Bank of America Gasparilla Marathon - Run

It was COLD. I had decided though, since I was going for a PR, and I was pacing Betsy, that I needed to be in the best running form, so I took off the long pants and the windbreaker. All I had on was my long sleeve running shirt and my Maniacs jersey over it. Down below were just my tri shorts. I had decided the previous day to wear Thorlo socks (they keep my feet warm while still wicking away sweat thru the tops) and trail shoes since they were a size bigger. Probably a really good decision. At the last possible minute, we all headed out to the start area. Betsy and I tried to inch our way up closer to the start line but it was almost impossible. We did manage to get about 100 feet up closer by the time the horn blew. It took us 1 minute and 50 seconds to get to the start line.

Upon starting to run, neither of us was cold anymore. The focus now was to dodge as many people as possible to try and hit that 8:20 pace for as long as we could. After our first mile we realized we were off. We were at 9:30. So we pushed it hard. We tried to have a 7:30 mile, but traffic and the narrowness of the course prohibited that. But we did have 5 miles at about an 8:07 average. That was enough to get us back on track. We passed mile 6 at 50:12 which was an 8:22 pace. During this time I took two gels and chased them with water. I was feeling really good and had plenty of energy. As we came back over the bridge, it was almost time for Betsy to go left, and me to go right. As we split off, we offered each other words of encouragement, a hand slap, and a smile. I was warm now so I just concentrated on getting the job done. I put on my iPod and just settled into a low 8’s pace.

Miles 7, 8, 9, and 10 were pretty uneventful. Just kept hitting those 8 minute splits and I was pretty happy. Took a gel about every two miles. I did down some Gatorade at an aid station just for a change in taste. Miles 7, 8, and 9 turned out to be pretty fast! They were all 7:59. At about 1:38 into the race I came back out onto Bayshore for the 3 mile trip down towards Gandy. I thought I should be seeing Betsy about now. I was hoping she was still on pace and would make her goal time. At 1:41 elapsed I saw her. I started yelling and whooping and cheering! She was gonna do it!! That totally made my day. I was so happy for her! It made me proud to have been some help. I was on a high. After that I clicked off another 7:50 mile because I was so stoked. I reached the halfway point at 1:46 and change. I took another gel and got back down to it. The music in my iPod was perfect. At around mile 14 I saw Christine and family. I had asked for some Coke the night before, but I ran by so quickly I didn’t have a chance to go grab anything, and I was feeling great as I was, so I just waved and ran by. At Marine Corps, I would have died for that Coke, but this time I was just fine without it.

Later on down the road I started hearing yelling. It was Jess, Shaun, Sue, Wendi, Rick, and some other people they’d picked up. They were cheering and hollering! So I let out a big WHOOP WHOOP and waved. Another jolt of happiness to see all my friends out there! Sue and Wendi were on their way to PR’s themselves, so that was good to see.

Now came the hard part. South of Gandy on Bayshore. We would run about 5 miles in a small community on the south end of Tampa. I saw the 3:10 pace group go by, passing Mile 21 as I passed Mile 17. About 5 minutes later I saw the 3:20 group go by. Last year the course was different down in this area. It stayed in and around the community. This year, we ran all the way around a park that skirts the edge of MacDill Air Force Base. The wind down there was insane!! As it blew hard in my face, I actually grrrrrr’ed because I was having trouble moving forward. I still felt strong though, so I kept taking gels, water, and even took some Gatorade down there. The wind had blown over the Mile 19 marker and was wreaking havoc on the runners. As I came around the far side of the park though, it became a tailwind and it pushed me along. My strategy was to get to Mile 21 by 3 hours so I’d know I’d have a sub-4. My goal was 3:55 and I was way ahead of it, but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t overconfident. I passed Mile 20 at 2:48. I smiled huge because I knew I’d get to 21 by 3 hours. I felt my right calf getting tight from the struggling with the wind, but I kept running strong, passing more and more people. I don’t think any more than 5 or 6 people passed me between Miles 6 and 21. I passed a bunch of people every mile so that boosted my confidence as well. I passed Mile 21 at 2:56. I still had a mile to go before getting out on Bayshore and the crazy 30 mile per hour wind that was blowing down it. Just as I passed Mile 21, I passed one of the 3:30 pacers. At first I thought I’d run with him, but after a few quick math problems in my head, I figured there was no way he was going 3:30 if he was passing Mile 21 at 2:56 unless he was planning on running 6 minute miles from here on out. I guess he was having an off day.

As I approached Mile 22, I could see white caps on the bay. I kept thinking, there goes all my good splits. I remembered last year when the wind, and my tiredness, kept me back at 12 and 13 minute per mile splits for the last four miles. I was afraid I was destined for something like that again. But I just got out there and I ran hard. I passed some people in the first mile. The wind wasn’t too bad yet. But between Miles 23 and 24, it was so strong that I actually got blown sideways and my hat almost flew off. There was a girl in front of me and I was trying really hard to pass her but every time I’d make a move, the wind would just BLAST and I’d get thrown back. Plus, my right calf was still crampy. Finally, at Bay To Bay, it let up just a bit and I powered past her. I took my last gel here and chased it with water. It was my eighth gel of the race. Due to the wind, my splits went up in to the 8:40’s and 8:50’s here, but still stayed under 9 minutes. Just as I was looking at Mile 25, I saw Lyle come up behind me and he called to me. I turned around and he caught up with me instantly. I told him I wanted to run the last mile in with him because his pace was fast and strong, but I only lasted about a minute before I let him go. He was running at about 7:30 pace, and I just didn’t have that in me at that point. I had decided I wouldn’t make 3:40 but 3:41 was still ok. About a quarter mile later, I saw Rich on his bike. I was kinda slowing down but he cheered me on and I picked up my pace once again. Maybe I COULD make 3:40. So I ran hard, I was within one mile and I knew I had less than 10 minutes to go. I certainly could run hard for 10 more minutes. As I went under the Davis Island bridge, which I’d run over nearly 3 and a half hours earlier, I could see the finish line. I ran as hard as I could, trying to ignore the pain in my right calf. The clock said 3:41 something…but my watch was just passing 3:39 as I ran into the finish chute. I couldn’t believe I had run that fast. It was 27 minutes faster than my last marathon 3 weeks prior, and 27 minutes faster than last year’s Gasparilla. Ironically, it turned out that Lyle had started the race about a minute before me (I must have passed him while he was at an aid station), and then finished about a minute before me, so we had almost the same time. Cool stuff!!! I was ecstatic though, and very relieved to be done. I looked around for anyone I knew. Shane was supposed to be in our location from last year. I did see the BT Tampa Bay sign, but he was nowhere to be found. No one was there. So I dropped off my chip, got my medal and went out of the chute. I saw Rich again. I asked where everyone was, and he said they were warming up in the car. I had come in so early that they didn’t even expect me to be there yet! So no one saw me finish, but I couldn’t blame them, I’d want to be warm too. Rich went to grab everyone and bring them over, and soon, all my friends were hugging me and congratulating me. It was awesome.


Go even faster. I know I can get under 3:30.

After we all met up and I got some warm clothes on, we tried to figure out what to do. We met up with Lawrence, who was gonna host our post-race BT event, but we were all so cold (wind was so cold and so strong that it blew over five portapotties...look for pics soon) and I was hurting, so we decided to just get home and get warm.


The wind, my idea that I wasn't sure how fast I could go until I got too tired to run. Flat 8's next time.


I just love running this race. I PR'ed last year, and I PR'ed again this year. I think this is one race I'll do every year.