Niagara Falls Marathon

As the bus reached the staging area at an Art Gallery in Buffalo, I began to schedule my plan of attack with an hour and a half remaining until the start of the race. This time the weather was a lot warmer and bearable outdoors. Two years ago I used the comforts of the gallery to stretch and stay warm up to the gun time. With the sun out and just a small breeze many runners found the very grand steps of the building as a great place to prepare. I quickly found a spot, grabbed a seat and continued my hydration and fueling while enjoying the beautiful autumn morning.

Things were much different this time around as my race experiences have grown and I can now get ready without panicking or guessing what needs to be done leading up to competition. As the clock reached 9:20 am, I got my gear organized and suited up in a pair of light Brooks tights and thin wind breaker top. I was sure we would not receive such calm conditions on the open road on the Canadian side of the border so I did not want to chance bare arms under my Running Free sleeveless top.  All dressed and ready to roll, I threw on my Brooks T5 racing flats and placed my post-run gear on the bus for the finish line. There is a real nice, quiet trail at the Art Gallery that travels around the pond just to the south of the building. It serves as a great warm up track and I put close to fifteen minutes of work on it to loosen up to my desired race form. After a quick pit stop at the portable it was off to the line with five minutes to spare, lots of time to move closer to the start line to align myself with runners I hoped would pull me to my 3:10 goal.

I was focused on my game plan to go out a little quicker than the pace required to hit my goal. As the horn sounded, I raced up the side with a bunch of runners and settled just off the first large group of runners heading down the first, short straight away. This stretch of street turned back down the right lanes on the other side of the boulevard back towards the start line. At about the kilometer mark we looped back up the starting stretch (which was different than the route we took in 2005) as we lapped some of the runners that begun near the back of the 930 person field. As they made their first turn we continued straight though and hit the streets of Buffalo.

This route was well protected from the wind with nice, old houses lining the police and volunteer controlled roads of the city. We continued to run these streets as we lined out and found our pace leading up to the bridge at the border. Thankfully, the ascent up the bridge is very early in the race and proves to be the only noticeable incline on this marathon route. As I climbed the steep side of the uphill section of the bridge, I could tell we were going to be in for some windier weather for the easterly portion of the run. Hitting the top of the bridge in good time I made sure to control my decent and take the time to fuel on a gel pack as I drafted behind a larger gentleman cruising along at my pace.

At the bottom of the bridge the run takes a turn west through the southern point of Fort Erie. It is a short loop of around three to four kilometers with boisterous crowds of people in this section looking to get their first glimpsed of the runners as most fans tend not to cross over to the US side. During this stretch I got to take a look across the boulevard to see the leaders cruising along already a few kilometres ahead of my pack. From this view I could tell that there were not too many people out in front as I continued to pace along steadily at around 4:05 to 4:10 per KM. This was quite a bit quicker than my required pace but I wanted to create a little space for my predicted slow down in the last ten kilometres.

After making the turn at the western tip of the course we were pointed towards Niagara Falls for our long track along the Niagara River. It’s a very flat road that connects the two Southern Ontario towns that has also been known to be unprotected from the winds along the riverfront. Today was one of those days and I started to feel the effects of the strong breeze coming head on only a few minutes past the structures that makes up the border in
Fort Erie. As we weaved along the water side the wind seemed to take an angle of attack to impede our progress. Although, the adrenaline was still pushing me at this point, I knew this would be a factor later in my quest for a sub 3:10 marathon.

As the asphalt passed beneath my feet my positive thoughts keep me in a relaxed zone at a very comfortable pace slightly behind the lead female runner. We had created a group of five runners but were not close enough to create any help for each other against the wind. It was also tough to find a drafting area in this section as the wind continued to hit us from an angle, one moment on the left shoulder, the next on our right side. Trying to predict the direction of the wind would have been too much of a distraction so I just stuck to my lane, focused on the two runners pacing me to the half way marker at a sub 3 hour marathon pace.

With half the run under my belt, I began to count down the remaining km’s.  I could tell by the marker at 25K that my legs were starting to wear and the gusting cool air was not helping my cause. This 5 kilometre stretch had already started to eat into my time savings accumulated in the first 20k. Although, this slower split was becoming a concern, I kept turning my legs over as quickly as possible to break through the heavy air. By this point another female runner had caught up to the female leader I was trying to keep up to and started to make a move. This seemed to spur on the front runner and it wasn’t long before their new pace was getting too advanced for my abilities. As I pulled back on the reigns, I watched a few more gentlemen with smooth, rhythmic strides float past. I knew this would happen so I had to swallow my competitive nature and continue to hold back and remind myself it wasn’t about placing today.

As I neared the 35k marker I was starting to really struggle with my stride and the newly adopted shuffle was getting very close to 5 minutes per km, not what I wanted or expected at this point of the race. Much of the cushion I had created evaporating and I needed to dig deep to remain in the hunt for my goal. It was just a little further up the road where I would be past for the final time of the day. I noticed his fresh, effortless running motion as we headed into the water station and was determined not to let him get out of my sights as his pace was very close to the one I would need to get home.

When we tossed aside our cups he headed back to the crest of the road and I followed as closely as my legs could take me. I concentrated on his relaxed form and tried to mimic every stride he generated. I stayed right on my rabbit as we started our entrance to Niagara Falls roughly 3 kilometres from the finish line. My body was exhausted beyond anything I have put it through in a long time and I had to talk myself into almost every movement to keep things going forward. Less than 1 mile from the end I made an aggressive corner to overtake my pacer, shuffling ever so painfully towards the line. His superior technique would prove to be too much on this day. I had nothing left in the tank with a minute and a half to spare on my qualifying time. I would not try to pass again and was more than happy to settle with a 40^th place finish in a Boston qualifier of 3:09:27.

I now have until April 2009 to prepare for Boston which is exactly what I need to get that type of motivation and training in to make the trip enjoyable. I don’t know how some people get themselves prepared to run numerous marathon in short spans of time. They are truly impressive runners. As for me, I will gladly stick to the duathlons and shorter runs in 2008 knowing I have crossed out one of my “To Do” items this season.