Lucifer's Creation

Hi, Friends & Fellow Runners:

I crossed the finish line at this past Sunday's New York marathon convinced that Lucifer himself had designed the course and created the day's weather to make it a hell-on-earth trial for the runners involved. Ascents of up to 150 feet across four wind-swept bridges on the coldest day in the race's history --  41 degrees at the start -- were  bad enough.  But then there were steady head winds averaging about 28 miles per hour, supplemented by gale-force gusts of nearly 50 miles per hour.

As you might imagine, I had a lousy finishing time -- 5:52:24.  However, of the eight men over 80 years old who had begun the race, only two actually finished and I wound up second in my age group, just eight minutes slower than the winner, a runner from Japan.

Truth be told, I was on pace for a sub-five hour finish through most of the race.  But each time I approached one of those infernal bridges (and there were three of them after the 15th mile), my gut wrenched in anticipation.  The result was that I made the mistake of adjusting what had been my strategy until then -- to run steadily and under control except for brief walk breaks at every hydration station.  Instead, I decided to walk up and race down each of the three remaining bridges.  By the time I crossed the 138th Street bridge at the 21st mile, I was in some distress but still on target for a minus-five hours.  But then I turned onto Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and encountered the worst of the head winds and higher gusts.  That was the killer. Candidly, I simply lost heart.  My legs started to cramp and ended any hope I had of continuing to run.  So I walked the last four miles, keeping my eyes glued to the white, double line in the middle of the avenue to make sure I was moving straight ahead.

The good news is that I finally ended the agony by reaching the finish line, and I am now halfway toward the achievement of a long-standing goal -- to be the oldest man ever to qualify for and finish both the New York and Boston marathons in back-to-back years

Coach Stephen.

 

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