Wellstone's Dallas White Rock Marathon - RunMarathon

The gun went off and we started. I've run the course once before and done multiple parts different times in training, so I know the course pretty well. First mile flew by and I was really happy to see 6:44. I had actually hit the first mile of a race right where I wanted. We turned onto McKinney and we then had a tailwind. Well I warmed up WAY fast and immediately took off my shirt. (I had planned on doing this anyways...) I threw the shirt into the first trashcan I found and that was that. The next mile read 7:13 and I knew that it was LONG cause the next mile read 6:34. When we got onto turkle creek I felt a little more fatigued than I'd like but still felt good. I took water at EVERY aid station and a gel every 45mins. It felt like the first 5-6 flew by and the next thing I knew I was at 75 crossing on Mcommas. At this point I was feeling much more relaxed and just wanted to hold that sub 7 pace. We passed the first relay exchange then started the downhill to Greenville. Crossed greenville then went through the split for the half and full. Its funny, cause I didnt even think about wishing I wasnt doing the full. Normally I'd think "Damn, it would be nice to turn onto the half course.." About 2-3 blocks down the course some guy pulls up next to us and I look at his bib.. It was Purple! He was supposed to be on the half course. I said "hey.. I think you were supposed to turn back there man..." He was WAY upset and turned around. That sucks... The course then turns downhill a bit more until we get to the lake. Passed through mile 8 and got on Lawther. Crested a small uphill then saw mile 9 coming up. As I got closer and closer to the mile marker I saw my friend Matt! He shouted at me to slow down and I told him I felt fine :) Turned into the lake area and started the loop around the lake. It was at this point where I really realized it was getting pretty lonely. Ran with a guy my age all the way till mile 12. This section really went by MUCH faster than the first time I ran this race. We went under the Mockingbird bridge the first time and went through the mile 12 aid station. Looked down at my watch to see 6:23!! Shit I thought.. Hopefully that mile was short. Looking back now I doubt it was short, and I definitly think that mile is where I broke. I let the guy I was running with slowly break away and just looked down Northwest highway, while thinking about the first time I ran down that road. It was July 4th, 2005 at my first running race ever. (the flagpole 8K) How ironic that 3 years later I'd be running down it even faster than I was then in hopes of Boston qualifying. I turned right onto Lawther again and kept looking ahead for the halfway marker. Crossed the halfway point and my watch read 7:07. Much better I thought. I knew I needed to slow down if I wanted to be sure to break 3:10. It was about here that I realized I probably wouldnt get my huge goal of sub 3. Theres a small shaded section here then you come out into the open after running under Mockingbird for the second time. Here's where the wind made itself known. I quickly jumped in behind the closest guy running near me. Held onto him until he slowed then went to the next guy. We traded spots drafting, shared a few words, then he started to drop me near mile 15 right after the bath house...The bath house is really where I realized sub 3 wasnt going to happen. I felt like I was running an 8min mile into that wind. When I hit the 15 marker at 7:09 I couldnt believe it! We turned off into the section that goes away from the lake. I made it through mile 16 in 7:10 and still couldnt believe i was holding my sub boston pace of 7:14. my watch will calculate my pace so I checked it at 16 and I was still running a 6:50ish pace. 17 was probably the most difficult mile until the mid 20s. I paced off a wheelchair guy and his bicycles for a bit. We shared a few words all while I leaned into the wind. We got to the end of the bike path and took a left over the grass and onto Grand. I turned right onto grand and was SO damn happy to see that 18 mile marker. I feel like I got a slight second wind here. Took the downhill by the spillway and took a right onto Winstead. The spectators were really awesome right here. (and of course the Hooters aid station was coming up!) haha. Its funny, cause at this aid station (the 30K mark) they have a big banner that says "START". Its true... a marathon does start at mile 19. Went through mile 19 @ 7:10 and was truly shocked to see that. When I started the short climb up the dollies was the first time I noticed a significant slow in my pace. I felt more like I was shuffling that running. I made it over the dolllies and turned left onto Lakeview. I had run this section at least 3 times in the weeks before the race to make sure I was ready for it this time unlike 2 years ago. By this point I was totally suffering for the first half but still moving at a fast enough pace to BQ. I knew that when I got to Swiss it was mostly downhill. When I got to the top of Lakeview (almost to Abrams) I noticed I was totally solo. I could see one runner way up ahead and didnt even try to look back :) Crossed Abrams as they stopped traffic just for me, and started a slight downhill. Took the left towards Swiss and I could see it in the distance. Swiss is about mile 22-23/24. It looks like it goes on forever. I just focused on maintaining pace the whole time. DONT slow down. I kept thinking... FOUR miles left. Thats it. You run FOUR miles ALL the time. I got a little worried when I was only able to run about 7:30s but did the calculations in my head and knew that I'd BQ w/ that pace. Once swiss came down to one road (instead of split) I started the mental battle. My body wanted to walk, but there was no way in hell I was going to let it. It was almost fun in a really twisted way to tell myself no (however crazy that sounds....) walking. I could walk in 20mins. Why walk now. I could see the skyscrapers up ahead and knew I was almost there. When I got to mile 24 I did the calculations again and knew I could run 10min miles from here out and still BQ. Thats when I knew I had it, and was just running for a PR from there out. The winds were still blowing like mad but I didnt even think about it at the time. After I went under 75 and turned on the road that goes through downtown I was ecstatic, and just wanted to enjoy the moment. Finally saw mile 25 and knew 100% that I had made it. I slowed just a bit (mainly because my quads were dyingggg). We ran through the West End and I could see the last turn. I turned right and saw I wouldnt break 3:05 so I just pushed to see how close i could get. Passed 2-3 people here and looked for the finish line up ahead. When I saw the finish line it was the best feeling since hawaii. That was easily the 3rd best finish line (only to IMLP (First IM) and Hawaii) ever. I didnt even have the energy to hold my arms up or face my bib forward. Crossed the line and just held onto the the closest sturdy structure.

Not let myself get caught up w/ someone elses pace like I did around mile 12. That 6:23 was probably my downfall...

Well.. Since I couldnt really walk too far I headed up the finish chute. Got my finisher gear and looked for Courtney and Scott. I quickly found them and did my normal routine of sitting on the closest curb. After being asked by medical if I was ok (as I'm laying on the sidewalk supine) i tried to head over to the beer tent. I made it half way and told Court I had to sit down again. Scott then asked if I could make it to the beer tent to sit down.. Well heck yea I can. haha. He helped me up and I proceeded to the beer tent where I 3 beers. Just enough to take my mind off the burning in my legs. :)


The weather conditions. The 20-30mph winds were brutal and really sucked the life force outta me. The temps were also A LOT warmer than what i had been training in.


I wanna of course thank everyone for their support, especially Scott and Courtney :) It was great that you guys were out there to see it.

White Rock is a great race. It easily has the best Expo i've ever been to (including Hawaii) and is really well run. I wasnt too happy about the half and full starting at the same time this year but I guess logistically it worked out better? I think the idea of corrals was a good idea. I heard a few people complain saying it was so crowded. For most of these people, they should have been prepared and shown up early enough. This is a big city marathon and 10,000 + people should be expected. The race director did a great job of having enough volunteers and aid stations. I also heard they brought in more H20 due to the temps. Well done. The finisher shirts and medals were top notch.