Race Report - 03/01/2014 - Phoenix Marathon

Location: Scottsdale, Mesa, AZ
Race Type: Run
Participants: 1816
Overall Place: 274th
Age Group Place: 45th
Time: 3:34:00

Pace: 8:10/mile

Packet Pickup

Packet pickup was available on Thursday and Friday in the same shopping plaza as the finish line. This was convenient as it gave me a good idea how long it would take to get there from my house in the morning (this race required you to park at the finish and take a bus to the start). I found my bib number by looking through a book listing all the runners in alphabetical order and then headed to another booth with my number grouping so that I could pick up my bag. As you can see below bibs were divided by groups of 500 people. There was no wait so I grabbed my bag and strolled the vendors.

I'm usually not interested in what the vendors have to offer and this time was no different. That said, there were about 25 different vendors represented and they seemed to be doing good business. 

After perusing the outdoor vendors I was directed into the Sports Authority to pick up my race shirt. The shirt is of a great quality and has a zippered pocket built it. I will definitely use this one. I was also surprised to find a nice set of arm warmers in the bag as well.

On my way out of the store I dropped by the Honey Stinger booth for a photo op. and a few snacks. 

Tomorrow will be an early morning with a 3:15 wake-up so that I can make the last bus at 5am. 

Pre-Race

I had to wake up early for this one. I set the alarm for 3:20 but woke up around 2:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Even with the early wake-up I was able to squeeze in 5 hours of sleep. 

I had prepared everything the night before so I got dressed, filled a few more water bottles, and headed out. The traffic was busy at the marathon start but the parking was good and efficient. The half marathon parking line was much longer.

After grabbing my gear I headed for the bus stop. There were 6 buses waiting for us and people filed on. Once full, the bus I was on headed out for the 25 minute trip to the start line. 

The bus climbed one of the few hills in the Phoenix metro area and dropped us off at a shooting range. There were an abundance of heaters and porta-johns for the hour wait until the start. 

Luckily it hadn't rained yet and the winds were staying under 10mph. I found a couple of friends that were also doing the full and we waited with our ponchos on. Right around 6am it started to rain. Not too hard but enough that we were glad for the rain gear. 

Slightly after 6am the organizers played the national anthem and launched some fireworks. Pretty cool!

We headed for the start line and passed a group of bagpipers. I personally love to hear bagpipes so this was a treat for me.

I lined up right behind the 3:30 pace leader and waited for the gun shot. 

The Race

It was still dark at 6:30 for the start with full sunrise being ~7:30. The rain continued as we started to run downhill for the first few miles.

The rain let up about 30 minutes into the run and I stripped off my gloves and poncho.

Miles 4-7 increased elevation by 200 feet and then it was mostly downhill the rest of the way. 

I stuck with the 3:30 pacer for the 1st 21 miles and then started to fade a bit. On mile 24 I was about one minute behind the pacer when I stopped to walk, eat a banana, and drink a couple cups of water. After that I felt much better and I was able to finish the race strong. 

Near the the finish line I heard that the 3:35 pace group was on my heals. I stepped up the effort to finish ahead of them.

My official time was 3:34 even. I captured this pick in the finishers corral. I should have looked at the photo since I didn't quite get the medal. Oh well. 

While I didn't meet my training goal of a 3:23 marathon I am happy with today's outcome. I look forward to having the rest of the year off from marathons and improving my time next year.