marathon guide

Week 3 of my 14th, and final year, for kidney cancer research [1/16/012 to 1/22/012]

January 23, 2012 By Bob Leave a Comment

Week 3 of my 14^th, and final year, that I will be running marathons around the world for kidney cancer research was a very busy week of training, writing my February monthly email Newsletter, preparing a motivational speech that I will be giving in February, answering questions from my Twitter and Facebook accounts, planning my trip [Airfare, Hotel, etc.] to Copenhagen, and finishing my weekly Blog.

I want to thank everyone for getting the word out about my worldwide marathons for kidney cancer research. Because of your support I now have 2,109 followers on Twitter and my social media website [designed by Blurose media] has had 5,008 visits from over 100 countries since January of 2011.

Week 3 Training Program Results: [1/16/012 to 1/22/012]

My 3^rd week of training was difficult for me because I had to change my running stride that I have been using for a number of years because of my injured knee. During my recent long runs I had a definite limp in my running form due to the pain in my knee and it was effecting my ability to maintain my planned pace throughout my long run. I found that by reducing my running stride to a shorter, faster turnover the change in the stride helped to reduce the pain in my knee and allowed me to meet my long run pace goal. I tried my new running stride on my 10 mile long run [in the rain] and it was a definite improvement both in the pain level and my ability to maintain my pace goal.

My training program, and miles run each day, for the week was as follows:

M: X Train

T: Speed 2

W: Interval 4

TH: Hills 5

F: Easy: 4

S: Long run 10

S: Rest

Total miles run over the Last 14 Years: [23,565]

For the week I ran a total of 25 miles which gives me a total of 23,565 miles run [races + training] over the last 14 years. I now only need to run 1,336.55 over the next 343 days to meet my goal of running more miles than the circumference of the earth [24,901.55 .00].

Total money raised for kidney cancer research:

Over the last 14 years I have raised $83,805.00 for kidney cancer research in memory of my brother John. I only need to raise $16,195.00 by December 31, 2012 to meet my commitment to raise $100,000.00 for kidney cancer research. If you would like to join the 1,085 people who have donated to such a worthy cause over the last 14 years please click here.

You can follow my weekly progress on:

Twitter [http://twitter.com/bobrebello],

Facebook[http://facebook.com/Worldwidemarathons]

Have a great day,

Bob Rebello

Filed Under: Marathon Training Tagged With: kidney cancer research, marathon guide, marathon training

2011 Antarctica Marathon: The Complete Story

May 16, 2011 By Bob Leave a Comment

Marathon Date: February 28, 2011

Continent: Antarctica

My Age: 74

My Finish Time: 6:24

My Marathon Rating: Trip of a Lifetime

Memorable Moment: Receiving my Seven Continents Marathons Finisher Medal

Lessons Learned: Do not over train for a marathon by running to many long runs of 20 miles or more. I ran 8 long runs of 20 miles or more during my 16-week training program. My body never recovered in time for the marathon.

Marathon Selection:

By 2008 I had finished 12 worldwide marathons on 5 continents [North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia], which meant that I needed to finish marathons on the remaining two continents – Africa and Antarctica. I selected the March 2010 Antarctica marathon because in order for me to meet my commitment that I made in 1999 to finish marathons on all 7 continents I would have to finish a marathon on Antarctica, the most remote continent in the world, prior to December 30, 2012.

Registration: [05/28/08 to 11/05/010]

May 28, 2008: The only way I would be able to meet the commitment that I made in 1999 would be to register for the Antarctica marathon with Marathon Tours of Boston, Massachusetts, the only group that is managing a marathon on Antarctica. On May 28, 2008. I registered for the March 2010 Antarctica marathon, my 6^th continent, by paying my deposit of $300.00 to the company that manages the Antarctica marathon, Marathon Tours & Travel of Boston, MA. I was told that my deposit would ensure me that I would be on the list of runners who would be running the 2010 Antarctica marathon on March 6, 2010. The package that I received from Marathon Tours informed me that there would be two ships going to the marathon with 150+ runners, race support staff, and the ships Russian crew

April 30, 2009: My plans for the 2010 Antarctica marathon were put on hold on April 30, 2009 when I received an e-mail from Tom Gilligan, the Founder of Marathon Tours, that informed me that they will be limited to only one ship for the 2010 Antarctica marathon and must confirm travelers according to when deposits were received. As my deposit was received late in the process my trip to Antarctica would be moved out from March 6, 2010 to February 28, 2011. My original plan was that Antarctica in 2010 would be my 6^th continent and Cape Town South Africa would be my final continent, the 7^th continent in 2011. With the cancellation of my trip to Antarctica I now had to start the process of scheduling Africa in 2010 instead of 2011. I was very fortunate that I was in the early stages of the planning/registration process of my Africa marathon.

October 23, 2010: On October 23, 2010 I received an email from Tom Gilligan informing me, and the other runners, that the Clipper Adventurer, the ship that has been chartered for our journey, ran aground in the Arctic about 4 weeks ago. It was not looking good that we would be making the trip to Antarctica in 2011. Tom also said that he is looking into getting another ship to replace the Clipper Adventurer – he will keep us informed.

November 2010: Tom Gilligan e-mailed the runners that the Clipper Adventurer has been deemed not seaworthy for the season. He has secured the Sea Spirit [formerly called the Spirit of Oceanus] due to a recent bankruptcy by a cruise company that left the ship owners with no revenue for the entire season. The ship is confirmed for the same dates and thankfully it has the exact number of berths. However, the quality of Sea Spirit is far superior to the Clipper Adventurer. We are now confirming at the same price a huge improvement in ship quality and all cabins are suites of varying sizes from 235 square feet to 353 square feet. Everyone is getting a huge upgrade. A voyage to Antarctica for 10 days on board this ship would be about $3,000 – $6,000 more per person under ordinary circumstances. To ensure my name was on the final list for the 2010 Antarctica marathon I paid the trip cost of $7,090.00 in 3 payments [June, July and November] as required by Marathon tours and Travel. The cost of the trip to Antarctica is $7,090.00 and includes 3 nights in the Marriott Plaza Hotel in Buenos Aires, round trip flights from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, 2 day boat ride to King George Island to run the marathon – three meals daily on board ship, sightseeing trips to Paradise Bay and through the fjords near the Lemaire channel, and the 2 day boat ride from Antarctica to Ushuaia. The trip cost did not include my roundtrip airfare from San Diego to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which I will purchase in December.

Antarctica Training: [11/01/0101 to 02/13/011] * 15 weeks

I started my Antarctica training on November 1^st after taking 3 weeks off from running after returning from the long trip to Cape Town South Africa on October 16th. I had a very aggressive 16-week 625-Miles Antarctica training program that consisted of two days [M & F] of weights/stationary bike/stretching, swimming, and 5 days [T, W, TH, Sat] of running trails, long steep hills, intervals and one day of 20 miles or more [Sunday]. As I look back I felt that I over trained for the marathon by running 8 long runs of 20 miles or more in 16 weeks of training – I did not give my body a chance to recover.

Travel:

Buenos Aires: [2/21/011 to 2/24/011]

I arrived in the Buenos Aires International Airport on February 21^st at 10am in the morning where I met the Marathon Tours staff and a number of runners. We then took a chartered bus to the Buenos Aires Marriott Plaza located in the heart of the city. I spent 3 days in the Hotel meeting the men and women from around the world who will be running the Antarctica marathon and who I will be living with on our ship the Sea Spirit for 10 days. From talking with the runners I found out that the ages of the marathoners ranged from the youngest at age 29 to the oldest of 74 [yours truly]. There were 54 male runners and 22 female runners and the average age of the male runners was 49. There were runners from 13 countries.

On the 22^nd Tom Gilligan Founder of Marathon Tours, and his staff, gave a very informative briefing about our trip at the group’s welcome banquet. The runners had an open day on the 23^rd to travel around the city or go on a free city tour. On the morning of the 24^th the group left Buenos Aires on Argentina’s domestic Airlines for the 3-hour flight to Ushuaia, the gateway to Antarctica, where we will get on our ship the Sea Spirit for the 2-day voyage to King George Island. Getting our boarding pass at Aeroparque, the domestic airport, was like watching a “Keystone Kops Movie”. As far as I could see there were no procedures on how to get your boarding pass- it was very chaotic to say the least. I finally got my boarding pass, gave them my check-in luggage, and was off to my next adventure with the airlines. My next adventure with Argentina’s domestic airlines did not take long – our flight was supposed to be a direct 3-hour flight to Ushuaia, but for some reason, after 2 hours of flying, we landed in a very small airport far from any major city. I asked the Stewardess why we were landing, seeing that our flight plan was direct to Ushuaia. Her answer was that they landed to deliver mail and to refuel – I have no idea why we were refueling after only 2 hours in the air.

The adventure with Argentina’s domestic airlines was not over yet. When we arrived at the Ushuaia airport we waited for about an hour for our check-in luggage to show up at the designated baggage conveyor but not one piece of the groups check-in luggage showed up. Everyone was now getting concerned as some of them had put their running gear for the marathon in their check-in luggage. That is something I never do – I always put all of my running gear in my carry-on luggage. Finally an employee of the Ushuaia airport told us that none of our group’s check in luggage was shipped from Buenos Aires and that it is being flown on another plane and would arrive in a couple of hours. I have traveled around the world with groups before and there always seems to be at least one person who’s check-in luggage gets lost – but never have I seen a situation where everyone in the group has had their luggage lost by the airlines. I still do not know why the luggage was not shipped to Ushuaia with our plane.

Ushuaia to King George Island: [2/24/011 to 2/26/011]

We had to wait for almost 2 hours before our luggage showed up at our ship and after another hour it was determined that everyone’s luggage had arrived except for one person’s luggage – that person was Tom Gilligan. Finally Tom’s luggage showed up and everyone boarded our ship the Luxury Liner the Sea Spirit. As soon as I got on board the ship I put on my seasickness patch behind my ear to ensure that I would not get seasick during our 10-day trip. We were over 2 hours late in departing for Antarctica but I was finally on my way to finishing the Antarctica marathon, my 7^th continent. Once aboard we were given our room numbers and after settling in we were given a welcome reception and a briefing on shipboard safety. The next morning [2/25/011] after breakfast we had to attend a mandatory briefing on what we are required to do to ensure that we protect the Antarctica wildlife and environment. We were also briefed on the Zodiacs that will take us to the Islands that we will be exploring. Our ship spent the rest of the day at sea crossing the Beagle Channel and Drake Passage. We were very fortunate crossing the Drake Passage as we only had a few hours of rough waters. After a very nice dinner the rest of the evening was spent watching videos and listening to lectures on Antarctica’s environment and it’s wildlife.

In the morning of the 26^th the captain informed us that we had reached the South Shetland Islands – where King George Island is located. Everyone had to go through a Bio Security check – we had to have all of our outer gear, running shoes, waterproof, pants, and backpacks vacuumed to remove seeds and other plant matter to prevent the introduction of non-native species to Antarctica. During the afternoon we got into our Zodiacs and spent a couple of hours on the Aitcho Islands to see the Chinstrap penguins and gentoo penguins. In the evening I attended a mandatory race protocol meeting – the 1991 Antarctica Protocol Adherence agreement.

Marathon Summary:

After 13+ years and 17 worldwide marathons I finally met the commitment I made to my donors in 1999 – “that I would finish marathons on all 7 continents”. I accomplished this on February 28, 2011 when I finished the Antarctica marathon, my 7^th continent, in a time of 6:24. It was a very satisfying feeling crossing the finish line after what I consider my most difficult and physically demanding 26.2 miles that I have ever run. Prior to the race I had set a finish time goal of 6:15, the race cutoff time was 6:30. My finish time goal was based on Tom Gilligan, the Founder of Marathon Tours [www.marathontours.com] recommendation to all of the runners that they should add at least 1 to 1 ½ hours to the finish time of their last marathon for their Antarctica marathon goal. I also checked with runners who had previously finished the Antarctica marathon and most of them told me that their Antarctica finish times were close to the 1 ½ hour finish time number. The Male winner of the 2011 Antarctica marathon was Michael Hewitt from Denver Colorado in a time of 3:25:49 [45 minutes slower than his last marathon]. The female winner was Diane Kenna from New York in a time of 4:26:29. The ages of the marathoners ranged from the youngest at age 29 to the oldest of 74 [yours truly]. There were 54 male runners and 22 female runners and the average age of the male runners was 49. There were runners from 13 countries.

All of the 16 previous marathons that I finished were run in major worldwide cities during their warm weather seasons, on paved roads, with thousands, of people cheering me on, with water stations every 3 miles and I could get to the start line by walking or taking a taxi. The 2011 Antarctica marathon was the exact opposite as it was run on the most remote continent on earth, with the coldest and windiest weather, on muddy, rock infested dirt roads that had many steep hills, streams that you had to wade through to get across. There were no people to cheer you on, no water stations, and the only way to get to the start line is to travel 600 miles on a ship from Ushuaia, Argentina through the treacherous waters of the Drake Passage to Antarctica, and then to get on a Zodiac for a 15 minute ride over very choppy waters to the start of the race on King George Island.

At this time I would like to thank Tom Gilligan [www.marathontours.com], and his great Marathon Tours team of Scott Guillemette, Anita Allen, Bill Serues, and Jane Serues for their tireless efforts to ensure that the 2011 Antarctica marathon was a success.

What follows are the details of the day before the marathon, marathon day and the marathon celebration, the Islands that we explored after the marathon and the 2 day trip back to Ushuaia.

Day Before the marathon: February 27,2011

On the morning of the 27^th, the day before the marathon, Tom Gilligan and his staff went to King George Island to determine what the course for the marathon will be, to get approval from the base research installations staffs [Russia, Chile, China, and Uruguay], and to setup the course with flags and mileage markers for the marathon. While Tom and his staff were setting up the course we disembarked in the morning for Robert Point, Robert Island. In the evening Tom Gilligan and his staff gave us the final race briefing and gave us the details concerning the final course. He explained that the racecourse will consist of a number of outs and backs between the Russian, China, and Uruguay bases and will go along hilly dirt roads. The race will start at the Russian base and go out 2.5 miles South to the China base and back to the Russian base for a total of 5 miles .The toughest part of the course will be going North to the Uruguay base and back to the Russian base for a total of 11 miles. The course will then repeat the China and Uruguay routes for a total of 21 miles and repeat the China route 1 more time for the 26.2 miles makes up the final 5 miles. Although I had a clear understanding of the route and that it would be clearly marked, with race monitors in key locations, I along with all of the other runners had no idea how really bad the running conditions would be as the day wore on.

After the briefing I went back to my room to layout my race gear for to-morrow’s race.

The gear that I wore for the marathon was:

Running Shoes: Asics 2160

Socks: Wigwam mills ¾ socks

Underwear: Thermal underwear

Running Tights: Asics running tights

Three Layers of jerseys: 1^st [light thermal], 2^nd [heavy thermal], 3^rd [heavy fleece]

Marathon Shirt: On top of 3^rd layer of jerseys I wore my worldwide marathons shirt

Hat: Wigwam Mills Gortex Hat

Watch: Garmin

Fuel Belt: 4-bottle Road Runner Sports fuel belt

Gloves: heavy winter gloves

I will also wear a Road Runner Sports water- proof jacket and pants to go ashore on the Zodiac. As is the case in every other marathon that I have finished the night before the race I was very excited as well as concerned about finishing my 7^th continent. At the same time I really had no idea just how difficult and physically demanding the race would eventually be for me.

I want to thank all of my sponsors who donated their best in class products for my Antarctica marathon. Asics, Wigwam Mills, Phase n, Road Runner Sports.

Marathon Day: February 28, 2011

I woke up the morning of the race at 6am, showered and got into my race gear then went for a light breakfast of oatmeal, a peanut butter sandwich, and a cup of coffee. Early in the morning Tom Gilligan and his staff boarded their Zodiacs and headed for the island to prepare for the race. The runners were on the Zodiacs around 8am and by 8:45am all of the runners were lined up for the start of the 12^th Antarctica marathon. The weather on race day was overcast; with a temperature that ranged from 32F-38F and with wind gusts of 40mph it made it much colder.

The race started at 9am and the fastest runners were up front and literally left all of the other runners in the dust. The first 2.5 miles to the China base consisted of about 4 to 5 steep hills, the dirt road was in good shape with no mud yet but the only flat area in the first 5 miles was where there was a lot of stones, I had to run against the 40mph wind gusts on the way back to the start and for the first 5 miles I did very well as I ran up all of the steep hills and went faster on the downhills to help my time. Once I was back at the Russian base I headed North 2.5 miles to the Uruguay base, which turned out to be the toughest part of the marathon. The route had a number of places along the road that was covered in a very thick and sticky mud and had at least 2 places where I had to wade across the streams and got my shoes and socks wet. I counted 7 steep hills along the route and I ended walking up the last 2 hills due to my having to run against the 40mph wind gusts. On the return to the Russian base I had to go through the mud and water again and my shoes were starting to get heavier as I couldn’t shake off the mud because it was so thick. When I got back to the Russian base I had now run a total of 11 miles which meant that I had to run the China route 2 more times and the Uruguay route 1 more time to make up the 26.2 miles. I headed out on my second trip to the China base and found that the road was starting to get muddier due to the number of runners going over the route for the second time. It became more difficult to run up the hills due to the increase of mud along the way. I eventually reached the China base and returned to the Russian base at a much slower time than my first trip to the China base due to the mud and wind gusts. At this point in the race I had run 16 miles and now was headed towards the Uruguay base. While running up the first hill towards Uruguay I picked up small stones in both of my shoes and they were rubbing on my heels, which made it painful to run. I tried moving my shoes to see if I could get rid of them but I just couldn’t shake them out of my shoes. After a while I thought that I finally got rid of them but they had moved to the front of my shoes and away from my heels, which were starting to hurt. It was a very difficult 2.5 miles to the Uruguay base due to the increase of thick mud, water, and the 7 hills. Some of the hills had so much mud on them that it was very difficult going down the hills. On the way back to the Russian base I was now walking up all of the steep hills as almost all of the runners were doing. When I got back to the Russian base I had now run a total of 21 miles and it was apparent that I would not meet my finish time goal of 6:15, as I still had to run the China route 1 more time to reach the 26.2 miles. I headed out for my last China run and my heels were now really bothering me it was clear that I had some rather large blisters on my heels due to the stones rubbing against my heels. When I reached the China Base and headed back to the Russian base I felt confident that I would beat the cut off time of 6:30. When I finally reached the Russian base I could see the finish line and as I finally crossed the finish line in a time of 6:24 I was very tired but very excited to realize that I had finished my 7^th continent. When I got back to the ship I finally looked at my heels and found that I had 2 very large blisters on my heels. I went to see the ships doctor and he put some salve on it and large band-aids.

Later in the evening there was a post-race party and celebration after which Tom Gilligan announced the male and female winners of the marathon. He also announced the top 3 finishers in the male and female age groups and the evening ended with an auction of the race banner and all of the mile markers – the money raised went to a worthy charity.

Islands Exploration: [March 1, 2011 to March 3, 2011]

March 1, 011: In the morning we disembarked for Culverville Island, which lies in the Errera Channel. The small rocky island is home to the largest gentoo penguin colony in the region [4,800 breeding pairs], along with southern giant petrels, kelp gulls, and south polar Skuas

March 2, 1011: In the morning we disembarked for Neko Harbor, which is a continent landing and home to approximately 250 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins. Weddell seals may also be seen hauled-out on the cobblestone beach or above the landing site. In the afternoon we disembarked for Port Lockroy, which is the home of the restored British Antarctica Survey hut and museum. The hut was restored in 1996 and is open to visitors during austral summers.

March 3, 2011: In the morning we disembarked for Petermann Island, which is the home to 500 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins and 2,000 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins. In the afternoon we disembarked for a Zodiac cruise at Pleneau Bay, which is an iceberg graveyard where both large and tabular icebergs and older, rolled icebergs have run aground. Many of these icebergs have originated from as far south as the Rosa Ice Shelf.

At Sea: [March 4, 2011 to March 5, 2011]

March 4, 2011: In the early morning of March 4^th we left the Antarctica continent and headed for open waters to re-cross the Drake Passage. We spent the next two days in some very turbulent waters – the boat was all over the water as the very large waves kept slamming into our ship. It was very difficult walking around the ship and even more difficult eating during the high waves.

March 5, 2011: During the day we sighted land at Cape Horn, Chile and the bad weather started to ease up. In the evening everyone attended the Captains Cocktails and farewell dinner. After the dinner I went to my cabin to pack up and prepare for disembarking in Ushuaia in the morning.

March 6, 2011: We disembarked at 7 am from our ship, the Sea Spirit, and transferred by coach to the Ushuaia airport and our 3-hour flight to Buenos Aires. From Buenos Aires I flew to Chicago and then on to Boston to spend 8 days with my daughter Lisa nd her husband Steve.

Bottom line – Traveling to Antarctica and finishing the marathon, my 7^th continent, was an adventure of a lifetime a trip I will never forget.

View more photos on Flickr – CLICK HERE

Filed Under: Antarctica Marathon Tagged With: antarctica marathon, marathon guide

2011 Antarctica Marathon Report – 7 Continents Finished!

March 30, 2011 By Bob 5 Comments

2011 Antarctica Marathon

Prior to the race I had set a finish time goal of 6:15, the race cutoff time was 6:30. My finish time goal was based on Tom Gilligan, the Founder of Marathon Tours recommendation to all of the runners that they should add at least 1 to 1 ½ hours to the finish time of their last marathon for their Antarctica marathon goal. I also checked with runners who had previously finished the Antarctica marathon and most of them told me that their Antarctica finish times were close to the 1 ½ hour finish time number.

The Male winner of the 2011 Antarctica marathon was Michael Hewitt from Denver Colorado in a time of 3:25:49 [45 minutes slower than his last marathon] the female winner was Diane Kenna from New York in a time of 4:26:29. The ages of the marathoners ranged from the youngest at age 29 to the oldest of 74 [yours truly]. There were 54 male runners and 22 female runners and the average age of the male runners was 49.

Total, there were runners from 13 countries.

There were no people to cheer you on, no water stations, and the only way to get to the start line is to travel 600 miles on a ship from Ushuaia, Argentina through the treacherous waters of the Drake Passage to Antarctica, and then to get on a Zodiac for a 15 minute ride over very choppy waters to the start of the race on King George Island.

At this time I would like to thank Tom Gilligan, and his great Marathon Tours team of Scott Guillemette, Anita Allen, Bill Serues, and Jane Serues for their tireless efforts to ensure that the 2011 Antarctica marathon was a success. What follows are the details of the day before the marathon, and marathon day on King George Island.

Day Before the marathon – February 27,2011

On the morning of the 27th, the day before the marathon, Tom Gilligan and his staff went to King George Island to determine what the course for the marathon will be, to get approval from the base research installations staffs [Russia, Chile, China, and Uruguay], and to setup the course with flags and mileage markers for the marathon.

While Tom and his staff were setting up the course we disembarked in the morning for Robert Point, Robert Island. In the evening Tom Gilligan and his staff gave us the final race briefing and gave us the details concerning the final course. After the briefing I went back to my room to layout my race gear for tomorrow’s race.

The gear that I wore for the marathon was:

Running Shoes: Asics 2160
Socks: Wigwam mills ¾ socks
Underwear: Thermal underwear
Running Tights: Asics running tights
Three Layers of jerseys: 1st [light thermal], 2nd [heavy thermal], 3rd [heavy fleece]
Marathon Shirt: On top of 3rd layer of jerseys I wore my worldwide marathons shirt
Hat: Wigwam Mills Gortex Hat
Watch: Garmin
Fuel Belt: 4-bottle Road Runner Sports fuel belt
Gloves: heavy winter gloves

I also wore a Road Runner Sports water- proof jacket and pants to go ashore on the Zodiac.

As is the case in every other marathon that I have finished the night before the race I was very excited as well as concerned about finishing my 7th continent. At the same time I really had no idea just how difficult and physically demanding the race would eventually be.

I want to thank all of my sponsors who donated their best in class products for my Antarctica marathon. Asics [shoes/tights], Wigwam Mills [socks/hat/], Phase n [Garmin], Road Runner Sports [Water and windproof jacket and pants].

Marathon Day – February 28, 2011

I woke up the morning of the race at 6am, showered and got into my race gear then went for a light breakfast of oatmeal, a peanut butter sandwich, and a cup of coffee. Early in the morning Tom Gilligan and his staff boarded their Zodiacs and headed for the island to prepare for the race. The runners were on the Zodiacs around 8am and by 8:45am all of the runners were lined up for the start of the 12th Antarctica marathon. The weather on race day was overcast; with a temperature that ranged from 32F-38F and with wind gusts of 40mph it made it much colder.

The racecourse was a number of outs and backs between the Russian, China, and Uruguay bases and ran along crude dirt roads. The race started at the Russian base and went out 2.5 miles South to the China base and back to the Russian base for a total of 5 miles .The toughest part of the course was going North to the Uruguay base and back to the Russian base for a total of 11 miles. The course then repeated the China and Uruguay routes for a total of 21 miles and repeating the China route 1 more time for the 26.2 miles makes up the final 5 miles. Although I had a clear understanding of the route and that it would be clearly marked, with race monitors in key locations, I along with all of the other runners had no idea how really bad the running conditions would be as the day wore on.

The race started at 9am and the fastest runners were up front and literally left all of the other runners in the dust.

The first 2.5 miles to the China base consisted of about 4 to 5 steep hills, the dirt road was in good shape with no mud yet but the only flat area in the first 5 miles was where there was a lot of stones, I had to run against the 40mph wind gusts on the way back to the start and for the first 5 miles I did very well as I ran up all of the steep hills and went faster on the downhills to help my time.

Once I was back at the Russian base I headed North 2.5 miles to the Uruguay base, which turned out to be the toughest part of the marathon. The route had a number of places along the road that was covered in a very thick and sticky mud and had at least 2 places where I had to wade across the streams and got my shoes and socks wet. I counted 7 steep hills along the route and I ended walking up the last 2 hills due to my having to run against the 40mph wind gusts.

On the return to the Russian base I had to go through the mud and water again and my shoes were starting to get heavier as I couldn’t shake off the mud because it was so thick. When I got back to the Russian base I had now run a total of 11 miles which meant that I had to run the China route 2 more times and the Uruguay route 1 more time to make up the 26.2 miles. I headed out on my second trip to the China base and found that the road was starting to get muddier due to the number of runners going over the route for the second time. It became more difficult to run up the hills due to the increase of mud along the way.

I eventually reached the China base and returned to the Russian base at a much slower time than my first trip to the China base due to the mud and wind gusts. At this point in the race I had run 16 miles and now was headed towards the Uruguay base. While running up the first hill towards Uruguay I picked up small stones in both of my shoes and they were rubbing on my heels, which made it painful to run. I tried moving my shoes to see if I could get rid of them but I just couldn’t shake them out of my shoes. After a while I thought that I finally got rid of them but they had moved to the front of my shoes and away from my heels, which were starting to hurt.

It was a very difficult 2.5 miles to the Uruguay base due to the increase of thick mud, water, and the 7 hills. Some of the hills had so much mud on them that it was very difficult going down the hills.

On the way back to the Russian base I was now walking up all of the steep hills as almost all of the runners were doing. When I got back to the Russian base I had now run a total of 21 miles and it was apparent that I would not meet my finish time goal of 6:15, as I still had to run the China route 1 more time to reach the 26.2 miles.

I headed out for my last China run and my heels were now really bothering me it was clear that I had some rather large blisters on my heels due to the stones rubbing against my heels. When I reached the China Base and headed back to the Russian base I felt confident that I would beat the cut off time of 6:30.

When I finally reached the Russian base I could see the finish line and as I finally crossed the finish line in a time of 6:24. I was very tired but very excited to realize that I had finished my 7th continent. When I got back to the ship I finally looked at my heels and found that I had 2 very large blisters on my heels. I went to see the ships doctor and he put some salve on it and large band-aids.

There was a post-race party and celebration during the evening onboard the ship as we cruised overnight south to the Antarctica Peninsula.

View more photos on Flickr – CLICK HERE

Filed Under: Antarctica, Marathons Tagged With: antarctica marathon, marathon guide, marathon tours, worldwide marathons

Antarctica Marathon Updates Through The End Of 2010

February 16, 2011 By Bob 1 Comment

Photo: Scott Wilson

Antarctica Trip:

On October 23, 2010 my February 2011 trip to Antarctica was put on hold when I received a bulletin from Marathon Tours that the ship that was supposed to take the runners to Antarctica for the February 28, 2011 marathon was deemed unseaworthy. On November 9, 2010 I received another bulletin from Tom Gilligan, the owner of Marathon Tours, informing me and the other runners that our trip to Antarctica is now on again. He gave us the amazing news that he had secured the Sea Spirit, a Quark Luxury vessel, which greatly exceeds the quality of the ship we had originally planned on using. He had secured the Sea Spirit [formerly called the Spirit of Oceanus] due to a recent bankruptcy by a cruise company that left the ship owners with no revenue for the entire season.

The ship is confirmed for the same dates and thankfully it has the exact number of berths. However, the quality of Sea Spirit is far superior to the Clipper Adventurer. We are now confirming at the same price a huge improvement in ship quality and all cabins are suites of varying sizes from 235 square feet to 353 square feet. Everyone is getting a huge upgrade. A voyage to Antarctica for 10 days on board this ship would be about $3,000 – $6,000 more per person under ordinary circumstances. Thanks Thom for all your efforts in making my trip of a lifetime come true.

To ensure my name was on the final list for the 2010 Antarctica marathon I paid the trip cost in 3 payments [June, July and November] as required by Marathon tours and Travel. The trip cost did not include my roundtrip airfare from San Diego to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which I purchased in December 2010. Continental airfare from San Diego to Buenos Aires from Marathon Tours. I will be stopping in Boston from March 7th to March 14th to spend time with my daughter Lisa and her husband Steve. The trip to Antarctica, airfare included, was expensive but the trip is a once in a lifetime experience. I purchased the “Seven Continents Marathon Finisher Medal” – I am an optimist – I will finish the marathon.

Antarctica Training:

I started my Antarctica training on November 1st after taking 3 weeks off from running after returning from the long trip to Cape Town South Africa. I will be doing a very aggressive 16-week Antarctica training program that will consist of two days [M & F] of weights/stationary bike/stretching ,swimming, and 5 days [T, W, TH, Sat] of running trails, long steep hills, intervals and one day of 20 miles or more [Sunday]. For the month of November I ran 5 days a week for a total of 120 miles. I did not have any injuries in November. For the month of December I ran a total of 167 miles. I did not have any major injuries in December.

Filed Under: Antarctica Training Tagged With: antarctica marathon, marathon guide, marathon tours

#12 – 2010 Cape Town Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob 2 Comments

Marathon Date: September 26, 2010

Continent: Africa

Country: South Africa

My Age: 74

My Finish Time: 4:51 * 2nd in my age group 70 to 80+

My Marathon Rating: Most Beautiful City

Memorable Moment: Meeting with the Mayor of Capetown – Mr Dan Plato

Lessons Learned: If you cannot sleep on long flights or when you arrive at your marathon destination try taking a sleeping Pill [Melatonin]. * Check with your doctor for approval

Marathon selection and registration:

For my 6th continent – Africa- I had 2 choices – the ‘Oceans to Oceans” or the Cape Town City Marathon. I decided on the Cape Town City marathon because I had heard so many people describe the city as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Also the city had done such an outstanding job on preparing for the World Cup in 2010 by building a new airport, new roads and new and efficient trains and buses as well as new infrastructure throughout the city. Also there is so much history in the city with all kinds of museums, parks, and a basically new waterfront. I was also told by my Sports Therapist not to run a marathon with many hills due to the fact that I was still recovering from my very painful Achilles injury that I got in my 2009 Stockholm, Sweden marathon. I was very happy to learn that the race manager [James Evans] would be inviting me to the marathon and would pay my entrance fee. He also pulled some strings and gave me the number 12 to signify that the Cape Town marathon would be my 12th worldwide marathon. Although the 2010 Cape Town marathon only had 1,000 runners I believe in the future it will become one of the worlds largest city marathons because Cape Town is such a beautiful city.

Marathon Training Program:

Due to the fact that it would take a number of months for me to completely recover from my Achilles injury that I received in my May 2009 Stockholm marathon I decided not to do any races prior to the Cape Town marathon. My 18-week marathon-training program started on May 23rd, my 74th birthday, and included 2 days of working weights, Elliptical, stationary bike, and a lot of stretching. I set a Cape Town marathon finish time goal of 4:30 due to the fact that I really did not want to push my times due to the still lingering Achilles injury. On all of my long runs I was able to maintain that pace so I felt very good about my chances of finishing the Cape Town marathon in my planned time of 4:30. My Garmin watch, which I use for all of my training runs and during my races to check my pace and times kept shutting off during week 16 of my training – I had to order a new one which arrived 5 days before I was leaving for Cape Town.

Marathon Travel:

I had to renew my Passport for my trip to Capetown so I sent in the passport renewal application on March 12th and I received my new passport on April 8th. After spending a lot of time searching the Internet for a hotel to stay in while I was in Cape Town I decided to stay at the Adderley Hotel on Adderley Street. The hotel was highly recommended by a number of sites that I went to – it is also centrally located and within walking distance to the start of the marathon, and all of the major areas, sites, etc; in Cape Town. I would be arriving in Cape Town on September 22nd which would give me 5 days to rest after the long flights and to get my body clock reset. I departed for Cape Town on October 6th and traveled to Boston to spend time with my daughter Lisa and her husband Steve for 5 days before returning to San Diego.

I flew to Cape Town on British Airways thanks to Michel Napolitano for donating his Alaskan Airlines frequent flier miles to me. The flight from LAX to London took 11 hours and I had an 8-hour layover in London before flying another 12 hours to Cape Town, South Africa. Both flights were uneventful but the food was not very good on either flight – fortunately I bought some food to eat before boarding the plane. I was only able to get about 2 to 3 hours sleep over the 23-hour flight and 8 hour layover in London.

When I arrived in Cape Town on September 22nd at 8:00 am I was very tired and was looking forward to getting to my hotel and taking a quick shower and going out to get a good meal. After picking up my Luggage I quickly went through customs – hired a taxi to take me to my hotel. The weather was great – in the mid 70’s and the views from the airport to my hotel were beautiful. It only took about 25 minutes to get to the hotel and when I arrived I found out my room would not be ready for about 2 hours so the hotel manager upgraded me to one of the best rooms in the hotel. After I put my clothes away I took a quick shower and went out to find a good restaurant to get something to eat. The hotel manager recommended a very nice restaurant about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.I spent the rest of the day and the following day taking in some of the historic sights within walking distance to my hotel. The areas I went to were table Top Mountain, The Waterfront, Company Gardens, Outdoor Market, and a number of museums that had information about the history of Cape Town.

On Thursday [9/23] the hotel was having an event for all of the workers to celebrate their Heritage – people were dressed up in their native costumes – There was the native food, the workers sang songs and danced. The hotel manager asked me to speak about my worldwide marathons and on September 29th I had the honor of meeting with the Mayor of Cape Town, Mr Dan Plato where I gave him a signed and framed photo of my worldwide marathons. The Mayor took me through the history of Cape Town and showed me a beautiful painting that is hanging on the wall showing Nelson Mandela making his famous speech surrounded by all of the famous South Africans – I thoroughly enjoyed the talk. On the morning of October 6th, John Yeld, a writer for the Cape Town Argus newspaper called me and told me that he heard about my worldwide marathons and he would like to do a story on me. He met me at the hotel later on in the morning and did his story; his photographer took some photos of me, which would be included in the story.

Marathon Highlights:

The race route started on Adderley Street and left the city after about 3 miles, the first 13 miles is very flat and goes through some small towns outside the city. At the turn around point in the race the route goes along roads with traffic coming towards the runners and there will be a point in the route where a volunteer will have to stop 2 way traffic to let the runners go through. The route goes along a 2-way highway for a number of miles before entering the city. The route then goes past the world cup stadium and under a bridge – this is where the only 2 challenging hills will be located. The route then goes along the coast for about 2 miles and turns toward the city and the finish line. The last 3 miles are flat and at mile 25 you approach the start/finish line – the finish is at the building where Nelson Mandela made his famous speech. The Cape Town Marathon is still a relatively new marathon.

On September 24th, 2 days before the marathon, I woke up had breakfast and jogged to the marathon Expo around 11:00 am – the Expo was only about 4 miles from my hotel and the weather was great for a run. The Expo was very small with only 3 booths – I picked up my chip and race #12, they gave me two race # 12’s, because the runners had to put their race number both on the front and the back of their shirts. While at the Expo I met the race manager James Evans and thanked him for the race number and inviting me to the marathon. The location of the Expo was along the beautiful coast and next to a very famous lighthouse. After James Evans explained the marathon route to me I jogged back to my hotel around 3:00pm.

Two days before the marathon I was having a bad feeling as to my being able to finish the marathon in my planned time of 4:30 because I did not have a good nights sleep during my flight to Cape Town as well as since I arrived in the city on September 22nd. I have been waking up at 3:00am almost every morning since I arrived and have not been able to go back to sleep. The day before the marathon I had a light breakfast and stayed in my room to try and get as much sleep during the day as possible. I went out at around 4:30pm had my pre-race Pasta dinner at a restaurant 15 minutes walk from the hotel and was back at the hotel at 6:30pm. I spent the next hour preparing my gear for the race and setting up a wake up call at 5:00am after everything was ready I just relaxed and watched some TV- I went to bed at 9pm.

I again woke up at 3:00am and tried to back to sleep but was only able to take a short sleep of about an hour. I got dressed at 5:30am and started walking to the marathon start line it was only about 15 minute walk from my hotel. The weather was in the mid 70’s with no rain forecasted until 4 hours after the race starts. There were only 1,000 runners scheduled to be running the marathon so there wasn’t the normal pushing and shoving at the start of the race, which started at 6:30am. I started very slowly and after the first mile I was on my marathon pace of 10:30. It started to get hot out and we were running in open roads with absolutely no shade, and there no people along the first half of the race to cheer the runners on. I was very happy at the halfway point of the race, as my 13.1 time was 2:14, which will give my goal of a 4:30 marathon. There were no hills during the first half of the race and the 2 hills will come later on in the race.

I was still on pace when we entered the city limits and started going through some very small towns – still no people cheering the runners on. At mile 19 I passed the world cup stadium and went under a cement bridge and then went up a long hill on the highway. After leaving the highway I started running along the coast walkway which was roped off for the runners to run on but when I got to the walkway there were people walking dogs and I had to waste time and run around them. At mile 21 my pace dramatically slowed down as my legs were like cement blocks and at mile 22 I realized that I would not meet my goal of a 4:30 marathon. With just 2 miles to go to the finish line I definitely was not a “happy camper” I was really upset to not make my goal of a 4:30 marathon and I knew it was because I did not get any sleep on the flights and prior to the marathon. I had my head down and thought I was running alone when my frustrations finally got the best of me I just let out some very choice ”words” I normally don’t swear but I was so upset that I just let it all out – when I looked up their was a young female runner running next to me and she just looked at me, laughed and said “Oh Really” and went on her way. Needless to say I was pretty embarrassed and after I finally finished in a time of 4:52 I ran into her again and apologized to her she just smiled and gave me a hug. It started raining about 5 minutes after I crossed the finish line and it was starting to get cold.

Filed Under: Africa, Marathons Tagged With: african marathons, capetown marathon, marathon guide

#11 – 2009 Stockholm Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob 1 Comment

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: May 30, 2009

Continent: Europe

Country: Sweden

My Age: 73

My Finish Time: 5:39

My Marathon Rating: Most painful marathon.

Memorable Moment: Finishing in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium.

Lessons Learned: Do not attempt to run a marathon with a serious injury that has not completely healed.

Stockholm Marathon Selection and Registration:

I had 2 choices for the worldwide marathon that I would run in 2009 and they were – the May 30^th Stockholm, Sweden marathon or the Amsterdam marathon that would be held on October 16^th. I decided on running the Stockholm marathon after reviewing the comments that previous marathoners had put on the web. There will be 18,000+ runners from around the world with a number of runners from the U.S. What is unusual about the Stockholm marathon is that the race starts at 2pm – which means if it is a very hot day we will be in the sun for most of the race. I will be going to the marathon with marathon tours of Boston, Massachusetts so they handled my airfare, hotel, and race registration – my number was 5992.

Stockholm Marathon Training Program:

I began my 18-week 750-mile Stockholm marathon-training program on January 25, 2009. When I started my training I had 2 lingering injuries, Right Quad & Right Achilles heel, that I had for about 3 weeks before I started my training. After my 4^th week of training my right Quad had healed but my right Achilles did not go away, and in fact had gotten worse. The pain was most notable during my long runs and would continue to be painful after I had completed the long run. Because of the Achilles injury I decided not to run any races before the Stockholm marathon on May 30^th. During my long run of the 13^th week of my training program the Achilles was so painful that I had to stop running at mile 18 of my 20-mile long run. By week 16 the Achilles hurt so bad that I had to limit the miles I ran during the week. When I left for Stockholm on May 26^th it was very clear to me that I would not have a chance to meet my marathon goal of 4:20 due to the constant pain of my right Achilles.

Stockholm Travel:

I made my airfare, hotel reservations through Marathon Tours and Travel in Boston, Massachusetts. I flew via Continental airlines and the flight to Stockholm was 7 hours and 12 minutes from New Jersey. I arrived at my Hotel, the Scandic Park Hotel, on May 26^th at 7:35 am – very tired, as I did not sleep on the flight. The hotel was only about 15 minutes walk to Stockholm center where the many lively shops and bars are located. It is also only 15 minutes walk to the marathon start and finish located in the 1912 Olympic Stadium. There also is a very beautiful park only 5 minutes away from the hotel.

Stockholm Marathon Highlights:

The day before the marathon I walked to the 1912 Olympic Stadium to get my Bib # 5992 and my race chip at the marathon Expo. Because of my injured Achilles the short walk to the Expo from my hotel was very painful and I had to stop and stretch when I arrived at the Expo. After I picked up my Bib# and race chip, I walked back at my hotel just before the rain started coming down very hard. I spent most of the afternoon resting and coming up with a new race strategy.

My original plan, before the Achilles injury, was to run a 4:20 marathon with a halfway time of 2:10. But because of the Achilles injury my new plan was to stop after each mile to rest my Achilles. I felt the new strategy would get me a finish time of close to 5 hours – not the 4:20 I had planned on but still a respectable finish time. I was not happy about my new strategy but there was no way that I would be able to run any length of time without stopping to rest the Achilles. I spent the rest of the afternoon resting and in the evening I went down to the hotel restaurant and had my pre-race Pasta dinner. I went to bed about 10pm and woke up race day at 6am – finally got a good nights sleep. I had a light breakfast and went back to my room to rest up for the 2pm start of the marathon.

At 1pm I left the hotel and walked to the 1912 Stadium and after about 15 minutes I finally found my start area. After the start gun finally went off it took me about 8 minutes to go over the start line – the road was very thin and there was wall to wall runners making it difficult to move. Running for a mile and then stopping to rest the Achilles seemed to help ease the pain. At the halfway point [13.1 miles] my time was 2:24 and if I kept up the pace over the last 13.1 miles I would finish in a time of 4:48. Unfortunately by mile 15, stopping every mile to rest the Achilles was not helping, as the pain was getting progressively worse with each mile and to make matters worse the temperature was now in the mid 80’s. When I finally reached mile 21 I was running at a much slower pace than I ran in the first half of the race and I was taking more time to rest the Achilles.

At mile 23 one of the Medical support people walked over to me and told me that he had been watching me for the last 3 miles and he felt that I was in serious trouble and he wanted to take me out of the race, drive me to the finish line to get whatever medical help I needed. I just looked at him and said that I only had 3 miles to go to finish the marathon and if I had to I would “crawl” the last 3 miles to the finish line. It was a very long and “painful” marathon but after 5 hours and 39 minutes of agony in the 80-degree temperature I finally entered the Olympic Stadium and ran around the track and crossed the finish line. It wasn’t pretty but I met my commitment to my donors – I finished.

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

#10 – 2008 Berlin Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob Leave a Comment

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: September 28, 2008

Continent: Europe

Country: Germany

My Age: 72

My Finish Time: 4:38 * 38^th out of 107 in age group

My Marathon Rating: Most runners – 54,000

Memorable Moment: Finishing the marathon running under the Brandenburg Gate.

Lessons Learned: Always carry money, local currency, with you in your running shorts pocket in case you need money for a taxi after the race. Never leave credit cards, money, or any valuable items with the clothes that you drop off to wear after the race.

Marathon Selection and Registration:

After much deliberation I decided to run the September 28, 2008 Berlin marathon which is one of the world’s largest races with over 45,000 runners from over 100 countries, 1 million spectators, and more than 70 bands. The 2008 Berlin marathon will be the 35^th running of this world famous marathon that has the fastest course in the world. I will be traveling with Marathon Tours and Travel and they will be handling my hotel reservations, ensuring that I would have a race number, and bus tours of Berlin.

Marathon Training Program:

I started my 18-week 750-mile training program on May 25^th with a right hamstring injury as well as a sore left heel injury. Because of the injuries I decided not to do any races [5k, 10k, ½ marathon] as part of my training program for the Berlin marathon. By week 10 of my training program my hamstring and heel injuries were no longer bothering me. My training program was setup so that I would meet my Berlin marathon finish goal of 4:30 and when I reached week 18 of the training program I felt very comfortable that I would meet my goal.

Marathon Travel:

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which was about 30 minutes walk from the start and finish of the marathon. The hotel was centrally located and was in walking distance to a number of very good restaurants. I used my American Airlines frequent flier miles and flew from San Diego to Dallas to London [Heathrow] and then on to Berlin.

Marathon Highlights:

The Racecourse of the 35^th Berlin Marathon is a very flat course and almost a complete sightseeing tour of the capital. During the 26.2-mile race athletes pass a large number of Berlin’s best-known landmarks. The Victory column is the first landmark along the course. The Federal Chancellery which houses the German Parliament will be passed after 6.5k. That was where John F. Kennedy said the famous words “Ich bin ein Berliner” [I am a Berliner]. At mile 23 runners pass the National Gallery and the philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin. The marathon ends after the runners run under the Brandenburg Gate – the most famous spot in Berlin.

I decided to go to the Expo on the 26^th – 2 days before the marathon – to beat the last minute crowds. The taxi ride to the Expo took forever, as there were traffic jams everywhere and very little parking near the Expo. There were thousands of runners jammed into the Expo to pick up their numbers which made it difficult to find out which line I needed to be in to pick up my number. Once I finally got in the right line I was able to pick up my number [23867] very quickly. When I looked into the bag of “goodies” they gave me, I asked the person who gave it to me where was my free race shirt? He told me that the race shirts are not free and I would have to pay $65.00 US Dollars for the shirt – sorry but I was not going to pay $65.00 for a race shirt. Eventually I ended up inside the Expo where there were hundreds of booths with long lines of runners. It was very difficult to walk through the Expo with all of the people cramped together. After about an hour of bumping into people I decided it was time to go back to the hotel and get something to eat. I went out to eat with a few of the runners that were staying at my hotel we walked to an outdoor restaurant about an hours walk from the hotel. I was very tired from all the walking I did at the Expo and decided to stay in for the rest of the evening – went down to the Lobby and read a book.

Woke up at 5:30am the next morning, the day before the marathon, and went to breakfast in the hotel with a number of the runners who came with marathon Tours. After breakfast the Marathon Tours Representative Cliff walked the group to where the Marathon will start so we will know how to get there on race day as well as showing where we needed to drop off our clothes. We walked back to the hotel and I stayed in the hotel and rested for the rest of the day – no running or walking – went to bed at 9:30pm.

Woke up at 6:00am on the 28^th – marathon day and put on my race gear, number and race chip on my shoe and went down for a very light breakfast of Oatmeal and a Peanut Butter sandwich. At 7:30am, an hour and half before the start of the marathon, Cliff got the Marathon Tours runners together and we all walked to where the marathon would start. We got to the start position around 8:00am and it took me about 20 minutes to get to where I had to drop off my clothes that I will wear after the race is over. It took me another 20 minutes of walking to finally find my start location [G-my projected finish time was 4:30], my start area was already packed with wall-to-wall people and I had a hard time getting in. Once I was in it was impossible for me to move either forward or backward – I was locked in.

The weather at the start of the race was in the low 60’s. At exactly 9:00am the race started but I just stood there for about 5 minutes before the people in front of me started walking to the start line. By the time I finally reached the start line it was 9:10am – once I crossed the start line I set my watch and I was off and “walking”. When I reached mile 3 I was able to finally break loose from the crowd of runners and run at my planned marathon pace. I lost about 3 minutes over the first 3 miles towards my goal of a 4:30 marathon and unfortunately felt that I would not be able to make up the time in the latter parts of the race.

At mile 12 I stopped to get a cup of water at the water station where there were so many people lined up to get water it was difficult to get near the people giving out the water. I finally was able to get a cup of water and I was just about to drink it when a runner came running by and took the cup from my hand and ran away drinking my water. When I reached the ½ waypoint in the marathon my time was 2:12, which meant that if I kept up my present pace I would finish in a time of 4:24, which was six minutes faster my planned finish time of 4:30. The 1 million fans along the complete race route really made a difference and they really got me moving when I started to slow down – the 70+ bands seemed to be everywhere – what an event!

At mile 14 the weather had changed and now it was getting much hotter which made it difficult to keep up my present 4:24 pace. I finally hit the “wall” at mile 22 and it was very clear to me that I would not meet my finish time goal of 4:30. From mile 23 to the finish not only was I fighting fatigue but also wasting time having to run around people who were walking 5 abreast and blocking the route for the people who were still running. When I finally ran under the Brandenburg Gate and crossed the finish line my finish time was 4:38 [* 38^th out of 107 in age group] 8 minutes over my goal of 4:30.

After I finished the marathon and received my medal I went in the wrong direction and ended up outside the finish area and was not able to get back in to get some food. I spent the next 45 minutes getting my clothes that I left and changing to walk back to my hotel. While walking back to my hotel I finally found the finishers food area and was able to get a couple of bananas, health bars, etc. I tried to get a Taxi but they were all filled up with runners so I started walking back. I was very sore after the race so it took me about an hour and a half to finally get back to the hotel, showered and went down to the lobby to meet up with some of the runners to go out and celebrate. We had a great time telling our individual stories about the Berlin marathon – left for the hotel around midnight and had a great night’s sleep.

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

#9 – 2007 Buenos Aires Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob 2 Comments

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: November 4, 2007

Continent: South America

Country: Argentina

My Age: 71

My Finish Time: 4:40 * I finished 6^th in my age group

My Marathon Rating: Worst race course

Memorable Moment: Having to walk over 2 miles after the marathon to catch a taxi back to my hotel.

Lessons Learned: Ensure you clearly understand how to get from the finish line to where you are staying. In some cases there is no transportation [taxis, buses, etc] available at the finish line to take you back to where you are staying

Marathon selection and registration:

For my 9^th worldwide marathon I decided to do a marathon in South America, which would be my 5^th continent. I looked at doing my South American marathon in Argentina, Chile, or Brazil but after spending a lot of time researching the 3 countries marathons I decided on doing the Buenos Aires, Argentina marathon on November 4, 2007. I was very surprised, and happy, to find out that the Buenos Aires marathon race manager had invited me to be his guest and they would take care of my registration – my race # was 3077.

Marathon Training Program:

I used my standard 18-week 750-mile training program for my Buenos Aires marathon. I was very fortunate that I did not have any major injuries before, during, and after I completed the 18-week 750 mile training program.

Marathon Travel:

I flew from San Diego to Dallas and then on to Buenos Aires on American Airlines – the total flight time took 15 hours. The flight was a good flight with no bad weather and I was able to get about 2 hours sleep during the flight. When we arrived in Buenos Aires on October 31st at 8am, the weather was 70 and sunny with the weather outlook for the rest of the week being sunny and in the 70’s. I took a taxi to my hotel, which took about 45 minutes due to the bumper-to-bumper traffic along the way. I stayed in the Sheraton Libertador Hotel, which is centrally located in the city and is walking distance to most of the Burroughs. The hotel upgraded my room to one of the best rooms in the hotel because my room was not ready for me when I arrived – also gave me 2 bottles of wine and a bowl of fruit – very nice gesture from them. The hotel has a gym and indoor swimming pool on the top floor of the hotel. Spent my free time while in Buenos Aires sightseeing all of the major sights.

Marathon Highlights:

I took a taxi went to the Expo [Roca Park] two days before the marathon to pick up my Chip and race number. In the literature that was sent to me the race management recommended that we take the train to the Expo to the start of the race. The staff in my hotel recommended that I take a taxi instead due to the many breakdowns of the trains. The taxi ride took about 40 minutes to get there, as there was a lot of traffic heading out of the city as it would be very difficult to catch another taxi from the Expo back to my hotel I paid the driver to wait for me assuming it would only take very little time to get my race number and chip. Getting my race # and chip was a nightmare there were at least 4 different very long lines and I was told to get in one of them by a volunteer after 20 minutes I found out I was in the wrong line. and once I got in the right line I picked up my # and chip. The Expo was very small with only a few booths so it wasn’t worth me spending anymore time there.

The night before the marathon I went out for my pre race Pasta at a highly recommended restaurant just down the street from my hotel – the Pasta was very good. After eating I walked around the area for about an hour and went back to my hotel. I would have to wake up at 5am in order for me to get a light breakfast and to catch my taxi ride to the race start at Roca Park where the Expo was held. It was very cold the morning of the marathon so I wore a number of throw away shirts and pants just to keep warm. There were quite a few runners who came earlier than I did – most of the runners came from South American countries.

The race started at exactly 7:30am and the runners left the park and went up a long hill and onto the main highway, which was closed off for the race. The racecourse was laid out so that it completely avoided the city center, where all great sites and beautiful barrios are located. The racecourse is a point-to-point course that starts at the Expo [Roca Park] in an unsafe neighborhood and then went on to the main elevated highway for the first 10 miles. For the first 6 miles of running up long ramps on the highway I was running at a 4:30 marathon pace, which was my finish time goal. The weather turned colder with stiff breezes along the way, which made it difficult running up the highway ramps.

We left the highway at mile 13 and entered some of the city roads, which had potholes everywhere – the roads were terrible to run on. They did have water at every 5k-point in the race but along the highway and along the city roads there were literally no people to cheer you on – it was almost like running my weekly long runs alone. At the halfway point I was running at a 10minute/mile pace which would be a 4:22 marathon – about 8 minutes ahead of my planned race goal of 4:30. The race route eventually took us along the waterfront with some very bad running conditions.

At mile 20 I was still on pace for a 4:22 marathon but I was starting to get some pains and cramps in my hamstrings. After mile 22 I had to slow down in order to ensure that I finished the race by running all 26.2 miles. After running the last few miles in pain I finally crossed the finish line in a time of 4:40 [6^th in my age group]. After finishing the race I went looking for the food that was promised us at registration – there was no food they ran out of it – all I received was a bottle of water. Getting my clothes that I left at the start of the race to change into was mass confusion – the people giving out the clothes would call out a number and then throw it out to the crowd – finally someone went and got the race manager and he setup lines by race numbers. After about an hour of standing around waiting to receive my clothes I changed into my dry clothes and was off to my next adventure – to find transportation to get me back to my hotel.

I asked around as to how I would be able to catch a taxi or a bus to get back to my hotel and I was told that I would have to walk about 2-3 miles to get to the main highway where I would be able to catch a taxi or a bus back to my hotel. After about an hour of walking I finally approached the main highway only to find hundreds of runners waiting to catch a taxi or the local bus. After about another hour of waiting I finally caught a cab and got back to my hotel. Once at the hotel I showered and went up to the pool to relax my legs.

Filed Under: Marathons, South America Tagged With: buenos aires marathon, marathon guide, south american marathons

#8 – 2006 Bangkok Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob Leave a Comment

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: November 26, 2006

Continent: Asia

Country: Thailand

My Age: 70

My Finish Time: 5:36

My Marathon Rating: Worst start time – 2:00 a.m. in the morning.

Memorable Moment: Watching the Kings guard’s parade – precision marching and the many colorful uniforms.

Lessons Learned: If at all possible do not travel alone to run a marathon in a foreign country. If you get injured you need someone in the country that you know that can help you.

Marathon selection and registration:

For my 8th worldwide marathon I decided to run a marathon in Asia, which would be my 4th continent. I spent quite a lot of time identifying the many marathons being held in Asian countries and finally broke down my choices to China, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. I finally decided on the Bangkok, Thailand marathon that would be held on November 26, 2006. I registered on-line on August 11, 2006 – the cost was $40.00 – there were no problems with the Registration process – very efficient.

Marathon Training Program:

Prior to the start of my 17-week training program for the Bangkok marathon I started training for the Palos Verdes marathon on January 16th that was to be held on May 20th. I started my Bangkok marathon 17-week training program on Monday July 24th. For my training program I cross-trained 2 days/week [weights/swim] and rode my bike 1 day/week for a minimum of 20 miles. My training was going great I was meeting all of my time goals – until week 13 of my training program [10/21/06] when I pulled my right hamstring muscle at mile 4 of my 14-mile run. The pain was so bad that I could not continue running and had to try to walk to get back to my car, which was 10 miles away. Fortunately I was training with my running group and when I didn’t show up on time they came looking for me and gave me a ride back to my car. The hamstring never completely healed even though I used Ice, rested the hamstring, and used the SPA. I stopped running for the last 4 weeks of my 17-week training program in hopes that the hamstring would be okay for the marathon on 11/26.

05/20/06 Palos Verdes Marathon finish time: 4:23 * 1st in my age group [70 –75]

Marathon Travel:

I flew non-stop from Los Angeles to Bangkok Thailand – it was a very long 17-hour flight. The seats were wider and more comfortable than the US Carriers have- and the food and services throughout the flight was excellent. I had an aisle seat and was able to get up during the flight to stretch my hamstring, which was still painful. I stayed at the Sheraton Royal Orchid Hotel for 14 days [11/21 to 12/6] it was a very nice hotel, which is located along the Chao Phraya River. It is only 3 miles away from the Grand Palace [start & finish of marathon] and a 5-minute walk to the River City shopping Complex.

While in Bangkok I toured the many historical sites spending most of my time at the Royal Grand Palace – one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my worldwide travels. I also went to the many outdoor markets that are held throughout the city, and took a 4-hour boat ride up the Chao Phraya River. On December 2nd I attended the changing of the palace guard with the many military units in all different colored uniforms [Black, Blue, Yellow, Green, Red, etc] and all of the soldiers wore Black Cossack hats. The precision marching was unbelievable everyone was in step – amazing exhibition. I also attended the King’s birthday parade at the Palace – there were at least 250,000 Thai’s waiting for the King to come by in His Limousine so that they could wish him a happy birthday. Everyone was dressed in a Yellow shirt – which is the king’s favorite color. No one was allowed to put their feet on the road that the king was coming down out of respect for him – when the car went by everyone bowed their head out of respect for the king.

Marathon Highlights:

The race route started at the Royal Grand Palace went passed Thammasat University and the National Theater and then the route goes over a very long and steep steel bridge for the next 4 miles and then proceeded along the highway for another 5 miles where the runners would turn around and go down the other side of the highway. For the first 13 miles the runners were running on a long cement highway. At mile 17 the route takes the runners into the city area where they pass some of the city’s famous sites – the Vimanmek Mansion, Throne Hall Chitrada Stadium, and at mile 23 Boxer Stadium. The finish line is at the Royal Grand Palace and there is a beautiful park near the finish line where food, massages, and liquids were available for the finishers.

When I arrived in Bangkok I was quite sick for 2 days [11/21 & 11/22] and could not eat any solid food for those 2 days – could not sleep woke up at 1:30 am in the morning – I did not leave my hotel for the first 2 days. On the third day [11/23] I finally was able to eat some solid food and had a very good breakfast before venturing outside for a walk – my hamstring was still bothering me. At 9:00 am I took a taxi to the Bangkok marathon Expo that was at Lumpin Park to pick up my race # and chip which goes around your ankle and not attached to your shoe. The Expo was very small with only 20 booths located inside the building and after talking with some of the race staff I found out that there would only be about 2,000 runners who will run the marathon. We were warned not to drink any water along the route unless it was from an unopened bottle of water.

When I returned to my hotel there were police and soldiers everywhere because the Crown Prince of Bhutan was staying at the hotel when I went into the Lobby there was a long red carpet leading to the stairs. While I was standing there the Crown Prince came walking into the hotel stopping to talk to people and shaking hands. I went back to my room and prepared to go out to eat at a restaurant that was highly recommended near the hotel. The next morning [11/24] I woke up at 1:30am and could not go back to sleep so I started reading a book that I bought the other day until I finally fell asleep. Had some breakfast and went down to the pool to relax and maybe get some more sleep. Woke up the next morning [11/25] at 1:30 am again – I just was not getting any quality sleep time – went back to sleep at 4:30am and woke up again at 6:30 so I did get some sleep. I went out to eat my marathon Pasta dinner at 12:00 pm as the race would start the next morning [11/26] at 2:00 am – what a terrible way to start a marathon.

I was starting to get very concerned about my ability to finish the marathon in a respectable time because my hamstring was now bothering me again, I had not had a good nights sleep since I arrived in Bangkok, the start time of 2:00am, and of course the smog, humidity, and the terrible air quality in the city. I went to bed at 6:00 pm to try and get some sleep before the start of the marathon – I had difficulty trying to sleep and finally went to sleep after 2 hours of tossing and turning. I woke up at 12:00 am, showered, and started to get dressed for the marathon. I took a taxi to the start of the race and arrived at 1:30 am. The start area was already crowded with runners – all of them wearing Yellow shirts.

Prior to the race, the race organizer spoke to the runners reminding them of the rules of the race and that if any runner was in serious medical trouble the runner would be removed from the race by the Medical team that would be following the runners. The race started promptly at 2:00 am and with a loud roar, and the banging of many drums, I was off on my quest to finish my 8th worldwide marathon and my 4th continent.

The weather at the start was very hot and humid after mile 3 my hamstring started to bother me and I was soaking wet with sweat – the start of the race was not a good omen. At mile 6, going up the steel bridge, I was feeling the pain of the hamstring but I was able to keep up a fairly decent pace. At the halfway point in the race my hamstring was so painful that I had to stop after each mile for a minute of light stretching. At mile 21 I was in serious trouble, not only with the hamstring, but I felt that I was starting to dehydrate – which definitely was not a good sign. While I was trying to get a relatively good pace I turned around and saw two members of the Medical team on a Moped pointing at me. All I could think of was that they were going to pull me out of the race – and that would definitely not be acceptable to me.

At that point in time I felt like I was Road Kill and they were 2 Vultures swooping down on me. They pulled up alongside of me to see how I was doing when I gave them the thumbs up sign they just looked at each other, laughed, and waved me on. I do not remember anything from mile 23 to the finish line –the only thing I remember was standing just beyond the finish line and a Thai girl putting a medal around my neck. I spent the next 2 hours trying to figure out what happened after mile 23 but could not remember anything. While waiting in line to get something to eat after the race I told my story to a couple of runners in front of me – they just looked at each other and said that they saw me weaving my way down the last three miles to the finish line – now I know what happened during the last 3 miles of the marathon.

Filed Under: Asia, Marathons Tagged With: asian marathons, bangkok marathon, marathon guide

#7 – 2005 Sydney Marathon

December 17, 2010 By Bob Leave a Comment

Marathon Guide

Marathon Date: September 11, 2005

Continent: Australia

Country: Australia

My Age: 69

My Finish Time: 4:50

My Marathon Rating: The fewest fans along the race route

Memorable Moment: Finishing the marathon at the Sydney Opera House

Lessons Learned: 1. Spend time reviewing the race route for areas that could be problems- such as a series of steep hills at the last 3 miles of the race.

Marathon selection and registration:

I selected the September 11, 2005 Sydney Australia marathon as my 7th worldwide marathon and my 3rd continent because I had been to Sydney before and thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the very diverse city. There would also be a number of other races that would be run the same day of the marathon and they are the Half Marathon, Bridge Run, and Family Fun Run [3.8km]. I registered on-line on May 5, 2005, the registration cost was $128.67, and I was given my race # 111.

Marathon Training Program:

I used an 18-week 750-mile training program with 1 day/week of riding my Bike – I was very fortunate that I did not have any serious injuries during or after the training program. I ran 2 half marathons to prepare myself for the Sydney marathon. The results of my half marathons and my 18-week training program made me feel that I would have a successful marathon.

01/16/05 Carlsbad ½ marathon 1:49 * 2nd in my age group

02/13/05 San Dieguto ½ marathon 1:54 * 5th in my age group

Marathon Travel:

I departed for Sydney on American Airlines from Los Angeles Airport on 9/6/05 – I had an aisle seat and an empty seat next to me so I had a comfortable flight to Sydney. I arrived in Sydney on 9/8/05 at 6:00 am – the total flight time was 14 hours. When I had gone through customs I was stopped by one of the bomb-smelling dogs – I had forgotten that I had a carrot in my bag and the dog smelled the food – they made me destroy the carrot.

I took a shuttle bus to my hotel the Four Points Sheraton – when I arrived they upgraded me to a much better room on the preferred guest floor .The hotel was an excellent hotel located on the famous Darling Harbor. After unpacking and putting my clothes and gear away I showered and dressed to go out to eat. I ate at Casa Di Nico on Darling Harbor – had Spaghetti with Garlic Bread. Went back to the hotel – I was very tired from the long flight and I went to bed at 7:00 pm. I woke up at 3:00am and could not go back to sleep so I watched TV for the hour before I went back to sleep.

Woke up the next morning [9/9] at 7:00am showered and went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant – had a light breakfast of Oatmeal, Orange Juice and Toast. My hotel was in walking distance to Darling Harbor, Hyde Park and Martin Place so I spent the rest of the day walking around the area around the hotel. As I had been to Sydney before I knew most of the areas of interest.

Marathon Highlights:

The racecourse starts at Bradfield Park, Milsons Point that is just below the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The start was a challenging hill that takes you to the entrance to the Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bridge. The first half of the race takes you through some very nice sections of Sydney – passed Dawes Point, Millers Point, the Rocks, Moore Park, and the beautiful Centennial Park. The second half of the race takes you outside the city where the course loops back into the city. The finish area is the Sydney Opera House with a recovery area in the Royal Botanic Gardens where bag collection, food, and Post race activities will take place.

I picked up my race number and chip and was told that there would only be 1,600 people running the marathon this year and was given the directions to get to the start of the marathon from my hotel. While there, I met the marathon race manager a really nice guy who was managing the race with his son. I stopped on the way back to the hotel to get something to eat and took a leisurely walk back to the hotel after eating.

The next morning [9/10] I received a phone call from the race manager letting me know that he will let me ride to the start of the marathon with the Elite runners on the boat from the Four Points Sheraton to the start of the marathon at the base of the World Famous Sydney Harbor Bridge. He also informed me that I could stay in the Elite Runners Tent until the start of the race and that a local TV Station would be interviewing me prior to the start of the race. While I was in the Lobby of the hotel I found out that all of the Elite runners were staying in my hotel – I met one of the Elite runners who was from Australia – his best marathon finish time was 2:10. I went out that evening for my pre-race Past dinner at a restaurant in Hyde Park that was recommended to me by the race manager. I went to bed around 9:00 pm and woke up at 4:30 am and prepared my gear for the marathon – went down to the restaurant and had a light breakfast of 2 slices of toast and a cup of coffee. Met one of the Elite runners in the lobby waiting to take the water taxi to the start of the race.

When we arrived at the harbor Bridge we were shown to the Elite runners tent, there were 5 Elite runners, and ME. About a ½ hour after arriving the TV announcer called me out of the tent and interviewed me for about 10 minutes. The race started on time, at the base of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and when the gun went off the Elite runners were off and running, it took about 5 minutes before I crossed the start line. It was cold with a light rain falling as I ran up the rather challenging hill at the start when I finally reached the top I was running over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The view of the city and the harbor was really breathtaking as we ran over the full length of the Bridge and then continued on inside city limits for the first 3 miles.

A very funny thing happened at mile 4 of the race – as I approached mile 4 I saw a Japanese runner who was stopped in the middle of the road and smiling at the side of the road – when I looked he had set his camera to take a picture of himself. Once the camera snapped he ran over and picked up the camera gave me a slight bow and then he started running. I ran into him 3 more times during the marathon and each time he was smiling at the camera he had setup along the side of the road and after he had taken the picture he again gave me a slight bow and continued running.

For the first half of the marathon I ran through some very nice areas with beautiful homes, Moore Park, and Centennial Park where we did a long loop around the park – really beautiful park. At mile 13 [half way point] my time was 2:11 which if I kept up the pace my marathon finish time would be 4:22. The weather for the first half of the race was cool and we ran through a lot of shaded areas, which was excellent running conditions. The second half of the marathon was a definite challenge for me as the weather turned very hot and muggy and there were virtually no shaded areas along the route.

The second half route took me outside the city and into Industrial areas with some pretty bad roads. At one point I had to wait for someone to open a metal gate so we could go through and run through the area and back onto the course. I was also running on a cement highway with a lot of rather steep Ramps for most of the second half of the marathon. When I finally entered the city for the last 5 miles I had to stop and wait for a police officer to stop traffic so that the runners could cross the street. This occurred 2 more times and having to wait to cross the street 3 times added 6 minutes to my finish time. The last 3 miles were a nightmare – first came a long winding hill we had to climb and once we got to the top there was another winding hill, which led to another winding hill.

There were a lot of unhappy runners once we got through the last hill as our next obstacle was to cross over a long cement bridge to finally get to the road that led to the finish line at the Sydney Opera House. It seemed to take forever to finally reach a point where I could see the finish line. I crossed the finish line in a time of 4:49 – the last 5 miles of stopping to cross streets, and the 3 long winding hills added at least 15 minutes to my time. After crossing the finish line there was no water or food for the runners and my clothes that were supposed to be at the finish line were not there. I was told by one of the volunteers that the clothes were at the Royal Botanical Gardens Recovery area. To get to the Recovery area – “you guessed it” – I had to climb a long winding hill after running 26.2 miles. Once I got to the recovery area there was no food or water and when I went looking for my clothes they were nowhere to be found. I was able to get some water and a chocolate cupcake from a nurse who was in the Medical tent. Fortunately I brought money with me for a taxi ride back to the hotel and enough money to buy a sandwich at a store near the Recovery area.

Filed Under: Australia, Marathons Tagged With: australian marathons, marathon guide, sydney 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

Antarctica Training: [11/01/0101 to 02/13/011] * 15 weeks

Travel:

Day Before the marathon: February 27,2011

Marathon Day: February 28, 2011

View more photos on Flickr – CLICK HERE

2011 Antarctica Marathon

Day Before the marathon – February 27,2011

Marathon Day – February 28, 2011

View more photos on Flickr – CLICK HERE

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