Race Report: New England Green River Marathon
After selling out 2 years ago and not fitting the schedule last year, I was able to sign up and make this one yesterday. I’ll try to keep it somewhat short but complete.
The course is a very well marked USATF certified point to point (1 fairly short out and back to make the 26.2) run along the beautiful green river that starts at Marlboro college in VT and ends at Greenfield college in MA. It has some gorgeous scenery but some roads are open to traffic so it’s important to be vigilant, this was definitely not a problem though at any point in the race. It’s a small race with less than 400 finishers this year and has fantastic support as far as the course goes. There were aid stations approximately every 2 miles, all of which had both tailwind and water. The crowd support is somewhat lacking as it’s a very rural area outside of the start and finish. Bib pickup was very easy with options for the day before or at the starting line. Parking was fantastic with the college providing more than enough at the finish with buses right on time to take runners to the start.
That’s the good, what about the bad? I can’t say that it’s bad, only that it’s different - here is a brief description from the race website -
This is a net downhill (-1,459 feet) marathon (26.2 miles), and as such is a good candidate for a marathon PR and a BQ. The course has 650 ft. (198.1 m) of uphill and 2109 ft. (642.8 m) of downhill, for the net 1459 ft. net downhill. Keep in mind that this isn’t an easy course; no marathon is, and this one does have a few hills! But if you train right, it could be a fast one for you. The course is USATF-certified and is a qualifying race for Boston (Certification number MA18003JK). It was measured using a calibrated wheel device as per USATF regulations. The road surface is mostly packed dirt-and-gravel with a few sections of pavement until mile 21, and there are 5 miles of pavement at the end. Runners should train on dirt roads, rolling hills, and long downhills to prepare. Experienced marathoners complain about their quads after this race, so train for those downhills!
I can say that I was not fully aware of what to expect from running this distance on dirt roads or downhills.
The weather also couldn’t really be described as bad being that it’s the end of August so in New England it could be anything. The start was 56 and cloudy with very low humidity and the finish was 78 and cloudy with a T&D of 138. Most of the course is shaded with some spots where the sun peeked out but no where near the worst I’ve ran in.
So how did the day go?
I felt great going into this one, but a little different than usual. On one hand I was well rested from bringing my daughter back to school and enjoying a quick pre college vacation aboard the Wish. That being said my taper consisted of one 5 mile run, a 5K on
Castaway Cay and 4 days of way too much food and drink. No matter, the work had been done and I should be ok, so when the gun went off it was my usual plan of run 4min/walk 30sec with a goal of 3:30:00.
My training leading up to this was very good and I was taking the advice from
@DopeyBadger
Congrats on the race and valuable data gathered!
Based on the 1:39:27 HM in your profile, I'd agree that you're within striking distance of the 3:30 M. The math places the probability at the following assuming equal conditions to the 1:39 HM:
6% chance of 3:27 or better
10% chance of 3:29 or better
25% chance of 3:33 or better
50% chance of 3:41 or better
At 1:41 pace, you were doing a 7:42 min/mile (assuming 26.22 miles) and at 1:42 a 7:47 min/mile. The goal 3:30 pace is 8:01 min/mile pace. A 1:39:27 HM fitness level puts a 7:42-7:47 min/mile effort around 25-30km race pace. That's 15.5-18.6 miles. So I think the explanation for the late slow down at 17-20 miles, is that the pace of 7:42-7:47 is very near your race level effort for those distances, and not for a marathon. There's a razor thin margin, and it would appear you've crossed it in these attempts. I'd suggest trying to stick much closer to that 7:55-8:05 pace over the 7:42-7:47 pace, and I have a feeling it'll make a big difference outside of any training changes. Granted, even under the best conditions, you'd still have about a 10% chance or better based on your current PRs as the 1:39 HM is the best race equivalent of the ones you have listed. My advice for the summer, try to get your 5k under 21 min. That'll push the sub 3:30 from a 10% chance to a 25% chance and much better odds when following a well designed training plan.
I haven’t gotten the speed that I want yet but have been trying hard all summer for consistency.
My last long run I did 20 miles with a target of 10min/mile and all were between 9:40 and 10:18 with an average of 9:51 and a negative split so I knew I could be consistent, I just needed to make sure not to start too fast.
Well mile 1 showed how hard that would be, the start was a downhill on dirt and I was way too fast trying not to fall but also trying not to put on the brakes and beat up my legs, 7:01, definitely not sustainable. That’s ok, it was early and now level so I slowed it down, bouncing between 7:50 and 8:02 for the next 12 miles.
This is great! Feeling good I hit the halfway point at 1:44 and kept at it. For the next few the pace started slowing with mile 16 clocking in at 8:38. Mile 17 started an uphill and I quickly realized that I was tiring much faster than I have before. After looking back at times and weather and training I have to believe that the amount of extra energy expended trying to stay stable on dirt and gravel compounded over that many miles makes a huge difference. After the hill I was able to recover a little but there was no way to hit my goal. Maybe a new PR? No way, I hit another hill at mile 21 and clocked an 11:56. 22 and 23 came back down to 9 minute miles and then the wheels flew off in spectacular fashion. My body simply said no, no, and no. It was everything I could do once again to slog my way to the end clocking 12:54, 14:22, and 13:03 for the final 3 (the last one was downhill)
So it didn’t end the way I planned it, I’m still thrilled.
Why?
1 - I finished another marathon!
2 - it was a struggle but I managed to keep a sub 4 streak with a finish of 3:58:20!
3 - I got to meet new people and enjoy post race beers and food
4 - it’s a good long run complete with 5 weeks until the next 26.2
One more plus for such a small local race, the post race was probably the best I’ve seen yet.
Everyone was announced crossing the line, your medal (actually locally carved wooden medallion) was hung around your neck and you were handed a water. Then on to the snack table for your choice of water, tailwind, chips, pickles, bananas, or watermelon (I can say I never had watermelon taste so good)
Then it was onto one of three local food trucks, the beer tent, and farm made ice cream truck, all included with your bib.
A great race where they try to source everything locally to support the community, use only sustainable and recyclable products, and donate proceeds to the Connecticut River conservancy. I would run it again but not sure I would try for speed without different training. My quads are on fire today and I have aches and pains in my knees and ankles that I have not experienced in a long time.
