2003 Dallas White Rock Marathon Report

Friday 12/12/03

Andrea (my daughter) and I left Lee's Summit, Missouri about 12:30 p.m. for our 550 mile drive to DFW. Of course, we had to stop at the world's largest McDonalds in Vinita Oklahoma on our way down. It's huge. It spans I-44 with seating over the interstate. A true Americana experience. Good weather until we reached Muskogee and then it rained all the way to Arlington. Got to my mom's house about 8:30.

Saturday 12/13/03

Saturday morning, drove over to Dallas with Andrea and my mom to the Hyatt Regency to pick up my packet. Walked around for a bit and ran into Schantzie (Enid). It was great to see her, since we ran Boston the past two years. We chatted a while, departed, and headed back to Arlington. That afternoon we drove to Cedar Hill to spend a few hours with my brother and his family. He took us all out to Macaroni Grill for carbo-loading. Got back to my mom's early and I was in bed by 8:30.

Sunday 12/14/03

Got up about 6 a.m. My mom told me the news about Saddam, and we watched the news for a bit. Left about 6:30 and arrived at the race about 7. Headed over to the pre-defined FE at the bag drop area. Fat Pumpkin, Anastacia, Kimboh, and Cathy were supposed to show up. Cathy was the only one who showed up so we chatted a while as we tried to stay warm on the heating grates near the bag-drop off area. I called Mr. Pumpkin about 7:30, but they were just parking so I didn't hold much hope for seeing him before the race. Said goodbye and good luck to Cathy about 7:45 and went to line up. It was chilly, about 30°, so I opted for tights and my Boston windbreaker. (It did warm up considerably later, but I didn't overheat.) There was a cool flyover of F-15 jets which really got the crowd cheering at the national anthem. Patriotism was high with the news of Saddam.

This was my 3rd DWRM. My goal was a 3:25. I started off slow with an 8:20 first mile, which was good. Started picking up the pace on mile two. The first 9 miles go through Dallas neighborhoods where there were lots of folks in their front yards cheering us on, and several live bands cranking out the music (so much for the neighbors sleeping in on Sunday morning.) At mile 9 we hit the lake. I was on cruise control, knowing that I was close to my goal, but not wanting to push any harder. I have ran enough marathons to know it is much more pleasurable not to hit the wall in the last few miles. Hit mile 13 which starts on the backside of the lake. At this point, I know I still have 7 miles of flat running along the lake. At mile 16, there was Enid with her cross-country group handing out water. It was great seeing a friendly face that I knew. Hit mile 20 still feeling good. They were handing out Clif Shots so I took one. I hadn't brought any GU. Not sure that it does me a lot of good, but since they were handing it out I took one. We rounded the corner and then headed up the Dolly Parton Hills. Of course, there were several guys dressed in Dolly Parton drag, playing Dolly on a huge boom box. Entertaining! At mile 21, it was all downhill back to the American Airlines Center downtown. Didn't feel like I had a lot extra in the tank, so I just left it on cruise control. I knew I was a little slower than my 3:25 pace, but I knew I had my 3:30 BQ. A huge crowd at the finish, so I did not see my mom, brother, and daughter in the stands, but they saw me.

Splits:

1 - 8:20
2 - 7:45
3 - 7:42
4 - 8:05
5 - 8:02
6 - 8:06
7 - 7:50
8 - 7:30
9 - 7:38
10 - 7:53
11 - 7:50
12 - 7:59
13 - 7:49
14 - 7:44
15 - 7:54
16 - 7:56
17 - 7:51
18 - 7:46
19 - 7:45
20 - 8:01
21 - 7:52
22 - 7:32
23 - 8:27
24 - 7:10
25 - 8:02
26 - 8:04
.2 - 1:37

Unofficial Chip Time (per the Dallas Morning News): 3:26:19

A very cool medal this year with a winged foot. Plus, DWR gives you a long-sleeve shirt with packet pickup and a short-sleeve finisher shirt after you cross the finish line. Nice stuff.

Chatted with my brother and mom for a few minutes, and then Andrea and I climbed in the truck and started heading back to KC about noon. Shortly after, Fat Pumpkin (Alan) called me to see how I did. We chatted a bit about our race. Alan did incredible! I will let him tell his tale. Told him that I was sorry we couldn't meet up, but we needed to get back.

Drove pretty much straight through and got home about 7:30 Sunday night. No weather problems coming back which was super! (We had just missed a snow storm the day before.) It was GREAT to see my wife! (She's my best friend, ya know!)

Overall, a very positive experience. Got to see the relatives, got to spend time with my daughter, finished my 18th marathon, BQed for '04 and '05, and got to meet Cathy, see Enid again, and share Alan's incredible results (albeit by phone).