2015 Gear Reviews

These are some short summaries on running/hiking gear I used in 2015. A few of the items I have used for a while and intend to continue using into 2016. This list only contains the items I used the most, otherwise it would be a very long list.

First, I will start off with shoes, which are the one thing every run requires. I also incorporated a mileage to cost score. Basically, I've bought shoes for $120 that only lasted 300 miles which is 2.5 miles per dollar. Think of it like a miles per gallon score for shoes. A poor score would be 0-3, 4-6 is average, 7-8 very good, and 9+ exceptional. For trail shoes, expect to get at least 100-200 fewer miles per shoe depending on how technical the terrain is you use them on.

Hoka One One Clifton 1: When I bought my first pair of Cliftons in the fall of 2014, I was uncertain how a maximal cushion shoe could function as a lightweight racer. Those doubts were put to rest in 2015 as I not only ran a 100k personal best in the Clifton, but also a marathon PR. While a weight of 8.1 ounces for a men's size 9, advertised as 7.6 oz, is still a bit heavier than most racing flats, the range of comfort made it suitable from anything to a quick 5k to possibly a 100 mile ultra. I was also skeptical that the lightweight EVA midsole would not hold up over time. However, I was pleasantly surprised to put 500 miles on them before retiring them as a recovery, easy mileage back up shoe. My Cliftons currently have 600 miles on them and the only major wear issues are the upper getting stretched out and some of the light green outsole being worn through on the outer heel. Basically, they have stretched to about a half size larger, but still have enough intact sole material where it doesn't effect mechanics. The 7.5mm offset made each stride effortless and bouncy. I will probably get 700 miles out of them before donating them, which is good because I just bought 2 more pairs. It should also be noted that 100% of my mileage has been on flat roads. Any kind of trails or gravel could cut the shoe's life in half. The Cliftons retail at $130, but can easily be found for under $100 on ebay. I paid anywhere from $75-85 for each of my 3 pairs.

Mileage to cost score: 700/$75 = 9.3

Adidas Energy Boost 2: In an effort to ween myself off of maximal shoes like the bulkier Hoka One One, but also retain cushion for higher mileage road running, I sought the Energy Boost. The 10.4mm heel to toe drop seemed quite noticeable right off the bat, but also noticeable was how the "boost" material seem to make the toe off transition seemless. The one piece mesh upper does a wonderful job hugging the foot, though can get a bit heavy when wet. At 10.0 ounces it is a good high mileage shoe, but a bit too heavy and high off the ground to be suitable for racing. That said, I was still able to get in quite a few solid tempo runs faster than my marathon pace in the Energy Boosts, so you can definitely run faster in them if you wanted to. Plus, after 600 miles, I am very pleased that the Boost material feels the same as it did the first day I wore the shoes, and the outsole has also held up nicely. Though the original $160 sticker price is way too high, it should't be hard to get them cheaper online. My two pairs were both $55, which is amazing considering the mileage I have gotten out of them.

Mileage to cost score: 600/$55 = 10.9

Adidas Adios Boost: These are basically a stripped down version of the Energy Boost. The soft single piece upper is replaced with lighter weight material and tongue. The shoes have a significantly lower stack height, which gives them a good ground feel, as well as the fact they come in at 8.3 ounces for a men's size 9. The Adios Boost felt comfortable and fast out of the box, but also felt a bit long and narrow. I could definitely see these being used as a racing flat up to a marathon, and possibly some ultra distances on flat terrain. The Boost material is still present, but much more subtle than in the Energy Boost. While I don't expect to get the same life out of them as I did the Energy Boost, I suspect 400+ miles to be a strong possibility. Retail is $120+, but I got mine in ebay for $40, which was a ridiculously good bargain.

Nike Terra Kiger 2: I bought these last year for $50 on sale (retail $100-120) so I figured I'd give them a try. Right away I noticed how light they were (8.1 ounces) and how small the heel drop was (4mm), yet without sacrificing foot protection like some lighter models do. The lugs provided great traction on rugged trails, as well as on snow, but the light heel cup material means the potential for a loose fit. I also found that the Terra Kiger was a bit too tight around the top of the foot, despite providing ample room in the toe box. The gusseted "burrito" tongue was a great bonus, and while comfortable for quick trail runs up to 10-15 miles, I have my doubts how comfortable the cramped upper foot space would be for an ultra. Maybe I just have weird shaped feet, or maybe the Terra Kiger is a bit off. Either way, if you run lots of trails and see these on sale, they're worth a shot. I don't live near trails, so my pair only has about 50 miles on them, which isn't enough to say how well they will hold up. So far so good though.

Montrail Rogue Fly: I am on my second pair of Rogue Flies and these are by far my favorite trail shoe. At 7.8 ounces they feel like a racing flat, but have also held up at races like the Hellgate 100k. An added bonus is that they feel good on roads too, which is great when a race has both road and trail sections. The 10mm drop doesn't really feel like 10mm, and the upper is made of a very lightweight and comfy mesh. The only real downside to the Rogue Fly is that it is not meant for really rocky and technical races, and the upper does nothing to protect your foot from kicking roots and stones. I got about 300 miles of hard trail running out of my first pair of Rogue Flies before they started to rip near the top of the foot. Still a great shoe considering you can usually find them on sale for under $60 online.

Mileage to cost score: 300/$40 = 7.5 (not bad for trail shoes)

Saucony Triumph ISO: These are my newest, and yet heaviest pair of shoes I own at 10.3 ounces for a men's size 9. Out of the box they felt lighter than expected and required no break in time. My first run was actually a track work out, which these shoes probably aren't ideal for, but they worked better than expected. The ISO fit reminded me a lot of the Energy Boost and also provided the same nice foot hugging fit. I intend to use these as a high mileage trainer to give my legs and feet a bit of a rest. The heel height is only a few mm less than the Clifton's, yet doesn't feel super high off the ground with it's 8mm drop. While, I wouldn't use this shoe for faster paced runs, it didn't feel terribly awkward running sub 7 minute pace either. However, given the solid foot protection and support, I would consider the Triumph ISO a better option for a road ultra. Retail on these can be a bit steep at $140+, but I got mine at a post Christmas sale for $69 at a running store, so cheaper options are out there.

Now, onto to the rest f the stuff I used a lot this year.

Asics Storm Shelter Jacket: This has been an awesome waterproof jacket with 360 degree reflective paneling. While not super lightweight, it still makes for a great option for hiking and running in the rain, or snow. The layer of mesh on the interior along with the arm pit zippers offers good breathability and also helps ward off some of the sweat and moisture build up that frequently occured in my other rain coat, the North Face Venture jacket. Other great features of the Storm Shelter include a detachable hood, a nice fitted collar with draw chords, draw chords on the waist area, a cell phone pocket, sealed zippers, and also built in thumb holes so you can wear the arm liner like a pair of gloves. Having been caught in massive multi hour downpours in both my Storm Shelter and North Face Venture, I can honestly say it was no contest. The Venture jacket had no draw strings for the neck area, which allowed rain into my collar and rain also leaked through the cuffs. The plastic feeling material of the Venture also means that even when rain is kept out, you will still get wet from sweat and condensation, especially if the weather is very muggy and there is't even rain. While the North Face Venture is still an okay option in case of rain, I now reach for the Storm Shelter when I know there is rain.

Patagonia Houdini: The Houdini is probably the jacket I have traveled with the most. It has served me as a light wind breaker, summer bug shield, and winter running coat. The only negative thing I can say about it is that the water repellent finish (DWR) which kept me dry in quick downpours when I first bought the jacket no longer does anything. Despite using every method possible to restore the DWR, the Houdini lost it's ability to repel water after only a a couple years. Thankfully, it does dry out very quickly, and even when wet it does a decent job blocking wind. The Houdini still makes for a great jacket in cool weather and at just 3 ounces, is wonderfully easy and light to carry as it packs into its own pocket.

Marmot Stride: Another light weight jacket for cold weather running or hiking in temps of 45-65 degrees. The Stride is windproof, but also has mesh side paneling to allow for breathability. The jacket is lined with a nice soft interior which helps absorb sweat and also adds a bonus layer for warmth. The cons of the Stride are that the jacket can get a bit heavy when it starts getting wet and easily stains from things as simple as water. It does not dry out quick. However, it does have a nice draw chord around the neck, as well as waist, to help prevent heat loss. The third cell phone pocket is a nice bonus.

Arc'teryx Atom LT: The Atom LT is one of my go to winter jackets. It is windproof and the water repellent finish has kept me surprisingly dry during the few rain storms I've been caught in. The Atom also has mesh side panels that allow for ventilation, which is a particular nice option when using the jacket during rigorous physical activity. Though lacking a draw string, the hood fits well, despite being sized so that you could wear a helmet under it. The Atom LT has been a fantastic coat for winter hikes in 25-45 degree weather as well as running in sub freezing temperatures with just a single layer underneath. The bottom line is that the Atom LT is incredibly comfortable, functional and lightweight. You can't ask for much more out of a jacket.

North Face Thermoball: I have to admit, when I first saw the Thermoball two years ago, I thought it was a silly attempt by North Face to create a gimmicky fashion statement. A few years later, the Thermoball has become one of my favorite everyday use jackets. The Thermoball material, as advertised, does a surprisingly amazing job at retaining warmth without the added bulk. While it doesn't quite have the warmth of 600-800 fill down, the Thermoball also doesn't take up as much weight and doesn't overheat you as soon as you go inside, or the temperature rises a little. The dozens of small square shaped compartments all over the jacket also means that the material doesn't clump up like down, or even primaloft. This is an especially nice thing to not have to worry about when taking your jacket out of the wash. Hence, the fill always stays equally distributed and warm, and there are no random cold spots whee the fill has gone missing. I will also add that the Thermoball also does a good job blocking out wind and even staying warm in the rain, even though not necessarily advertised as an all weather jacket. My only wish is that the Thermoball had a draw chord for the neck. This is an ideal, and very lightweight, coat for active sports in sub 40 degree weather or casual wear in 40-60 degrees.

GoLite Men's Roan Plateau: This is the warmest jacket I own and it replaced my Mountain Hardware Sub Zero jacket (which I still use). GoLite's 800 fill down is the lightest down jacket I have seen in quite some time. Everything about the Roan Plateau is pretty amazing. The down is well distributed through the compartments and has no cold spots. The lined collar is snug, comfortable, and does an incredible job preventing heat from escaping through the neck area. The down is very windproof, but also about what you would expect as far as when it's wet. Great for temps under 32 degrees and it's even been warm in windy 20 degree weather while only wearing a single layer underneath. Definitely a great purchase for the price if you can still find one.

Hydration

Nathan Trail Mix: This replaced my Amphipod RunLite belt which I got sick and tired of due to the bottles always sliding around. The Trail Mix offers a nice wide elastic belt that actually stays in place. A extra perk is that the belt stays in place even when wearing wind breaker type material which my Amphipod belt would slide around non stop. The Trail Mix is also relatively light at 10 ounces and the rubber capped soft 10 ounce bottles are much better than the hard plastic tipped Amphiopd bottles. My teeth thank you. Otherwise, the Trail Mix has a large rear pocket for storage as well as two elastic band that you can strap clothing to. Price is slightly high at $45, but I got mine for $25.

Ultraspire Kinetic: This replaced my Nathan packs which had more rear storage, but less front pocket space. As a big fan of NOT having to constantly take my pack off to get things or refill water, the Kinetic was the perfect option. The Kinetic weighs in at 21.8 ounces, which sounds heavy, but feels relatively light, yet made from sturdy materials. The clipless belt system is much better than having a large plastic clip sitting on your belly. However, my favorite thing is the four front pockets that have a wide range of what they can carry. They are strong enough to carry something heavier like a camera or phone, and light and stretchy enough to not squish food and gels. The 26 ounce bottles and their placement take a little getting used to, but after some practice you can get pretty good at grabbing them on the run and putting them back. I also found that you can turn the bottles so our arms don't hit them on the back swing, which was one of my concerns early on. The only real downside of the Kinetic,as stated earlier, is a lack of rear storage for something like a jacket, but then again it's not that big of a deal either.

Raidlight Olmo 20: I finally decided to test out the French designed Raidlight brand. While Salomon and Ultimate Direction have already had front bottle packs on the market for a few years now, I really wanted to try something different. The Olmo 20 is not really a running pack, so much as a hiking pack you can run in. It has the front storage I was used to having with the Ultraspire Kinetic, but also had the rear storage I had with other larger packs. However, at 21 ounces, the Olmo 20 is lighter than my Kinetic while also having 20 liters of capacity. I will admit that finding the correct fit took a bit of time, and I was initially displeased with how much the front bottles bounced around. However, once the fit was secured, the bottles felt snug and running in the pack was quite enjoyable. Speaking of the bottles, they are 25 ounces each with an insulated a pipette so you can drink without having to even remove the bottles. The thing that separates the Olmo from many of the American brand hydration packs is the amount of functionality that decades of European fell running and mountain running have been able to put into its design. There are pockets everywhere and room to carry just about anything you could think of having in the mountains. Even if you don't need to carry much, the light weight material means you aren't lugging around pounds of dead weight to potentially carry things you don't need. Basically, the Olmo 20 is just as good for carrying one 20 ounce bottle and some granola bars as it is carrying 100 ounces of water and a days worth of food and clothing. The pack is retails for about $130-150, but usually can't be purchased in the US.

How to Get Faster Without Getting Faster

These are just some quick thoughts I had about things you can do right now to cut time off your next race. Obviously, training hard and efficiently, as well as losing weight and having a good diet are the primary ways to get faster, but these are a few logistical tips that can help you get to the finish line quicker without gaining any speed.

Carry less:

Having been to a number of races over the years, it never ceases to amaze me how disproportionately too much stuff people carry for the distances they are running. For most folks the big culprit for extra weight is water. Even at 5k and 10k races I see people with hydration packs, despite the fact that water is provided every few miles on the course. Even if you are walking these distances, unless it is extremely hot, you will not need to carry water, or food. For half marathons and marathons, it might make more sense to carry a water bottle and food, but a 70 ounce pack is still overdoing it when you have the option to refill something smaller, like a 20 ounce bottle, every couple of miles. Every extra pound of weight you carry could add 10-15 seconds per mile to your pace. Carrying an unnecessary 3 lbs of water could add 6-7 minutes to a half marathon and 10-15 minutes to a full marathon. Plus, you need to consider how the extra weight will effect your muscles and joints which will be working harder to support it.

The second biggest culprit for carrying excess weight is gear. Now, let me be clear, I've done ultras where you might have several hours between aid stations, or a drop bag. Given that amount of time, you might have to carry gear you may not end up using. I'm talking more about when you have 4-6 miles between aid stations, and likely no more than an hour in between. If you are on flat trails, or not in the mountains, there's a pretty good chance that carrying a flashlight, extra batteries, trekking poles, a spare rain jacket, extra socks, gloves, a camera, a cell phone, a solar charger, 20 granola bars, 5 apples, 4 bananas, water filter, a dead yak, and using a 20-30 liter pack is a bit of overkill. Remember, you are paying for a race to supply you with what you need at the aid stations, so you might as well use them.

Lastly, as far as carrying extra weight, is the small stuff. Lots of small things add up, and even people like myself can be surprised how much it can all amount to. I put this to the test this past summer and fall when I analyzed a breakdown of the items I planned to run with during one of my fall marathons. The first gear list looked pretty minimal on paper.

- 6 gels (6 ounces)
- 10 ounce Nathan bottle with Nathan Trail Mix Belt(21.2 ounces)
- arm sleeves and calf sleeves (6 ounces)
- Standard running shorts and tech shirt (9.5 ounces)
- Standard hat (2.3 ounces)
- Adidas Energy Boost 2 (19.7 ounces)
- iPod Nano (1.5 ounces)
- Garmin Forerunner 310 (3.5 ounces)

Total weight: 66.4 ounces

Notice that this list is all pretty standard stuff for running, but still weighed in at over four pounds! We tend to forget how much we are carrying, especially when the weight is distributed over the entire body like our running gear is. I then modified my gear list, with the biggest changed being that I wasn't going to carry any water. I also chose not to wear any compression clothing, as they would soak up sweat and add weight. The remaining clothing and shoes were swapped out for lighter options, which was a more dramatic weight cut than I expected. Of the original items, I decided to keep the iPod and Garmin and figured it was worth the extra weight to be able to stay motivated with music and know my pace and distance. The new gear list, which is what I ended running with, ended up like this.

- 6 gels (6 ounces, fyi no gels were provided on the course)
- Nathan 5k pack to hold the gels (3 ounces)
- Brooks hat (1.5 ounces)
- iPod Nano (1.5 ounces)
- Garmin Forerunner 310 (3.5 ounces)
- Saucony singlet and shorts (5.3 ounces)
- Hoka One One Clifton 1 (16.2)

Total weight: 37.0

Wow, what a difference! 66.4 ounces dropped down to 37, which is almost two pounds lighter. The big factor here was straying out of my comfort zone and not running with water. The comfort zone is one of the biggest reasons people carry too much stuff, and challenging yourself to run with less and less will help you feel more at ease. Coming off summer training, I got used to running with water, so it felt a little weird going into race day without having instant access to hydration when I needed it. However, race day temperatures were between 40 and 63 degrees, so just a few sips from the water stops every two miles ended up being adequate. When you realize you can carry less and still have what you need, it can be a very freeing feeling, and it also feels awesome to be lugging around less dead weight.

Part two of this post has to do with more with ultra marathons and aid station management. Basically, ultrarunners can be notorious for taking way too much time at aid stations. The longer the event is, the more time people seem to spend at aid stations. I know quite a few runners that are faster than me, but because I take significantly less time at aid stations, I actually finish ahead of them.

- If you have a crew and/or drop bags, proper planning can get you what you need very quickly. Why spend 10 minutes aimlessly clamoring through stuff you did't need, when you could grab and go everything in under a minute? If you did this for a race with 15-20 aid stations, there's a good chance you could cut an hour off your time just by being better organized.

- Beware the chair. This is a regular saying at ultras and it's true. While most of us like to have a few minutes off our feet during a long race, it's much harder to get going once you have been sitting. An object in motion stays in motion. During a 100 miler, I could understand wanting to relax for 5-10 minutes, but even then you have to ask yourself what will keep your momentum going. Is a 20 minute break going to help you mentally and physically recharge, or will it cause you to shut down? Assuming you are feeling good, sometimes it's easier just to grab the essentials and keeping moving forward.

- You can also prep for an aid station before you reach an aid station. This is as simple as getting your bottle/pack ready to refill, or eating something just before you arrive so you can grab more food and go. You can also remove gear you know you will be leaving in a drop bag, so you aren't having to stop and change at the aid station. Also, if there's no need to stand around, it's just as easy to grab food and eat it while walking. Basically, if you can do something just as easily walking as you could standing still, then choose the walking option.

- For races 50 miles and under, stopping for a couple minutes is about the most you will ever need. Again, if you really only require 30-60 seconds to refill water and get food, but instead stop for several minutes, it could add a lot of unneeded time to your day.

Doping and Ultrarunning

I have always hoped that the sport of ultrarunning would stay clean of performance enhancing drugs, but today I can confirm that is no longer the case. Elisa Desco of Italy, a notable European mountain runner, will be toeing the line with other elite women at the 2015 North Face 50 mile championship in San Francisco this weekend. What makes her different, however, is the fact she is coming off a two year ban for testing positive for EPO in 2009. Yes, 2009 was a long time, and yes her ban has been over for two years. However, this is the first time in ultrarunning where a known doper is being allowed to compete, and compete for a $10,000 cash prize at that.

When I entered our beloved sport in 2004, the only things one could gain from a race of extreme distance and difficulty were blisters, a muddy pair of shoes, comradery, personal achievement, and maybe a buckle or medal. Running 50 and 100 milers were seen as a way to get out and experience the wild beyond the traditional confines of mundane everyday life. It was the juxtaposition of the outer wilderness and the battle of the inner self. It's where the we sought the intangibles, and while much of this experience is still a very real part of ultrarunning today, some of it feels very lost. This may have been more so the case in the decades before I even knew what an ultra was, all the way back to the days of Ted Corbitt and the ultra(esque) European footraces of the 16th to 19th centuries.

It's a new era of ultrarunning for sure. It's a time when the pros equal the cons in terms of financial growth, sponsorship, and marketing. Deep down, money can be found at the root of all of it. Money is clearly a non factor for almost all participants, and for many elites, it's still not the single motivating factor as to why they run and race. However, it is absolutely a factor as to why they might cheat.

Lucrative prize money and sponsorship are the reasons why so many athletes dope, and it is no different in the world of distance running. Recently, we've seen icons like Lance Armstrong fall from grace after finally admitting to years of lying about doping. Then this past year, news broke about at least 40 Kenyan runners that had tested positive for PED's as well as a large number of Russian track athletes. The US side has also taken some hits, with controversy surrounding Alberto Salazar's methods of prescription and OTC drug use, and possibly more. Then again, we're talking about the world of high payout professional running, so while sad, this shouldn't have been much of a shock. The low profit community of ultrarunning could never have these issues, right?

Well, in the past five years ultra races have started churning out cash prizes of up to $10,000 at races like Run Rabbit Run, the North Face 50 mile championships, and $5,000 for the UROC 100k and Speedgaot 50k. While this is hardly comparable to a $100,000 purse for winning a major marathon (which also have time and record bonuses up to $50,000 each), combined with sponsorship and minimal "fame" it is certainly enough to push people to get whatever small competitive edge they can. It should also be noted that some of these events are at high altitude, which is yet another reason someone might try using something like EPO. Again, where there is money and social status, there is usually a trail to PED use. If there is no reward, there is no risk. While the monetary and social gains of doping are still relatively small compared to other sports, we are clearly well beyond the days of the Montrail Nathan ultrarunning team where the big endorsement deals comprised of several free shirts and a discount.

I certainly don't want to stir up any gossip, but my suspicions tell me that PED's have already entered the world of ultrarunning. It also gives me pause when groups like Carmichael Training Systems, which have been tied to PED use in the past, are now coaching elite ultrarunners. I have also witnessed runners improve by leaps and bounds and seen people do things 80 and 90 miles into a race that seem unbelievable. Some could say that we don't yet know the full potential for humans running long distance events, so it's possible that people will only get faster and faster. However, I can still recall all the times I watched the Tour Du France and saw someone relentlessly attacking a climb after two weeks of non stop racing and wondered, how is that possible, only to find out they were doping. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

But, seriously, does it really matter for someone like me who only runs as a hobby? I think so, because we measure a sport by the abilities of all participants from first to last. It's kind of ironic actually, because I remember a race where a unique award was given to the last finisher, so there ended up being a few folks "competing" to be the slowest. A bit of a slap in the face to someone who really is a back of the pack runner if you ask me. The same goes for the front of the pack. Anyway, back to the point. As a participant of any race that gives out prize money, anyone that pays an entry is contributing to that prize. I don't want my money going to a doper, nor do I want to see my elite friends losing to people who have cut corners. It just brings the integrity down a notch and makes you wonder just how far down the grapevine this trend will go. If someone is going to cheat for $10,000, what's to stop them from cheating for $1,000 or $500. Even winning one local race per month could earn someone several thousand dollars for the year.

How about using PED's for no prize money? Why not cheat to get into the Boston Marathon, the Ironman World Championships, or New York City Marathon?

Honestly, if I don't like the fact there are no PED policies in place in ultrarunning, then I can certainly choose to not run ultras with cash prizes. But, I don't like is the principle that someone else's PED use could limit my enjoyment of something, and trust me, this isn't about me and what I enjoy, but instead what other people are doing to damage the sport. But, the time has come. We now have one known PED violator competing for money, and I would be foolish to think she will be the last. So, while I will get my ultrarunning fix by doing small local trail runs, it still ticks me off that the pureness of the sport in general has lost something for the sake of monetary gain.

Finally: My first Boston Marathon Qualifier

Crazy to think I wrote these very words on this blog in February 2014.

"Friends that are much faster than me are barely qualifying for Boston. I mean, geeze, I'd have to average a 7:05 pace for 26.2 miles. That is 1:25 faster than the fastest mile I ran in high school, and a faster pace than anything I could muster for 10k as an adult......As of 2013, my half marathon PR was a 1:37, improving on 1:42 from 2009, but even that projected out to a 3:14 marathon and I knew there was no way I could maintain the same pace for another 13.1 miles. Again, it seems my potential is a 3:20 to 3:25 marathon, though I have yet to run faster than a 3:33, and am still a long, long, way from Boston."

Well, as it turned out, this past weekend at the 20th Steamtown Marathon, I ran exactly a 7:05 mile pace and qualified for the Boston Marathon. To put it bluntly, qualifying for the Boston Marathon is literally something I never thought I would ever do. Granted, I am still keeping all this in perspective, as I know I'm not nearly as fast as many men and women out there. I am still largely a middle of the pack runner. In fact, I'd be lying to say I haven't been jealous of people who can easily run 20-30 minutes under their qualifying times year after year. For some, running Boston isn't a challenge and is just another race on the calendar. For me, I had never been fast enough to even entertain the notion of attempting to qualify. Boston was always a race for those fast runners, and I'd always have to settle being the spectator. Add the fact that I never had a pedigree in running, my high school personal best mile was a 7:30, and my V02 max was measured at a pedestrian 47. While I found moderate success at running longer ultras, it definitely seemed that I was better suited for slow and on trail, versus fast on road.

Splits:

10 miles- 1:09:52 and the half in
Half- 1:31:45.
Finish- 3:07:57
Fastest mile: 6:46 downhill
Slowest mile: 7:40 uphill
Nutrition: 5 gels taken at miles 7, 11, 15, 19, and 23

Notes: Though Steamtown is a fast downhill course, I calculated that my slowest 3 miles negated 10 of my fastest downhill miles. The math proves that. My slowest three miles (24, 25, and 26) took 22:42 and when averaged with my faster first 10 miles in 1:09:33, the pace for the 13 total miles was a 7:06, which is just slightly slower than my overall pace. In fact, Although the course has 955 feet of net downhill, it also has roughly 400+ feet of uphill, so it's really not a guaranteed PR course.

The Danger Zone: Caring for Your Body and Mind

First off, I am certainly not telling anyone what to do, or how to live your lives. But, I also wish I had read something like this 8 years ago as it would have saved me a lot of frustration over crappy running and even periods where I hated running.

Secondly, the only thing better than learning from your own mistakes is learning from someone else's. I'm giving you the opportunity to learn from mine so you don't have to learn from yours. Running might just be a fun hobby for us, but it can be an incredibly expensive, tedious, physically and emotionally demanding hobby.

(2009 American River 50. Photo by Facchino Photography).

The following quotes are actual things I wrote in my race report from the 2009 American River 50. For context, I had foolishly run a 50k the weekend before and was having issues with my legs very early on at American River. Like many people, I had traveled very far to do the race and spent a lot of money, and thus was hell bent on finishing. Six years later, the sheer stupidity of running back to back ultras blows my mind, as well as the misguided "ultra" mentality I used to finish the race.

"As we descended back down to the path my right quad muscle completely gave out.....For the next couple of miles I made a futile attempt at a run/walk method, but after a few steps I would have to stop.....I was able to grab 6 ibuprofen from a volunteer and quickly downed four of them.....To heck with the pain. I'm not here to limp around. I am here to run!.... .This wasn't about being a tough guy."

In retrospect, yes it was about being "tough", and I'd be lying to say that I didn't feel pretty "badass" for pushing through a strained quad to finish a 50 mile race. Then, when I shared the race report on Facebook a few days later, it was immediately flooded with likes and similar kudos for being so bad ass, tough, inspiring, and so on. Reading those only reaffirmed to myself that I was a tough SOB. However, among the cliched platitudes a comment from elite runner Annette Bednosky stood out. She was the only person who cautioned against running too many races and in particular continuing to run during a race when things quite clearly didn't seem okay. Six years later, I know for a fact she was right. I cringe at some of the things I did at that 2009 American River 50. I took 6 ibuprofen (dumb), I had pain in my quad and still ran 35 more miles (dumber), and I ran an ultra the weekend before and thought I could pull off a 50 miler seven days later (dumberer).

The sad thing is, even though I knew better, I continued to make poor decisions often misdirected by my overzealous love of running. From 2008 through 2009, it seemed like I had stretches of time where I ran an ultra or marathon every weekend for several months. I figured if you are lucky enough to find something you love to do, aka running, the more you do it, the more fun life will be. However, healthy moderation wasn't even an afterthought, and I lost a good degree of self control over how often I ran. There were a lot of bad races in there and a lot of wasted opportunities to do better with less. If I heard about a nearby 50k a friend was doing, I did it. If a friend invited me to run a marathon with them, I happily obliged. If there was a 30 mile training run or fat ass ultra, you're darn skippy I showed up to all of them. Ignorance was indeed bliss.

Running is a powerful drug and races are a wide open gateway. In my early years as a runner, the purpose and product of my running were very positive things. Running helped me lose weight after college, it made me healthier, and in general it helped me cope with normal everyday stress a little better. Then, I discovered ultras and learned a lot about myself by pushing through high physical barriers and deep mental places. I felt accomplished and proud of myself. If I could run 50 miles, surely it will make other challenges in life feel a little bit easier. But wait, if running 50 miles can make me feel accomplished, perhaps 100 will make me feel even more invincible. And it did, for a time.

But, soon you realize maybe it isn't enough. You need a bigger challenge, a bigger fish to catch. I became Captain Ahab in search of my great white whale. Now it had to be 100 miles in the mountains, maybe 135 miles across Death valley, or a 24 hour race. But, where does it stop? Could I run across the universe and still feel like it wasn't enough? 40 mile running weeks turn into 60, then 80, and soon I found myself doing well over 100 trying to emulate how the top runners in the country were training. I would freak out if I didn't run everyday, or if I didn't exactly get in the 20 mile long run on Saturday followed by the 15 on Sunday. Then, there would be additional stress if my pace was too slow for a particular workout, or didn't get in my runs, even while on vacation or at a work conference. The irony is a lot of the time while running my only thought was "why am I doing this?". I wasn't enjoying it, it wasn't helpful for training, and even if it was training, why was I training for yet another race? However, it was in those grinding, slow, irritating slogs that I finally conceded to a scary fact....I now hated running.

How did such a 180 degree turn happen so fast? How did something I looked forward to doing a few miles everyday become such a dreaded daily penance? How come I could feel accomplished and ecstatic running 3 miles a decade ago, and now I can run 50 and actually feel bummed out about how I ran? I asked myself a lot what was going on in my head as well as my body. Was I burnt out? Was I over trained? Under trained? Were my expectations hurting my enjoyment? Why was I stressing and training so hard to run a 100 miler, when I no longer felt the need to prove to myself I could do it?

Then it occurred to me. The reality was, it wasn't running I hated, it was the fact I completely lost sight of why I ran and why I had originally found it so fulfilling. It wasn't that the act running wasn't fulfilling enough, but I had become a different person who no longer required a certain kind of running, and more specifically extreme running, to feel accomplished and alive.

I had grown and evolved. It was that simple, and yet so hard to figure out.

And somehow, part of that evolution stemmed from the fact I have witnessed troubling things in the world of running, and not just ultrarunning. People are getting injured at alarming rates, but continuously running more and more races regardless. It seems that the power of the masses can be a powerful collective force to support you, but sometimes can't be the simple voice of reason when you need it. Sometimes it's the very friends around you that spur you onto another bad decision, albeit from their perspective they are simply cheering on a friend. And then, we as runners, want to achieve our own goals, and maybe even try to impress certain audiences, though it may be at the expense of our own health.

So, the big question you may be wondering. Do, I still enjoy running? The short answer is yes. But, I still give myself a few reminders from time to time to keep my brain and body in check. I hope sharing these little reminders can help others prevent a healthy fun hobby from becoming a potentially self destructive place of perpetual frustration.

1. Running races is a first world luxury.
- Not running a PR, not qualifying for Boston, or not getting into a certain race, are all petty first world problems.
- If any of the above things cause any kind of stress, maybe it's time for a reality check in what we should really be concerned about in life.

2. Running is not a fix, nor the answer to any of life's major problems. When your run is over, they will still be waiting for you.

3. Be balanced. Running should not consume your life unless you are a professional athlete. Take time to unplug from all things running from time to time. Eat some ice cream. It won't hurt you, but running too much might.

4. Celebrate the little things. But, be sure to take the time to discover what those little things are for you....and for others.

5. Actually train. Running an ultra or marathon every weekend, and then not running at all during the week, is not training. Plus, you don't want to become "that guy" who read Born to Run, bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, then decided "ease" into it with 80 miles per week and got three stress fractures a month later.

6. On the flip side, don't freak out about training. Most of us aren't getting paid to run, so if training is draining the life out of you, stop.

7. Actually rest. I know rest can be big scary four letter word for us runners, but it's important. We tend to think if we aren't running, we must be resting, so we justify 2 hours of cross fit and a 40 mile bike ride as a recovery day. No seriously, learn to physically rest, and if you can't sit still, go walk a few miles.

8. No finisher's award is worth getting injured for.
- This is especially true for "challenges" where you do X amount of races and then you get a special medal.
- Plus, after you post your medal photos online, who is going to see them? Probably less than the amount of people who will see you in that sexy leg brace the next three months.

9. Know the difference between pain and discomfort.
- Pain usually indicates an injury, in which case stop.
- Discomfort is a normal part of running, but can often become pain.

10. Don't be an enabler for bad decisions (be a rational voice)
- If your friend royally jacked up their leg at mile 45 of a 100 miler, please tell them to stop.
- If your under trained friend wants to become a Half Fanatic, or Marathon Maniac, maybe it's not a good idea to support their three half marathons in three days, or five marathons in five weeks, etc.
- If someone sprained their ankle and then walked 21 miles to finish a marathon, don't jump on the bandwagon to tell them how badass they are. Tell them it was dumb, and you might prolong their running life.

11. See the other side of running. Volunteer, crew, or pace. Being a participant is great, but you only see one vantage point of the sport.

Bonus thought: Care for yourself. You only get one body and mind. Love them. You're the only person who has to live in them and with them. You don't have anything to prove to anyone else and sometimes, you need to know you don't even need to prove something to yourself.

Run Happy my Friends!

Pace Group Leading 101

I have been asked quite a bit in the past month what it is like to be a pace leader and how one can take on such an endeavor. Becoming a pace leader isn't very hard, as all one typically needs to do is inquire with the race management. Other venues include joining and applying to formal pace teams, some of which are specifically affiliated with individual events, or a brand. However becoming a pace leader, and being a successful pace leader are two very different things. In addition, being a pace group leader is entirely different than being a pacer, which I wrote about in a March 2014 post called The Art of Pacing.

I am by no means an expert on pace group leading, but I'd like to think my cumulative experience with all kinds of running gives me a good starting point to offer advice. Pace group leading is incredibly rewarding, sometimes challenging, and at other times very straightforward. Though I have fun when I run, I personally view each pace leading assignment as a job, and my ongoing pace results as my resume. In reality, a proven track record of success could lead to being a part of a sponsored team, so it's worth while to take your duties seriously. Plus, you have the hopes and goals of your fellow runners on your shoulders, and you owe it to them to give it your best effort. So how does one become a successful pacer? Well, here's a general list, and I hope it helps anyone aspiring to become a pace group leader, of any distance, or be better at what you do.

Apologies that this is long, but I think it hits most of the main topics and then some.

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Fitness Level

- Be able to run at least 20 minutes faster than your pace group time. In other words, if you are pacing a 3:35 group, you would hopefully be capable of running a 3:15 on race day. If you ran a 3:15 two years ago, and haven't run anything that suggests you are near that fitness now, it does not count. I've known former sub 2:40 marathoners who have blown up pace leading groups much slower than their PR's. You need to be at that current fitness level when you take on your pace leading assignment.

- Be in race shape, not pace shape. Some people think, oh I just need to be in enough shape to run my pace time. If you do this, your pace time will start to become more and more a max effort. The pace group you lead should feel fairly comfortable the entire time, and the effort level is easier the better shape you stay in. Bottom line, keep your fitness in that 20 minutes, or faster zone.

- Be fit enough for the course. For example, the Charlottesville Marathon is a very hilly course, and this past year it was very windy. Between the hills and wind, the course probably ran 5 minutes slower than a more typical flatter course. This means running a 3:45 in Charlottesville would have been a 3:40 effort elsewhere. If you factor in the fact we recorded 26.72 miles for the marathon, our actual 26.20 mile split was under a 3:40, and subtract 5 more minutes for wind and hills, now you are at an equivalent effort of 3:35. If you showed up in 3:30 marathon shape, despite it being 15 minutes faster than the supposed 3:45 pace, you would have ended up running within 5 minutes of a max effort. Hence, why it is important to understand the difficulty of your course. Not all pace times are the same effort at different races.



Why is it necessary to be significantly faster than your group?

- You will hopefully be talking with your runners, giving them advice, and cheering them on. It's tough to do that out of breath, or while very fatigued.

- You might be carrying hydration gear and nutrition, which adds weight and slows you down. In fact, I even encourage carrying your hydration and nutrition, especially if pacing alone, so you can maintain an even pace through water stops. If a pacer slows down for water, and your runners also stop, you can throw off the visual pacing cue that a pacer provides. It can be easier for your runners to catch up and know that once they are back with you, they are on pace, instead of both the runners and pacer trying to re-calibrate pacing.

- You might be carrying a pace sign. You might be surprised how much carrying a pace sign, especially a larger one, on a very windy day can zap your speed. Being in shape can help negate these effects.

- It helps your runners be confident in you, the pacer, to know you are under control and not on the verge of a blow up. A pacer who looks relaxed and at ease can seem more "reliable", and can also make surrounding runners feel relaxed. In contrast, a pace group leader that is panting and sounds exhausted is not always the best moral booster.

- You may have to catch up for various reasons, whether it be a bathroom break, to stretch, eat, or tie your shoes. Even a 2 minute bathroom break means you will have to sprint a half mile to catch your group. You don't want your runners being alone much more than a few minutes, if at all.

- In case you blow up. It happens. A pacer is so focused on their group that they don't drink enough or eat enough and boom, they are in the midst of a full on bonk at mile 19. If you are in very good shape, a bonk should not effect you the way it would someone else running at full effort.



Take Your Pace Leading Seriously
- Show up rested and in shape. Taper if you need to, but remember that people are counting on you. Some are trying to BQ, some to PR, win awards, or just finish. All are influenced by your performance, or lack thereof.

- Respect the distance. It doesn't matter if you've run 1,000 marathons. 26.2 miles is still 26.2 miles. A lot can happen, so never lose respect for the marathon.



I've Never Run a Marathon That Was Exactly 26.2 Miles
- A marathon is 26.2 miles......if you know and run the exact tangent lines that the course was measured with. In other words, you will always run more than 26.2 miles.

- Plan to run anywhere from 26.4 miles to 26.7, and make sure to adjust the pace accordingly. It still frustrates me that most marathon training plans don't account for this.

- Communicate to your runners the difference in pace. Sadly, people are told a 3:45 marathon is an 8:35 pace, a 3:30 is 8:00, and so on. Yes, but again only for an exact 26.2 miles. If you know a course is going to be 26.45 miles, it means you will be running 5 seconds per mile faster than what they are told. Our overall pace at the Charlottesville marathon was an 8:23, and we finished in 3:44:07. If you showed up thinking you were going to be running an 8:35 pace, you were in for a rude awakening.


Do you run consistent mile splits throughout the race?
- Yes and no.

- Yes, if it is a flat course, like Shamrock, where the first and second halves are about the same in terms of difficulty and geography. On these courses, each mile split should be no more than +/- 5 seconds of goal pace.

- Yes, if you know the mile markers are not significantly off and both halves are about the same distance.

- No, if the course is very hilly. You are guaranteed to drop your runners if you try to maintain your pace up a steep hill. Sometimes you need to budget some slower miles to account for big climbs, and faster miles for downhills. Trying to pace too mechanically can hurt your runners, and it's best to run the way they would run the course, which is slower uphill, faster downhill, and even on the flats.

- No, if the course is like Richmond, where the first half is a net downhill, and the second is a net uphill. In this case, it is okay to allow a positive split by several minutes.



Wear a GPS....AND a Watch.
- A gps is a great tool for tracking distance, pace, and splits. It will also let you know if a course is running long.

- I use an old Forerunner 305, and keep have several screen views stored specifically for pace leading. My primary screen of choice shows current pace, average pace, and distance. My secondary screen shows elapsed time, distance, and overage pace.

- I wear a watch so I can view mile splits between course mile markers, and not just the mile splits on my gps, which might be different.

- I wear a watch because my gps has died during a race, and there's nothing worse than trying to hold a steady pace with no data.

- I wear a watch because sometimes my gps loses signal and isn't always trustworthy for pace.

- Just remember that gps data is not infallible. You might run side by side with another runner an entire race and finish with a different distances and paces on your gps devices. Stick to the data on YOUR gps, as constantly trying to factor in what someone else is getting will throw you off.




Have Experience with Road Marathons.
- Your pacing job should not also be your first marathon, even if you are fast enough. I've seen several novice marathon pacers who missed their goals because they did not have the experience to account for things like a long course, or hills.

- If your pace leading is your first marathon, see if you can team up with a co-pacer.

- If you are a trail runner, keep in mind that running 26.2 miles at a consistent pace on pavement is very different than running various paces on undulating trails.



You set the pace, not your runners.
- I have seen pace leaders pace off the runners around them, but you need to be the one setting the pace. Picture yourself as a steady island floating along while the other runners are boats around you. You are meant to be the constant and the physical and mental fixed variable in the race.

- Show restraint. A pacer can not get caught up in the excitement of the crowds and music and lose track of the pace. Don't get too caught up in conversation, because your conversational pace may be much faster than someone else, and you may accidentally start going too fast, or even too slow without knowing it. Don't be tempted to follow your runners when they kick to the finish and stick to the goal pace.



Be Visible
- Most pace groups provide shirts and signs to carry, and some do not. It doesn't hurt to add a little flare to your sign, or attire to make you easier for your group to spot. This past spring I added orange duct tape and a Hawaiian Lei to several of my signs so I could be seen. At one race, I was surrounded by a half dozen guys that were probably all over 6'3", which meant I was not necessarily easy to see in the middle of them. Having a sign on a 3 foot stick enabled me to be visible among my tall fellow runners.

- Keep your pace sign visible. I've seen pacers who trim down the pace stick to make it shorter and easier to carry and then don't keep it raised high and visible through the run. In a crowd of people, you can't even see the sign. Be sure to use a longer stick and if needed reinforce it so it doesn't break if it;s very windy. I used a carbon fiber hiking pole at the Charlottesville Marathon because a typical dowel rod would have easily snapped in the 20-30+ mph wind gusts. A longer stick also means you don't have to keep your arm raised, which can put a lot of strain on your shoulders. Alternating arms also helps.



Do Your Homework
- Learn what you can about the event and logistics. Your runners will have a lot of questions for you, and you can give them some much needed assurance by having answers. Figure out where the water stops are located, if there are porta potties and gels, or any major hills and notoriously tough stretches. It even helps to find out any quirky details like if a certain mile is long/short, or what typical race day weather will be like.



Learn Race Specific Math and be Flexible
- This helps for projecting accurate finish times and knowing whether you may need to speed up at the end of a race, or have the luxury of slowing down a little. It's also nice to be able to share with your runners what their projected finish time will be if they hold the current pace.

- In regards to projecting finish times, don't over think it, but know ahead of time where you want to be. It doesn't hurt to have goal times for the 10k split, 10 mile, half, and so on. It all helps keep you on track. Pace charts are a great tool but don't always account for the specifics of a course.

- Example: If you are pacing a 3:30 group and running an 8:00 pace when you reach mile 25, it means you have roughly 9:36 to the finish. If you are at 3:20 elapsed time at mile 25, you are spot on. However, if you are at 3:18, or 3:22, you have a little last minute tweaking to do, and if it means speeding up, you could hurt your runners.

- Example: You're pacing a 4:00 group and you reach mile 20 in 3:00. You have 6.2 miles remaining, which should take roughly 56 minutes at current pace, but that would bring you to a finish of 3:56, which is too fast. You now have the "luxury" of slowing down to a 9:30 pace, which could allow some runners to catch up. However, as you are running, you see miles 24 and 25 run a little long at 1.07 and 1.05 miles. Now you have to adjust back to a 9:15.

- Being flexible means taking into account long/short miles and things like hills and wind. If you reach mile marker 5, and your gps says 5.08 miles, that's a good sign the course will run long. If you reach mile marker 10, and your gps reads 10.16, it reaffirms you need to run a slightly faster pace to hit goal. You can extrapolate and predict that if you are already 0.18 miles over at the half, you will finish with 26.56 miles. Sometimes you'll notice the distance balance out, where you were 0.22 miles over at mile 15, but only 0.17 over at mile 20. Again, be flexible and adjust the pace mile by mile if needed. Communicate with your runners if they ask why your pace keeps changing. They will most likely appreciate the fact that you are capable of micromanaging the pace a mile at a time to keep them on target.



Communicate and Listen
- Before the race, communicate with your runners. A marathon may be just another day at the office to you, but your runners might be fighting off the nerves and jitters of their first marathon, or a potential BQ. You will likely get asked a lot of questions on race morning, and leading up. Do your homework about the event and course, so you can answer. Communicate your pace strategy and water stop strategy. All of these things can help calm nerves and enhance your runners' marathon experience.

- During the race, communicate. Talk about notable course details and things like turns and mile splits. You can establish a lot of trust just by being consistent with your pacing, but also lose trust if you do a poor job. If a mile split seemed too fast or too slow explain why, whether it was wind, hills, etc. When I was pacing a 4:00 group, a couple runners thought we were going a little too fast, but I assured them it was the pace needed to account for the extra distance I was getting between mile markers. I said my goal was to get them to the half in just under 2 hours, and when we crossed the half in 1:59:53 I knew I had established the trust of my group.

- Know how much, or how little to talk. Small talk, introductions, and jokes in the early miles are a great way to break the tension and make the miles go by easily for your runners. However, excessive talking can be mentally distracting and tiring to some people. There are, however, instances where runners will request you to keep talking to take their mind off their fatigue and discomfort.

- Continue to reassure your runners. Later in a race, you might be running the exact same pace as earlier, but it will feel like a harder effort as your runners tire. They will ask if they are still on pace, and you need to assure them that you are. Say mile splits out loud, or say something like "Last 3 miles were all between 8:28 and 8:35 pace" or "5 miles left, we'll do it in 42:30, which will bring us in just over 3:44".

- Communicate with your co-pacer(s) if you have them. Talk about how to manage water stops, bathroom breaks and race/pace strategy. Try not to separate too far from each other as it will become confusing for your runners. If one pacer runs ahead, it will freak out runners who are, in fact, still well within their target pace. Stay as a team.



Stick to the Plan
- It doesn't matter if you've been running alone the final 8 miles of a race, stick to the plan, and maintain an even pace. You'd be surprised the number of runners whose only goal is to keep you in sight, or keep you from passing. If you speed up, assuming nobody is with you, you may completely discourage a runner a half mile behind you who can no longer see you.

- Don't slow down either, as it might be tempting to provide company to people you pass. You slowing down to be supportive of a struggling runner, barring medical emergency, might cost another runner their goal.

- More often than not, you will be the one catching and passing many runners, especially after mile 20. Encourage them to stick with you, but if they can't, you just have to move on.



Your Chip Time vs Your Runner's Chip Time
- Again, remind runners, especially ones trying to BQ, that your times may be different, even if you finish at the same time.

- This applies even more to runners you catch up to who started the race in corrals ahead of you. Their times might actually be 30 seconds to several minutes more than yours, based on when you started. In a larger race with 30,000+ runners, this time gap could be over 3 minutes.

- Example: If a runner's BQ is 3:40, but because they are much faster, they are lined up in the 3:05 corral, they may cross the starting mat 3 minutes ahead of you. If the runner has a bad day and your group catches up, the runner is now on 3:43 pace, not your 3:40 pace, and would thus have to speed up to BQ. Though this scenario is unlikely, it's not implausible, and you could potentially save a day from going from bad to worse.



Encourage Your Runners to Go Ahead
- This is especially true if you have runners who want to run Boston. Keep in mind, wanting to run Boston, and just wanting to qualify are very different. To qualify, you just need to run under the qualifying time, even if by 1 second. However, to gain entry into Boston, runners will likely need to run 1:15 under their qualifier, but I always say 2:00 just to be safe.

- Example: If I am pacing 3:45, and that is also a runner's BQ time, I remind them that my goal is to finish close to 3:45, not 3:43, which is what they will need. I try to remind runners trying to BQ around miles 10, 16, and 20 that they need to run ahead to bank the extra time. If you are still with the 3:45 pace group at mile 24, it is not likely you will run the last 2.2 miles at a 7:30 pace in order to get into Boston.

- Sometimes, however, runners only care about qualifying for Boston, and not running it. It's more a goal to say they did it, or to continue a streak of qualifying times. I still remind my runners that my goal is to get near my target time, which is based on MY chip time, and they need to be aware of any difference in our start times. My watch might read 3:44:55, but if you started ahead of me, we may cross the finish together and your chip time might be 3:45:06, and you missed a BQ. I actually had this happen at Richmond last year, but my runner simply did not have the energy to push ahead. It was a gamble for her to stick with the 3:45 pacers through the finish, and when her clock time showed over 3:46 (3:44:55 my chip time), none of us knew if she made her BQ. Thankfully, it turns out she BQ'ed by 3 seconds, but it was a big risk.



It's Okay to Finish Alone
- I have finished most of my pace leading assignments alone, and this is normal. It may initially feel awkward to run with people all day, only to come through that boisterous finish chute all by yourself. It's the name of the game. You may have a pack of 50-100 runners behind you the first 10 miles and it's an incredibly empowering feeling. However, it could be half that number by mile 16, and by mile 20 you may be down to 5-10 runners tops. At least 60-70% of your initial group will fall behind, while the rest will eventually kick and finish a few minutes ahead. Other times, you will absorb a few runners you catch up to, or finish with runners who just want to hang at your pace as long as they can.



Gauging Success
- A successful pacing job is finishing within 2 minutes of your target time without going over. There are exceptions, like when I had to stop for traffic two miles from the finish at one of my races, which cost me nearly a perfect pacing job. A very good pace job is getting within one minute of your target time.

- A successful pacing job includes not deviating more than 5-6 seconds per mile of your goal pace, assuming a flat course.

- A successful pacing job should also not see more than a 1-2 minute difference for each half, assuming a consistent course profile and half distances.



Lastly CELEBRATE!
- You may never know what your pace leading meant to someone. However, this past spring I got many thank you's from people who BQ'ed for the first time, thought they would never BQ again, ran their first marathon since giving birth to a child, or finishing their first marathon. While running a 5:00, or 3:05 marathon may be a piece of cake to us, for some it is the culmination of something far greater than we can wrap our heads around. Pace leading allows you to participate in the midst of other people's struggles and triumphs. Realize what a privilege it is to be part of that.

March/April Madness

Well, the past three weeks were certainly a fun stretch of running. I lead pace groups for four marathons in a span of 20 days and was within 42 seconds of my target time for all four. I also never positive split a course by more than 18 seconds, other than Charlottesville, which was intentional due to the nature of the course.


Newport News One City Marathon. 3:45 pace leader. This was the inaugural year for the event.

(Early part of the One City course. Photo credit Newport News Daily Press)

Distance: 26.69 miles
Total Time: 3:44:38
Pace: 8:25
First half: 1:52:10, 13.35 miles
Second half: 1:52:28, 13.34 miles
Weather: Low 40's at the start. Low 60's at the finish.

Course Difficulty: A few small hills in the beginning and around miles 15-16. Not much shade the second half, and some wind in the more exposed places. Overall, a pretty flat and fast point to point course.

Course Scenery: Quiet and pleasant roads the first half and then opening up to a more city like feel with some scenic stretches by the water.

Crowd Support: Honestly, better than expected. The first 10 miles are fairly quiet, but the final half felt pretty energized with schools, clubs, and bands cheering along the course.

Logistics: Not bad, though there was some confusion with shuttle buses in the morning, especially for relay teams. Some volunteers seemed inexperienced to handle typical marathon related questions. A couple finish line volunteers came across a bit snappy to tired runners. Otherwise, 99.99% of the volunteers were amazing.

Pre-race: Chilly wait in a parking lot with no place to stay warm. Some people waited 90 minutes due to the time gap between getting dropped off by shuttles and the marathon start.

Post-race: Very windy and chilly by the waterfront. Not fun if you are cold and sweaty. Free beer and pizza hit the spot. Layout was good, but very muddy due to rain the day before. Live entertainment was good, but far too loud.

Bling: The medal was fairly nice. It's a runner going through the victory arch, which is exactly how the finish looked. A nice nod to the city of Newport News.

Highlights: Giving a high five to Elvis, helping a 63 year old man named James qualify for the Boston Marathon, and being a part of an inaugural local event.

(Photo credit One City 26.2)


Shamrock Marathon. 3:45 pace leader.

Distance: 26.46 miles
Total Time: 3:44:18
Pace: 8:28
First half: 1:52:01, 13.30 miles
Second half: 1:52:17, 13.16 miles
Elevation gain: 102 feet
Weather: High 40's to mid 50's. Winds 7-15 mph.

Course Difficulty: Flat and fast, with the exception of sometimes heavy wind. However, this year, the wind was a non factor for most runners. The only hills are the short climbs over the Rudee Inlet bridge at miles 2.5 and 9 and some slight inclines in Fort Story. The final 10k of the marathon is a net downhill with a fast finish on the boardwalk.

Course Scenery: A nice mix of oceanfront board walk, open road, military bases, and downtown Virginia Beach. Good variety, though some will find places like Fort Story a bit mentally draining.

Crowd Support: Pretty good, aside from the quiet six mile stretch on Shore Drive and Fort Story. Even without spectators there are enough fellow runners, soldiers, and volunteers to keep you energized all day.

Logistics: Good. Parking is still a bit rough, and expo parking can be an adventure, but still better than what you'd see at a race with 30k runners. The mile from 4 to 5 is still long at 1.20 miles and the mile from 5 to 6 is short at 0.90 miles.

Pre-race: It can be a cold and windy wait for folks, though many people huddle inside hotels and around a few fire pits to stay warm.

Post-race: Fantastic. Free beer, good food, and awesome live music inside a huge beachfront tent. Honestly, it's one of the best finish line parties I've experienced.

Bling: The medals were unique this year, but still nice, and plenty big. The black and glittered green looked better in person than in photos. The challenge medals were simply beautiful, especially the King Neptune.

Highlights: Shamrock, aka J&A Racing, treat their pace leaders extremely well and granted us access to the VIP tent all weekend. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the rock star pace team from Minnesota, which included talented runners Dan LaPlante, Jim Winkels, Don Sullivan, and Ben Drexler. I also got to hang out with running luminary Bart Yasso, US Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray, and one of the owners of Yuengling.

(Chilling in the VIP tent. Photo credit Bart Yasso).

(Myself and Ben Drexler showing off our Whale Challenge bling. Photo credit Ben Drexler @_6run2)

(The sweet Running Etc. pace team shirts)


Emerald Isle Marathon. 4:00 pace leader.

(I'm somewhere in the middle of that pack. This was when we merged with the half marathon, and only 8 runners with me were marathoners. Photo credit SOS Photography)

Distance: 26.50 miles
Total Time: 4:00:03 (Had to stop for cars a mile from the finish, otherwise I would have been under 4 hours)
Pace: 9:05
First half: 1:59:53, 13.22 miles
Second half: 2:00:10, 13.28 miles
Weather: Hi 30's to low 50's. Wind 10-25 mph.

Course Difficulty: Surprisingly hilly, especially through the neighborhoods from miles 2-7. The out and back final 10 miles are mostly flat, but still lots of undulations where the running path overlaps entrances to stores and shopping centers. Strong head wind the final 8 miles, and the last mile is a rather hilly and windy bike path. Far hillier than you'd expect so close to the ocean and lots of turns the first half.

Course Scenery: A bit disappointing considering how beautiful Emerald Isle is. The most pleasant parts were watching the sunrise over the huge houses in the beginning and the few miles along the oceanfront road from miles 12-18. However, running the bike paths and main roads was fairly uninteresting, and you never actually see the ocean or beaches from the course because they are always obstructed by houses.

Crowd Support: Non existent, other than the friendly volunteers. The marathon only had 200 runners, which meant we were extremely spread out. We did merge with the half for six miles, which was the only time we ran with a substantial crowd, but after they turned back we were alone again. Other than some locals, runner's friends and family, and curious people who came out to their yards, there wasn't much crowd support. If you run the full, just plan for a fairly quiet day.

Logistics: 6:30am start meant we ran the first few miles in the dark. Not super safe on an unlit bike path, and several runners tripped on bumps and/or ran into dividers on the path. Parts of course were not closed to traffic and you have to be mindful of turning cars and traffic lights the final 5-6 miles. Other busy intersections and crossings were, however, managed well by volunteers and police officers. Mile markers were spray painted on the ground and sometimes easy to miss, though there were a handful that were marked with small signs. Lots of turns on the course, but volunteers were at all of them, and the combination of color coded arrows and signs made the course easy to follow.

Pre-race: They had a tent with heaters to stay warm which was nice. Parking was close to the start/finish, which meant a nice short walk.

Post-race: No food at the finish, other than water, bananas and mini Cliff bars. The only "real" food was a burrito truck you had to pay for. Granted the burritos were good, but it didn't thrill runners that their only option for food was buying something from a vendor. There was a post-race banquet, but it was at 5pm, which was a good 5-7 hours after most people finished their events. Unless you were staying the entire weekend, and staying nearby, it was not feasible to stick around and come back at 5pm. They should have just had the reception going as runners were finishing so we could have access to food and entertainment right then. Hopefully they didn't waste a lot of food on no shows, because it didn't seem like many people went.

Bling: A fairly traditional medal featuring runners and a colorful beach theme. Not small, but small compared to what medals look like nowadays.

Highlights: Running with a steadfast pack of 8 runners for 16 miles. Of that group only one, Catherine doing her first marathon, was able to stay with me. We ran the final 8 miles together until I urged her to run ahad at mile 24. Her goal was to finish her first marathon under 4 hours, and she did so by finishing 30 seconds ahead of me. Well done! I also loved the guy with the hand crank bike. Despite all the hills and half dozen speed bumps he was always grinning.


Charlottesville Marathon. 3:45 pace leader.

(Charlottesville Marathon Finish. Photo credit BadtotheBone.biz)

Total Time: 3:44:22
Distance: 26.72 (actual 26.2 mile split was just under 3:40)
Pace: 8:23
First Half: 1:51:10
Second Half: 1:53:12
Weather: Low 50's to low 60's. Very windy, with gusts of 35mph.
Elevation gain: 1,210
*Thanks to my co-pacer Scott Adams for managing the pacing after my gps died one mile in. I also worried we went out to fast after we split 1:51 for the first half, but he assured me the second half hills would catch up and the pace was good. Sure enough, between the hills and wind, we came in right on target pace. It also helps that Scott is a speedy veteran of numerous marathons and also knew the course well.

Course Difficulty: It's a tough course. Compared to courses like Richmond, Shamrock, and Marine Corps, people should be aware this course significantly more challenging. Total elevation gain is 1,210 feet for the current course, compared to Richmond with 550 feet of gain, 845 for Marine Corps, and a little over 100 feet for the pancake flat, but often windy Shamrock course. Some of the hills are short and steep, or as long as half a mile. With all the out and back sections, just remember that what goes up, must go down, and vice versa. The race starts with a steep downhill followed by long uphill, which is basically a prelude to the rest of the course. There is a climb with switchbacks around mile 15, a half mile uphill at 16, another short steep grunt near 18, the notorious hill at mile 24, and a few more smaller hills just before the finish. There aren't many true flat sections, so you are either going up, or down most of the race. The heavy wind on race day made the 2015 event harder than usual. Expect the course to run at least 5 minutes slower than your typical marathon time, unless you excel at hills, and possibly more if you have windy conditions like today. Also, with all the twists and turns, expect to factor in an extra 0.3-0.5 miles.

Course Scenery: It's a pretty course and provides a good tour of Charlottesville. You pass through local parks, the Rivanna River, and some of the more popular areas of downtown. The time of year also means you get a glimpse of the first blooms of spring, and the dogwoods and flowers were gorgeous along the course. The course has three distinct out and backs, so you get to see fellow runners and front runners most of the day.

Crowd Support: Not a ton, but there were enough clusters of enthusiastic volunteers, students, and locals to keep you feeling good. Don't expect live music or marching bands on the course and the town can be a little quiet earlier in the morning.

Logistics: Very easy, and race day packet pickup was a breeze. Parking, the start, and the finish were all within a block of each other, which meant very minimal walking. Access to and from was very easy. Traffic support by police at intersections was amazing and as well managed as a big city race. However, despite numerous markings and volunteers, we saw at least 3 half marathon runners miss their turns and accidentally join the marathoners.

Pre-race: Very easy access with parking close to the start. The only downside is that parking is expensive at $2.50 an hour with a max of $20 for the day. Richmond Marathon parking was only $5, and all other races this spring were free. Grabbing packet pickup items was very fast if you showed up earler, like before 6:15am, and there were no porta potty lines if you showed up 30-45 minutes before the start. You could easily wait in your car to stay warm and only be a 5 minute walk from the start.

Post-race: A pleasant and cozy atmosphere in court square. They had a small band playing which was nice, not too loud, and fitting for Charlottesville. The free beer and pizza tasted good, and I enjoyed some ice cream from the ice cream truck. Getting to relax, catch up with runners, and enjoy the spring sun was quite pleasant.

Bling: Charlottesville has been notorious for its small finisher medals, but this year was different. The medal this year was much bigger with a solid brass design. It was a nice tribute to UVA, with orange being used for the full medals and blue for the half. The UVA Rotunda building, or something that very much resembles it, is featured on both the medals and shirt design. The back of the medal is also a bottle opener. Shirts were a blue short sleeved technical with a similar logo as the medals.

Highlights: Running with a fun group and joking about UCan, Eye of the Tiger, and tackling the tough course with some humor. We got to reel in a few runners towards the end and got them into the finish looking strong.

Anyway, I had a fun 20 days. I realized my body is definitely capable of running marathons at easier efforts every weekend if it wanted to. But, that's not my goal. My only objective was to help other runners reach their objectives and I hope to continue that by pace leading many more marathons and halves to come.