Monday, May 10, 2010

Mike's Wonderful Account of the 2007 MDI Marathon

This post is from Mike DeGhelder. It is a wonderful summary of a fabulous marathon weekend we enjoyed 3 years ago at MDI Marathon in Maine. Enjoy! -- Bill


Mount Desert Island Marathon
October 14, 2007
(A surprising performance!)

I entered the 2007 Mount Desert Island Marathon the first of October 2006 before they had held the 2006 race. Once I make up my mind that I want to enter a certain race, I enter it and start making lodging and traveling plans. Remember, you can always cancel reservations, you can’t always get them!

I made our reservations at The Atlantic Oakes Resort in Bar Harbor, Maine for seven days. Chris and I usually stay at places like Days Inn, Comfort Inn, or Super 8, so we can save money for other things. However, since this was our 40th anniversary year we decided to stay in a nice place as a gift to each other.

I had trained pretty seriously but not all out like 1999 and 2000. I was in very good shape and figured, since I turned 65 two weeks before the race, I would surely win an age group award and probably win first place. After all, in the 2006 race there were only 7 guys in my age group!

I was certain that I could run well under four hours and figured, based on my training, that I would come in around 3:45 – 3:50 which should put me in a position to win my age group. After all, the winning time for the 2006 race was 4:10! I had my heart set on one of the age group awards due to their uniqueness. The age group awards were heavy pieces of polished granite with the MDI logo and your age group and place on the front. I really wanted one of those awards!

Three weeks before the race I was doing speed work on the Park University track. I was doing ladders which, in this case, was a 2 ½ mile warm up, then an 800, one lap jog, a 1600, one lap jog, a 3200, two lap jog, a 1600, one lap jog, and one more 800, and a one mile cool down. I was finishing my last 1600 when during the last lap I noticed some discomfort in my right heel. Running the last 800 was out of the question as the heel was becoming more painful.

I rested the foot for two days and decided it was well enough to run my last long run of 20 miles on Friday. The foot gave me no problems during the long run but it became a serious problem on Saturday! Long story short, I ended up at the podiatrist’s and the news was not good. I had a bone spur in my heel due to Plantar Faciatis (sp). I was pretty upset and, at that moment, felt like I would not be able to participate in the race. The doctor gave me a pair of generic orthotics and said to go ahead with the race but take it easy and don’t run if it’s painful.

We left for Maine on Friday Oct. 5th and took dad (Pa) along with us. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer in June and this would be his last vacation. Pa died on December 1st due to complications from the cancer and a heart attack. He got to see some things he never thought he would see. We visited the Indianapolis Speedway, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, and, of course, we ate lobster on the coast of Maine.

I had run only three times in the three weeks before the race and that included a four mile attempt on Tuesday before the Sunday race Oct. 14th. I had to walk/limp the last mile back to the resort due to the pain in my foot. At that time I realized I wouldn’t be able to participate in the race. After all, how could I run 26.2 if I couldn’t run four? We played the tourist roll for the next few days visiting Acadia National Park and traveling around Mount Desert Island to visit the little harbor towns. It’s just beautiful there! However, I was feeling pretty down thinking about the race.

On Friday I picked up my race packet along with Bill McClave’s, my running buddy from KC. On Saturday we attended the race dinner and listened to Joan Benoit. I had left a gift of a 10x15 photo print of three photos taken of her during the 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon. I received a terrific personal thank you letter from her a few weeks later. I’ll treasure it!

After listening to Joanie, and from being around all the marathoners, I became all charged up and decided that I just could not stand on the sidewalk and watch the runners start the race without me. I decided to begin the race as though I was going to finish it even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to run more than 3 or 4 miles. Not knowing that it would be a key factor in the race, I took two Celebrex capsules prior to the start and carried about 5 Ibuprofen gel capsules to take during the run. I stood along side Bill and we began the race together when the canon fired. I told him I would try to stay with him as long as I could.

Somewhere around three miles into the race Bill told me he was having trouble with his knee and had to walk. He told me to go on and wished me good luck. I reached my hand back and Bill gave me a goodbye low five. I wasn’t even sure myself just how much longer I could hold on.

I was running at a much slower pace than I planned but was totally unsure how to continue, due to missing most of the last three weeks of training and being injured. I just made up my mind that as long as I could tolerate the discomfort, I would continue to put one foot in front of the other. At around five miles another runner passed me. He was about my age with long gray hair and a yellow shirt. About two miles later I passed him, albeit slowly.
Two to three miles later, and surprised that I was still in the race, he passed me again. It was just a few minutes before he passed me that I stepped on a raised bump in the street with my sore foot. I screamed out loud and scared the heck out of the guy running next to me. I slowed to a walk until the pain subsided and began running again at around a 9:45 to 10:00 pace.

I passed the halfway point (13.1 miles) and realized that I would finish the race and receive a finisher’s medal, even if I had to walk the last half of it. Although I was practically walking the down hills, for some reason I was able to maintain the 9:30 to 9:40 pace.

Around the 22 mile mark I passed gray hair, yellow shirt and he was tying up (bonking). He was done! Although I didn’t take much pride in the fact I passed him, due to me running much slower than I should have, I none-the-less considered him a competitor in my age group and therefore was someone I had to beat. Just a mind game with myself, I suppose.

I was cruising along enjoying the scenery and counting down the miles when I came up on another male runner, around the 24 mile marker, that looked extremely fit! He was running very smooth and I told him how strong he looked at that point in the race. He thanked me for the compliment and then asked me my age. Now when someone asks your age in a race it means that they need to know whether or not to adjust their race to try to either let you go, stay behind you, or to take off and leave you. When someone has asked me my age during a race in the past I have always outright lied just to keep the competition factor away. After all, who need the added pressure?

Now, I don’t know why I did it, but I actually told him I was 65. I guess I just thought he was in a different, and younger, age group. When he stated he was also 65 I knew the race was on! I don’t know why I said what I did, but when he stated he was 65, I said, “Well I guess I’ll have to move on then!” What an unsportsmanlike thing to say! However, I did move on and didn’t even think about looking back for fear he might think I was worried about him. I just tried to look as smooth as I could!

I crested the last hill at the 25 mile mark and had increased my pace to about 8:30. I cruised to the finish line in relative ease and saw my wife, Chris, on the sidewalk to my left. She was ringing a cow bell to encourage all the runners. She later told me, “I couldn’t believe that was you, you looked so strong coming in!” I guess that was a compliment.

I officially crossed the finish line in four hours, fifteen minutes and 59 seconds with my arms raised in triumph (customary) and was joined by Gary Allen the race director. Gary escorted me to the end of the finish chute and also told me how strong I looked coming in. Chris was waiting for me at the end of the chute and then it hit me. I could no longer walk on my own! I became an instant cripple! The Celebrex, Ibuprofen gels, adrenaline, and endorphins, had wore off! I put my arm around her shoulder and she helped me to the food tent. I managed to work my way around the tent to get some goodies and sat down to enjoy some post-race refreshment.

While sitting and enjoying the food and drink, I became curious as to how I finished in my age group. Prior to my injured foot I was sure I could achieve first place since there were only 7 guys in the 65-69 age group in 2006 with the winning time of 4:10. This year there were over 20 guys in my age group and they were coming from California, Oregon, Canada, and from the U.S. I still figured I could place in the top three if I had a good race around the time of 3:45-3:50.

Chris and I proceeded to the high school where the race results were posted. I started reading the results. I ran my finger down the list of finishers until I came to the time I finished. In the Place/Division column it stated I finished second! I just about lost it! I couldn’t believe after missing training and being injured that I actually took second place in my age group! The winning time was 3:53 by a Canadian. Congrats to him! I proceeded to the awards table and was presented my polished granite award. It’s awesome!

Chris and I hustled back to the finish line to welcome Bill and some other runners we befriended during our stay at The Atlantic Oakes Resort. Bill finished along side a new running friend. Bill is always making new friends across the country before, during, and after his races. It’s so fun to gather with Bill and new friends after the race and share food and drink, especially drink, in celebration of our achievements.

We enjoyed a fantastic vacation in Maine and had a nice leisurely trip home. We plan to go back to Sedona, AZ in 2008 and take in Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Arches National Park.

Enjoy every minute of life that you can!

Footnote: The qualifying time in the 65-69 age group is four hours and fifteen minutes.
My finish time was 4:15:59. One more second and I wouldn’t have qualified!
Even though I have no plans to go to Boston again, it was just a little extra
unexpected icing on the cake!



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