This was my 9th Ogden Marathon and after missing last year I was really looking forward to giving it another go. I felt like I had a good chance at running well considering I had a good performance at the Provo City Half two weeks ago. My B goal was to improve on my 2012 time (2:23:00) and beat the course record (2:22:51) and my A goal was to beat Bryant. I guess I just figured Bryant would beat the record, considering he barely missed it last year in the rain, so beating the CR would have to come first.
Race morning was fairly routine, i.e. PB and toast, almond milk, bus ride with Steve and Bryant, and a short warmup in unseasonably warm temps (~55). The race got off right on time and I immediately jumped out to the lead. First and second miles came in at 5:27 and 5:26 so I really don't think I was pressing too much. It seemed that Bryant, Jace, Steve and Jason were running somewhat conservatively for the first few miles but then they started closing the gap between the bottom of the canyon and the half way mark. My legs weren't feeling great for the first few but not bad enough to be too concerned. Just to be safe I took my first gel at about mile 7 which is 2-3 miles earlier than usual. I think it helped. When I went through the half (~1:11:15) I heard loud cheers close so they must have only been 30-45 seconds behind. This is where I was picked up my biker friend who I missed last year. As we took the 90 degree left turn out of Hunstville I was tempted to look back but I resisted and proceeded up the hill at mile 14. My legs were sucking wind up that hill but I know the course well enough that I knew they would be able to recover a bit with the ensuing downhill. In hindsight, I think I pushed that mile (5:41) too hard. Three gentle downhill miles later I hit the aid station near the dam and accidentally dumped red Powerade on my head. I did it earlier in the race too. Oops. Based on the cheers behind me someone, probably Bryant, was no more than 10-15 seconds behind. I figured I could only run so fast so I didn't bother to look back. After the dam is where the canyon starts and I really didn't know if my legs were up to running fast miles. Turns out that miles 18-23 were about 2 seconds faster than that same stretch in 2012 so not too bad but could have been better. As I left the canyon I wasn't hearing cheers behind me anymore but I still wasn't relaxed considering that Bryant ran his last 3 miles last year in around 16 and closed with a sub 5. If he had that in him today he would have passed me like I was standing still. Mile 23 was the highlight of the race (10 seconds faster than 2012) and I owe it all to Matt, Spencer, Josse and Amiee. They were great chearleaders during that curvy stretch through half marathoners. Sadly it was in miles 25 and 26 (thanks for the push Scott) where I lost the CR (5:41,5:40). I didn't MIH, DOH! Hopefully next time.
Candidly speaking, it was a bittersweet ending but definitely more on the sweet side. The Goal Foundation always puts on a fun race, the crowds are great, and the aid stations are primo. I guess next time I will just have to put the CR as my A goal :) Bryant will certainly get his revenge many times over in the future.
There were lots of other great performances out there, i.e. Devra set a new CR, Ben crushed the half, Matt ran well with Pepto-Bismol, Steve finished with a solid 2nd, and Justin is back at it and finished 4th.
After the race Nicolai and Amiee had a solid performance in the Kids 1K, despite the 80 degree temps. I considered, for 10 seconds, running the double.
Splits:
1- 6: 5:27,5:26,5:14,5:13,5:09,5:12
7-13: 5:17,5:23,5:30,5:28,5:33,5:26,5:34 (half ~1:11:15)
14-20: 5:29,5:41,5:26,5:28,5:06,5:17,5:19,
21-26: 5:24,5:19,5:14,5:27,5:41,5:40
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