St. George Marathon 2015 Race Report -- Pre-Race

St. George Marathon 2015 Memories

Thanks to the St. George Marathon website here is a good picture of the start area.  On the left hand side of the picture all of the people are trying to get their drop bag to the U-haul truck at the last second.  At the start line they have a corral for the hand cycles and wheel chairs, and then a corral for the elite runners and then it is a free for all after that.

Pre-race

I was able to stay the weekend with Paul, my buddy whom I have been friends with since 1990.  It was great to stay with him and not have to pay an expensive hotel bill.  On Friday morning I went to the St. George temple only to find out that it was closed for cleaning.  I walked around the grounds, sat on a bench and meditated and prayed for a while.  It was peaceful and fulfilling.  I went to the marathon expo in my suit and tie, although I left my suit coat in the car.  I saw Golden Harper there.  He is the founder of Altra running shoes and a fellow Orem High Tiger Graduate.  I bought a pair of Altra Paradigm running shoes that he personally outfitted me with.  They were last years model and hence a year old so I was able to purchase them for a discounted price of $58.  They look a little goofy because the toe box is extra large to allow the toes to expand upon impact.  You get used to their look and they are comfortable.  I also bought three pair of “feetures” (or something like that) ankle socks, and a pair of Asics running shorts.  I bought the shorts specifically because they have pockets to put stuff in during the marathon.   

Race morning, Paul dropped me off at the bus loading area.  It was great not to worry about having to find parking etc.  There was a mega long line to get on the buses since I didn’t get there for the early bird buses.  Eventually this other gal, whom I had started talking to, and I, melded into the line.  Then as we were going forward in the line two guys got in line right behind us and it turns out that they were the line leaders for an impromptu line as well.  So, it was just a free for all.  Some people being model citizens and waiting patiently at the end of lines and other cutting in line at will.  Upon arriving at the start I headed straight to the port-a-pottys.  After finishing there I had enough time to go and give my drop bag to the guys at the U-haul truck which is always a fun experience at the St. George Marathon.  There are over 7,000 participants at the start line and probably 3,000 of them try to get their drop bag in the truck in the last fifteen minutes before the start gun.  There is a mob of people with only about four volunteers taking bags so people just end up launching their drop bags in the general vicinity of the truck from way far out.  The volunteers start out trying to catch the bags, then they try to dodge the bags, then they just step out of the way entirely and everyone throws their bags in.  Then I went back to the bathrooms for a second visit just to make sure that everything was taken care of.   

Upon getting out of the bathrooms, I heard the national anthem so I new we were ready to get going.  I thought I could muscle my way up to where the 3:15 pacer but quickly realized, this was like a rock concert and it was shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip standing room early.  So I went up the side on the outside of the chute.  There was a line of runners there about one deep waiting to sneak in on the side instead of waiting at the back.  I spoke out loud to no one in specific that I want to be up there, and maybe I could hop the fence or something. A guy next to me said “or we can just open the fence” and then proceeded to open up a panel on the chute gate.  I complemented him on his actions and said a quick thank you.  I think there were probably a few more participants that went through that opening in the gate behind me as well.  I joined the lemmings heading off the cliff for the next 26.2 miles.

Trump for President?

Since this is my blog I can post things that interest me right?  So here I go entering the realm of politics.  Here is an opinion article for the Deseret News by Ralph Hancock.

I was only a lukewarm supporter of Mitt Romney as a 2012 presidential candidate, but I was very proud of his no-holds-barred denunciation of Donald Trump on Thursday. He must have been aware that his detractors would immediately reduce his motive to his own presidential ambitions and ridicule him, Trumplike, as a weak “loser.” But, regardless of the immediate consequences for him or for the nomination contest, Romney did the right thing in plainly depicting the character of the Republican front-runner.
It’s amazing and depressing that so many seem to need Romney to call attention to Trump’s rank dishonesty, or to remind us that “this is an individual who mocked a disabled reporter, who attributed a reporter’s questions to her menstrual cycle, who mocked a brilliant rival who happened to be a woman due to her appearance, who bragged about his marital affairs, and who laces his public speeches with vulgarity.” And I’m glad Mitt didn’t fail to censure Trump’s frat-boy sexual attitude and behavior: “There is a dark irony in his boasts of his sexual exploits during the Vietnam War. While at the same time, John McCain, whom he has mocked, was imprisoned and tortured.”
What is most depressing is that none of this background information should be necessary to anyone of sound judgment who observes Trump for two minutes: “the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics.” And Romney hit just the right note, one that again should be obvious but that we are usually too sophisticated to acknowledge, when he connected the political and the personal: “All (presidential nominees) … bear the responsibility of being an example for our children and our grandchildren. … Now, imagine your children and your grandchildren acting the way he does.”
Of course, private virtue and statesmanship are not the same thing, but neither can they be entirely separated. A man who cannot govern himself cannot govern a people, much less a free people. Those who know Plato’s account of the Tyrant in the ninth book of "The Republic: must experience a shudder of recognition when Romney states an imperative that would be obvious for a healthy self-governing people: “His imagination must not be married to real power.”
The only thing — though impossible, no doubt — that would have improved Romney’s speech would have been some recognition of the responsibility that the Republican establishment bears for the creation of this monster. To Plato again: in the eight book of "The Republic" we learn that the vices of an extreme democracy (think: “populism”) are produced by the narrow self-interest of the wealthy class: the oligarchs see the world through the lens of their economic interests, profit from the immiseration of the lower classes, and fail to instill solid virtues of character in the next generation.
This account resembles our Republican elites in too many ways: concern for our families and for society’s moral fabric has too often been window-dressing, the middle class’s very real anxieties over economic stagnation have been inadequately addressed, and the outrages of political correctness have passed largely uncontradicted, all because of the corporate elite’s narrow and short-term interest in business as usual. Now the GOP is paying the price in the blind and incoherent outrage channeled by the repugnant Trumpster.
A friend nicely summarizes the “very bitter choice among three bad options” left to us who have seen the Republican party, despite its defects, as still America’s best hope:
“1. Aim for a messy convention in which delegates rally around a non-Trump candidate after the first ballot. This might work but it would be horrible, because Trump voters would feel twice as betrayed by the party as they do now. This is The Romney Option.
"2. Let Trump take the nomination but disavow him. That means you probably hand the presidency to the other party, and Trump supporters hate you for your betrayal. The Ben Sasse Option.
"3. Get behind Trump and ride the wave. This might actually lead to victory, but at the cost of losing any moral or intellectual coherence to the party. Self-respecting leaders would defect, leaving only Trumpites whose loyalty to the party is itself suspect. The Huckabee Option.”
The choice is not easy, my friend observes, because “parties matter, winning matters, principle matters. You can't always have all three.” All very true, but one choice is easy for me: NOT 3 — not Trump.
However Romney’s denunciation of Trump might be assessed strategically, in the long run, the utter sacrifice of decency and honor cannot be a good thing. If everything blows up, then the example of standing for some principles can make a difference, someday, somehow — a positive difference for our souls, and, we must pray, for our republic.

Ralph Hancock is a professor of political science at Brigham Young University and president of the John Adams Center for the Study of Faith, Philosophy and Public Affairs. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of BYU.

Two Marathons Same Result

I ran the St. George Marathon in Utah in October of 2015 in around 3 hours and 31 minutes.  I ran the Phoenix Marathon in Arizona in February of 2016 in around 3 hours and 27 minutes.  My goal in both was 3 hours and 10 minutes in both which is a 7.15 pace.  In both races I was between 7.20 and 7.30 pace through mile 18 and then that is when the wheels fell off.  I need to figure out those last 8.2 miles.