The Daily Goods: Mount Desert Island Marathon October 16, 2005

Mount Desert Island Marathon October 16, 2005

After slipping in and out sleep, listening to the rain and wind, I awoke at 6am thinking (dreading) about what the day would bring as my brother and I ran the Mount Desert Island Marathon. Gary and I have run in the same races several times but this would only be our second full marathon “together”. In 2002 he slowed down for me and really helped me get into running by joining me for every step of the New York City Marathon, an unbelievable experience made even better by sharing it with my brother.

This marathon was different as we both had ambitious goals, he do qualify for Boston by running a 3:10 marathon and me to keep a 9 minute per mile pace and finish under 3:55. On top of that, the stories and profiles of the course added to our apprehension. This course used to be called “One Tough Mother” and contains “26 hills in 26 miles”, with the infamous 5 mile hill b/w miles 20-25. All week long I found myself questioning my training, whether I should have done one last long run, whether those few missed runs were going to hurt me, just how hard were the hills going to be, and what the weather would be like. Speaking of the weather, we had near perfect temperatures (40 degrees at the start, 50 during our run) for running but we also had very hard rains and upwards of 25 mph winds. Not so perfect.

After completing our pre-marathon rituals, getting dressed, deciding whether to take our ipods (for me a yes, Gary a last minute no), whether to wear a hat etc, I kissed Beth and Reilly bye and Gary did the same with Nicki, Addie and Emmie and we headed to the start.

The beauty of Bar Harbor and where we were staying was we had a short 2 minute walk to the Village Green where the race started. It was raining so we huddled under a store awning with several other runners. Almost all talk was of other races run and just how hard this one was going to be. The only guy among us who had run this told us, “It’s not that hard”. I was encouraged.

Around 7:45 we head to the start area and get about 10 feet from Martha Stewart and listen to her give the pre-race talk before she started the race.

I witnessed a first, a guy running this thing barefoot!? Barefoot guy.

At 8:00am Martha starts us off and we’re off down Route 3 headed out of Bar Harbor. Gary and I decided to run about the first 3 miles together, me to run a few miles faster than my pace and Gary to keep himself from going out to fast. The first 2 miles were slightly downhill and we ran the first mile in 8 minutes followed by 8:15, I felt very good and realized that

every mile I could keep below 9 minutes added to the # of miles I could run in over 9 minutes, I just wasn’t sure when these two would flip flop. Mile 3 started us up our first real hill (a little over 1 mile up) and the wind was VERY strong. Gary decided at the top of the hill (around mile 3.5) that he would start working his way down to his 7:15/mile pace. We ran mile 3 in 8:39 and as Gary pulled off we get a nice long downhill (in hindsight a sign of what the entire race was to give us, ups and downs, little to no flat).

Mile 4 I ran in 7:38, thank you downhill, and I start settling into my marathon, trying to find some decent pacers to help me along the way. I also realize we are surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in America, flanked on both sides by mountains and a glacier cut lake on the right. There are people scattered along the course and every single one of them cheers, waves and smiles. Another nice thing about this race was the water/gatoraid stations were every 2 miles, with clearly marked cups for each and none of them too crowded. Mile 5 and 6 I run with a local lady whose family we run by twice in 2 miles, she offers to take my long sleeve shirt and deliver it to me at the finish. I realize after miles of 8:04 and 8:16 that she is running a little faster than I had planned but I also realize I have just run 6 miles below an 8/mile pace. NICE.

Miles 6-9 took us down a private winding road on the edge of the island with views of the ragged cliffs and the ocean and into Northeast Harbor. As I approached the halfway point I realized that I was more prepared for this run than I expected and also realized, even with the hills, I was about to shatter my previous personal best for the ½ Marathon, which I ran at the VERY flat Kiawah Island course. I crossed 13.1 miles 6 minutes faster than I ran the ½ at Kiawah. Even better, I felt very good. After some very tough hills, the course turned right on Sargent Drive. This road paralleled the only true fjord on the Atlantic coast, Somes Sound, and offered some very pretty views of the pink granite cliffs, of course, it was mostly uphill. This was the toughest section of the race for me as I was starting to feel the hills and questioning whether I could actually run 26.2 miles. I grouped up with a groups of guys and realized I was in really good shape, I dropped the guy I had run the last 8 miles with and ended up pulling away from all the other guys after about 6 miles.

After crossing mile 20, the course spit us onto the highway leading into Southwest Harbor, this part of the race was tough, it started pouring down rain, we were running against the traffic and all I could think of was I had 5 miles of mostly uphill before the final 1.2 downhill to the finish line. I told myself I had an easy Thirsty Thursday run distance left, no way was I going to stop now. I had slowed down to about 9.5-10 minute miles but realized I at this point not only was I going to break 4 hours, I was going to break my revised goal of 3:55 (9 minute mile pace). About 2 miles from the finish line Beth and Reilly rode by in the van and yelled their support and then I crossed the line and it was over!!! The end of the race was the most organized and had the best facilities I have ever seen. They had heated tents, great food, massages, showers, a gym for the kids to run around in, great volunteers, I love Maine!

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