Death Valley Trail Marathon

Date: 2010-12-04
Location: Beatty, NV
Finish Time: 4:20:21
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Stood here, told myself I would never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, stressed that I must be cautious
• Stood here, reminded myself that Lando Calrissian and poor Chewbacca never returned from this awful place
• Stood here, noticed there were a couple of Banthas down there but that I didn’t see any Sandpeople…wait a minute

Low-lights:

• Am a large nerd
• No blue milk available on race course (see: nerd, large)
• Forgot my camera, had to take low quality cellphone pictures

Thanks:

Special, larger than normal thanks on this one to Shannon who, despite being 8 months pregnant with our first child at the time, somehow understood my need to run away for a weekend and do one last crazy/stupid thing before becoming a dad.  I’ll always remember driving through the alien landscape of that desert all by myself, miles away from civilization, listening to R.E.M.’s New Adventure’s in Hi-Fi.  It was a surreal experience and extremely calming, just like being a father turned out to be…except without the calming part.

Gallery:

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Freedom Run Marathon

Date: 2010-10-02
Location: Shepherdstown, WV
Finish Time:  3:37:32
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• West Virginia’s local music scene
• Opening miles out to Murphy Farm and through Harper’s Ferry, middle section along the Potomac River’s C & O Canal Towpath, back half through rolling hills of Antietam National Battlefield = Top 5 course
• Only first four and last half mile actually in West Virginia, still counts

Low-lights:

• Nothing comes to mind

Thanks:

• Shannon for being 5 months pregnant but still making it through two 4-hour car rides and a marathon viewing.
• Bill and Marge Moran for providing post-race room and board…and golf.

Gallery:

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Marathon de Montreal

Date: 2010-09-05
Location: Montreal, QC
Finish Time: 4:05:17
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Montreal has both a biodome and a biosphere, so you’re covered in that department
• Portion of the course run on Formula One race track…with French speaking people
• Post race carriage ride through Old Montreal

Low-lights:

• Couldn’t keep food down for two days before the race, ran anyway with predictable results
• 42 kilometers seems longer than 26.2 miles
• The two hours after the race that Shannon and I spent looking for each other inside Olympic Stadium; hosers

Thanks:

• Shannon for being pregnant but still agreeing to drive up to Canada for a long weekend and watch a marathon.

Gallery:

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Sunburst Marathon

Date: 2010-06-05
Location: South Bend, IN
Finish Time:  3:39:16
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Got to come out of that tunnel, run onto that field
• Drove from South Bend, arrived at Gary Railcats game five minutes before we left
• Saw the Lake County Fielders while we still could

Low-lights:

• Definitely left the game early so we could rest up for the next day’s race, missed dramatic South Bend Silverhawks walk-off dinger
• Depressingly appropriate amount of Syracuse paraphernalia displayed at the College Football Hall of Fame
• Shannon not wanting to participate in a weekend trip that included, two minor league baseball games, touring the College Football Hall of Fame, running a marathon and gambling on Lake Michigan

Thanks:

• Jon for putting this trip together.
• Shannon for letting me go.

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Mercedes Marathon

Date: 2010-02-14
Location: Birmingham, AL
Finish Time:  3:37:48
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Valentine’s Day in Alabama! *
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
• Can now say I woke up in Birmingham, AL one morning, ran a marathon, drove to Marietta, GA, had a nice dinner, drove 11 hours through the night to Miami, went on a cruise (see: airport closure, chance of snow)

Low-lights:

• Airport shut down due to possible chance of there perhaps being a dusting of snow, maybe
• Completing marathon in Birmingham at noon, needing to be in Miami by 6 am (see above)
• Three Amigos Restaurant and Cantina in Cozumel had a few pinatas, not what I would call a plethora of pinatas

• John and Peg for watching Eli.

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Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon

Date: 2009-11-22
Location: Nashville, TN
Finish Time:  4:06:44
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Race shirt managed to combine Star Wars, monkeys and marathon running so…yeah
• Finally got to watch Rick Nash lose a hockey game in person
• Get to go back to Nashville someday (see below)

Low-lights:

• Got a puppy the week before, didn’t realize someone would have to stay home and care for said puppy
• Shannon not using her ticket for the flight from Newark to Nashville somehow flagged me as a terrorist, automatically canceled my return trip
• Nashville probably would have been more fun if I wasn’t by myself

Thanks:

• Shannon for staying home to watch our new puppy.

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Chicago Marathon

Date: 2009-10-11
Location: Chicago, IL
Finish Time:  3:43:30
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• 2009 version of the marathon went a lot smother than the 2007 edition
• Post race cheeseburgers, cheeseburgers, cheeseburgers
• Left foot pain free, thanks planter fasciitis boot!

Low-lights:

• Can say I once beat 26,987 runners in a race but have to mention that I also lost to 6,715 runners that day
• Surprisingly low number of people who got Jon K’s Rozelle sweatband
• Mile 23 emergency pit stop

Thanks:

• Jon for pushing to run Chicago.
• Shannon and Val for dealing with the cold while we ran Chicago.

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Atlanta Marathon

Date: 2009-03-29
Location: Atlanta, GA
Finish Time:  3:38:04
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Got to enjoy the fleeting phenomena that is NHL action in Atlanta
• Actually ran with a pace group for once, found it kind of fun
• Shannon finally made that pilgrimage to her own personal mecca

Low-lights:

• Left foot still hurts, planter fasciitis definitely sucks

Thanks:

• Shannon for going along with yet another really quick travel turn-around for a marathon.

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Thunder Road Marathon

Date: 2008-12-13
Location: Charlotte, NC
Finish Time: 3:44:24
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Finished race
• Checked off North Carolina
• Got back to Hoboken in time for Annemarie’s birthday party that night

Low-lights:

• Shannon not a fan of the fly out Friday night, run marathon Saturday morning, fly back Saturday afternoon game plan
• Race not affiliated with Bruce in any way
• Left foot really hurts, starting to think planter fasciitis might suck

Thanks:

• Shannon for dealing with an extremely quick travel turn-around for a marathon.

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Maine Marathon

Date: 2008-10-05
Location: Portland, ME
Finish Time:  3:40:50
Official Results
Race Website

Highlights:

• Walking around downtown Portland trying to decide on a pre-race dinner location surprisingly fun
• Finishing miles around Portland’s Back Cove Trail
• Relaxing post-race night at the Hancock Inn

Low-lights:

• Pretty sick, popped a bunch of decongestants right before race, was quite loopy throughout
• Not really sure what Millie and Jason are talking about when they said this marathon course is pretty flat *
• Left foot really starting to hurt, begin researching planter fasciitis

* Note:  Would find out Millie and Jason were talking about three years later while running MDI marathon in Bar Harbor which they were using as their baseline

Thanks:

• Shannon for listening to me complain about being sick, watching this marathon anyway.

Gallery:

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