croton dam marathon: race report

it would be something of an understatement to say that running the croton dam marathon was a major change in race distance for the memorial day weekend. i had planned to run the jim fixx 5 miler on monday (and had still been undecided about the weston 5k on saturday). then, on wednesday, michael oliva posted to the new york trail & ultra running meet-up group that he was organizing the weekend event (together with the shorter distance race).  weather concerns aside, i was in!

the course, which started and finished on top of the croton dam, was essentially a 6.55 mile out and back. roughly a third was on pavement/macadam roads and the remaining two-thirds on dirt road.  most of the dirt road portion was tree shaded.  in addition to the water and aid at the start/finish there was another unmanned water/aid station a the 3.275 mile turnaround point.  despite the "relatively" short distance, i carried a 22 ounce water bottle with me.

runners parked in croton gorge park and walk about three quarters of a mile up a series of dirt switchbacks to reach to top of the dam.  as we approached the start, about a half dozen runners went by - we were late a bit late to the start.  there were about 5 of us who took off in what could be called the second wave - with mike taking up the rear in case there were any last minute starter.  most of the runners in the first wave, as it turned out, only ran the first leg (6.55 miles).

i briefly toyed with the idea of a 4 hour target.  that would have meant sub-30 minute 3.275 legs (or an hour for each of the four out and backs).  when the first 3.275 leg took 31:13 and the return leg took 30:24, i quickly readjusted my sights to a 4:15 marathon.  that said, even the 4:15 target eventually proved to be overly optimistic given the heat and humidity.  mid-way through the first leg i was soaked to the bone in sweat - and remained sopping wet throughout the entire race!

here are my splits:

31:13
30:24  1:01:37
31:37  1:33:14
32:04  2:05:19
35:41  2:41:00
37:53  3:18:53
39:22  3:58:16
42:38  4:40:54

10:44 pace

at the half marathon point, with a 2:05 split, it was still possible to run a 4:15 marathon.  but once i started off on the 3rd out and back, that quickly became unrealistic.  the second half split, 2:35, pretty much summed up how much the weather negatively impacted my overall performance.  i took in plenty of fluids (in addition to drinking at the aid stations, i went through more than half of my hand held between the two locations).  but is still managed to get dehydrated.  nutrition-wise, it didn't help that all i had to eat was a chocolate gu and a pack of welch's gummies!  i had no appetite - and couldn't bring myself to eat.

still, despite the seeming death march of my last out and back- i was incredibly happy to have done the full marathon.  at one point i would have been more than pleased to just finish the half.  but once i headed out on the third out and back, it really turned into a challenge to finish the thing.  that said, the 4:40:54 turned out to be my slowest road marathon ever.  it easily eclipsed my previous personal worst at the 4:27 at sri chimnoy marathon - multiple loops of rockland lake in the heat of august!

these two pictures of me (finishing and done) are courtesy of ben ko :D

new york running show podcast: the croton dam marathon

last night's eposide (#77) of the ny running show started off with only joe and me.  joe covered some local items and recent news from the ny road runners (including the recent posting of their most recent form 990 tax return).  i covered the croton dam marathon, which was held up at croton gorge park on saturday.  midway through, we were joined by steve, and included a brief look back at the "need for speed" relay that spanned westchester county!

the croton dam races were put together by mike olivia and filled a major gap that developed since the nyc parks department killed the free holiday marathon races at van cortlandt park.  this is the second location (after the christmas races were held in tibbets brook park in yonkers) to host a free holiday marathon in the wake of leaving van cortlandt park!

listen to, or download, episode 77 from talkshoe.

croton dam marathon: race photos and results

this morning i ran the croton dam marathon, which began and ended at croton gorge park in cortlandt manor, new york. it was a tough day to run long - heat and high humidity. but an intrepid handful of runners completed the 4 out and back loops to cover the marathon distance. completely drenched from the start of the first out and back, i finally finished 26.2 miles in 4:40:54 - my slowest road marathon. i was the last of the 4 runners to complete the distance (a dozen or so others opted for the 6.55 miles or half marathon).

despite the tough weather, it was a great day! many thanks to mike oliva, who organized this event - which conveniently took the place of the, sadly, defunct memorial day marathon held in van cortlandt park last year.

todd's hudson river run: completed!!

yesterday, just after 5 pm, todd completed his epic 315 mile hudson river run at battery park.  todd symbolically capped off the adventure when he poured the contents of a vial of water from lake tear in the clouds on the face of mount marcy, that he had carried with him on the nine days of trek, into the harbor! 

the last leg began in nyack and included a run across the george washington bridge.  i joined up with todd on 83rd street and riverside park.  he had a great group of pacers with him throughout the day (tony, micah and mat covered the entire day's distance w/him).  when we reached the javits center, mat broke out a growler for some non-traditional rehydration :D

afterwards, the celebration continued at amity hall, in greenwich village!

todd's hudson river run: day seven

yesterday tony, emmy and i spent the day running w/todd on his husdon river run.  todd was on the 7th leg of his nine day run that will spand the entire length of hudson river.

we met up with todd on route 9w, 5 miles into his run, in the town of esopus.  we ended the day, almost seven hours later, at painters tavern in cornwall-on-hudson - after todd had logged 34 miles for this stage of the run.  tony and i logged just over 29 miles.  emmy, who not only ran, but crewed as well, logged 21 miles!

todd's epic run will conclude on sunday - in battery park, nyc!

2012 brooklyn half marathon packet pick-up

yesterday i picked up the bib and tech shirt for the brooklyn half marathon. it was bit strange heading over there on wednesday, since most packet pick-ups are on thursdays and fridays. this time around, in an effort to accommodate the 15,000 strong field, nyrr added began the pick-up on tuesday.

the brooklyn half is one of my all time favorite races. logistically, however, it's a nightmare.  the early start (7 am) makes the trek down to prospect park from westchester a challenge (that said, it is a bit shorter than the trek to the old start - in coney island!). 

on the qualifying point side, this will be my fifth on the road to nine for 2013 (and i still need a volunteer credit).

as always, if you're at this one - say hello :D

2012 japan run: race photos and results

it was with a sense of deja vu that i lined up for the japan run 4 miler this morning. the second 4 miler in as many weeks, preceded by a long race the prior week. this time around it was the long island marathon. the week before the run as one 4 miler it was the sybil ludington 50k. in hopes that i could repeat my 4 miler from two weeks ago, i set a sub-28 minute goal. that was pretty doable, but i missed it by 7 seconds. my 28:07, 7:02 pace, was 14 seconds slower than my "run as one" finish.  even so, i was happy with it :D

the only downside to this morning was i had to miss the mothers day 10k in norwalk.  it i hadn't fallen behind in collecting my nine nyrr races for 2013, that's the race i would have liked to run today.  be that as it may, it's all good!

happy mothers day!

here are the results from nyrr.