No, I'm not going to be running it this year. So far, my one and only time running Tokyo was 2019, though I would like to get back there to have a hopefully better time of it.
All eyes will be on the marathon, though, to see if Eliud Kipchoge reclaims his world record. And if he manages to do so, will he do something to honor the recent passing of Kelvin Kiptum -- who was certainly poised to break the 2-hour barrier.
Saturday morning arrived, and worse than predicted, it was raining fairly heavily. I took my time getting ready, making sure I had everything needed both for keeping warm before the start, as well as dry warm clothing (in their own bags inside the main checked bag) for putting on after the finish.
Mercifully, despite bracing myself for a slightly miserable walk, after about 1-2 blocks, a car pulls over, backs up, and asks if I'm going to the starting area. (It was pretty obvious, since I was wrapped in a mylar blanket and holding the gear check bag.) While I wouldn't normally hop in a stranger's car like this, it was clear he was racing also, having moved his gear check bag from the passenger seat to the back. Wonderful - save me about 20 minutes of walking in chilly light rain. Very nice guy from Poland who was running in the half marathon. He dropped me off just before the area where the traffic for the marathoners was building up, and went on his way towards the half marathon start line. Much better walking only 1/4 mile than 2 miles in those conditions.
Relatively quickly I made my way to the bus queue and boarded. Within a couple of minutes, we were off. The bus was reasonably toasty, so I dried off and warmed up quickly enough. And, with the way that Mesa Marathon works, event though they have fire pits (on dry days) or heat lamps (on wet days, as it was) set up in the starting area, they allow the runners to stay aboard the buses until the race starts. (They don't do that for the half marathoners.) So, I stayed on until about 5:45am, whereupon I made my way to a portapotty queue, dropped by bag off at bag check (awkwardly positioned right next to the queue for the last portapotty), and lined up for the starting corral. (I was trying to listed for the announcement for the standard Marathon Maniac photo to join, but I never heard one. Not sure if it happened.)
Several of us were huddled around one of the lamps between the banners for 3:10 and 3:20 pacers. As time ticked by, amid our chitchat, we noted the time and wondered why the National Anthem hadn't yet been sung (or had it, and we just didn't hear it because of a lack of speakers near the front?). Start time (6:30am -- about 45 minutes before sunrise) comes and goes, and we're still standing around. WTF? After a few minutes, someone hears one other person (not a race official) say that the start would be delayed by about 30 minutes.
While the delay was ultimately less than that, I wasn't totally surprised. During the time that I was sitting on the bus upon our arrival, I was close enough to the front to hear all of the chatter among the other drivers who were still out. Many of them missed one of their turns. Several others were prevented from making a turn because of the road having been closed off by the police. And yet others were still in the vicinity of the bus pick-up -- a 40 minute drive away from the starting area -- trying to figure out how to get underway, and also wondering where any of the other racers were to board the bus. Apparently, the logistics for the buses was an enormous cluster, despite the fact that (according to our driver) all of the drivers were provided turn-by-turn instructions in advance of how to get to the marathon starting area. Sigh.
Finally, without any fanfare or warning, two sparklers light up just on the other side of the starting banner. Oh! We're off!
Largely a great profile for a race, I zip on out on the initial 4-mile downhill at the planned effort level (and just a smidge slow pace-wise, likely because of the slightly extra mileage I had run -- no worries, I could make it up).
The 1.5 mile uphill is always killer to me, but I had trained reasonably well for it, and it looked like my splits were about what I wanted. And the next (and steepest) downhill on the course went swimmingly, I thought. But, it turns out such was not the case. Bit by bit, as my splits would eventually demonstrate, I progressively slowed down.
For some reason, despite there being several other spots where I know they took my photo, they seem to be nowhere to be found, including the one on the steep downhill about Mile 6 where I decided to go airborne for the photo. Dang!
Nope, that was definitely not me approaching the tape. There are only two ways I'll ever get a view of the finish line tape: be standing off-course with a view of it as the winner approaches or download a photo of it after the fact (like I did here).
Despite my BQ- and NYC-related goals for the race (3:16 to be confident in a solid BQ-9:00 to use for 2025, and sub-3:14 to have a time qualifier for NYC for 2025), I finished in 3:37:05. Ouch! Sure, an inherently good time, but far off the desired mark. Oh well. I may have to settle for the stress of my current time and squeaking in (or out) for 2025. Time will tell.
After getting through the finish chute with all of the goodies they provide the runners, I made my way (rather cold) to the tent where several physical therapists were stationed to stretch everyone out. Thankfully, the line was non-existent. Afterwards, I made my way around to the pen where our checked bags were sitting (out in the rain, uncovered). It would've been nice had they had the numbers for the bib ranges visible to the runners. They faced all of those signs inward, so we didn't know precisely where to line up. (Come on. Really?) Upon getting mine, I gladly made my way into a nearby portapotty to change my wet shirt to a dry long-sleeved MCM mock and put on my fun flannel elf pajama bottoms that I had gotten a few years ago as a throwaway for start lines, that I keep on keeping. They're too comfortable and warm to sacrifice. But given how cold and wet I was, it took a few minutes of shivering through the changing to get everything together. Not to mention it was a bit cramped in there, after all.
Finally, the coup de grace for the recovery zone: getting a Char Burger and fries from Habit Burger. The line was long, but it really only took about 15 minutes, so it wasn't so bad. I was very happy to have a burger that close after the race rather than a few hours later (after showering, changing, and setting out). While it wasn't anything special, it very much hit the spot.
Lunch finished, I set back out to get to my hotel - 2 miles away. But rather than go directly there, I walked along the last mile of the course (until the last possible intersection that I would finally need to turn on) cheering on all of the runners (marathon, half marathon, and maybe even 10k) still on the course proceeding to the finish. I sat down on the fire hydrant there and cheered for about an hour, until I saw the 6-hour marathon pacer pass by. I took that (and the lack of anyone immediately in view behind) as my opportunity to finish the trek to the hotel to shower, change, and rest up before heading out for dinner.
Clearly I was so hungry by the time I got to the restaurant (despite having had additional post-race snacks), that I dove into the food immediately without even thinking about taking a photo to put here. Oops! Trust me, though, the BBQ was quite good. And even better were the fried doughnuts that they brought with the check. Mmmm!
After missing the initial return bus by about 1 minute (I saw it leaving the stop), I sat in the cold, breezy bus stop for about 20 minutes before the next bus arrived. A total of 75 minutes waiting/commuting/walking time later, I was back at the hotel to pack everything up for a crazy early departure the next day. And two final legs of flying on Southwest in the middle seat -- ugh!
Next up: Coast Guard Marathon and Boston Marathon in early-to-mid April.
I don't know what it was, but so much about this trip to the Mesa Marathon this year was just wrong.
First off, when I called to reserve the taxi, they weren't able to hear me on the phone given a poor connection. And since they don't have their own website where I can book a reservation online, I wound up going with a different company. Cost me about $10 more for the same quick trip to the airport!
A pleasant surprise on my way towards TSA Pre, though, was the scale model of Dulles Airport made out of Lego bricks that was recently placed on display. Really neat! Just a shame that there wasn't a better angle to see all of the detail of the interior.
Next up, boarding the plane. I almost never take Southwest Airlines (typically they're not going where I want), and my experience this time may push me back towards that stance, even if they do go to my destinations. For each leg of my trip, I had center seats, since there are no pre-assigned seats. First-come first-served, and I was in the middle of the C boarding group. And what is it with so many putzes who can't abide by the instruction to NOT put their small bags in the overhead compartment. Hello, there are people boarding after you with large enough carry-ons to put up there. Wait until we're all boarded, then put the small bags up if there's still room left. Ugh!
After a brief layover in Denver, I finally arrived in Phoenix, only a short Valley Metro ride away from Mesa. Upon arriving at my hotel, I was struck at how much lower quality it was than last year (where it was barely moderate quality). First off, the hotel tried to get me to pay a $5 cash deposit for the keycard to the room; they'd refund it after I checked out. No. First off, you can charge it on my credit card (they didn't) rather than expecting me to have cash (though I did), and secondly, I was going to be checking out at 5am to make my flight on Sunday -- I wouldn't be able to get any cash back from them at that hour. Upon opening the door to my room, I was struck by the horrible quality. There was a large hole in the wall where someone had previously thrown open the door -- with no stopper on the floor, the doorknob busted the wall. Somehow they also managed to break a hole in the panel where the light switch was next to the door.
Moving further into the room, the bathtub's finish was peeling, and the door jamb was somehow damaged. (How did THAT happen?)
OK, all unpacked, let's put on the TV. Nope! No remote control for the TV, and there are absolutely NO buttons visible anywhere on the TV (front, bottom, sides, back -- nowhere). It's late enough, I don't bother going back to the office to try to get one; it'd hold until tomorrow. (Remember, no phone in room -- so I couldn't do a quick call, and didn't want to bother looking up the phone number to call from my cell phone.) So, I put on iHeart radio -- or tried to. For some reason, it was failing on my phone the entire weekend. OK, download Pandora and listen to some music that way. At least that worked.
Friday morning came, and, naturally, I took a shower before getting dressed to go for breakfast and packet pickup at the expo. I placed the bathmat on the floor, and was disgusted by how filthy it was on both sides. It's as if they dusted the whole room with it and left it in the room for me. Ugh! And the bath towel that was in the room was not what you would call clean. It wasn't as bad as the bathmat, but it wasn't great. And I only found that out AFTER taking the shower and being soaking wet. Alright, use the portions of the towel that seemed the cleanest.
I went to the office to ask them for clean towels and a remote control, and the way they phrased their response it sounded like the housekeeper would be to the room shortly. So, I sat there for about 5-10 minutes waiting (while playing the games I usually do in the morning). They didn't arrive -- ok, maybe he meant it for when she comes around during her normal rounds; go to breakfast. By the time that and the expo were done, housekeeping would have come, right?
The Henhouse Cafe is HIGHLY recommended. I went there for lunch last year, and this time around I decided to grab breakfast. Mom's Famous Pancakes were billed on the menu as being huge with a warning that eating them might make you drowsy. And the Short Stack had a comment about them not being terribly short. I took these as a challenge and order the pancakes, and the waiter (bless him!) told me doing so would be a mistake, since they are comedically large. He advised the short stack, and noted he'd be bringing one out to the next table over in a couple minutes - I could look at that size then.
Yeah, I'm glad I took his advice and got the short stack. Those two chocolate chip pancakes are nearly a foot in diameter. I made it through 3/4 of them before crying uncle and getting a box for the remainder, which I would have for lunch. I wound up tipping him several extra dollars, given he saved me from myself and prevented a colossal waste of both food and money. If you go to Mesa, make sure to stop in for breakfast or lunch. (Closed by mid-day.)
Finally I walked the remainder of the way to the expo.
Upon entering the hotel and following a couple of signs for the Expo, I eventually came upon signs that indicated "Expo Exit." Huh? Why would I be exiting the expo when I haven't entered it yet, and hadn't missed a turn? Turns out those signs served double duty - pointing people to the nearest exit of the hotel which, upon exiting, you were at the bank of check-in booths to pick up your bib. Weird signage, which many of us commented on.
Given it is a relatively small field (a little over 3100 for the marathon, and probably that many for the half and 10k?) the expo isn't all that large; no issues. (I'm kinda jaded for expos anyway.) After collecting all of the codes from several vendors participating in a raffle process, I sat down in the room where the coach was going to be giving his 1st of 3 presentations describing the course (for both the half and full). Despite having run it the past two years, it was worthwhile to get the tips that he was providing. And he was a very entertaining speaker, to boot.
Expo finished, I returned to my room. It was sufficiently later compared to breakfast, I finished the pancakes for lunch and prepared my outfit for the morning. (I always put my bib on my clothing before race day -- the only thing that you can NOT forget to bring to race start and be permitted to run.) And, as you likely guessed, neither the towels nor the remote had been brought into my room. I decided to wait until 3pm (check-in time, by which time the housekeeping should have fully finished) to go back to the office to repeat the ask from about 6 hours prior. The man behind the counter looked so befuddled, but indicated he'd bring them over shortly. About 10 minutes later, he came to the room with two totally clean towels, but no remote. I reminded him that I still didn't have a remote, and he started feeling around the TV, seemingly for the button to turn it on (which I told him didn't exist). After a few minutes of that, he asked me where the remote was. Really? That's what I have asked for twice to be brought to the room -- it wasn't here when I checked in. (Who steals a TV remote from a cheap hotel?) About 10 minutes later, he arrived with three different types of remote control in his hand, since he didn't know which one would work for the TV. Eventually he figured it out and left it for me.
Since I stay off my feet as much as possible the day before the marathon, I was just on the bed watching TV for several hours before I finally set out to get some Thai food for dinner. Simple dish, but really quite delicious.
On the way back, I made a quick stop at the supermarket to pick up a banana (for part of my pre-race breakfast), bagel (to eat on the bus ride out to the start), and a cookie (for the night's dessert). Well, I got the first two anyway. C'est la vie. A little more TV watching and I managed to get to bed by 10pm. Good, since I needed to wake up by 3am to get ready with the right time to head out the door to walk the two miles to the bus pickup.
The complexion of two of the most hotly anticipated marathons for 2024 will be vastly different now. Kelvin Kiptum was planning on attempting to be the first person to ever break 2 hours in an official marathon at Rotterdam, and then there was the intensely sought after match-up at the Paris Olympics between Kiptum and Eliud Kipchoge (the prior world record holder, and only human to break 2 hours running a marathon distance). All of that has now been tragically ended by a car crash.
Can the weather currently forecasted for next weekend actually hold up? Right now, it's showing mid-40s at start time, and low 60s for the day's high (meaning it will be in the 50s when I cross the finish). And given the start line is outside of the downtown area in the middle of the desert, it should be closer to 40 degrees for the start and will take longer to get into the 50s. Fingers crossed that this holds up. Those conditions, and a mostly downhill course is certainly what will give me my best chance at getting the time that I'm shooting for (under 3:14:00).
Goals
1) Finish in one piece, uninjured (always the basic goal)
2) Sub 3:21:30 (BQ-3:30 improves my current BQ)
3) Sub 3:16:00 (BQ-9:00, what I think will be needed to register for Boston 2025)
4) Sub 3:14:00 (Qualifying time for New York City Marathon 2025)
While it would be great to get an Age Group award, there is pretty much no chance for it for me in Mesa given how many run a sub-3 marathon, and I'm not going to be attempting such a feat again.
This morning the Olympic Trials for the U.S. Marathon team were held. There was a lot of drama throughout the race. And the heat (and early humidity) certainly played a huge factor for all the competitors.
For the vast majority of the men's race, Frank Panning was leading the effort, pushing the pace fast enough that, if it were kept, would guarantee the top two finishers would make the team. Around Mile 22 or 23, the other two who were right on his heels - Conner Mantz and Clayton Young (both training partners) - made their move. Gradually they pulled away from him and Panning faded. Around Mile 25, Panning was passed by Elkanah Kibet. As we were watching TV with Mantz and Young on the straightaway for the finish line, in the background we could see Kibet being passed by Leonard Korir (who had made a huge push from 5th place less than half a mile before). In the end, Young won (2:09:05), Mantz 2nd (2:09:06), and Korir 3rd with an Olympic-qualifying time of 2:09:57. Despite having an OQ, Korir will have to wait possibly as late as May to find out if he's secured a spot on the team.
In the women's race, once Fiona O'Keefe took the lead in the large pack of runners, she never slipped. It was an amazing outing, as it was her debut marathon, and she won it with an Olympic Trials record time of 2:22:10. Helluva trifecta for her on a single race. Coming in just behind her in 2nd place is the American Record holder, Emily Sisson, with 2:22:42. While it was looking like Betsy Saina would be coming in 3rd, she dropped out with a couple of miles left in surprising fashion -- she just slowed as she pulled off to the grassy median, and slowly laid down on the grass. There were a couple of other people who had been vying for 3rd. Ultimately it went to Dakotah Lindwurm with 2:25:31. Congrats to all three - they also made the Olympic team. Sara Hall was in the hunt for quite a while, but during the last couple of miles she gradually faded, finally finishing in 5th with 2:26:06, just behind Jessica McClain with 2:25:46.
It should be really interesting and exciting to see the two races in Paris. August is usually very hot in France, so the conditions may be comparable to today's in Orlando, possibly worse. Eliud Kipchoge is competing directly against Kelvin Kiptum, who just surpassed Kipchoge's record during the Chicago Marathon this past October. It'd break if they were able to push each other enough so that at least one of them actually broke the mythically impossible 2-hour barrier. But Paris has lots of elevation changes, and that certainly did in Kipchoge last year in Boston, so defending his two consecutive golds might not be in the cards. We'll see in August!
And between both those races, I get to run the course with 20,023 other people running the Marathon Pour Tous. This should be an exciting and exhausting couple of days!
