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.