Number 24 - St. George Marathon, St. George, Utah

This marathon was dedicated to my daughter, who was recently diagnosed with MS. I wore a shirt recognizing the disease with a message on the back requesting prayers on her behalf. I am always looking for a righteous man, who's prayers are powerful. I am so appreciative of all the runners who approached me wishing Jaime well and praying for her during the race.


I was also uplifted by my running friends from Phoenix as they prayed for Jaime in a prayer circle the day we left town. Thank you, my friends.

The venue was beautiful with red rock mountains in the background and a small town who puts out the red carpet for this event each year. The course was advertised as a downhill track, but included a testy stretch of hills between miles 7 and 12 that brought me to a walk on several occasions. I felt good at the start and was able to get a few fast miles under my belt before giving back several minutes. My goal was 3:45:59 which would qualify me for Boston again. Driving the course the day before gave me serious doubts due to the hills, but with the help of great conditions (low temps, clear weather and little wind) I clocked a 3:45:22 finishing in the top 25% of my age group, and running a negative split (runner speak for running the second half faster than the first half) in spite of being hampered by leg cramps (calves and hamstrings) the last six miles. With the help of prayer, mind games and an altered stride to control the cramps, I finished ahead of plan with 37 seconds to spare. And so, off to Boston I go again.
This was the first time I was able to join several of my fellow runners from Phoenix for a marathon weekend. All eight of us stayed together in a large old home in St. George. I truly enjoyed spending time together and sharing our running experiences, cooking our pre-race pasta meal (broken glass and all), relaxing with pizza after the race, and finding Nielsen's frozen custard (anyone who knows me, knows how I love custard). An extra bonus was helping one of my friends adopt a dog. We rode back to Phoenix with an extra passenger, Zoie; a six month old German Short Hair. It was a treat to spend time with a dog again and made be itch for getting another dog; one of these days.
It has been a busy and challenging summer working in Phoenix, while many family issues and events occur miles away. I remain thankful for my family and my friends, old and new. I appreciate my new running friends and their support in training, their expert advice on how to run St. George and most of all the fellowship I have enjoyed this summer.

Number 23 - Bataan Death March Marathon, White Sands, NM
All marathons are different, but this one is truly one of a kind. It is dedicated to the 1942 WWII event on the island of Bataan where thousands of Allied troops, including many from the New Mexico National Guard, were forced to march across the island (about 80 miles) with many dying in the process.
The event takes place in White Sands, New Mexico. Where, in the nearby National Park, you can see miles and miles of white drifting sand. It is unlike anything you will see. We visited the park the day before the event and found families picnicking, playing, and climbing the dunes. It was very cool.
The location for the race course was the White Sands Missile Range base, about 20 miles east of Las Cruces, NM. Most of the participants in this memorial event were military personnel; many carrying a 30 pound backpack to emphasize the physical demands many endured in the real march. Survivors of the Bataan Death March were on hand to greet the participants, with the names of those who passed since the last event announced prior to taps being played at the start. The course is on gravel roads including a six mile ascent up one of the mountains of the beautiful Organ Mountain range that hovers over this area. After the decent from the mountain everyone experiences the pit, where the road becomes nothing more than soft gravel and seemingly goes on for miles. This was the most grueling race course I have experienced during my marathon quest. The primary objective quickly became just to finish the event because quitting seemed unconscionable. My finish time was the slowest since I started running, 5:08, but I finished.

Number 22 – Phoenix Rock n’ Roll, Phoenix, AZ
Wow a marathon in my hometown. This has not happened since my very first marathon in my then hometown of St. Louis. However, the real treat was running it with my son. I have challenged all my children to run a marathon with Dad. My oldest son, who came out for the race to support us, ran a marathon about four years ago; unfortunately, Dad had a stress fracture and could not run. The last leg of the heritage challenge is with my daughter, who is working toward her marathon in two years. Sharing something I love with my family make these marathons special. I am able to share training stories and remedies for ailments. You know dad’s love to give advice, and on this topic at this point in their lives they listen.
We had a great day; cool in the morning reaching about 70 by the finish. The course is flat and other than a surprising headwind when we turned toward the East, it was what we thought it would be. The course starts in downtown Phoenix, heads North for five miles, then East toward Scottsdale, before heading South to Tempe. The route included passing a sister church of ours, and I was able to say hello to a friend who leads services at the church, who also has strong ties to my home town of South Haven; a pleasant surprise for both of us. The mountain vistas were a spectacular backdrop to the course and the fan support with bands every few miles was great. If I wasn’t spreading my races over the fifty states, this is a definite repeat.
We had a pace plan laid out for a five hour finish, and finished just a couple of minutes over our target. A long line at the porta-john turned out to be the difference. Congratulations to my son who trained hard, ran a great race and survived with no apparent lasting injuries. My wife, my older son, his girlfriend, and my cousin and his wife met us on the course in Scottsdale. I have been quite fortunate to have a great support team with my wife, children and other family support. Thank you all.