Thursday, April 26, 2012


Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards:  Time to Use Age-Grading

I wrote to BAA a number of years ago about the time standards it was using for people to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  At that time, I argued that the standards were tougher for older runners than for younger runners.  Shortly afterwards, definitely not in response to my plea, BAA added five minutes to each age group - mostly in an effort to boost registration numbers, which lagged for several years after the 100th anniversary in 1996.  However, by two years ago, so many people wanted to get in to Boston, that it filled only eight hours after registration opened and a number of really good runners didn't get in.  This past year, BAA adopted an  orderly way of allowing the fastest runners to register before others, who met the standard, but weren't as fast.  For next year, BAA has rescinded the extra five minutes it allowed for most of the past decade and also cut out the extra 59 seconds it was allowing people to use. (No more using 3:25:59 if your standard is 3:25:00.)

These developments have brought me back to my original thought on the standards:  they are not totally fair between the sexes and across age-groups.  The only way to make them such is to use age-grading, a system which works well in the various regional USATF club competitions.

Briefly, here's how age-grading works:  It should be obvious that between men and women of the same age, men tend to be faster runners.  It should also be obvious that as runners age they tend to slow down because the aerobic system of an older runner won't work as efficiently as that of a younger runner.  Age-grading allows each individual to compare their own performance against the best performance of someone of their age and sex.  The individual's time is divided into the world best time and a percentage is derived.  A rough example would be if the world best marathon time for a 68 year old man were three hours and a particular 68 year old man ran the marathon in exactly four hours.  That person's age grade would be figured by divided four hours into three, which would yield a decimal of .75 or an age grade of 75.000.  (In actuality, the times would be converted to seconds for more accurate division.)  Based on observations, runners are roughly classified by the age grades they achieve as follows:  Scores over 60 are considered Local Class; over 70, Regional Class; over 80, National Class, and over 90, World Class.

The standards which were in existence for 2012, had the following age-grades for 34 year-old male and females:  Men (3:10) = AG 65.75; Women (3:40) = AG 62.16.
The standards for 2013 equal these age-grades:  Men (3:05) = 67.52; Women (3:35) = 63.61.  Note that women have an easier standard at age 34: 3.89 percentage points easier under the new standard.  This discrepancy remains, but the gap closes, until the 50 year age group.  At that point, women have, at first a slight disadvantage compared to men, but by the upper sixties, the standards equal national or world class achievements in order to qualify.  Men in the upper age- qroups aren't at much of a  qualifying disadvantage until their eighties.  

Using uniform age-grade standards would eliminate the discrepancies.  I would prefer that BAA pick one age-grade standard that each runner must achieve in order to register.  Just like this year, if too many people enter, BAA could work backwards, making the age-grading a little tougher (instead of adding seconds as it did this year.  In the present computer age, a simple formula could tell each person what grade they need to attain for their age at the next Boston.  Every year of age would have the same age-grade, but a slightly greater time for each additional year of age. The variation with an age group starts fairly small for people in their 30s, a minute or two difference per year, but by the older age groups, one year can mean many minutes difference.

Below is a chart showing the 2013 standards and my standards based on an age-grade of 66.8.  I came up with that grade because it is in between the current standards for men and women.  BAA could come up with its own age grade.  I'm showing only  the oldest age in each age group and have rounded to the nearest minute or half minute for simplicity.  Obviously if BAA thought it was too complicated to have a different number for each year of age, it could come up with a chart like this, which would still have a closer standard of fairness than what it has come up with for 2013.

Age     2013 Men     66.8 Age grade    2013 Women    66.8 age Grade
34        3:05               3:07                        3:35                    3:25
39        3:10               3:10                        3:40                    3:31
44        3:15               3:18                        3:45                    3:42
49        3:25               3:27                        3:55                    3:56
54        3:30               3:36:30                  4:00                    4:12:30
59        3:40               3:47                        4:10                    4:30:30
64        3:55               3:58:30                  4:25                    4:53
69        4:10               4:11:30                  4:40                    5:22:30
74        4:25               4:27:30                  4:55                    6:01:30
79        4:40               4:53                        5:10                    6:56:30
80        4:55               5:00
84        4:55               5:34:30

Summary: Current women's standards are too easy up to their lower 40s, about right in their mid to late 40s, and too tough 50 and beyond. A woman is her late 70s would have to be a very good national class runner and by 74 would have to run a world record time in order to qualify.  Current men's standards are somewhat slightly tougher than they should be up to their early forties (although a single age breakdown with show the standard to be about right or slightly easier for some of the younger ages in a five year group).  In the late 40 and the 50s, men have an even tougher time, but with more time alloted in their 60s and 70s, it's about right until the upper 70s. Ironically, the old standards, used in 2012, were about right for men all the way up to age 74; for women it was even easier for younger women to qualify, but not much more help above age 50.

BTW, in case anyone is wondering if I am lobbying so that it would be easier for me at age 68(which I will be next April) to get in, the answer is no.  The 2013 standards are 4:10.  By my age grade of 66.8, I would have to run 4:08:53.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012


The 2012 Boston Marathon: The Water Stop Tour

The latest edition of the Boston Marathon, the 13th I've done, is now the most memorable one for me.  Various sources said the temperature reached 87 to 89 degrees, which was a few degrees above the temperature in the 2004 marathon.  But the big difference was the humidity.  In 2004 the air was very dry with a westerly wind at our backs.  This year the morning dew point was 58, indicating more moisture in the air, even though the breezes in the upper eighties evaporated water applied to the skin in a few minutes. Below is the account I sent to my running club, along with added details about the places we went and the people we met.

How many times have I watched the weather forecast for a particular race change from a moderate, favorable one to something that's going to present a challenge?  For marathons, it seems in about one out of three cases, the forecast has gone awry.  Sometimes it becomes more cold and blustery.  Sometimes it's rain. And sometimes it's heat.  Usually when a trend starts to go in one direction six days out from the event, it just continues to get worse as race day approaches.

And so it was with the 2012 Boston Marathon.  A forecast in the low 70s a week out became a prediction of high 80s and no cloud cover with two days to go.  By Saturday the Boston Athletic Association had decided to let registrants opt out if they picked up their number, but didn't start.  About 400 took advantage of that.  But the other part of the decision was to extend the time in which a runner could be officially scored to seven hours from six. (In actuality, it appears everyone who finished was scored, even over eight hours.)  The irony of this change was that club member Mark Lozier had been contacting BAA about extending the hours or an early start several times in the weeks leading up to the race, but kept being denied.  But the weather changed all that.

Mark's dilemma:  Back up to last summer.  Mark had stumbled going down steps at home and injured his right knee.  He got the meniscus operated on in August and 10% was removed.  Having qualified at Mohawk Hudson Valley in October 2010 (where I also got a BQ), Mark registered for the marathon in September.  But as he tried to run again, he was experiencing pain.  Visits to the doctor showed the knee had developed some arthritis at the point of the surgery.  He took a series of fluid injections.  But the knee never came around.  By early this year, he determined that he'd begin  walking and shortened a 12 week program to eight.  The last month he covered 200 miles and got in two 20 milers.  He had decided to WALK the Boston Marathon.  He figured at his walking pace it would take about 6 hours and 40 minutes and thus the angst when BAA denied him, but relief when it decided the field could have an extra hour.

Meanwhile, I figured this race was going to be similar to 2004 when the temperature reached 86.  Then I told myself it was like another long run at the beach and I ran about a minute a mile slower than I was capable of on a good day.  So this time, I figured I could do about 4:45, a time I did in June of 2010 at a warm marathon.  But my calculations were off.  The humidity was higher than in 2004 and in mid-April there was no opportunity to be  acclimated to the heat as I was by June of 2010.

But before the account of the actual run, I'm retelling the events leading up to it:

In July 2010, Mark Lozier and I went up to Massachusetts to the Run the Around the Lake Marathon on what turned out to be a dry evening.  Mark grew up in Lynn. which is northeast of Boston on Nahunt Bay and Lynn Harbor. His sister Elaine and brother-in-law Ed live in the next town over, Swampscott.  They had graciously put us up then and were willing to do the same for this version of the Boston Marathon.  Mark has stayed there a number of times and I just became an extra person.

On Thursday afternoon we left for Massachusetts and got to Ed and Elaine's home at about 9:30 p.m.  After taking a walk on the beach next morning and grabbing some lunch, Mark drove to the Wonderland subway station, the last stop on the Blue Line, which acquired its name from an former amusement park and dog racing facility of the same name.  We bought seven-day passes, figuring they were cheaper, even if we were only going to use them a couple of days, than paying for individual fares.  We headed toward the World Trade Center in South Boston where the expo would take place.  We had hoped to get in early, but they weren't letting anyone in until 2 p.m.  

Outside the expo we met a member of the Boston Athletic Association, who was not only running the marathon, but working in the packet pickup area.  We asked him why the expo was at the World Trade Center, instead of the better location on Boyleston Street right near the finish.  He rubbed his fingers together indicating cost was the reason.  Then he wished us luck and went inside to get ready for the initial rush of marathoners.  We waited in line another 20 minutes, but, once in, got our numbers and left after a fairly quick look around.

We had an important mission - to get to the Samuel Adams Brewery for the tour, a taste of a few beers, and, most importantly, to pick up our 26.2 mugs, which were only for entrants in the marathon.  After another jaunt through the subway system, we made it.  The tour was quite enjoyable, conducted by a young woman named Audrey, who was a communications major at Northeastern University and who was doing this as part of her co-op program.  We learned that this original brewery was one of three the company uses to brew its beers.  Its more popular beers are brewed at the other facilities.  This original and smallest one is where new beers are perfected and where small speciality batches are made.  A number of kegs were on racks aging some of the beers, whose alcohol content can go above 25%.

After the tour we sampled three beers, including the 26.2 beer brewed especially for the Boston Marathon and available only at local pubs.  At this point Audrey held a pint in her hand while leading the group in beer tasting.  She engaged in lively repartee with some of the guys on the tour, telling slightly bawdy jokes.  For instance, in explaining how Samuel Adams had perfected a glass for bringing out the best flavor of its beer, she called it "a nice piece of glass".  While acting like a somewhat drunk bar girl, in fact she was only taking small sips from her pint of brew.  

At the end of the tour Mark and I claimed our 26.2 mugs.  They  are huge and heavy, holding at least 24 ounces.  Perhaps the extra half inch at the top, after pouring two 12 ounce beers into the mug, will hold another 2.2 ounces.  I'm not inclined to test it.  The mug has the neat feature of an elevation chart of the marathon, starting at Hopkinton, high on the glass and working it way down to Boston near the bottom.

Friday was opening day for the Red Sox at Fenway Park.  On our way back to the Wonderland station, we ended up on the subway with some Red Sox fans who had driven from Maine to the end of the Blue Line, and used the subway to get into the ballpark.  On their way back, they noticed our Boston marathon bags and started asking questions.  Three of them were men in their 30s to 40s, but the other was a pretty young woman in her 20s.  As the crowd thinned out, I grabbed a seat and the young woman sat down next to me asking questions about running.

She then told me that her husband was on military duty, but that they planned to run the Falmouth Road Race in a few months after his tour ended.  I asked where he was stationed and I noticed her hesitancy as she said Afghanistan. I did not utter one word about my total opposition to that war, but just wished them a good run after he returned.
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The highlight on Saturday was supposed to be a tour of the Harpoon Brewery.  It turns out that it is only three blocks from the World Trade Center, but since it's only open to the public on the weekend, we couldn't have gone on Friday.  Ed came along with us, but we got off late and were a bit confused about which subway lines to take to get there.  But eventually we made it to the brewery at 3:15, which has tours until 5 p.m.  We stood in line as the two people in front of us bought tickets.  The sales person then looked up and announced that was all for today.  We were sort of stunned after going through all the effort to get there.  But we were determined now to have a beer.  We had noticed an Irish bar a couple blocks before the World Trade Center the day before.  So we made our way back there and walked in.

The bar was packed with a young crowd.  The Red Sox were playing and the game on all the TVs was the backdrop.  We ordered three Harpoon beers and then looked for a little bit of room.  A section of the bar had a reception going on.  We decided to try to sit at a table on the far end of it, figuring the worst that could happen was to get thrown out of the area.  A couple was sitting there, who had also sought refuge after going to the marathon expo.  They invited us to sit down.  

The guy, Kevin Carrothers, was in the marathon.  He was an ultramarathoner, used to doing 100 milers.  Then he began to explain that after an ultra race last fall, he had gotten an embolism in his right calf while aboard a plane ride.  He showed us his calf: the inside had an incision scar in the down the entire length; the outside had a three inch wide swath of fresh skin down the entire length.  Kevin explained that muscle tissue, which had been infused with blood from the embolism, had to be removed and the area had to be open to the air for four days.  He had only gotten back to a little bit of running and said his longest run lately had been only six miles.  But he said, as an ultramarathoner, getting through a marathon on less than minimal training was no big deal.  Indeed, he finished in 5:18:29.  In retrospective, I'm glad we missed out on the Harpoon tour, or we wouldn't have met Kevin.
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After we finished our brews, we headed back to the subway to make our way over to the Boston Museum of Science.  Elaine and another one of Mark's sisters, Carol, were going to meet us there.  Mark and I had both received an e-mail from BAA about an exhibit at the Museum about the science of the endurance required to run a marathon.  It sounded like a neat exhibit, but when we inquired about it at the museum, no one knew anything about it.  They said there was a room with some old running shoes, but that was it.  Somebody really goofed up on this one.

After seeing an Imax film on ancient Greece, we headed to a local restaurant for food.  As we did almost every evening, we watched either the hockey game (Bruins or Flyers) or the Red Sox the evening they got pummeled 18 to 5.  Bruins fans were rooting for the Flyers to beat the Penguins.  In fact during the marathon while on Commonwealth Avenue, where all the young crowd was partying, I saw a guy with a tee shirt that had on it "I Hate Sidney Crosby".
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Sunday was a quiet day.  While I went for a 3.5 mile loosening up jog, Mark walked, again by the beach.  Later, we went over to Mark's sister Carol's house for a pasta dinner (and to watch the Flyers and Penguins mix it up).
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Monday morning we were up by 5:30.  Ed had driven Mark to Boston Commons  where the buses were lined up to take us out to Hopkinton before several other of the marathons, so the plan was to do the same.  Mark said if we left at 6:30, it would be no problem.  But as we drove over the Charles River into Boston, the traffic came to a stop.  It took a half hour to get off the bridge.  For some reason, with the marathon that day and the Red Sox game starting at 11:00, transportation officials had decided it was a good day to close a tunnel, forcing all the cars coming off the bridge to choose other ways to go.  We finally got to Boston Commons at 7:30, about the time the last bus was officially scheduled to leave.  Mark knew there would be buses almost until eight and sure enough there were.  We got on one in the last set of them.

While standing in line for the buses, we started a conversation with Raul Olmo, who is from the Philadelphia area.  Raul, who is about 50, works in construction and has also coached kids in running.  He had similar issues to Mark with osteo-arithritis in his knees.  They talked the entire time on the trip out to Hopkinton and Raul gave Mark renewed hope that the shots he took may just not have been in the right spot.  Mark still hopes to get back to running after talking with Raul.  By the way, Raul, who was probably in 3:20 shape, ran 3:45:55.

Meanwhile I was sitting with Susan Powers from Florida, who had stayed in a hotel just across the street from where the buses were picking people up.  Her husband was starting in the first corral and was already on his way to Hopkinton.  She waited until the last buses was leaving.  Like me, she had started running relatively late in life, but was very enthusiastic about it.  It was to be her first Boston and she finished in 4:19:51.
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Arriving at the athletes' village in Hopkinton, after the obligatory pit stops, we made our way under a big tent.  It was already in the 70s and I was determined to stay as cool as possible as long as possible.  We found a fairly clear spot, put down some plastic bags, and sat on the grass.  Drinking fluids, we talked.  A young woman nearby heard us mention Delaware and she perked up.  Turns out she was Stacey Black from Bear.  We exchanged pleasantries and I even discovered she intends to take her son for his birthday party to my son's rock gym.  Stacey ran 3:50:27, a great result in that heat.

After the first wave left, the space was roomier.  We applied sunscreen and substances to prevent chafing of various body parts. Eventually we made our way to the portajohns with no lines for one last pit stop.  A few minutes after the second wave disappeared, we figured it was time to go.  Our figuring was off as we ended up in a slow moving sea of humanity.  I realized we were back among the charity runners and would have a hard time getting to our corrals.  We got out of the street and made up some distance on the sidewalk, but never did quite get to our designated corrals.  In the long run it made little difference.  Times are based on chips, but I was annoyed initially that it took me almost five minutes to cross the starting line.
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When the race started I noticed early on the things were going to be different.  After the two initial downhill miles, my pace slowed in chunks of time on each successive mile.  By the first water stop, I was thirsty and I slugged back both water and Gatorade and then went to the water stop on the other side of the road a hundred or so yards up for more water to throw on my head, neck, back and chest.  My legs never felt "runnerish".  My arms got goose bumps (a sign of overheating).  It probably took a third of the distance before my body was starting to properly deal with the heat.

Meanwhile I noticed how quickly the enthusiasm of the participants had dissipated.  By 5K it was quiet amongst the runners.  People had already withdrawn into their focus on keeping going.  There were no easy early miles.  It became the Water Stop Tour.  The water thrown on the body evaporated in less than five minutes and by the time the next water stop appeared (only a mile down the road), the clothes were dry and the hands were hot.  People weaved from one side of the road to the other for the two aid stations at each mile.  BAA had doubled the amount of water available for each runner from five gallons to ten.  Misters and sprays from hydrants had the runners veering to the sides of the road.  Volunteers and ordinary citizens handed out ice cubes, wet paper towels or small sponges, and shot water guns at willing runners.  The focus was not the next mile or 5K split, it was the next bit of fluid to consume or throw on one's body.
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At about two miles I came upon Doug White and Paul Schweizer.  Doug was attempting to complete his 39th straight Boston.  He's been a great runner for years, but his knees are betraying him.  He'll do one more to make it 40 in a year and then retire.  Doug had told me the previous Wednesday that he intended to go at about 10:40 pace, but that was assuming decent weather.  Since I intended to run about ten minute pace I gave up any idea of running with him.  Paul hadn't gotten into the race officially this year, but was running it accompanying Doug as he has done for years.  

When I came up on them, I joked, "Hey, no bandits at Boston!"  Doug recognized me without looking around and said, "Oh, there's McCorquodale!"  Paul, who had a belt with bottles on it, said that it was a good thing he was there because Doug had forgotten his stuff.  I went on by, having not yet quite heated up and figuring Doug was going slower than I.

After about six miles I happened across an old Hash House Harrier friend from the Philadelphia area who goes by the hash name of Dancing Fool.  He generally comes out to Hopkinton each year.  He's taken a picture of me and Carolyn several times with a gas station sign in the background, to document the rising of prices over the years.  Dancing Fool's thing is to pick up trash.  He's done this on hashes and he does it as a bandit in the marathon.  He's basically walking and jogging and usually jumps into the event beyond the starting line.  He finds trash the others miss, not the stuff that will be cleaned up by the race organization.  When I caught up to him, I said "ON, ON!", the hasher's call that he is on the right trail.  He took my picture as I jogged by.

Shortly afterward, Doug and Paul went by me as I had already slowed.  It appeared they had sped up a bit.  Doug seemed covered in beads of sweat.  Over the course of the race, Doug eventually was slowed drastically by muscle cramps, had to do a lot of walking and finished in 6:15:38.
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Getting through the race was a group effort - runners, volunteers and the hundreds of thousands of civilians.  We runners could not have made it without them - those who weren't running, but who were also there out in the sun for hours and hours, handing out water cups, or gels, whatever individuals got out of their houses.  One woman had a small stand of all sorts of small things runners might need - vaseline, pens, ibuprofen.  Little kids stood and held small dixie cups of water their parents had poured.

And, of course, there were endless words of encouragement, particularly if one pinned a sign on like I did - "Go Dave!"  I must have heard it 5,000 times.  Sometimes, in other events, I've gotten tired of it.  But not this time.  Every "Go, Dave", even if from a guy who had already had one too many beers, was helping to will me forward.

The Wellesley co-eds, just past the 20K split, seemed to be more competitive than ever with their "Kiss Me" signs.  "Kiss Me, I'm from Maine", "Kiss Me, I'm from Cali", "Kiss Me, I'm a Senior", "Kiss Me, I'm Graduating", and my personal favorite (No, I did not kiss her) - "Kiss Me, I'm a Nerd".  For 300 yards, I probably came out of the 12 minute pace I had settled into and "sped up" to a ten minute pace.  So did everyone around me, and when we were past, we settled back down into our ever-slowing slog.

After passing Newton Falls, the lowest spot on the course before getting into Boston, the four successive hills, combined with the effort one was going through to keep the body cool, really slowed us all down.  First a 13 minute mile, then 14 minute mile, then two 15 minute miles.  Eventually everyone was walking.  When I stopped "running" to walk on the third hill, I was breathing so hard that it took me five minutes of walking for my breathing to slow to a semblance of moderate breathing.

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Somewhere in the Newton Hills I passed Dick Hoyt, 71, pushing his son Rick, who has celebral palsy, but whom Dick has brought through many events, including Ironman Triathlons, in a chair.  They start early these days and in that heat it was all Dick Hoyt could do to walk pushing the chair.  He was accompanied by four or five other people along side him.  Concerned volunteers kept coming from the side of the road, asking him if he needed anything. The Hoyts finished in 7:22:20.

Having gone uphill so slowly, the downhills and on into Boston were a bit faster, if you consider 13 and 12 minute paces "faster".  Eventually, I finished in 5:25, over an hour slower than what I felt capable of doing if the weather had been nice.  But what an experience!  I've got many memories.  
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Mark had his own interesting experiences back among the last few hundreds of participants.  Most notably, he met a woman, J. Jill Cummins, who had dealt with an issue similar to his.  She had damaged a tendon in a foot and had decided to walk.  She had a protective boot on the foot.  Mark said she had a totally positive attitude about the situation.  It became even more inspiring to Mark when she mentioned at some point that during the last year she had had a double mastectomy.  She ended up finishing right behind Mark, who hit his 6:40 prediction.

Also around Mark was a guy named Kevin Petrovek, who had done 31 straight Bostons.  He had a problem that didn't allow him to run and has walking.  He slowed and did no stay up with Mark, but finished in 7:14.  There was the woman who carried a sign all the way.  While I was waiting for Mark to finish, I saw her proudly holding it  aloft - "Run with the 99%".  One guy juggled four balls the whole way.  A few moments before Mark went by, there was Dancing Fool again.  I called out and he came over, handed me his camera and had me take his picture.

After Mark got his bag and changed he met up with me and his sister Carol and her daughter.  We had some food nearby, but Mark felt somewhat disoriented, probably somewhat dehydrated from the experience.  At least he wasn't among the 2,200 people who had to get help in a medical tent. Feeling somewhat better, I had one of the 26.2 Samuel Adams beers.  It was OK, sort of a light sort of concoction, but Sam's Summer Seasonal is a much better, similar sort of brew.  
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Tuesday was to be a recovery day before we headed back to Delaware on Wednesday.  We went out and got the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald for their accounts of the race.  Each had a good story by a reporter who had run the event.  

Later we drove up to Salem for lunch.  While walking around after lunch, we went into the visitors center looking for a restroom.  Entering the building I saw a younger guy with the 2012 Boston Marathon jacket on and asked him how his race went before taking a closer look at him.  He turned his face toward mine to address me and I noticed his eyes were sort of darting back and forth as he spoke.  Then I noticed his cane, and realized he was either blind or greatly visually impaired.  Nevertheless, we had a good conversation about our respective efforts.

Eventually, we asked where he was from:  Fort Collins Colorado.  He asked where we were from:  Delaware.  "Oh, really!  I went to graduate school at the University of Delaware."  Turns out his wife, who had been sitting behind us, grew up in Delaware, went to Ursaline Academy and the U. of De.  They had left in 1995.  Travis Trampe ran the Boston Marathon with the help of a guide in 3:20:08.
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All in all, Mark and I were left feeling that our complaints - he dealing with arithritic knee pain and me just getting a bit older and slower - paled in comparison to what some folks went through to complete this event.  We were fortunate to be able to get out there and finish it with over a half million folks cheering us on.  Life is good!

Monday, April 2, 2012

BQs and other marathon stats

Yes, my goal is always to be able to run a BQ or better time.  However, as I've gotten older, that goal has faded.  Now on the tougher courses it's unfeasible.  Usually by the upper end of an age group, I'm looking for a faster course.  I've used Mohawk Hudson three times - at 59 for age 59, at 64 for 64 and age 66 for 67/ I'm a local class runner at best, so I'm usually in a position where it's easy upon first entering the AG and difficult four years later.

BQs  Age  time     Location                Year used for Boston (if any)
1996 52  3:26:39   Philly                 Used in 1997. 3rd marathon and 1st BQ
1997 52  3:21:51   Boston                Used in 1998; PR
1999 55  3:33:12   Philly                 Used in 2000 & 2001
2000 56  3:42:20   Harrisburg          Used in 2002. standard for 55-59 had bee relaxed to 3:45
2002 57  3:34:46   B&A Trail          Used  for Boston 2003
2003 59 3:43:20    Mohawk Hudson  Used in 2004 and 2005
2005 60 3:53:08    Delaware             Didn't go in 2006, but this time was good
2006 61 3:49:30    Ocean City, MD   Used in 2007
2006 62 4:00:54    Philly                  Didn't use this time, but BQ for 2008 (by 5 seconds)
2007 62 3:55:50    Delaware              Used in 2008
2008 64 3:59:38    Mohawk Hudson   Used in 2009 
2010 66 4:13:08    Mohawk Hudson   Used in 2012         

Another way of documenting slowing times:
Sub      #   Last ran
3:30     2    1997
3:40     4    2002
3:50     7    2003
4:00    17   2008  Doubt I can do this again because I don't train "properly".
Plus           First ran
4:00+  14   1995,1997, then not until 2002  First two were 1. bitter cold day and 2. side switches
4:10+   6    2001  Four of these were Bostons
4:20+   4    2008  2009 Boston PW at 4:29:31
Not counted - One 50K and 5 fat ass trail marathons, which exceeded 26.2.

My point is going through my database (yes, I'm a numbers freak) for times, which I can refer back to for my own curiosity, is that I have seen a persistent deterioration in the fastest yearly times I can achieve.  Plus I'm leaving out the times in the 4:10s and now 4:20s that I'm starting to rack up.  I have the feeling that before I'm 68, I'll wish that I already only had to run a 4:30 to BQ.

Since I wrote this three years ago, most of my times have been in the 4:20 tp 4:45 range, with a personal worst of 5:40:17 when I tore my right gluteuos medius muslce 18 miles in and had to walk the rest of the way.

Runner profile

I filled this out 2 and 1/2 years (Sept, 2009) ago for an article in Delaware Examiner (on online publication) which never  appeared.  But it gives some basic info about me and some of my thoughts.  BTW, at the marathon I mention, I did qualify for Boston (which I'm doing in two weeks), but in 4:13, not under 4:10.  It might be my last time there.


Name: Dave McCorquodale
Age and occupation: 65 ; retired from Postal Service, but work a bit for my son's business, the Delaware Rock Gym.
City/State: Wilmington, Delaware

How long have you been running? Almost 18 years, starting at age 48.
How many miles per week (on average) do you run? 29.5 in 2009
Why did you start running? At age 39 I quit smoking. Over the next nine years, I had gained weight and with my long, thin build, a belly did not look good. I actually lost the weight the month before I started running, by restricting my diet. But then I wanted to do something to increase my physical activity and keep the weight off.
What is your biggest inspiration/reason to run? In the beginning it was fitness and health. I know I've got that. Now, on top of those reasons is the rush of competing in marathons and other races. The way I see it, the rest of the running is preparation for that.
Complete this sentence: Running rocks because… it's good for you physically, mentally and spiritually.

To you, what is the most difficult thing about running? For most runners, it's getting out the door. But running is a habit for me. My most difficult part is the first few miles (up to four) before I really feel like everything is ready to work. Since some days are only short runs, the entire run is a struggle, but I know better days are ahead.
When you have a running struggle, how do you overcome it? Keep going. And to continue the last answer – if it's tough today, it will be easier on another day.
What is your biggest inspiration/reason to run? My biggest inspiration(s) are older runners. I'm already 65, so when I say older, I mean older than me. They show me what continues to be possible with running as I age.

What has been your favorite race? This is tough to answer because I've run so many races and had so many experiences. Perhaps a follow-up question: Favorite racing venue, best racing time, best experience, best beer.
Where is your favorite local place to run? For day to day runs – Delcastle Recreation Area, which is a half mile from my house. For long runs – White Clay Creek State Park
What is your next race or running goal? Charm City 20 Miler on Sept. 5 with goal of running about 9:15-9:20 pace Next marathon – Mohawk Hudson River Marathon, ending in Albany, NY. with goal of running under 4:10 (BQ for my age is 4:15).
How has running changed you or what has it taught you? Obviously it has helped me maintain a good level of fitness, compared to other people my age. But more than that, it helped me come out of a psychological shell I had gone into over the first twenty-five years of my adult life. Once I started racing, after spending two years as a fitness jogger, I met and became friendly with hundreds of people. A few of them are my best friends now. Basically, I didn't have any “best friends” before running. Through running, I became active in Pike Creek Valley Running Club. I brought my writing an editing skills out of mothballs and became the editor of the PCVRC Pacer, our newsletter.. Nowdays, it's a E-Bulletin. All of that set the scene for me to get re-involved in anti-war activities and the Green Party of the United States.

What is your favorite pre-race food/meal? Nothing is particular. It's more what I've learned NOT TO EAT before a big race – No big salads , or lots of vegetables or fruits. definitely no chili!
If you listen to music while running, what is your favorite song to run to? Iused to listen to music when I first started running as that fitness jogger. Now I find that I don't need it. Back then, to get really pumped up, I'd listen to the best of AC/DC. Running Down a Dream by Tom Petty is good. A song I listen to while driving that, to me, is about the mood running can put one in when everything is right is Hypnotized by Fleetwood Mac (when Bob Welch was the singer).
What is your favorite running quote? From Hypnotized: “ 'Cause what matters most is the feeling you get when you hypnotized”
What is your favorite running shoe? Brands don't matter to me. My favorite shoe is last season's model , which I can get for cheap online.
What one thing would you never run without? Cap or visor with brim. To protect my eyes from glare; to keep rain off my glasses; and, occasionally to cushion my skull when, at 6'5”, I run into branches others don't.
Weirdest thing you ever found while running: This isn't exactly weird, but once while running on trail near White Clay Creek, I flushed out a duck and several ducklings. They all ran ahead of me. the mother started to go into the bushes, but then realized the babies were still exposed. So she came back out and kept running ahead until all the little ones had hidden. Then she ducked off the trail. I was awestruck by the instinctive protectiveness of that duck
Words of wisdom for other runners: The pounding of running by itself should not cause injuries. But running can exacerbate existing conditions, such as physical abnormalities, like leg length discrepancies, or old sports injuries. I started just of be in space. then to run a five mile race; then ten; then a half marathon; then a full marathon. Don't jump into running full bore. Proceed incrementally.

Anything else you‘d like to share? Oh, there's so much I want to share. I want to promote running as a healthy lifestyle. Human beings are born to run. Kids do it naturally. But modern life has weakened and softened many adults. Running can help reverse that trend.

This Editor's Journey

Around the time of the founding of Pike Creek Valley Running Club, this editor was nowhere near running. In fact 1983 was the year I got my third bout of pneumonia, which finally forced me to quit my twenty year habit of smoking.  

Before that time, which now seems like a previous existence, I was not very healthy.  When I got out of the hospital, I had hit bottom with my weight down to 135 on my 6'5" frame.  An operation for a deviated septum and impacted sinuses (caused by a broken nose in my late 20s) prevented any recurrence of my respiratory ailments.

For the next nine years I was fulfilling the things I needed to do to raise a family, including lots of overtime at the Postal Service.  By the time I was approaching my 48th birthday, my weight had gone up to 177.  On the surface that sounds good for my size.  But the truth is that a lot of the weight was around my middle.  I noticed that for the first time in my life, I didn't have to work hard to stay afloat while swimming.  I had to buy larger summer shorts and they did not look good on me with my skinny legs.  I realized I had to lose some fat and for a solid month I cut out every thing that was not part of my three basic meals. 

After a month, with my weight in the 150s, I realized I had to do something in order to keep the weight off if I wanted to resume some snacking and at least having a beer now and then.  My doctor had asked me what I did for exercise.  When I replied that I had an active job, he said that wasn't enough.  So I decided to walk at Delcastle, but by the second time, I started to run a bit.  Within a month I could run continuously, but that asphalt felt hard.  So I'd run around the soccer field behind the school on the grass.  

For two years I would run three miles three times a week.  In the last six months of that time, I had gotten tired of twisting my ankles in the grass and tried running on the path at Delcastle.  It seemed easier, but it still hurt.  No wonder!  I had been running in the same pair of cross training shoes with worn out cushioning since I started.  I finally bought a real pair of running shoes.  What a difference!  I realized I could go farther and started do one more lap one day a week.

As I was approaching the age of 50, I had seen race results in the paper.  Then I became aware there was going to be a race at Delcastle, put on by the county, the Harvest Harrier Five Miler.  I figured once I turned 50, it would be easier competition(ha!).  So I started "training", which consisted of going out the door and just trying to run that three miles faster than I had the previous time.  I did this for a month and a half and it worked as I apparently pushed my aerobic capacity.  

Race day came, I towed the line and went with everyone on the "outer loop" on the roads and an "inner loop" on the path, finishing at the ball field.  As the awards were presented by the race director, some county employee named Doug White, I anticipated the 50 year group.  When it was announced, some guy named Richard Webb won, a full eight or nine minutes ahead of me.  But I was second!  I was hooked and started running races every weekend.  At first the PRs came every time I raced.  The thrill of running against whomever was near me became peak moments.  I still remember that cold early December Chili's 5K when I raced for several miles against a young women, who had a kick that I couldn't match.  That person was someone named Carole Feole.

And so it went.  Not only was I running and racing, which was enjoyable, but I was meeting people and starting to emerge from my insularity.   I was making friends.  I met that guy with all the race forms in the trunk of his Cadillac named Ralph McKinney.  I learned about Pike Creek Valley Running Club and I joined it.  But I discovered that even though I had joined a club, nobody from the club contacted me.  I did get a couple newsletters.  

After a year went by a club meeting was scheduled at the old Schweizer's in New Castle Commons.  The club was in transition and the meeting had only about a dozen in attendance.  The Bixlers were at the end of their time running the club and Lois Johnson became President.  At the meeting it was mentioned that Hall of Fame member Doug Walker was no longer going to be the editor of the newsletter and a new editor was being sought.  Having done some editing in the late 1960s of an "underground newspaper" (The Heterodoxical Voice, archived at the U. of DE), I figured this was a good time to get back to something I enjoyed doing.  So I volunteered.

After one session at Doug's place, showing me what he knew, I was on my own.  The only problem was that although I had a computer, I didn't know my way around it as far as creating files and documents.  I will be eternally grateful to Lois Johnson for taking the time on several occasions to come over and basically tutor me on how to use various programs.

I begin working with Mark Deshon, who would do the layout once I had all the material for an issue.  He'd e-mail back the finished product and I'd print out a copy, go to a local printing place, run off the copies, print labels, get stamps, fold, seal, label, stamp and mail.  Rather labor intensive.

My old postal and running buddy Stew Whisenant joined the club.  He was a good photographer, who had once produced a slick newsletter for the regional Baltimore area of the USPS called The Skipjack.  Over the years we produced a couple of slick newsletters featuring the Delaware Distance Classic 15K(a number of copies of which I still have if anyone is interested).

But as the years went on, it eventually became obvious with more and more club members having e-mail accounts and with the lag between the races and the reporting of results in a printed newsletter, that the printed version had to go.  So we started the E-Bulletin concept.  It's worked well with timely bulletins almost every week.  Fortunately, I retired five years ago, which allowed me more time to devote to this labor of love.  The one change that some may not have liked was that when I went to the Bulletin format, I cut out reporting the times of people in local 5K, unless they were among the top finishers.  There are just too many events to report.

I spent all these years doing the newsletter and e-bulletins because I like the idea of a running club and wanted to do my part to help it survive.  That was in my skill set.  At times when participation in the club was at a low, a few people urged me to seek a term as club president.  I always thought that being in control of the newsletter and the e-mail list AND president at the same time would have been giving too much control to one person.  Besides I'm a better writer than a leader.

After some lean years, the club seemed to start on the upswing during Vince McIntosh's terms as president.  The idea of forming a Half-Marathon training group has been the most successful outreach program that the club has done in all the years I've been in it.  That group eventually formed a younger core of the club and those people are just starting to get to the age I was when I joined the club.

In the past few years, with Ray Christensen at the helm, the club has grown even more.  The enthusiastic recruitment efforts of Rich Szymanski  and now also Tom Steenkamer for the club's competitive efforts in USATF have provided another injection of newer members and the start of an even younger generation of club runners.

The recent awards banquet to which the club founders were invited and where some other former club members attended suddenly made it clear to me that those people were of my generation.  The thing is I just happened to get into running later in life and joined the club late.  But I realized that my generation represents the past of the club.  

I've put in 16 years as an editor, first just helping to keep the club afloat, and later reporting on the increased participation.  I've made some mistakes, not in intention, but in style - responding in a curt manner, which is subject to misunderstanding over e-mail; or projecting an abrasive or negative tone.  I'm sorry for that.  I hope at times people understood that some of these things were attempts at humor. 

However, while someone with a lot of experience can have knowledge which makes things easier, becoming comfortable with that person holding a position for a long time can stifle the growth of others and, thus, possibly hold back the growth of the club. While I've long pondered why more people don't participate in actively growing the club, part of the answer may be that having an old-timer staying a position for too long may be holding others back from using their talents.

So I'll be stepping down as editor of the E-Bulletins.  Here's the deal,  If anyone has the time and the inclination to be editor, I'll be glad to provide all the help I can to get you up to speed.  I won't stop doing bulletins until you think you can do them without my help.  If no one comes forward, I'll keep being editor until the end of 2012, but will definitely resign at that point.

I'm also ending the hosting of McCorq's Fun Run at my house.  However, I've got a measuring wheel that Tony Chelpaty gave me.  I'll pass it on for the measuring of a new 5K challenge course if anyone wants to continue this tradition for late August.  I've also got the start for  prizes, consisting mostly of what wasn't grabbed the last time when Ray hosted the run because of a death in our family.