Route 66 Marathon



mile 16.25



nice bling


Nov. 21st was the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, OK.  My duty for the day was pacing people who wanted to finish in 5 hours, or basically be a guide along the course as to where a person should be if they wanted to finish in 5 hours.  To keep an even split (11:27 per mile) is pretty hard.

Today, the challenge was gonna be more with a strong south wind, and warm temps.  As the day progress, people were having issues from cramps to dehydrations.  Running in these conditions does take a toll on a person if not trained properly.  Drink, drink, drink...was the call from the beginning.

At mile 12-ish, people were given the option of taking a detour to the center of the universe...an extra .3 mile added to 26.2...thus making the total distance of 26.5 miles.  By this point, my group had fallen apart, and I opted for the extra .3 and went to the center of the universe.  Just had to make it an ultra :)  But as a 5 hour pacer, I had to make up time for the detour.  We made it up in the second half of the marathon.


Center of Universe medal

From mile 16 to the turnaround at mile 21, we had a strong headwind.  I was on pace at this point.  Coming back with the tail wind, I finished almost 9 minutes ahead of schedule.  I even tried to slow down, or walked at times.  I finished with 4:51:46.  It was a good run for me...totally relaxed run.  For others, I'm sure it wasn't one of their best times.

I'm ready for some dirt trails now.  Happy Trails!