Marathon, and as such the course wound through several small and large burgs, some of which I had never heard of.

A nice touch was that each time you entered a new municipality, there was a Distinct Marathon sign welcoming you to that particular town. The course was a meandering loop, which started in Appleton, proceeded to Kimberly, and onto my favorite, a town called “Little Chute” (wonder what that story is?) and onto Kaukauna, another cool one called “Combined Locks”, then Darboy, back to Appleton, and then into Menasha, before the final sprint through Neenah to the finish line. A fine cross-section of much of the Fox Cities. We crossed the Fox River at least twice, and there was one section that skirted Lake Winnebago for some waterfront exposure...

Unfortunately, the wind picked up and for several of the mid-miles, it was a pretty stiff (10-20 MPH) headwind that was a little irritating. The weather stayed cool and the sun stayed out, but the course also did roll a little. It seemed as in the mid miles, from about 9 to about 20 or so, it was a gradual rolling uphill which did take its toll. It was not like Quebec, but I did feel like it couldn’t be termed “fast and flat”

Okay….One thing I have to say about this race is that it was probably the best-supported course I’ve been on, even on par with Quebec. There were over 23 aid stations out there; it seemed at some times as if they came every .8 miles or so. And they were staffed with amazing enthusiastic people, who really seemed to enjoy being there. All of them had some kind of theme, from Halloween Costumes, to Christmas (Santa gave me Gatorade mommy!) Hawaiian, you name it. And, I forgot to mention that as in the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, they print your name on your runner’s number bib, so everyone can cheer for you by name. My favorite stop was one that was right before the 20 mile marker, which seemed to be staffed by several high school students – cheerleaders, and athletes mostly. As you approached, one of them would shout out the name on runner’s bibs, and the cheer would be taken up all the way down the line and through the water stop. “GO Peter!! GO PETER!!!!” they all chanted as I jogged through a seemingly endless line of happy teenagers. It was very cool. And in addition to all the water stops, they had four – count ‘em, FOUR Gel Stops, with all the flavors of Cliff Shots, my favorite gel of choice. That’s about three more gel stops than most races have, so again, that was really well done.

In spite of all of the support and the cool signs and municipalities, the course was not really memorable…..I could have been in any Midwest town anyplace, so I can’t say it was the most exciting course I have ever run.

It's time to mention one of the irritating things about the multiple race aspect. Having a marathon relay is a little distracting, because at certain points of the race, suddenly there is some young Turk that comes blowing past you like you aren’t moving (well, maybe at my pace it seems like I’m strolling) But anyway, it’s still a little distracting. And apparently, some of the Relay racers took a pretty cavalier approach to their portion. One I saw was cutting each and every corner, clipping ahead of other runners. And, in fact, I actually saw one of the relay runners disembark back onto the course from a Mini Van! The woman driving called to her as she got out “Well, there’s one of them down!” “Cheaters! I’m silently screaming at them. And, the other part is toward the end of the race, I start catching up to large gangs of the early morning crowd of walkers, walking 3 and 4 abreast as they pad their way to the finish line. Well, maybe they feel about me like I felt about the relay runners…

I did run into two of my Marathon Maniac Brethren – one of whom was in Quebec, a guy named Kevin. This marathon completed all 50 states for him (though why he'd leave Wisconsin for last is beyond me) and he was pretty happy to be there. Maybe someday for me……Anyway, we cruised for a mile or so together and agreed that Quebec had been a brutal event – for him he said it was his slowest time ever. We both did better today - read on....

…….at some point in the race, it became evident to me that I was doing pretty well, time-wise. In spite of the lost minutes in the first few miles, I again hit the halfway point at 1:55, and closed out mile 20 at 2:57, well on track for a sub-four hour finish if I could keep it up. I was hurting again by mile 20 (no, I didn’t do much training as usual!) but unlike Quebec a few weeks before, the course started to flatten out a little, and even roll downhill a bit. It was also at least 10 degrees cooler so…..I started to think, “Maybe today is the day…..”

Not good to count your finish time before it’s on the clock, so I tried not to check my watch too much as miles 21, 22, 23, and 24 flowed by. By the time I hit 25, I’m thinking, well, I’ve got 13 minutes to cover 1.2 miles, so I pushed myself out of the pain and down, around the corner.

I could hear the finish line long before I saw it. The last mile was like a big button hook; you rounded a corner, ran past the finish line on the left and through the trees, out another eight of a mile or so then took a long sweeping turn into the finish line. All this time, you are hearing the finish line announcer, calling names and working the crowd. I pushed as hard as I could without throwing up, and clipped across the finish line with a clock time of 3:58:19, and, as I later found out (my watch said 3:56:36) a chip time of 3:56:32. Yes, that’s breaking four hours….with a few minutes to spare! My fastest time since my Pre-back surgery days in 1997! Yay!

They cut off my chip, I collected my Finishers Medal (pretty nice – apparently it’s a collectors item) and, wonder of wonders, a REALLY awesome 1/3 zip Black Finishers Wind shirt! Okay, this one is a keeper; it’s one of the best I’ve gotten in recent years. It will be perfect for those cool mornings.

I followed the flow of the crowd directly to the food tent, and lo and behold the “multiple races” logistics bit me again. There were signs for Arby’s, some local Bread, and lots of other tasty-sounding sponsors, however, I noted that there didn’t seem to be much activity there. Even before I got there heard someone saying disgustedly, “There was lots of sandwiches and all kinds of things, but the Half-Marathoners took it all” Indeed, the only thing there was some really awful looking packaged cookies, some tired orange slices, and an assortment of canned soda. Later, my statistics from the finishers results showed that I was in the top 39% of finishers that day, so I feel sorry for the other 60% of runners (and a lot of walkers for that matter) behind me – I hope they weren’t too hungry…

Since there wasn’t any food, and I didn’t see anyone I knew, I decided to get back to my car and make some calls to celebrate my finish time. I found my way to the shuttle area, and after an interminable wait, got on a very small shuttle bus back to the Start. In fact, it was only after several people started getting “up” with the shuttle coordinator that he designated one of the busses for Start line people. It seemed he had sent several partially filled shuttles back to the hotels and downtown Neenah, while the rest of us cooled our heels. I do remember cramping up pretty heavily on the bus ride, while a nice young lady named Chris laughed and gave me more room.

So, I made it back to Oconomowoc, and went for a long walk with Cayelin to shake it out a little….even so, Monday and Tuesday especially were very stiff and sore days. A couple of spin classes and a lot of water, and I think today, Wednesday. I’m on the mend.

I think in rereading and writing this, maybe I had a better time than I thought, though there is definitely a lot of room for improvement in some key things for this race. On Tuesday at the YMCA , when another of my running colleagues, Leslie, asked me if the race were thumbs up, or thumbs down, I held my thumb straight and level….it’s a “’tweener”. Of the things that were good (course support, weather, finishers shirt, medal, gel stops, town signs) they were REALLY good. Of the things that were bad (packet pickup up, lack of information, crabby volunteers, no chip verification, mixing the races, NO FOOD, and shuttle performance) it was really bad….. So, again, I rate this race a tweener…..go for the good things I mentioned, but make sure you do your research.

So, even though this wasn’t my fastest marathon ever, I’m really pleased with my finish time and performance. Hopefully I’ll be recovered enough to have fun in Portland, Oregon on October 7 (my next race) The Fox Cities Marathon is number 37 and counting...

I also want to mention my friends Scott and Gregg, my longtime Illinois and Wisconsin running buddies, respectively. Both have been sidelined with injuries this fall, and if you could all send your energies to them for their speedy recovery that would be great.

One last comment - February 19, 2008 is an anniversary of sorts. Back on that same date in 1998, I had back surgery, a lumbar laminectomy for a herniated disc in my lower back. A few weeks prior to that, the Neurosurgeon, who was a stellar professional, had told me “You’ve probably run your last Marathon.” In spite of his words, which I refused to believe, since then, I’ve done 27 of them, using my “Zen Training” method. I was thinking it would be nice to have completed my 40th marathon by that anniversary date, making it an even 30 since that diagnosis. With Portland coming up on October 7th , and I’ve also signed up for Tucson on December 2nd, that would mean I just need to add another one sometime in November, December, or January. I think it’s possible – and with all of your energetic support, I’ll keep crossing those finish lines and collecting the medals. And sharing these experiences with you!
Thanks everyone for reading this far! Blessings to you all....