St. Jude Memphis Marathon - RunMarathon


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Memphis, Tennessee
United States
30F / -1C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 47m 17s
Overall Rank = 379/1535
Age Group = 30-35
Age Group Rank = 49/140
Pre-race routine:

Got up, ate a bowl of cereal and drove downtown to the race site
Event warmup:

Too damn cold to be outside. I walked 3 blocks to the baseball stadium, went inside to the heated area and stretched on the floor. Then I walked 2 blocks to the start line
Run
  • 3h 47m 17s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

I was thinking that this might be a good race for me. I felt great through the first 8 miles or so, ticking them off right at 8:00 pace. I had to stop and pee about mile 10, which pissed me off, as I got about 30 seconds behind. The 3:30 pace group passed me while in the toilet, so I caught up with them, and they promptly ticked off the next 2 miles in under 7:30 each. About mile 13 I was thinking that I felt pretty crappy even though we had slowed back down to 8:00 pace. At 15, for some reason - either diabetes or prostate problems, I had to pee again. As I came out of the port-o-john, I realized that I could try and catch the pace group and try to stay with them 0 even though I was already hurting- or I could finish the run off by myself, knowing that I could have tried harder, but safe in the knowledge that I can walk without limping today. I opted to ease into the rest of the run. I slowed a bit, but I walked only at the water stops and never for more than 30 seconds. Otherwise, most of the remaining 7-8 miles were between 9-9:30. I never went over 10 minutes for any mile, and I never had to take an extra walk break.
What would you do differently?:

I certainly don't think I drank too much, but I had to stop twice in the middle of the run to pee
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around the food area and ate several Krispy Kreme donuts

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think trudging around Disneyworld all week before the race, chowing down at two to three times a day weren't ideal marathon preparation

Event comments:

This is a very well run event. The course is nice, although it is somewhat of a double loop, at least you run the same 6-7 mile segmetn in reverse direction so it fells different. Overall it's pretty flat, but there are constant rolling hills that are just big enough to get your attention. Water stops at every mile was nice. The post race food spread is the best I have ever been to in 10 years of racing. The Tshirt is nice too.


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Last updated: 2006-11-14 12:00 AM
Running
03:47:17 | 26.2 miles | 08m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 49/140
Overall: 379/1535
Performance: Average
Course: essentially a double loop around midtown and downtown Memphis
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5