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Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

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Running Towards the Finish Line

Memories of competing in marathons

I was never a competitive athlete, but I took up running as the most appealing way of maintaining a good level of general fitness. I started this in my mid-twenties, and reached the peak of entering and completing eight marathons when I was between thirty eight and forty two. These races included the three top events at the distance – the Boston, New York City, and London Marathons.

As a youngster, I did not like running. In England, where I grew up, the running I had to do was a winter activity. This is because the main team games, soccer and rugby, were winter games. When the rain was enough for us to be kept off the fields, lest we churned them up, the alternative was not indoor exercise in the gym. It was cross-country running – three miles over woods and meadows in mud and rain and wind. No wonder I did not enjoy running.

In Canada, I took part in many running events, starting at 5,000 and 10,000 metres. These took place in nice weather, and were a good occasion to visit a number of towns I would not have known. Also, these events encouraged older people by having prizes or medals not only for overall winners and place-finishers, but also for the leaders in age categories. My first awards were for third and fourth in men 30-34, and then 35-39.

When I lived in upstate New York, some of the events were 15,000 and 20,000 metres, and I attempted some of them, finishing in all cases. I then gave a thought to trying a marathon.

A first marathon is always something that the runner undertakes without knowing whether it will be accomplished. Unlike for other distances, the recommended preparation does not include actually practicing the full length, which is 26.2 miles. The best regime includes several weeks of running five to ten miles, plus one run of eighteen miles. So, on the day, you are attempting eight miles beyond anything done in the preparation.
My first marathon was a local event, with about two hundred runners. I led for the first three hundred yards, before fading. It was my method to keep careful track of the time, setting a benchmark of seven and a half minutes per mile and checking my watch at each marker. A small adjustment of speeding up slightly for a minute was doable if the progress was a bit behind.

For the last eight miles, when it was not certain I could go on, there was no runner in sight, so the task was a solitary one. I made it, and decided to run a few more marathons.

A first marathon is always something that the runner undertakes without knowing whether it will be accomplished.

The New York City Marathon had thousands of runners, and all the way to the finish the road was thick with people, and sometimes it was impossible to get across to the drink stations.

The Boston Marathon is an elite event, and attracted Olympic runners, but many could qualify with a previous time required for your age group. We were taken to the start in buses. Halfway along, the women of Wellesley College were by the road, with their famous yell. Many have been broken by Heartbreak Hill, late in the race. It uses muscles not used before on the flat. The only way to prepare is to run very fast on the few prior up-slopes, which I was careful to do.

The London Marathon also had many thousands. It started on a great heath, and after one mile, a man with a microphone and huge speakers told us not to give up for we were half-way there. Who says the English have no sense of humour! The course took us through rich and poor districts, and the planners had thoughtfully set us to run over the few remaining streets that had cobblestones – not good to run on.

I completed the race and my father, who had been a champion miler (someone who competes in races one mile long), was proud of me. However, I experienced cramps for the first time, and not long after I decided to retire from running. I have for keepsakes a box of finishers’ medals and photographs.

Richard is a freelance writer in McCauley.

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