SaunaTown
Martha and George Washington, it was hot and humid at the Steamtown Marathon.
I thought surely a trip above the Mason-Dixon Line would mean cooler temperatures. Alas no. Well, at least Scranton wasn’t Chicago. We had some cloud cover and thoroughly prepared race officials. We even had water. Actual water.
I ran a 3:25. My fastest time yet.
For those keeping score at home, this does not get me to Boston. I need a 3:15 for that. But given the conditions, I’ll take the PR and get back to training for my next assault on the windmill.
You’re going to want to hear about Steamtown, which I think I liked. It was an odd weekend, all told. I enjoyed myself, ran a quirky course, met new people, drove way too much, savaged my quads, sweat streaks of blue ink, and generally felt like I was still in the South.
Weird.
– Dean
October 9th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Well, at least you weren’t running in Chicago!
October 10th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Amen #191!
– #540
October 15th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Chin up, buddy – that’s the great thing about Marathons, is there’s always another one! 🙂 And the greater the striving, the sweeter the victory. My advice – Phoenix, Arizona in January – flat, fast, and dry cool desert air. Worked for me!
And while everybody was whining about running 26.2 miles in 88 degrees in Chicago, I was in Arkansas doing my first 100-miler in 92 degree heat – BRUTAL!!!
The course started with a 16 mile loop, then 42 miles out and 42 miles back. Got to that turnaround about 7pm and got to run that second 42 miles in relative coolness – so ended up having a negative split on that last 84 miles. Yup, you read that right – miles 58-100 were faster than miles 16-58 because of the heat and humidity during the day.
End result was that I came in 14th out of 140 starters – and I’ll take “top 10%” in any race on any day as a sign of a good effort on my part.
Now if I can just get that brother of mine back in running shape…
kestrou
October 17th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Hey Dean, awesome website. As you know my friend Tom made it across the line. Sorry you didn’t make Boston, but you were a lot closer than I was. Unfortunately, I had a really bad day, or good day depending on your perspective. I bonked early, but I got thru it and didn’t DNF(closest I ever came to DNF). You will get to Boston and I hope to see you there in person. I’ll look for the blue hair. Thanks for keeping me company at the finish line. Bryan
October 18th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Thanks Bryan!
Drop me a note when you qualify. You’ll know when I do. The sonic boom of my victory shout will be heard across the continent.
Next attempt: Rocket City Marathon, December 8th in Alabama.
– Dean
October 19th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Dean,
A couple buddies of mine have run Rocket City – really liked it!
Just wanted to send good vibes your way, buddy! 🙂
kestrou
April 4th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
dean, came here thinking i’d find a race report on your day in steamtown – it is on my short list for attempt #3 at a BQ – is it really as fast & flat as website claims? -after birmingham, i’m done with hills.
suzanne