New Course Record:
Best Three Performances:
Worst Three Performances:
Races for 2001
Race Number 14:
Race: California International Marathon
Date: December 2
Location: Folsom to Sacremento, CA
Distance: Marathon
Time: 2:30:45
Place: 11th
Link to results: www.runcim.org
Link to story: Sacbee
Pace and Comments
Mile 0: Race day begins in a hotel room just off I-5. With a quick glance out the window, it was clear that yesterday's storm had not yet subsided, pacing would be thrown out (the window), and tactical racing would be the order of the day. At the start, we were greeted with the announcement that the banner that could usually be seen at the line in years past would be absent from this year' as after it blew away at 5:00 that morning. Then, the rain came. About 5 minutes before the gun, the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees and a pelting, wind-driven rain made stripping down even more difficult.
Mile 1: 5:33 (5:33) At the gun, the race heads straight downhill and straight into the wind. The two factors seemed to cancel one another as I proceeded through the mile on pace for a fast finishing time relative to the days weather conditions. Startling, however, is the lead pack of over 20 men that is already pulling away from me.
Mile 2: 11:02 (5:28) Early in the second mile, a chase pack forms near me of 6 men including eventual 14th place finisher, Chad Worthen, also of WVTC.
Mile 3: 16:28 (5:25) For the next couple of miles, we continue on at a relaxed pace trading the lead with the wind mostly from the side (10-20% headwind) At 5 miles, or so, Noah Marcus joins the pack.
Mile 4: 22:05 (5:37)
Mile 5: 27:32 (5:26)
Mile 6: 33:01 (5:28)
Mile 7: 38:49 (5:48) As you can see from the spilt, mile 7 is where the weather somehow took a turn for the worse. The headwind became sufficiently intense to preclude even remote thoughts of reasonably fast times.
Mile 8: 44:39 (5:50) At this point, we are already seeing carnage from the lead pack. We pass very small African wearing a hooded sweatshirt underneath his sponsors singlet only to have him surge past us several times in the next few miles before finally dropping back permanently.
Mile 9: 50:47 (6:08) Just when you think that the weather cannot get any worse, the wind decides to turn it up a notch and the rain increases until it is cascading in sheets down the road. Ankle deep puddles are forming and did I mention the headwind??? Jerry Lawson is walking down the side of the road waiting for a ride to the finish.
Mile 10: 56:47 (6:00) Slowly, chronic butt-lock* begins to set in.
Mile 11: 1:02:18 (5:30) We pass a few more runners in various stages of dropping-out some of whom join in the pack, most of whom are unable to do so.
Mile 12: 1:07:58 (5:39) This seems to be a good opportunity to comment on the scenic nature of the course. Most of the tour from Folsom to Downtown Sac could be described as, "suburban," to use the kind of euphemistic, understated, neutral language that is commonly employed to describe the mess that even hardcore suburban growth cheerleaders, in their narcotic raptures of consumerism and gourmet coffee, have begun to dimly apprehend. This landscape is economically catastrophic, socially toxic, ecologically suicidal, and spiritually degrading to a degree where not only is nothing sacred but everything is profane. Unfortunately, I could not enjoy it as I was diverting view with the bill of my cap so as to keep the wind from blowing my eyes through my skull.
Mile 13: 1:13:43 (5:44) Noah's Transport teammates, Steve Morino and Bill McMorran join the pack and begin to control the pace from the front.
Mile 13.1 1:14:17 Some of my supporters are on the roadside amongst a relatively large throng of cheering spectators. One of the truly pleasant surprises of the day was the number of volunteers and spectators that lined the streets in probably the worst weather imaginable for spectating.
Mile 14: 1:19:29 (5:46) More of the national automobile slum.
Mile 15: 1:25:42 (6:12) Probably the worst headwind on the entire course. At this point, many of the runners in our original group have fallen off of the "pace" and for the next few miles, our pack serves as a microcosm for the year's team battle for Pacific Association team supremacy with WVTC's third and forth scorers battling the Transports 1,2, and 3.
Mile 16: 1:31:31 (5:49) More aesthetic beauty. Nature is present only in the berm between the K-mart and the Wal-Mart.
Mile 17: 1:37:24 (5:52)
Mile 18: 1:43:12 (5:48) The team battle takes a downturn as we pass a hypothermic Dan Nelson. As we rush past, I command him to tuck into our pack. He replies through chattering teeth that he can't.
Mile 19: 1:48:54 (5:41) Chad Worthen, the runner responsible for much of the pace work between miles 2 and 12 falls off of the pace.
Mile 20: 1:54:30 (5:36) The weather is improving. Now it is only raining, kind of windy, and kind of cold.
Mile 21: 1:59:59 (5:29) With a 5:29, courtesy of Mr. Marcus, the pack that I am in slowly dissolves as the toll of the day's running is manifest in an inability to hang on. From this point on, I will run by myself.
Mile 22: 2:05:45 (5:45) Acute butt-lock* sets in.
Mile 23: 2:11:33 (5:48) Calves decide to join my ass and upper hamstrings in general kinematic dysfunction.
Mile 24: 2:17:24 (5:50) At intersections, traffic cops are waving motorists through after I run by indicating that I have a pretty large lead on the next place runner.
Mile 25: 2:23:21 (5:50) I look down at my watch and think that 2:23 is about the time that I had planned to run today (given favorably conditions.)
Mile 26: 2:29:27 (6:05)
Mile 26.2: 2:30:45 I finish with McMorran and Moreno still in the shoot; damn, less than one minute ahead was second American, Marcus. As it was, I finish 11th overall and 5th American in the slowest CIM ever. The winner, one of Canada's best ever marathoners ran just over 2:22 and Mike Dudley, running his second 2:27 of the year was 5th overall and 1st American. Although this is not my fastest marathon, I feel that it is my best effort at the distance thus far and it is actually my second fastest finish in four attempts at the distance.
*Some people have asked me to explain the term "butt-lock" as it appears in this context. On a scale of 1 to 10 used in the description of ease of running movement with 1 describing smooth, perfect, fluid form and 10 denoting incapacitating muscle cramping, butt-lock occupies the range of 3 to 8
Race Number 13:
Race: USATF New England Cross Country Championships
Date: November 11
Location: Boston, MA
Distance: 10k
Time: 32:10?
Splits:
Mile 1 4:40 4:40
Mile 2 9:50 5:09
Mile 3 15:04 5:14
Mile 4 20:26 5:21
Mile 5 25:40 5:14
Place: Somewhere, way behind the winner
Link to results: www.usatfne.org
Comments: Worst race of the year!
Race Number 13:
Race: Humbolt Halfmarathon
Date: October 21
Location: Weott, CA
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 1:08:14
Splits:
Mile 1 4:44 4:44
Mile 2 9:44 4:59
Mile 3 14:51 5:06
Mile 4 20:04 5:13
Mile 5 25:20 5:15
Mile 6 30:25 5:04
Mile 7 35:59 5:35
Mile 8 41:09 5:10
Mile 9 46:27 5:17
Mile 10 51:52 5:22
Mile 11 57:18 5:27
Mile 12 62:19 5:01
Place: 7th
Link to results: www.pausatf.org
Comments: As reported by Jacob Michaels:
Humboldt Race Report:
After a bitter 32 second loss to Transports at Paso Robles on the last weekend of September, hopes of defending the road title looked depressingly remote. Paso Robles was a triple point race and was the 5th race in a row won by Transports. Three weels later, the clean air of Humboldt turned out to be just what the team needed and was race that WVTC stopped the Transports' streak. Four of our top 5 runners set prs, with Mike Dudley, running his 5th straight PA race leading the team for the fifth straight time. Dudley was in a three man group that broke away quickly from the rest of the field and included a resurgent Dan Nelson, absent from WVTC and PA competition since April, and Swiss runner Juerg Stalder, rumored to be a 1:02 half man training with the Farm Team. Nelson held on through 11.5 before falling off the pace, and Dudley tried to make a decisive move for win right after the twelve mile mark on the course's sole hill. Dudley gaped Stadler and had the lead until about 500m from the finish when Stadler went past him. Dudley recovered and made a second move for the win with about 200m to go, only to fall short by a second, 65:12 to 65:13, a pr. Nelson ended up third only 30 seconds back of Dudley. 4th place was almost 2 minutes behind, in the person of Noah Marcus (67:35) of Transports.
The next group of runners included WVTC'ers Todd Rose, shooting for sub 68, and Paul Low. Low had gone out with the leaders for the first three miles and was running alone in 4th for the middle part of the race, only to be passed by Marcus, Rose and Konrad Knutsen of Transports in the latter stages. Rose had Knutsen go past him in the last mile of the race and tried to stick with him, only to fall short by 2 seconds in 68:04, a pr. Low gamely hung on for yet another pr in 68:14. Chad Worthen, running, you guessed it, a pr, finished 10th overall in 69:13, which placed WVTC's 5 scoring runners in the top ten. Bill Raitter, pole-axed by a massive side stitch with a mile to go, wheezed in at 69:58. Aaron Pierson followed in 72:30 with Mat DesJardins, showing he is in good form for CIM, running 74:58.
Race Number 12:
Race: Greater Hartford 5K
Date: October 13
Location: Hartford, CT
Distance: 5K
Time: 15:08
Splits:
Mile 1 4:51 4:50
Mile 2 9:39 4:48
Place: 2nd
Link to results: www.hartfordmarathon.com
Press Release: www.hartfordmarathon.com
Comments: Training partener and eventual winner, Erik Nedeau and I went into this race with the idea of some quick cash and a tempo run. We were not disappionted as 1200 meters into the race, we were all alone and by 2 miles, we had a 5 block lead over third place. Erik pulled away after 3 miles for the win of 1 or two seconds, not 5 as it appears in the results.
Race Number 11:
Race: Heritage Oaks Bank 10K
Date: September 30
Location: Paso Robales, CA
Distance: 10K
Time: 30:40.8
Splits:
Mile 1 4:50 4:50
Mile 2 9:19 4:29 (possibly a bit fast)
Mile 3 14:11 4:52
5km 14:58
Mile 4 19:12 5:01
Mile 5 24:22 5:10
Place: 8th
Link to results: www.pausatf.org
Comments: After a rather full day of travel, it was good to get down to business on the roads of small town California on a cool Sunday morning against a tiny but packed field. At the gun, I actually took the lead for the first 200m but I intentionally held back so as not to look even more foolish than usual. I then tucked in behind some Kenyans and ran through the mile in 4:50 which felt a bit long but who really knows? After passing through the two mile in 9:19, however, I was a bit suspicious regarding the placement of the mile markers. Just before the 3 mile, the six-man pack broke into two packs, the one containing five runners moved ahead, the other one did not. Guess which one I was in. With 5k down in 14:58, the leaders moving slowly away, and a dozen or so highly qualified runners behind me waiting to scrape my carcass off of the road, I ran one of the longest 5ks of my life. Despite the fact that it required only 15:42 to arrive at the finish to the second lap, I had an eternity to think about how easy it would be to just hold off the advancing 7th place runner and how team scoring in the Pacific Association is done by cumulative time. In other words, every second counts. Overall, I am pleased with my effort on the day, I had not been doing enough speed work to reach my “pinnacle” in the 10k but I ran well and I certainly do not think that I could have run much faster.
Race Number 10:
Race: New Haven Labor Day 20K (USATF National Championships)
Date: September 3
Location: New Haven, CT
Distance: 20K
Time: 1:05:07
Splits:
Mile 1 4:48 4:48
Mile 2 9:52 5:04
Mile 3 15:07 5:14
Mile 4 20:09 5:02
Mile 5 25:15 5:06
Mile 6 30:39 5:33
10k 31:46
Mile 7 35:57 5:18
Mile 8 41:20 5:23
Mile 9 46:44 5:23
15k 48:33
Mile 10 52:17 5:33
Mile 11 57:35 5:18
Mile 12 62:53 5:18
20k 1:05:07
Place: 22nd
Link to results: Platt Systems
Comments: After spending an extremely stressful week moving cross-country and looking for an apartment, I managed to make it to the national 20k championships two hour south of my new home in New Haven, CT. Many factors contributed to my poor showing here not the least of which were being around Belland for the previous week and running with Dunham and co. for the two days prior to the race. Lucky me, the pack went out too fast for even my haphazard style of running as a group of about 20 hit the mile in 4:40. Back in 4:48, I was in a long string of guy thinking, oh #$%@, this is going to be a long day. ...and a long day is was...Passing through five miles in at a respectable 5:03 pace, there was a sudden plummeting of my ability to run even kind of fast and my pace dropped down to marathon pace for the rest of the run. In the second half of the race, about one person came up and passed me and I would run with them for 800 meters or so before not being able to keep pace. Since I did not pass anyone else until the final two miles, my overall place in the race was, in the interest of being polite, unimpressive. As for the race itself, things went very smoothly considering the size of the field with the start line available minutes before the gun and water available every where on the course (it was pretty hot). Up front, the field was excellent with around 15 runners with top end credentials and 15 or so more decent guys waiting in arrears for anyone to fall back.
Race Number 9:
Race: Mount Toby Trail Run
Date: August 26
Location: Sunderland, MA
Distance: 14 miles with 1900 feet of climbing
Time: 1:25:11 (CR)
Place: 1st
Link to results: SMAC
Comments: A very fun race. After driving in from Detroit the previous day, my legs actually felt pretty good and I was mentally ready after not having raced for two months. Physically, however, my preparations left a bit to be desired as I have also spent two months away from speed work and I had been pounding the miles like, well, myself. Anyway, a few guys took off a bit hard at the gun and it took me until the first steep hill to catch up to the leaders. Ben Nephew then led as the two of us broke away from the rest of the field over the initial climb. Going down the first hill, I realized the Ben was a better downhill runner than I and that I should move before the top (at the turn-around). After the first water station, I pulled away on a smooth flat bit of trail and after the climb that followed, I was one minute or so in the lead with a lot of racing left in my legs for the second half of the race. On the decent, I ran pretty well as the trail was smooth and very runable. Several days of leg soreness, however, might indicate that I ran a bit too hard at this point in the race. After the bottom of the main hill, I flew up the next hill and ran easy to the finish. After the race, there was the oddest of occurrences, prize money at an American trail/mountain race.
Race Number 8:
Race: Reeds Lake Run
Date: June 30
Location: East Grand Rapids, MI
Distance: 5k and 10k
Time: 15:17 and 32:31
Place: 2nd and 2nd
Link to results: 5k and 10k
Comments: This race, or rather, couple of races presented a unique challenge in that the 5k begins at 8:30 am and the 10k begins 30 minutes later at 9. I took this rare opportunity to record the title of first loser twice in just over one hour, a personal record for me. East Grand Rapids was about 90 degrees that morning but the 5k was nice and shady with no real hills and turns every 10 feet. Eventual winner, Kyle Baker went out hard and, well, I had already decided to run for the easiest second place possible when I saw him on the starting line. I tucked in behind eventual third placer, Kevin Smith (no, not the “Clerks” guy) and another runner and remained there until the two mile mark when I surged on an uphill only to have Kevin, fresh off of an “all-American” performance in the 10000 meters and the NAIA nationals catch up on the subsequent downhill. Luckily, the finish was uphill and I pulled away, crossed the finish line in second and jogged over to the start of the 10k. There were far too many fresh faces at the start of the 10k race to go along with the top three returning from the 5k. After a the initial 800 meter downhill, I caught up with the lead pack which had already been left far in arrears of Kyle Baker. Following a few surges by Thad Karnem, Kevin Smith and I ran side by side until 4.5 miles at which point I was thinking, “could the top three be exactly the same in both races?” just before Kevin cramped up and fell back. Did I mention that it was hot? The final mile of the race was awful but fortunately, I did not have to run too hard in order to secure my first loser position. At the end of the day, I had earned $125 in each race.
Race Number 7:
Race: Ludington Lakesride Half-Marathon
Date: June 16
Location: Ludington, MI
Distance: Half-Marathon
Time: 1:14:23
Place: 1st
Link to results: Classic race Management
Comments: Since I was camping in the area with eventual third placer, Scott Belland, I decided to run the Lakestride half as the race offers $100 to the winner and I thought that it would be easy money. This is quite surprising considering that former winners of this race include Bill Rodgers and Greg Meier (you may fill in your own editorial remark here). Anyway, James Furkis took off hard and at the turn off for the accompanying 5k race, I wished that I had chosen to run that instead (the winner managed 15:50 and then had the balls to say that he was thinking about a course record during the race-only 45 seconds off, buddy). At 4 miles, the race enters the State park and there were four of us together in the lead until, coming out of the park, Belland, John Lippa, and I broke away and ran together to the 10 mile mark. Having reached 10 miles at a pace dictated almost entirely by Lippa, I through in a 5:05 uphill mile and then ran in easy for the win. Furkis, who ran alone for 99% of the race, paced Lippa and Belland in the final mile to finish second. The local paper even dedicated an entire paragraph to my performance. Here it is, verbatim: “In the men’s half-marathon race, Paul Low was the winner.”
Race Number 6:
Race: Sunburst Marathon
Date: June 9
Location: South Bend, IN
Distance: Marathon
Time: 2:26:17
Splits: (From memory)
Mile 1: 5:15
Mile 2: 10:35
Mile 6: 31:33
1/2 Marathon: 1:10:44
Mile 20: 1:49:43
Mile 24: 2:12:54
Mile 25: 2:18:16
Place: 4th
Link to results: www.sunburst.org
Comments: After the coldest ever May and early June, the weather warmed up just in time for my spring marathon. What would the Sunburst Marathon be without obnoxiously hot weather? Before the race, I had publicly stated that I would be happy as long as the race proceeded at between 5:20 and 5:30 pace. First mile; 5:15. When forced to choose between a faster pace than planned, or running 25.2 miles alone, I chose to run in the lead pack despite a pace that too us through 6 miles in 31:33. Just after 8 miles, the relay runner who had been leading our pack of two Ethiopians, two Kenyans and myself, fell back 20 feet whist traversing a 20-meter hill. After a few more surged, he fell off of the pace permanently and in his absence, our pace slowed significantly. Our pack of five then ran comfortably (well, I was comfortable, at least) through the half in 1:10:44. A great split; if only we had reached it in a more even fashion… From miles 12 to 20, the pace actually seemed too slow but I was not about to make a more with so much more pavement left to pound. At 20 miles, one runner fell off of the back. Then, shortly after 21 miles, my wheels fell off, the eventual top two runners surged, and I was left chasing third place throughout the remainder of the race. At 23, I caught third for a moment then watched it slip from my quickly bonking fingers. My finish: First Muzungu, first American, first potato.
Race Number 5:
Race: Brian Diemer 5k
Date: June 2
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Distance: 5 km
Time: 14:49
Place: 5th
Link to results: CRM
Comments: Even with a marathon one short week away and little speed work in my recent past, I still could not pass up such a good race just down the road. With the Hanson’s hosting a track meet during the same week, the field was a bit diluted up top, but there were still a pretty good number of runners going for 10-deep cash and a pancake-flat course. This year, the course was new and the race was under the direction of first time (ever) race director, Robert Hyde. It was a pretty impressive performance on his part considering it was the first time that he had done this sort of thing. Anyway, the race when out pretty hard with Kyle Baker and Matt Thull stringing the field out during the first half mile. I passed the first mile marker in 4:40 behind the two frontrunners and next to Paul Aufdemburg and Joel David. After the two mile, (which I missed) I moved into third and tried to pull away from my pursuers only to have Paul mount a counter surge and pass me just before the “Diemer turn” about one kilometer from the finish. When Paul gapped me, I knew with the clearest certainty that I needed to stick with him until the turn so that I could draft off of him through the headwind that would fight us that last kilo. Unfortunately, I was physically unable to hang and I faced the wind by myself. If that was not bad enough, Joel David, a Frosh from EMU, caught me with 100 meters to go. We were both timed in 14:49 making it a $50.00 half second. At least I beat Diemer and got a Donut…
Race Number 4:
Race: Riverbank Run
Date: May 12
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Distance: 25 km
Time: 1:19:50
Splits: (From memory)
Mile 1: 4:55
Mile 2: 9:45
Mile 3: 14:30
Mile 4: 19:30
Mile 6: 29:50
10km: 31:04
Mile 7: 35:07
Mile 8: 42:00
Mile 9: 46:07
1/2 Marathon: 67:28
25 km: 1:19:50
Place: 19th (13th in USATF National Championship)
Link to results: CRM
Articles:Michigan Runner
Comments: This race when out fast! To properly illustrate this, I recall my early splits; 14:30 through the third mile and this put me somewhere in the third pack of runners! At around four miles, a couple of Kenyans blew-up and fell back and everyone else decided to catch the pack in front of us. This meant that I was alone from miles 5 to 9 when I pack of four including Kyle Baker, Chris Lundstrom Kurt Keiser, and Keith Dowling caught me. By then, I was happy for the company and to be out of the wind. Baker quickly fell off of the back and the rest of us ran together until the 14 mile mark when I got an acute case of bilateral buttlock. My finish was so poor that I Keiser went on to finish 25 seconds in front of me. 25 seconds gained in lest than 1.5 miles. Oh, yeah, he was the tenth American. Damn. In retrospect, it may have been a better idea run more conservatively (as in not running the first 10k in 31:04), run with that pack that caught me at 9 miles for the entire race and logically have a bit more in the tank at the end.
First Three races of 2001