Marathons - 2/2 - Bob Rebello’s Worldwide Marathons

#5 – 2003 Budapest Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: 9/28/03

Continent: Europe

Country: Hungary

My Age: 67

My Finish Time: 4:33 * 2^nd in age group

My Marathon Rating: Most Bridges

Memorable Moment: Relaxing in Szchenyi baths after race

Budapest Marathon Selection and Registration:

After reviewing the marathons available in Europe for 2003, I decided on running the Budapest, Hungary International marathon for my 5^th worldwide marathon. I selected the Budapest marathon because it will be celebrating its 18^th successful year and is well known throughout Europe with runners from over 40 foreign countries that run in the marathon each year. Another reason that I selected the Budapest marathon was because it was recommended to me by one of my San Diego running group friends, Gregg White, who ran the marathon in 2002. I registered for the marathon on-line on January 10, 2003, the cost to register for the marathon was $55.52. After registering on-line it only took 10 days for me to receive my race package in the mail. I received my Budapest race package on January 20^th, and the package included, information about the marathon [race route, start time, etc] along with my race number #4105.

Budapest Marathon Training Program:

To prepare for the Budapest marathon I added 3 more long runs of 18, 20, and 22 miles to the marathon-training program that I have used for the USMC, Dublin, Medoc, and Monaco marathons. I also finished a number of races as part of my training program – the races and my results are as follows:

1/19/03 Carlsbad, CA ½ marathon finish time = 1:50 * 4^th in age group

3/23/03 Napa, CA marathon finish time = 4:02 * 4^th in age group

5/10/03 5k race finish time = 23:46 * 3^rd in age group

7/04/03 10k race finish time = 51:19 * 8:17 pace

Budapest Travel and Sightseeing Highlights:

I flew out of San Diego on September 23^rd at 8:00 am for my 14-hour flight to Budapest, Hungary. I arrived in Budapest at the Ferihegy airport on the 24^th after making stops in Washington and Frankfurt, Germany. The weather when I arrived was raining and in the 50’s, and the taxi ride from the airport to my hotel was hectic and slow as there was a lot of construction going on. While in Budapest for 10 days I stayed in the Marriott hotel, which is located on the Pest side of Budapest, where all of the rooms overlooked both the Danube River and the Buda skyline. I arrived at the hotel at 12:00pm, checked in, unpacked and immediately fell asleep – woke up at 5:30pm, cleaned up and went out to get something to eat. On one side of my hotel was the Danube and all along the river there were numerous outdoor restaurants and on the other side of the hotel was the famous Vaci Street, which is a pedestrianized street banking center as well as a shopping venue with souvenir shops, cafes and pubs. Budapest is the capital of the Republic of Hungary and 1/3 of the city is taken up by hilly Buda and Obeda, on the western bank of the Danube, and the remaining 2/3 by flat Pest on the eastern bank.

Prior to and after the marathon I spent time sightseeing and taking pictures of the many unique sites throughout Budapest. Some of the most memorable sites that I visited on the Pest side of Budapest were: The famous Vigado concert hall where I attended a concert, Heroe’s Square where the race started, the zoo, the famous pedestrianized Vaci street, St.Stephen’s Basilica and climbed the 370 stairs to the top where there was a great panoramic view of Budapest, Anderson street with all it’s beautiful old buildings, the beautiful National Museum, the National Gallery, the Szchenyi baths which I used after finishing the marathon, and the Parliament building. Some of the most memorable sites that I visited on the Pest side of Budapest were: The Gellert Monument and Gellert baths, the Royal Castle where I witnessed the changing of the guard. I also walked around Margaret Island on the sponge path that circled the island; the island is Budapest’s most beautiful park and is located in the middle of the Danube River.

Budapest Marathon Highlights:

The day before the marathon I took the Metro, which was only a 10 minute walk from my hotel, and went to the Expo to pick up my race number, chip, and to go over the race route. While at the Expo, which only had about 10 booths, I met a number of runners from all over Europe as well as a runner from Chicago. I spent most of the morning at the Expo meeting runners and trading stories about the marathons we had run over the years. I left the Expo about 2pm to go back to my hotel for an easy 5-mile run along the Danube before I went out for my pre-race Pasta dinner. After dinner I went back to the hotel to prepare my gear for the marathon I was in bed and asleep by 10pm.

Woke up at 6:00am on race day after a very good nights sleep got dressed for the marathon, had a light breakfast and I was on the Metro at 6:45 for the 15 minute ride to the start of the race at Heroe’s Square in City Park. When I got there the start area was already crowded with runners it took me about 10 minutes to find my time slot which was already crowded with runners. While I was waiting for the start of the race I was startled, along with all of the other runners, to hear a very loud beating of many different types of drums. The beat and loudness of the drums had all of the runners yelling in time with the beat of the drums – what a great way to start the race. The weather at the start of the race was cool but the weather report said that it would get very hot while we were running the marathon.

The race started at exactly 7:30am and I was on my way to meet the challenge of finishing the Budapest marathon, my 5^th worldwide marathon. The first 5 miles we ran down Andrassy Street passed the Opera House, St Stephens Basilica and over the famous Chain Bridge, with 2 large Lions guarding the Bridge, to the Buda side of the Danube. While crossing the bridge we had a beautiful view of the Royal Castle of Buda. Once on the Buda side we ran southward along the Danube until we reached our second bridge, Petofi bridge, [mile 6] which we crossed to get to the Pest side. We ran north along the Danube until we reached mile 10 where we got onto Margaret Bridge, our 3^rd bridge, halfway over the Bridge we went down some steps to get to Margaret Island. We ran the length of Margaret Island and again ran up some steps to get to Arpad Bridge, our 4^th bridge, to the Buda side.

At this point of the race we had reached mile 13, the halfway point of the race and my time at the ½ waypoint was 2:01. The weather had changed and it was getting very hot and some of the runners were already walking due to the high temperatures. The route took us along the Buda side for the next 3 miles where we crossed the Petofi Bridge to get the Pest side. At this point in the race I was really feeling the heat as there was no shade along the Danube – my pace started to slow down and it was clear to me that my goal to break 4 hours would not happen. We ran north along the Pest side for the next 5 miles, passing the Hungarian Parliament building, until we started heading back through the city for the last 2 miles of the marathon, which ended very close to the start of the race. Before we reached the finish line we had to run up a challenging hill when I reached the crest of the hill it was great to finally see the finish line. I had a very slow second half of the marathon – losing 32 minutes from my ½ marathon time of 2 minutes. I crossed the finish in a time of 4:33:40 and actually came in second in my age group. There were around 2,000 male runners that finished the marathon and only 9 runners from the U.S. that finished the race.

After taking in some food and water I spent time stretching out all of my aches and pains and walked over to the Szchenyi baths to relax and heal some of my aches and pains. The Baths were just what the doctor ordered, and when I finally left the Baths I did not feel any of the aches and pains that I felt immediately after finishing the marathon.

2002 – Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, San Diego

December 17, 2010 By Bob

Filed Under: Marathons, North America Tagged With: marathon guide, north american marathons, rock n roll marathon

#4 – 2002 Monaco Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: 11/17/02

Continent: Europe

Country: Monaco

My Age: 66

My Finish Time: 4:36

My Marathon Rating: Most unique

Memorable Moment: Finish in Monaco Stadium

Monaco Marathon selection and registration:

As soon as I returned from the Medoc marathon, I started the process of selecting where I would run my 4^th worldwide marathon. I spent a lot of time online looking for my next marathon challenge in Europe and came across a very unique marathon in Monaco – a country of only 1.9 square kilometers in size. The uniqueness of the marathon is that it goes through the borders of 3 countries – Monaco, France, and Italy. The marathon has been held for the last 8 years – the average number of marathon runners each year is between 800 to 1800. I registered on-line [6/4/02] with Activeeurope.com – the cost was 37.75 Euros. I received my Monaco marathon package 14 days later that had my race # [1236] and an elevation map of the marathon race route as well as the events that will take place before and after the marathon. Prior to leaving for Monaco I had to get a letter from my doctor, which stated that I was medically fit to run the Monaco marathon without the letter they would not let me run the marathon.

Monaco Marathon Training Program:

To prepare for the Medoc marathon I used the same 18-week 750-mile training program that I used for the USMC, Dublin, and Medoc marathons. As the Monaco marathon was going to have 2 very steep hills along the marathon route at mile 3 [275 feet] and mile 20 [275 feet] I added weekly long runs that simulated the Monaco marathon route. It was a very difficult training schedule but I felt that if I did not train my body to be able to withstand the steep hills of the Monaco marathon that I might not be able to finish the marathon. Fortunately, I did not injure myself during the 18-week training program and was able to meet the majority of my running time goals. Prior to the start of my official Monaco marathon training program [I really train year round] I ran a number of races to get me ready for my Monaco marathon challenge. The races and results were:

4/06/02 20k race – finish time = 1:49 *1^st in age group

4/28/02 Carlsbad, CA ½ marathon – finish time = 1:53 * 5^th in age group

6/02/02 San Diego, CA Marathon [Rock n Roll] – finish time = 4:20 * 5^th in age group

Monaco Marathon Travel:

I flew to Monaco on DELTA airlines [17 hour flight] departing from San Diego, stopping in NY, and then on to Nice, France. I stayed in the Le Meridien Hotel in Nice, France, which was right on the world famous French Riviera and also next to the beautiful Promenade des Anglais within walking distance to the train station as well as some very famous restaurants. I spent Thanksgiving in Nice but could not find a restaurant that served a traditional thanksgiving dinner, Turkey/etc; so I had a nice steak instead. There was an airline pilot’s strike and I had to stay in Nice an extra 2 days before I was able to fly back to the US. On my way back to San Diego I stopped in Boston, Massachusetts [11/28/02] to see my daughter Lisa. While in Boston I stayed in the Colonnade Boston Hotel until I left for San Diego on 12/02/02.

Monaco Marathon Highlights:

I arrived in Nice, France 3 days before the marathon – after I unpacked I put my running gear on and ran along the Promenade des Anglais for about 5 miles – running along the ocean reminded me of California. The second day, two days before the marathon, I woke early and ran along the Promenade des Anglais for 6 miles – returned had Breakfast in the Hotel and then spent the rest of the day walking around Nice and taking in the sites. On the third day I woke early and took the train to Monaco [about 20 minutes ride] and finally found my way to the Monaco Expo to pick up my number and race chip. I was really surprised to see that it wasn’t much of an Expo with only about 10 booths. After getting my number I did some sightseeing in Monaco and went into the Monte Carlo Casino to take a look around – didn’t try my hand at any of the games.

After seeing most of Monaco I got back on the train to go back to Nice and get in an easy run before I go out for my pre-race Past dinner. I ate my Pasta dinner at a restaurant that was recommended to me by some runners that I met while in Monaco. I ended up eating with them and although they were all from France, they spoke very good English. Got back to my hotel around 10:00pm – watched a little TV and prepared my gear for tomorrows marathon.

I got a very good nights sleep – woke up at 5:30am got dressed and went to get a light breakfast in the hotel before the marathon. After breakfast I walked up to the train station for the ride to Monaco and when I got there I found at least 100 runners standing around waiting for the train. I asked one of the runners waiting for the train when it would arrive he told me that it had broken down and no one knew when it would arrive. It was very apparent to me and the other runners that if the train did not show up in the next 30 minutes we would miss the start of the race. A number of the runners were trying to figure a way to get to Monaco by other means – some of the runners were talking about hiring a Taxi or renting a car and driving to the race. After some very anxious minutes the train finally pulled into the station to a very loud cheer from the assembled Monaco marathon runners. While on the train to Monaco I sat next to a man from Northern California who has run over 100 marathons. When we arrived at the Monaco train station we only had about 20 minutes to get to the start of the race, which was in front of the Monte Carlo Casino. I arrived at the start of the race with little time to spare – after finding my corral it was only about 5 minutes before the Monaco National Anthem was played and the countdown to the start of the race ended when the Prince of Monaco fired the starting gun.

The road at the start of the race was not very wide and runners were pushing and shoving to get out of the pack of runners. It took me about 10 minutes to cross the start line and I was finally on my way for the challenge of finishing my 4^th worldwide marathon. The weather was cool for the start of the race but would get very hot by the end of the race – the toughest part of the race. A number of runners were carrying water bottles due to the fact that the water stations were every 3 miles. The route took us along the beautiful coast with the Mediterranean on one side and beautiful homes built into the cliffs and hillsides on the other side.

The first 3 miles of the race were mostly downhill and went along Monaco’s beautiful coastline where there very few people lined up to cheer us on. Once I passed the 3-mile marker I encountered my first 275-foot steep hill. It took me 3 miles of running up the steep hill before I reached the top of the hill – I was very glad that I did the extra hill training. The decent from the top of the hill took about 2.5 miles and when I reached the bottom my quads were very sore. The route was relatively flat for the next 15 miles tracing the Mediterranean coast, running through the Italian town of Menton, and eventually passing through a very long tunnel on our way to the turn around in Ventimiglia, Italy.

At mile 18 I faced the next 275-foot hill challenge – it took close to 3 miles to reach the top of the hill – along the way I passed quite a few runners who were walking up the hill. The descent to the bottom of the hill was much steeper than the first hill that I faced and when I reached the bottom of the hill I found quite a few runners stretching their quads due to the fact that they came down the steep hill too fast. Even though I did not push it coming down the hill my quads were very sore and I had to stop to stretch them out.

The last 2.5 miles to the Monaco stadium finish line were very flat but to get to the finish line you had to run up a steep ramp to get into the stadium. Once inside the stadium I took one lap around the track to finally reach the finish line. While I was running the final lap you could look up and see yourself on a very large screen crossing the finish line. After receiving my finisher’s medal I went to get some food, shower and head back to my Hotel. It was a very rewarding finish as it was one of the toughest marathons I had run up to that point. After the marathon I had trouble walking because my quads were really hurting me. It took me quite a while to get to the train station for the ride back to Nice. When I got back to Nice I tried getting a taxi back to the hotel but after waiting 1 ½ hour for taxi I decided to walk back to the hotel. The walk from the train station to my hotel normally takes me about 20 minutes – it took me an hour’s walk to get back to the hotel due to my aching quads. During my stay in Nice I had the opportunity to meet runners from France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. There were 1,750 finishers in the Monaco marathon.

Filed Under: Europe, Marathons Tagged With: european marathons, marathon guide, monaco marathon

#3 – 2001 Medoc Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: September 08, 2001

Continent: Europe

Country: France

My Age: 65

My Finish Time: 4:38

My Marathon Rating: Most Fun

Memorable Moment: The many colorful costumes

Medoc Marathon selection and registration:

After the rain, wind, and cold of the Dublin marathon in 2000, I started looking for a marathon in a country where the weather would be less of a challenge than Dublin’s weather was. While scouring the Internet for my next marathon challenge I came across a very interesting marathon in France called the “Marathon des Chateaux du Medoc”. The name that it goes by in most of the Literature is its nickname – The Medoc Marathon.

The race is the world’s longest marathon at 26 miles and 385 yards – Runners World ranked it second best marathon after the New York marathon. The marathon is not about the speed at which you run, it’s about fun, food, festivities, and most importantly – the Medoc wine. The race is so popular throughout the world that they have had to limit the number of runners to 8,000.

The marathon is built around the following 4 fundamental pillars: Health – Sport – Conviviality – Fun. The main goal of the Medoc marathon is to attract runners of all types and have them discover the benefits and pleasures of long distance running. The registration form explicitly discourages entries from individuals obsessed with speed records or from anyone who is sad, unfriendly or stressed out. Unlike other marathons, which typically reward the fastest finishers with money and a trophy, this one presents the winner with their body weight in Medoc wine and gives everyone else a colorful medal if you cross the finish line within six and a half hours.

After reading all of the information about the marathon and contacting some runners who had run the marathon I quickly decided that the Medoc marathon would be my 3^rd worldwide marathon. I started my Medoc registration process on January 5, 2001 and it took me 5 months before I received my acceptance slip and Bib#. The main reason that it took so long – other than it’s worldwide popularity – was that in 2001 they did not have on-line registration so you had to FAX the marathon for an application form – it took me about 3 weeks to receive my form. I also found out that only 20% of race places were reserved for foreign runners. After I received the form I found out that I needed a letter signed by my doctor stating that I was physically fit to run the marathon. After I had obtained all of the required information I then mailed the application, my entry fee, and the approval letter from my doctor. It took about 40 days before I finally received my Bib# [2700]. Despite everything that I went through it was well worth the time, aggravation, and waiting to run this marathon – I finished the marathon and also had a fabulous time before, during, and after the race.

Medoc Marathon Training Program:

To prepare for the Medoc marathon I used the same 18-week 750-mile training program that I used for the 1999 USMC marathon and the 2000 Dublin marathon. Even though my Medoc training program was the same as my USMC and Dublin marathons it was much more difficult to complete. The reason that made it so difficult is that I moved from Lexington, Massachusetts to La Jolla, California in the middle of my marathon training. It took me about 3 weeks to get everything packed for the move, take care of all of the change of address issues, and to somehow get rid of the extra furniture, clothing, books, etc. When I finally arrived in LaJolla on May 15^th it took me another 3 to 4 weeks to get settled in my new apartment. Once I got settled I joined a running group in the San Diego area that would meet every Saturday morning and run in different areas around San Diego.

After completing my 750-mile training program without any serious injuries I relaxed and tapered for my last week of training. When I started my Medoc training in Lexington I was running in the rain, snow, and cold of New England and when I finished the training I was running in the sunny skies of La Jolla along the ocean – quite a difference in weather conditions. Due to my move from Lexington, Massachusetts to La Jolla, I only ran one race to prepare for my Medoc marathon. The race and the result was:

04/28/02 Carlsbad, CA ½ marathon – finish time = 1:53 *5^th in my age group

Medoc Marathon Travel:

My daughter Lisa came with me so I decided to spend 3 days in Paris before traveling to Bordeaux. We arrived in Paris on Sunday September 3^rd for a three-day stay before traveling to Bordeaux. While in Paris we stayed at the Millennium Opera Hotel, which was walking distance to the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre Museum. One of the highlights of the stay in Paris was going to the “Bar Hemingway” – named after Ernest Hemingway- located in the Ritz Hotel.

On Wednesday the 5^th we left Paris and took the Bullet train to Bordeaux – it was a fast and very scenic train ride from Paris to Bordeaux. While in Bordeaux we stayed in the Sofitel Aquinta hotel – which was walking distance to the center of Bordeaux and about 30 minutes to the train station that would take me to the start of the Medoc marathon in Pauillac. We took in some sightseeing in Bordeaux and visited some of the Medoc wineries. We flew to Barcelona, Spain on September 10^th and settled in our hotel – the Utell International Hotel that was walking distance to many of the great restaurants, famous sights, as well as walking distance to the waterfront. We spent the rest of the day getting accustomed to our location and taking in some of the sights as well as eating some of the great food. We were in Barcelona on September 11^th when we received the terrible news about the planes crashing into the Trade Center buildings in New York City. When we returned to our hotel we received a note from the hotel manage “ Please if you need something let us know as soon as possible.”

We were very fortunate that our flights back to the US were on schedule and we left Barcelona as planned and we flew to London where I caught my flight back to San Diego. Lisa missed her flight and had to wait for another flight before returning to Boston. It was a very sad ending to my Medoc marathon.

Medoc Marathon Highlights:

On Friday I took the train to Paulliac and went to the Expo to get my race number – they could not find my information and after an hour of looking they finally found it. The evening before the marathon we went out to get my Pasta and met a group of people from Texas who were also running the Medoc marathon. We went back to the hotel and I was in bed by 10:00 pm. I did not get a good night sleep – had an upset stomach from the Pasta I had the night before. I woke up at around 5:30 am and decided to take the early 6:30am train to Paulliac instead of the 7:30am train that I planned on taking. Took a cab to the train station and found out that the 7:30 train would not be running and the next train after the 6:30 am would not go out until 10:30 – if I did not get up early to take the early train I would have missed the start of the marathon. The train ride to the race start was very interesting as the train was crowded with runners from around the world in their unique race costumes. I arrived at the Paulliac train station around 7:15 and walked to the start of the race – it was already crowded with most of the 8,000 expected runners.

Everywhere you looked there were runners dressed in colorful costumes awaiting the start of the race. While standing in the group of runners I met a number of women who were dressed up as Pigs – including the ears, nose and pink costumes. I found out that they were from Cincinnati – their photo was on the marathon results book that we received after we got home. Some of the more unique costumes were: six runners who carried a casket with someone laying in the casket, a woman dressed as Scarlett O’Hara, a man dressed in a French Foreign Legion uniform, 4 Santa Clauses, 3 men dressed as witches, a clown, 2 Donald Ducks, and a man dressed as a Matador with the red cape.

The presentation of the costumes started at 7:30 am – this is where the runners vote on the best costume – the presentation lasted until 9:15 am. The entertainment started at 9:15 and ended at 9:25 when the wheelchair race started – I have always admired the wheelchair participants. Prior to the start of the race I decided not to drink any wine along the race route because I had set a finish time goal that I wanted to make, and stopping to drink the wine would definitely increase my finish time. The gun for the race start went off at exactly 9:30 am – I was back in the pack and it took about 15 minutes to cross the start line – which is also the finish line. The loop racecourse was surprisingly hilly with many gravel tracks along the way, it starts and finishes in the Center of Paulliac and goes along the storied villages of the Medoc wine region, around village roads, through Chateaux courtyards and rows of ripening grapes. Wine was served at 21 wine-tasting stands throughout the race route and there were also 18 food stands along the route that served – Oysters, steak, cheese, oranges, bananas, prunes, meat, etc. There were 25 musical groups from string quartet to Reggae along the route along with thousands of cheering villagers encouraging the runners. With most of the runners wearing colorful costumes it was more like Halloween than a marathon.

At mile 1, we passed Chateau Grand-Puy-Ducasse which was the races first wine stop, there were so many people lined up to taste the first wine of the marathon that it was time consuming and difficult to get around them to continue my run. As I got more into the race I found that the race route had a lot more hills than was told to me and that some of the paths through the vineyards were not very wide which made it difficult to run. All along the route there were bands playing and tables covered with all kinds of great food. The crowds, numbering around 70,000, were cheering “Allez! Allez! as the runners in their many colorful costumes sprinted, jogged, walked, and in some cases staggered their way through the picturesque vineyards to the finish line. At the ½ waypoint of the marathon a very loud band was playing and there was a very enthusiastic crowd cheering us on – many runners stopped to “high five” the fans. Children would run out to greet you and run alongside of you for a little way.

When I reached mile 18 I was running along a dirt path through the vineyards when I saw a runner on his knees and he looked like he was in pain. I slowed down and yelled out to him to see if he was okay but got no answer as I got closer to him I asked him if he needed any help again – no answer. Finally I stopped near him and was going to help him up when he turned his head toward me holding a glass of wine – it was very clear to me that he had way too much wine. After the encounter I moved on shaking my head – I turned around to see if he had gotten up but when I looked back it appeared that he was lying down to take a nap.

When I reached mile 21 I started to slow down as my Quads were starting to really hurt which made me slow down my pace. A runner next to me saw that I was hurting and he did his best to encourage me not to give up and to continue to the finish line. I continued to run but it was clear to me that I would not meet my finish time goal. After a very long and painful 2 miles I reached mile 23 where there was a very long table setup with literally thousands of Oysters and many bottles of white wine. I still do not understand how after running 23 miles in the heat and dirt of the vineyards a runner can stop to have Oysters and white wine – but from the number of runners waiting in line for a chance to savor some Oysters, there were quite a few of them. After another long and slow mile of pain I reached mile 24 where there was grilled beef on the menu – I did not stop to sample any of the beef for fear that if I stopped running I would never finish the marathon.

When I reached mile 25 I knew that I would meet one of my goals, which was to run the entire 26.385-mile of the Medoc marathon. As I approached the finish line I tried very hard to finish strong – my mind was willing but my body said “not to-day”. There was a long red carpet at the finish line so everyone that finished the race did it in style. After I crossed the finish line I was given a very nice Back Pack with the Medoc marathon logo on it [I still have the Back Pack]. I waited in line with other finishers to have a woman wash the dirt from our faces that we collected while running through the vineyards. After that if you wanted you could get a free massage or if you had an injury, blister, etc there were medical people available to treat you. The only part of my body that really ached were my Quads so I took a lot of time stretching and drinking as much water as possible. Once I was able to walk without pain I walked over to a huge tent where there was all of the areas red and white wines, beer, cheese, meat, fruit, and even ice cream – and a number of different bands playing. I definitely had some of the great wines of the area and ate until I could not eat any more food. It was a very happy and loud scene as the runners were sharing their Medoc marathon stories. After about 2 hours of food and wine Lisa and I headed for the train station and our trip back to Bordeaux.

Filed Under: Europe, Marathons Tagged With: european marathons, marathon guide, medoc marathon

#2 – 2000 Dublin Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: October 30, 2000

Continent: Europe

Country: Ireland

My Age: 64

My Finish Time: 4:09

My Marathon Rating: Worst weather

Memorable Moment: Walking Pneumonia

Lessons Learned:

1. Ensure you have rain gear to run in if you are running a marathon in a rainy climate.

Dublin Marathon selection and registration: I decided to run my 2^nd worldwide marathon, and 2^nd continent, for kidney cancer research in Europe but before I selected the country I needed to renew my passport, which took about 2 months until I received my new passport. After checking out the many European marathons that would be held in the September to November time-frame, I selected the Dublin, Ireland marathon that would be held on October 30, 2000. The reasons that I selected the Dublin marathon was because it had been running for about 21 years, it was well managed, and there would be a large number of US runners entered in the marathon – and what better country to celebrate the start of the new millennium than Ireland. I registered for the marathon in March of 2000, 7 months before the marathon, by mailing in my check for the $50.00 registration fee. About a month later I received my registration confirmation and my Bib #489.

Dublin Marathon Training Program: All of my Dublin marathon training was done while I was living in Lexington, Massachusetts. During 2000 I ran a number of races to give me a sense of my readiness for the marathon and to estimate my marathon pace. The races and results were:

04/30/00 — 10k race – finish time = 52:17

05/13/00 — Queche, VT ½ marathon – finish time = 1:50 *4^th in age group

To prepare for the Dublin marathon I used the same 18-week 750-mile training program that I used for the 1999 USMC marathon. I ran into a medical problem in the 4^th week of my Dublin training, when I had my yearly physical examination, my doctor found a slight spike on my EKG and would not let me continue my training until I had passed a stress test. The test results were okay and I was back training again in a week’s time. I went through the rest of my training schedule without any injuries and met all of my training goals. My only concern was that my weight when I left for Dublin was 164 pounds – 9 pounds over my Dublin marathon goal of 155 pounds.

Dublin Marathon Travel:

After receiving my marathon registration confirmation and my Bib# I made my hotel and air reservations. My daughter Lisa would be traveling with me for the marathon and we would be spending 5 days in Dublin [10/27-10/31] and 3 days in London [11/01-11/04] after the marathon. We flew Aer Lingus from Logan airport on October 26^th at 7:30pm – it was a good flight and I met a number of people on board who would be running the Dublin marathon. We arrived at our hotel around 11:00 am on Friday the 27^th. After settling in our rooms we went out to do some sightseeing and get something to eat.

While in Dublin we stayed at an excellent hotel, the Shelbourne Dublin, a national treasure built in 1824. A luxury 5 star hotel in Dublin City Center overlooking St. Stephen’s Green, Europe’s grandest garden square. It is close to Dublin’s cultural and historic buildings. Near majestic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Trinity College, and the shops on Grafton Street. The hotel was only about 15 to 20 minutes walk to the marathon start line.

After the marathon, we flew from Dublin to London on 11/01 to spend 3 days sightseeing prior to returning to Boston on 11/05. During the taxi drive from the airport to our hotel I really felt sick and had aches and pains everywhere – didn’t know what was ailing me – took some Advil – didn’t help. While in London we stayed at the Royal Lancaster hotel and did some sightseeing, took in a musical – my daughter Lisa did some shopping at Harrod’s.

The day we were to leave for home from London I became really sick and couldn’t wait to get home. The flight home was the worst flight I had ever taken, I had a constant headache, every bone in my body was aching, and I had trouble eating any sold foods. When I finally got back to Lexington [11/05] I went to see my doctor, he took a chest X-ray and found that I had Pneumonia [left side] and gave me an antibiotic. He told me that I could not exercise for 2 weeks and I had to cancel a trip that I was going to take to San Diego. Fortunately after taking the antibiotics, and resting, I was okay and could resume my training for my next worldwide marathon in 2001. . On my first week back from the marathon I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a reporter for the Lexington minuteman newspaper had heard about worldwide marathons for kidney cancer research and wanted to interview me. The worldwide marathon story was featured in the newspapers 11/30/08 edition.

Dublin Marathon Highlights:

The day we arrived in Dublin the weather was cloudy, cool with a light mist of rain and the marathon day weather forecast was for heavy rains, cold, and windy – “welcome to Dublin, Ireland”. We spent the rest of the day doing more sightseeing and shopping on Grafton Street – I was in bed by 10:00pm. The next morning I got up early and took a taxi to the marathon Expo and even though I was early there was a very large crowd of people waiting in line to get into the Expo. It took me another 2 hours of waiting in line to finally get my Bib# and chip – a very confusing Expo setup. That evening we went out for my pre-race Past dinner – had a great meal at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel – after walking around for a while we went back to the hotel – I was in bed by 10:00pm. I woke up at 6:00 am and got dressed in a heavy long sleeve jersey, gloves, and hat – after a light breakfast my daughter Lisa and I walked the 15 minutes to the start of the race.

Marathon day found the weather to be the worst weather in the 21 years that the Dublin marathon has been run. The weather forecast for the marathon was heavy rain, cold and 30 mph winds throughout the race. I arrived at Ormond Quay, the start of the marathon, about 45 minutes before the start of the race and found that most of the 9,000+ runners were already there for the start of the marathon.The street for the start of the race was not very wide which made it difficult to get into your designated projected race finish time position. The rain went from a light drizzle to a heavy and cold rain, which made for a very long wait for the start of the race.

Finally the race countdown began, accompanied by very loud cheering from the runners and the crowd, and then the 9,000+ runners started walking toward the start line when the start gun went off at 8:30am. It took me about 10 minutes to cross the start line but I was now on my way to running my 2^nd worldwide marathon for kidney cancer research. Miles 1 to 8 were quite flat with a few rolling hills along the route. The first mile took me almost 12 minutes to run because of the many runners and the streets were not very wide – there were a lot of people cheering you on even though the rain was pretty heavy.

Once I got to Dublin’s bustling O’Connell street I was able to increase my pace to 9:45/mile because the street was wider and it was not as crowded with runners. At Miles 2 and 3 we past Trinity College and the American Embassy, at mile 3 there was a water station where the runners were given 20 oz; plastic bottles of water. It was difficult opening the bottles and holding them as my hands were really cold and I had gloves on. From miles 4 to 8 I increased my pace to 9:40/mile as we ran past The Elm Park golf Course, around Dublin College, and over a bridge on the Dodder river. There were very few people along miles 3 to 8 because of the weather and at mile 8 I found myself starting to run against the steady and cold rain as well as some strong headwinds.

Miles 9 to 19 were flat with no rolling hills with hardly any people cheering you on as the weather went from bad to worse keeping everyone indoors. Between miles 10 and 11 we went past University College and St. Stephen’s Green. At mile 13, the ½ waypoint in the marathon, we crossed a bridge over the Grand Canal and went past Harold’s Cross. My overall time at the ½ waypoint in the marathon was 2:06[9:35 pace]-If I kept up my 9:35 pace I would finish the marathon in about 4:12. Miles 14 to 19 were very flat and the route took us South along a highway and past a number of parks and Kimmage Manor.

At mile 19 it stopped raining, and the sun came out, which gave me that extra “boost” to continue running at my 9:35 pace. I knew, at this point in the race, that I was going to finish the marathon by running all 26.2 miles and would break my USMC finish time of 4:39. Miles 20 to 23 is where the “dreaded wall” appears in a marathon but at this point in the race I felt very strong and I knew the “dreaded wall” would not get me in this marathon. The 3-mile route was flat and ran mostly along a highway where there were large crowds of people cheering the runners on. The sun was now shining, the wind decreased dramatically, and the weather was no longer a factor in the race. I stopped looking at my watch to check my pace and just focused on keeping a steady 9:30 pace throughout the rest of the race.

Miles 23 to 24 took us across a bridge on the river Liffey and then onto a highway heading to the finish line. From miles 25 to 26 the road started to narrow and the crowds were the largest I had seen throughout the race. The crowds kept urging us on and that we only had a short ways to go. The last ¼ mile took us to a point in the road where we had to navigate through the huge crowds to get to the finish line- this is where I saw my daughter Lisa cheering me on. It seemed like it took forever to cross the finish line and when I crossed the finish line and looked at my watch I was elated to see that I had finished in a time of 4:09 and I had beaten my USMC time by 30 minutes. When I crossed the finish line I was very surprised, and upset, to find out that they were not giving out medals to the people who finished the marathon.

After walking around and doing some stretching I looked around for some food that is normally given to the runners when they finish a marathon – I couldn’t believe it when I found out that all the runners were given only “tea and candy”! Fortunately I found my daughter Lisa in the crowd she had some food that she brought for me along with some dry clothes for me to change into. It was about 2pm when we started walking back to the hotel – my legs were really sore and I was starting to get a sore throat. It took about an hour to get back to the hotel because it was very painful walking after running the marathon in the rain, wind, and cold.

That evening we went out to eat and stopped by a couple of the many Pubs in the area, there were a lot of marathoners at the Pubs celebrating finishing the marathon under very difficult conditions. The day after the marathon I bought the local newspaper to read about the marathon and the paper called the 2000 Dublin marathon “The marathon of suffering” because of the weather. We spent our last day in Dublin taking in the sites and in the evening we went out to eat. I was starting to feel quite sick with a sore throat, high temperature, and many aches and pains. Little did I know that what was wrong with me was that I had Pneumonia.

Filed Under: Europe, Marathons Tagged With: dublin marathon, european marathons, marathon guide

#1 – 1999 USMC Marathon in Washington DC

December 17, 2010 By Bob

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: October 24, 1999

Continent: North America

Country: USA

My Age: 63

My Finish Time: 4:39

Marathon Rating: Most Historic Route

Memorable Moment: Finish at USMC Monument

Lessons Learned:

1. Do not make air and hotel reservations until you have registered for the marathon.

2. Rest for at least 2 days after the marathon before flying home.

3. Take 2 weeks off of running after the marathon.

USMC Marathon selection and registration: After much deliberation and many hours on the Internet looking at the hundreds of worldwide marathons that will be run in 1999, I decided that my first marathon for kidney cancer research would be in the US and it would be the USMC marathon: “the people’s marathon” held on October 24, 1999. The reason that I chose the USMC marathon was because I am a former Marine and I felt it would be great to meet and run with so many other Marines – once a Marine always a Marine – Semper Fidelis, which means always faithful.

After finally making my marathon selection I thought that registering on-line would take a few minutes- boy was I wrong. During the on-line registration process I was told that I would not be able to register for the marathon as it was already booked and they had closed the on-line registration. I told them that I had already made my air and hotel registrations and had paid for them a month ago – which was a big mistake – making and paying for air and hotel without being registered for the marathon. I was told to call back in 2 days to see if someone had cancelled and if there was an opening I would be able to register for the race. I called back and was relieved to find out that there was an opening and I could now register. After finally registering it seemed like it took forever for me to get confirmation of my registration and it took at least 2 more months before I received my Bib# 13499

USMC Marathon Training Program: All of my USMC marathon training was done while I was living in Lexington, Massachusetts. My pre-USMC training program included the following races:

04/25/99 10k race – finish time = 51:41

05/23/99 10k race – finish time = 51:19

06/05/99 10k race – finish time = 56:39

07/15/99 8k race – finish time = 41:17

08/07/99 10k race – finish time = 51:53

09/25/99 11 miles – finish time = 1:31 * Relay race

Although I had finished the Boston marathon 2 times as a “Bandit” I never had a marathon-training program. I made sure for the USMC marathon that I would not make the same mistakes that I made for the previous Boston marathons and with the help of a number of seasoned marathoners I was able to put together an 18-week, 750-mile, training program.

Prior to starting my training I had a physical to ensure that I was fit to run – there were no problems that would stop me from running the marathon. I started my 18-week 750-mile training program while I was living in Lexington, Massachusetts where I was a member of the “Concord Runners” and would run with them every Saturday – a great group. I was able to train 6 days a week during my 18 week training program even though there were days of less than ideal weather – rain, wind, muggy, and cold – typical New England weather. I was very fortunate that during my training I avoided any major injuries – just the normal aches and pains of marathon runners.

During my training I also ran six races to help me prepare me for the USMC marathon. I ran 6 days a week with 1 day of rest and my longest runs were 20, 21, and 22 miles. After completing my 750-mile training program I tapered my last week of training and felt that I was ready to finish the USMC marathon in a creditable time for my age.

USMC Marathon Travel:

I was fortunate to get a room at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City Virginia. The hotel was only 15 minutes from the start of the race using the Metro and the marathon Expo was located in the hotel – it was an n excellent hotel and a great location. I arrived at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia on Friday October 22^nd where I stayed for 4 days – leaving for home on October 26^th – the day after the marathon.

USMC Marathon Highlights:

When I went to the marathon Expo it was already packed with people waiting in line to get their chip and Bib# – it took about another 2 hours for me to get my Bib# and chip as they could not find my registration information. After walking through the Expo and visiting a number of booths I went to get a cup of coffee before going out for a short run. At the coffee shop I ended up sharing a table with the Commanding General of the Quantico Virginia base, USMC brigadier General Leif Hendrickson and his wife. I had a great conversation with the General about the Marine Corps and how it has changed since I went to Boot Camp in 1956 at Parris Island South Carolina. That evening I went out to an Italian restaurant for my Pasta to get loaded up on my carbohydrates for the marathon. The next day, the day before the marathon, I just stayed in the hotel and relaxed – in the evening I went out with a group of runners that I had met for a “Pasta Party”. After my meal it was back to the hotel and in bed by 10:00pm to get some rest before the big day.

On the day of the marathon I woke up at 6:00 am to get ready for the marathon – stopped by the restaurant and had a bagel and a banana prior to getting on the packed Metro for the 15 minute ride to the start of the marathon. I arrived at the marathon 1 hour before the marathons start time of 8:00 am there were about 18,000 runners. I ended up pretty far back in the pack of runners and was not able to move either forward or back – once you were settled you were not able to move. The weather was cool at the start, which is great weather to run a marathon. Standing near the USMC Iwo Jima Monument waiting for the start of the race made me proud to say that I am a former Marine. The race started at the Iwo Jima Monument in Virginia, where the countdown began and before you knew it the Cannon went off to start the 24^th USMC marathon. The race begins and ends at the Iwo Jima Monument. It took me over 10 minutes of, mostly walking, to get to the start line and once I crossed the start line I was able to start a very slow jog.

The first 8 miles of the racecourse took me close to the Arlington cemetery and the Pentagon, then around the Pentagon, before heading back to the starting line. After passing the start line the course crossed the Potomac river over Key Bridge arriving in Georgetown at mile 8. At mile 9 we went by the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial and then turned onto Constitution Avenue just before mile 10.

Along the way people were yelling at me “go Johnny” because I had my brother’s name on my hat.

The crowds were very large and very loud, up to and past, the US Capital, which helped to push me on to the ½ waypoint in the marathon. I reached the ½ way point in a time of 2:09 [9:50 pace] which if I kept it up I would finish the marathon in a time of around 4:18. Miles 14 through 22 took me south all the way to Hains Point where there were very few spectators to cheer you on. I was able to keep my 9:50 pace up to mile 19 but at mile 20 I hit “the wall” my body was telling me that I would not be able to keep up the 9:50 pace that I had set in the first ½ of the marathon. At this point in the race my goal was to simply finish the race because the most grueling parts of the race were yet to come.

Mile 23 at the 14^th street bridge marked the start of the most challenging 3 miles in the marathon. The on-ramp to the bridge is steep and all cement – I began to feel very sharp pains in my Quads and Hamstrings and it took everything I had to keep me from stopping and walking the rest of the way. Once over the bridge I found a little more energy because of the encouragement from the crowds and I was able to continue the last 2 ½ miles without stopping. Ahead of me was the most daunting part of the race, the infamous USMC marathons last ¼ mile. It took me past the marathon start line and then I quickly had to start running up a very steep hill and then around a long circle that seemed to go on forever. The crowds along the hill were very large so that only a few runners at a time could climb the hill but the enthusiasm and encouragement of the crowd gave me the boost that I need to overcome my last obstacle on the way to the finish line. Once I turned the corner I could see the finish line – and just in time because I did not have the strength to go any further.

I was so elated when I finally crossed the finish line that I went right past the area where the USMC 2^nd Lieutenants removed all of the finishers chips from their running shoe. I had to go back and wait in line to get a seat while the Marine Lieutenant removed my chip; after my chip was removed I found it very difficult to get up from the seat, as my legs were so tight. I tried walking around and managed to get some food to eat – after eating I tried to do some stretching to work out all of my aches and pains. I went to the marathon results board to check my official finish time – it was 4:39:55 and I came in 48^th out of 127 males in my age group of 60 to 64. My legs were like rubber and my Quads, Hamstrings, and Shins hurt so bad that it was very difficult to walk.

The USMC marathon was a challenge to finish but it was truly a great experience. The Marines and the organizers did an outstanding job in managing the event.

It was starting to get cold out and I really wanted to get something to eat. I walked to the Metro station, which was around a ¼ of a mile from the finish line; it was a very painful walk which took me over an hour. When I finally got to the Metro station there was a long line of people waiting to get on the down escalator to get to the trains. Once I got to the escalator I found out why there was a line to get on it – the escalator was broken and it was quite a distance to the bottom. The only way I could get down the escalator was to walk sideways because I could not lift my legs – all you could hear was people cursing and moaning because the escalator was broken. When I got on the Metro to go back to my hotel it was packed with runners and there were no available seats so I had to stand for the 15-minute ride to my stop. It took a while after getting off the Metro but I made it back to my hotel and immediately went to my room to shower and change to go get something to eat. When I went downstairs to eat at the hotel restaurant it was about 4:00 pm and by the time I finished eating it was about 5:30 pm. I paid my bill went back to my room took a couple of Advil laid down on the bed about 6:30 pm the next thing I remember is waking up the next morning at 6:00 am.

When I got back to Lexington I did not do any running for 2 weeks in order to rest all of my aches and pains and when I started running again it was very short and easy runs. I beat my personal marathon best finish goal time of 4:45 by 6 minutes and I did it by running all 26.2 miles. During the first week of December I started the planning process for next years worldwide marathon [2000] for kidney cancer research, my 2^nd worldwide marathon, which would take place somewhere in Europe.

Filed Under: Marathons, North America Tagged With: marathon guide, north american marathons, usmc marathon

2006 – Palos Verdes Marathon

December 16, 2010 By Bob

Filed Under: Marathons, North America Tagged With: marathon guide, north american marathons, palos verdes marathon

2011 Antarctica Marathon Report – 7 Continents Finished!

#12 – 2010 Cape Town Marathon

#11 – 2009 Stockholm Marathon

#10 – 2008 Berlin Marathon

#9 – 2007 Buenos Aires Marathon

#8 – 2006 Bangkok Marathon

#7 – 2005 Sydney Marathon

2004 – Boston Marathon

#6 – 2004 Lausanne Marathon

2003 – Napa Valley Marathon

#5 – 2003 Budapest Marathon

2002 – Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, San Diego

#4 – 2002 Monaco Marathon

#3 – 2001 Medoc Marathon

#2 – 2000 Dublin Marathon

#5 – 2003 Budapest Marathon

Marathon Guide

2002 – Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, San Diego

#4 – 2002 Monaco Marathon

Marathon Guide

#3 – 2001 Medoc Marathon

Marathon Guide

#2 – 2000 Dublin Marathon

Marathon Guide

#1 – 1999 USMC Marathon in Washington DC

Marathon Guide

2006 – Palos Verdes Marathon

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