Marathon #20. Portland Marathon

Well, well, well……….  This marathon was a totally different experience.  It was not even slightly the same as other marathons that I have run, even other Portland Marathons.

It was a mighty good challenge to say the least and I am very happy to say that I got a new PR and actually finished in like the top 10% of all runners.  That was something very pleasing and new to me.  I ended up with a time of 3:33 for the marathon.  This is an improvement of 25 minutes compared to my former personal record marathon time.  For that day, on that course, using the strategy I used; I COULD NOT HAVE GONE FASTER.  That was it.  I gave it my all.  I have had to fight off the disappointment of not finishing the marathon with my goal pace range of 7:30-7:50 miles but I am trying to focus on the positive.  In the last 10 months I have went from a 4:14 (9:41 miles) to a 3:33 (8:06 miles).  This is a vast improvement and my hard work paid off very well.

One mistake that I made was to try and do the marathon using the strategy of the Pace Groups.  They use an effort based model where each mile is run in a different time in order to create the same “feeling” or “effort”.  This is not how I have practiced.  I always run mile goal paced miles strictly within my 7:30-7:50 range.  Using the pace group strategy I was doing some miles in the 6’s and that just was to fast for me even if it was only for one mile at a time.  I normally stick to my plan, go slower on the uphill and make up for it going down the hill.  This has always worked out well.  I should have been more confident in my own plan.  I may not have finished with a 3:20 (the pace group I ran with) but I would have probably finished better than I did.  But like I said, I did the best I could with how things were in reality and I exploded my previous PR.

Running a marathon faster like this is totally different than what I am used to.  It is not as enjoyable to run like this but it has it’s own special appeal and allure.   It is very satisfying in it own way.  For one, you run along side some very focused people and you are just going, going, going, very focused like.  There are also WAY MORE SPECTATORS.  This was shocking to me.  Usually by the time I go by most of the spectators are gone because there person has already passed through.  Being in the top 10% made it that 90% of the people had not yet passed through so 90% of the spectators were still waiting.  And that was a lot of family and friends.  It is fun though, they call out your name (it is on the bib) and it is motivating.

Overall I am pleased with how things went.  I am also sore as hell today.  Much more than normal. 

Here I am waiting for race walker champion Tammi. Fellow blogger who won the race walk division. I am also getting teared up by watching everyone push through and finisher their own marathon

Progress in running and marathon #20

I have been waiting for this moment now for a long time To be exact, I have been waiting and running now for 2 years and 7 months.  For some reason 20 marathons is a major milestone in my head.  It is a big deal to me.  Not only is it a big deal to have 20 marathons under my belt, but this will be the first marathon that I really go for it.  It is also neat that for my first goal paced marathon and for my 20th marathon, I will be doing my 3rd Portland Marathon.  It is kind of an anniversary marathon I guess since it was my first marathon ever back in October 2007.  My time in that first marathon was 5:45 or so.  I can’t exactly remember now but I am pretty sure it was in the 5:40’s.

There are many areas of running that a person can see improvement and I am going to share some of the growth in running that I have experience.  My goal is to inspire hope that sooooo much more is possible for us than we think when we are first starting out.  I remember that when I first started out with a long run of two miles that I wanted so bad to someday be able to run a mile in the 7 minute range.  Now I will be trying to run a marathon with 26 consecutive miles in that range.  I hoped to be able to run a marathon in about 6 hours, now I will be running one in hopefully half that time.

My goal was to run injury free and still love running after a long time.  I have done this.  I have not sustained an injury nor have I given up the most basic of exercises.  Despite my general sense of low self-esteem, I have been proud of what I have accomplished with running and weight loss.   This is possible you guys.  It is possible to be transformed from an overweight person who hates exercise to an athlete with many accomplishments.  Here is a little bullet list of what is possible.  At least this is how it worked for me.

• All out mile: 9+ min., 7:52, 7:07, 6:56, 6:41, 613, 5:41 is now my new PR.
• Half-marathon: 2 hrs, 56 min, now it is 1:32 (7:02 pace)
• Marathon: 5:45, and my new PR is 3:58.
• 50K:  5:35 to a new sub 5hr
• 41.2 miles: 7:51 to a new 6:56
• I breathe about as hard running 8:30 minute miles as I did running 13:45 minute miles in 2007.
• My legs heal faster and my soreness is gone on the third day compared to being sore for almost 6 days after my first marathon.
• I increased my long run from 2 miles to 50 miles.  That two miles seemed just about as hard as 50 at the time, at least mentally.

I am a new man.  I hope that this little changes that I have made can inspire you to believe that you can make sure strides yourself.  Thanks for listening.

Marathon #19 is in the bag!

My 19th marathon went just as I expected.  It was a no-frills “long run” as my final long preparationg for the Portland Marathon.  I usually will do my 100 miler pace on these “long run” marathons but this time I didn’t.  I walked every 15 minutes for about 1 minute.  I also found that my legs and body are more comfortable at a faster pace rather than a slower one.  The slower one conserves energy but at the same time makes my legs feel tired too.

So I had to work on Saturday and the marathon was on Sunday in a town 4-5 hours north of my home.  I got off of work at 5 pm and then had to take my wife to her annual employee appreciate party at one of the doctors house.  So I did that, had some food and fun, then left for Burlington, WA around 7:30 pm.  I finally arrived at my sisters house at around 10:30 (she lives about 45 minutes south of marathon start).  I talked with her and her husband for an hour and hit the hay.

Woke up bright and early at 4 am, had coffee, ate two small chewy granola bars, and waited for our time of departure.  My sister took me to the marathon and was amazed at all the “regular” looking people who were running it.  By regular, she meant people who were not “rail skinny” like the elite distance runners you see on TV.  Yep, that’s right.  We are just regular people conquering the miles.  Doing what we can with our regular bodies.

I finished the marathon in 4:10.  I did 10 minute miles for the first ten miles.  I did 9:30 minute miles for the second ten miles.  Then I did 8 minute miles for the last six miles.  I was a hot sunny day and the marathon maniacs were out in full force.

My running workout today!

Speedwork is tough.  It is a great character builder if you ask me.  I have only had a couple of speedwork sessions that were kind of easy.  The rest are just plain hard.  Today I had 6×1000 meter reps with one minute breaks in between.  The laps are done as part of a 6 mile total for the run.  Here are my stats for today’s workout.

1st 1000 meters= 5:55 pace

2nd 1000 meters= 5:55 pace

3rd 1000 meters = 6:03 pace except I almost puked and had to stop at 600 meters and take a 4 minute break. HAHAHAHA

4th 1000 meters= 10k pace @ 6:28  minute miles

5th 1000 meters= 6:30 pace

6th 1000 meters= 6:30 pace

Overall pace counting running to the track and taking my one minutes walking breaks was about 8:04 average pace.

I was supposed to do the laps at 5k pace which is about 6:08 for me.  I went out to fast and this hurt me especially on these longer reps.  Usually I do 400 meters at this pace.  Needless to say, I could not keep that aggressive pace for all those reps.  Also needless to say though is that I built up mental strength (physical too I guess) because I did not quit and I just adjusted my paces so that I could finish.  My coach says that paces between 5k-10k are considered high quality paces for high quality workouts.  In two weeks,  have my last easy/slow marathon prior to my PR attempt at the Portland Marathon.  Hoping all will go well.

More on food, WW, life, etc. in the morning.  See you later.

Marathon #18 and more golf

I had a good but slightly lonely marathon weekend.  I went to bend/sunriver, Oregon on Friday night so that I would be able to pick up my race packet on Saturday morning.  I went to bed as soon as I got there because I had to get up at 4 a.m. to do a 10 miler before I went golfing at a really special golf course in Bend.  My 10 miler went very smoothly with no hiccups.

Saturday I played two rounds of golf so I got in a lot of activity even after my 10 mile easy run.  I didn’t play well but I had a good time.  I got done golfing around 8 p.m. and again went to bed right away so that I could get up around 3 a.m. to do 10 miles before the marathon start.

Sunday came in a hurry as I struggled to get out of my warm bed.  I was able to fit in 8 miles and finished this run about 5 minute before the marathon start.  At 7 a.m. the race started and all 112 marathoners took off up the 14 mile hill.  At first the hill was not very bad at all and I was able to run most of it with no problem.  I did a 4:1 run/walk ratio for the entire marathon except from miles 11-14 where the hill was just to steep and I walked.  Once we got to the top is was smooth and fun sailing down to about mile 20 (my mile 28) where the course flattened out.  Over-all the marathon was not really hard and it was enjoyable too.  I finished in 4:50.  This pace has allowed me to have post-race days without much soreness at all.  That has been VERY nice.

It was a good weekend and although I played golf and ran with many great people, I was really lonely without my wife.  I love her so much and she is my best friend.  I don’t like going to bed at night without her.  I don’t like not being able to see her in the evenings.  The good things is that she was able to have fun with her visiting family while I was gone.  I was happy for her in this respect.  She loves her family and that is a great thing.

Bye bye now!

Another good marathon experience

My 16th marathon (The Foot Traffic Flat Marathon) went very well.  It was a hot day but it did not bother me at all.  It was a smooth and controlled effort which produced the desired training effect: Run 30 miles on tired legs that are not yet recovered from last weeks 36 miles.  I finished the marathon portion of my 30 mile run in 4:29 with negative splits meaning I did the second half faster than the first. The marathon was much larger than I thought it was going to be so it was festive and fun.  The course was very beautiful as is snaked through the farms of Sauvie Island.  All and all it was a great experience which helped increase my fitness for the 100 miler.

My next race will be on July 25th at the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort.  This will be a 50 mile trail run with around 17,000 ft of elevation change.  It is a tough race but it will also end up being a good experience regardless of how it goes.  The race is called the White River 50 Miler.

Two big weeks of running before the taper to 40 mile ultra-marathon.

Goooooood morning everyone.  I wanted to share my running schedule with you all today.  I have two big weeks of running left before I begin my taper (reduction in milage).  Runners taper prior to a significant race so that their bodies can get fully recovered for the race effort.  Tapers last anywhere from 2-4 weeks.  The weeks just prior to the taper are usually the biggest running weeks.

As you know I will be doing the Strolling Jim 40 miler ultra-marathon in Wartrace, Tennessee.  You can see my on the entrants list.  Another cool thing is that an occasional reader of run4change will also be there doing the early start with me.  Although I am quite the introvert, it will be nice to meet him.  So for the next two weeks I am going to be pretty busy with my running.  I have some hill work, speed work, and some pretty long long runs coming up.  Here is the schedule.

Week 1

Mon & Tues & Sat:  Off  

Wed: 6 miles with 5 hill repeats @ 5k pace

Thurs: 6 miles easy

Fri:  6 mile tempo run with middle 3 miles @ 10k pace

Sun: 35 mile long run

Week 2 (The point of this hard week after a 35 mile long run is to give my body one last chance at learning how to run on very tired legs)

Mon & Tues:  Off

Wed: 6 miles with 6 hill repeats @ 5k pace

Thur:  6 miles easy

Fri:  6 miles with 12 x 400 track work at 5k pace and 1 min rest between repeats

Sat:  6 miles easy

Sun: 2o mile long run with last 10 at race pace

So there you have it.  This is what I will be doing in my final preparations for the Strolling Jim.  My goal is to break the 7 hour mark.  Last year I got 7:51 so this year I want at least a 6:59.  You get a different colored shirt for each hour category so I am hoping to get a red shirt this year.

Small glimpse of the Boston Marathon.

Hello everyone. I am out of town this weekend so I cannot post, approve comments, and reply to anyone. I thought I would schedule a couple of videos for today and tomorrow for you to enjoy. This video is from a running coach in my part of the country and it is about the Boston Marathon. It is a goal of mine to run in one someday. The Boston Marathon must be qualified for and for me to get in I would need to run a 3:10 marathon I think. That is a pace in the low 7 minutes per mile. Enjoy.

Marathon #13 Race Report. Bad weather, Secret #71, and Personal Record.

Race Headquaters

What a marathon experience this was.  To me, it was like the beast that brought the runners together.  With the weather being so horrible, it seemed to bring the runners to a place where we understood, “We are a unique bunch of crazy people”  Twelve of us toed the starting line for the early start as we laughed about the 2-3 inches of snow on the ground and the pouring down snow/rain mix.  Despite the weather we were an energetic group ready to take part in the rare adversity of this marathon.  At 9:33 a.m. we took off together not knowing how things would end up.

The Leprechaun Marathon was filled with what seemed like a lifetime of weather.  For the first ten miles the snow/mix was coming down hard.  Since the course was not closed to traffic, every car that passed was spraying me with slush that was on the road.  Now that was cold and dirty stuff.  After awhile I tried to jump over the spraying slush so instead of hitting me from the waist down is was just soaking my feet.  Took three potty breaks in the first ten miles. HAHA 

From the half marathon point to mile 18 it just plain rained.  The snow had pretty much melted away so no more car splashing.  My clothes were so heavy from the wetness that they we rubbing me raw in many places.  Just part of the fun I guess.  Nothing I could do about it so I ended up just laughing at the adversity.  I could not change anything so I just had to do my best and try and keep my pace in line.  I was also alone for the entire race.  I never for even one minute ran with someone.  Since there was so few people, we were all spread out.  Then the most amazing thing happened………..

My Record Breaking Marathon Playlist

 

image credit: http://www.virginmedia.com

I am going to attempt to break the Marathon World Record Personal Record for my 13 th marathon this Sunday.  I am going to try and run a sub 4 hour marathon.  My previous best is 4:06 and I did that in my 12th marathon last month.  I will be running my 13th marathon in the Leprechaun Marathon.  My running coach has really helped me believe in my ability to run faster than I once thought would ever be possible for me.  I know I can do it.  I have to run an average pace of a 9:09 minute mile for 26.2 miles in order to break 4 hours.   I need to run a 9:22 pace to break my personal record but I am just to extreme for that.  I am going for the sub 4 hour. The main reason for this post is to show off my playlist for this record breaking attempt.  Now don’t make fun. HAHAHA.  It is mostly 80’s music with a couple of new alternative songs that my wife and I really like.  It is generally happy and energetic music.  Since this marathon allows Ipods, headphones, etc. I am going to take advantage of the peppy music.  So here it is.  Make sure you take the poll and watch the real Marathon World Record finish at the end of the post.

I was all alone this weekend but I did good.

My wife was gone this weekend.  Boy does the house get lonely without my Love around.  Usually when she is gone I get into some mindless eating because I am bored and don’t have her around to talk to.  I did good on my points from Friday onward.  I am happy about that and if I don’t have water retention from sore legs I hope to lose weight on my Tuesday night WI. 

This weekend I had what many call a “block”.  It is a back-to-back long run.  So on Saturday I ran a speedy 10 miles at race pace.  That happened at about 6 p.m.  Then on Sunday morning I ran 20 miles.  So in a time span of about 15 hours I ran 30 miles.  This is one way people build endurance up without having to run an overly long run of 30+ miles on their long run day.  I personally prefer just doing the one long run but the coach has me doing a back-to-back every other weekend because I get most of every other Saturday off.  This week I did not have it off so I had to run the 10 miles after work.  That always makes it harder.  I did great in both runs though and I am a bit sore today but nothing big.  It will be gone by tomorrow for sure.  That gave me 43 miles for the week.  I have a marathon this Sunday and I am going to try and break the 4 hour mark.  I won’t be rested or have done a proper taper for the marathon but that is a good thing because it will prepare me better for the 40 miler where I will be forced to keep running with tired legs and body.  I generally recover pretty fast now from 20+ mile efforts.

Yesterday I felt dizzy after my long run because I stopped eatin/drinking at mile 15 for some reason.  I guess I just forgot.  I went out for sushi with my mom and sister, then spent much of the day going here and there to buy my food for the week.  Once I got home I made lunch for my wife for her work week so that she could just come home and have a nice smooth transition back into work.  I also made some of my lunches.  I made 6 two point burritos and 6 three points sandwiches.  I will have both of them each day this week as part of my work food.

See you all later.  Don’t forget to subsribe to my feed if you haven’t already.  This way you will be updated each time I post about my journey.  Click HERE.

The Bane of Dane: Biggest loser, Marathoning, and History

OK, I am sure that most of you have heard that Dane on the biggest loser did/didn’t finish a marathon.  I cannot for the life of me find the blog that I first learned it from.  This blog actually had pics of the scandal because she was there running the marathon herself.

Anyway, I got an email today from a person who was pretty bothered by this scandal.  I can certainly understand why.  Finishing a marathon is a really big deal.  Although I generally feel that everyone can do it, not everyone wants to or wants to put out the mental effort to finish one.  My first thoughts while watching that part of the show were, “Woah!!  That dude is big and to get a sub 4hr time is serious running.”  I was happy for him of course but inside I just thought that it might be to good to be true.  Now I have been to some larger marathons and there are people of ALL shapes and sizes participating so don’t get me wrong.  Bigger people can run like crazy.  I just doubted the “Dane finish” from the start.  Here is a link to the actual results for the race that Dane was in.  He is not in the results because he was disqualified after several runners told on him.

Endurance athlete fueling, hydration, and electolyte

For all of you that are doing or want to do endurance type events and activities, it is very important to understand fueling, hydration, and electrolyte intake.   As some of you may have heard, some physical states that endurance exercise can induce can be potentially very dangerous.  I wanted to just briefly talk about a couple of things and then point you to a world of knowledge regarding these topics by linking to an endurance library that you will find very helpful.  The link is at the end of the post.  Most of the information in this post comes from Hammer Nutrition’ website.

CALORIES IN DURING ENDURANCE EVENTS

First off, I wanted to talk about caloric intake.  When you are going to be out there doing your thing for a long long time it will be much more manageable if you take calories in.  Now you don’t have to take calories in up to a point, but the longer you go, the more important it is.  I take calories in from the start of my runs if they are longer than 13 miles.  It helps my mind and body to do so.  I can run much further without calories, but it is far More difficult to do it.  I burn around 700-800 calories per hour while running but the human body will only digest around 350 plus or minus some each hour.  You still end up in a deficit but you increase your endurance by doing this.

Dehydration is bad

It is important to take fluids in during your endurance activity.  As with food, you body can only take a certain amount of fluid in.  You will not be able to replace all the fluid you lose without putting yourself in danger of “water intoxication”.   Below  is a chart from this link to demonstrate the importance of hydration and its effect on endurance.

Symptoms by percent body weight water loss:

• PERCENT WATER LOST ——— SYMPTOMS
• 0% — none, optimal performance, normal heat regulation
• 1% — thirst stimulated, heat regulation during exercise altered, performance declines
• 2% — further decrease in heat regulation, hinders performance, increased thirst
• 3% — more of the same (worsening performance)
• 4% — exercise performance cut by 20 – 30%
• 5% — headache, irritability, “spaced-out” feeling, fatigue
• 6% — weakness, severe loss of thermoregulation
• 7% — collapse likely unless exercise stops
• 10% — comatose
• 11% — death likely

 OVER HYDRATION IS FAR MORE DANGEROUS

One of the most dangerous conditions that can happen to us is hyponatremia.  This is the state where the sodium levels in your body have been “watered” down by to much hydration without proper electrolyte replacement.  It is a common occurrence with marathoner who will take 6 hours or longer to finish their race.  This condition can be and has been fatal at the marathon levels. Here is a little blurb about this condition from hammer nutrition.

Tragic consequences

Hyponatremia usually results from drinking too much, especially when one drinks fluids such as plain water or a sports drink lacking the proper electrolyte profile. Training and fitness levels, weather conditions, and, undoubtedly, biological predisposition, also contribute to developing this form of hyponatremia known as “water intoxication.”

Sadly, we must note that this condition has lead, directly or in part, to the deaths of otherwise healthy runners in major American marathons. It is hard for us to comprehend the grief of the families they left behind. These athletes went out to run a marathon, to achieve a personal victory. Improper hydration took away their day of glory and also their lives. They collapsed and went into an irreversible condition involving uncontrollable brain edema, coma, and death. We report this to help prevent any future such tragedies. Over-hydration represents a very serious problem. Unlike dehydration, which will generally only result in painful cramping, possibly a DNF, or at the worst, IV treatment, over-hydration can incite a chain of ultimately fatal physiological consequences.

So you cannot replace all fluids lost but you can drink to much.  The reason for writing this post is because I used to be very scared of this condition and also of generally hurting myself doing these long runs. I want to share with you the most important resource I have found for learning about endurance activity and it’s necessary caloric and fluid replacement.

The complete endurance library

Post marathon video: Funny

For all of you marathon hopefuls, I wanted to share this video with you so that you could have a laugh and know what you get to look forward to after you finish your first 26.2 mile push. I hope you enjoy it, I found this video at milebymile’s blog.

 

Running commandments by runfar!

I came across this list of running commandments at Runfar’s blog.  I really enjoyed it so I thought I would let you guys in on how cool the list was.

You can see the original post here.

 

 

Running Commandments.  There are 53 so keep on reading down the list.

1. Don’t be a whiner. Nobody likes a whiner, not even other whiners.
2. Walking out the door is often the toughest part of a run.
3. Don’t make running your life. Make it part of your life.
4. During group training runs, don’t let anyone run alone.
5. Keep promises, especially ones made to yourself.
6. When doing group runs, start on time no matter who’s missing.
7. The faster you are the less you should talk about your times.
8. Keep a quarter in your pocket. One day you’ll need to call for a ride.
9. Don’t compare yourself to other runners.
10. All runners are equal, some are just faster than others.

A beautiful run. I love me a good sunset.

I love a wonderful sunset, especially when I am on one of my weekly runs.  I just seems to turn a normal run into an epic adventure where I experience life in a different and more “living” way.  It brings me to the moment, that specific moment, where I am not thinking of the past nor the future, just thanking God for that next step.  That next intake of O2, that next swing of my arm.  It is a magical moment.

I am so thankful for that run.  I couldn’t run before.  Now I can.  Amen to that. HAHAHA 🙂  Do you guys ever have your “moments” like these.

Marathon Maniac #930

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Running has really been a beneficial thing in my life.  I tried time and time again to get started with it to no avail.  Finally, once I lost 60 lbs, I went after a lifetime goal of finishing a marathon.  My first marathon finish was the 2007 Portland Marathon.  The pictures above, in clock-wise order from the top are from the: 200 Portland Marathon, Timberline Trail Marathon, Peterson Ridge 60K, White River 50 Miler, and the Orange County Marathon.

Here is my official Marathon Maniacs Page

Since October 2007 I have finished the:

1. 2007 (Oct.)   Portland Marathon
2. 2007 (Nov.) Seattle Marathon
3. 2007 (Dec.)  Christmas Marathon
4. 2008 (Jan.)   Orange Country Marathon
5. 2008 (Feb.)  Jed Smith 50K (30 miles)
6. 2008 (March) Easter Marathon
7. 2008 (April) Peterson Ridge 60K (37 miles)
8. 2008 (May)  Strolling Jim 4o miler
9. 2008 (July)  White River 50 miler
10. 2008 (Sept)  Timberline Mountain Marathon
11. 2008 (Oct.)  Portland Marathon
12. 2009 (Feb)   Valentines Marathon

Doing these races is probably one of the greatest accomplishments in my life.  Audrey really helped get to the finish line in all of these races.  Not only did she help during most of the races, she ran with me all the time while I got ready for them.  It was a great time to talk with each other.  I am also pretty proud that I made it into the Marathon Maniacs club.  You have to run at least 3 marathons in 3  months to qualify.  Running is a great way to escape, get fit, and feel good.  I must admit though, running at mile marker 37 at the 50 miler was pretty tough.  Great life experience.  I learned that a person can endure far more than they ever imagined.  Also remember that I started out only being able to ride a stationary bike for 12 minutes.  If you want to get started with health and running check this out

Get Started Running Here

I got in! Whoohooo Yipppyyyy!

I got confirmation today that I have been registered for my favorite of all races: The Strolling Jim 40 Miler.  I wasn’t worried until I read the website this last Friday.  I noticed that they changed things around and that the race was capped at 50 runners on a first come first serve basis.  So I sent in my registration and money right away.  So happy to be in.  It’s gonna be great and I am going to set another Personal Record there.

My 12th marathon report!

 

Race Headquarters

 

Minutes before the start

The marathon went well.  It was a very hard marathon for me mentally.  I had two pretty big ruff patches.  One between miles 16-18 and another between miles 24-26.2.  It was a good experience though and once again I learned that I could push more than I thought.  I also got two blisters.  You would never guess where either I bet.  I got one on each collar bone. HAHAHAHA  I had my Ipod, a bag of my fueling stuff, two gels, a hat, and an ear cover thing in my jacket pockets.  The extra weight of the miles just rubbed my skin off.  It started to bother me around mile 15 but I have had this before so I knew it was not big deal.

I am running a marathon right now: Rain and around 40 degrees

As you read this, I am most likely stomping down the country roads of one of my most favorite marathons.  This time it is called the Valentines Marathon.  They have one of these marathons for every holiday of the year as a way for the Marathon Maniacs to accumulate marathon finishes.  It is a very low key atmosphere and there will probably only be around 40 or so people since it is not prime weather, but the marathon maniacs are a hardcore bunch of runners.  The assortment of food consists of the following:

• Chips
• Lots of regular bread
• Sandwich meat
• Donuts galore
• Sugar and diet pop
• Water
• Bagels
• Mayo, Mustard, etc.
• No veggies
• And an assortment of other marathoner/race food.

It is all laid out on the table and it is make it and help yourself.  I will try and get a picture of it for you guys.  Have a good day and I will report back tomorrow regarding how the race went.  Here is a little blurb from the marathon site

• 8th annual holiday events with lots of postrace food and quality awards. There will be lots of hot chili or soup, along with ham, turkey, roast beef and cheese sandwiches. There will also be chips, nachos, cookies, pretzels, etc. Bottled water and other sport drinks will also be available is drink after the race, along with coffee and apple cider. HOT SHOWERS: Are available in the campgrounds, bring some quarters and a towel. RESULTS: Will be posted at http://www.ontherunevents.com, http://www.racecenter.com and http://www.nwrunner.com.