Tucson Marathon

I've been really excited about this marathon for MONTHS because it was my first full marathon pacing experience ever.  I originally signed up for the 4:45 pacing spot, but volunteered to switch to the 4:30 after my sub-4 hr at St George.  Even though 4:45 would have worked out great, I felt more comfortable at a 4:30 pace.  The crazy thing is, this time last year, my full PR was a 4:33 and at that point, I never dreamed I would be able to hold a conversational pace for a 4:30 marathon.

At the Expo

Chris ran the McDowell Mountain Frenzy the morning before Tucson, while I volunteered.  Afterwards, we got ready and drove down to Tucson.  We made a beeline for the packet pick up because I was nervous we were going to miss it.  I was picking up a packet for myself and my One Run friend, Frank (who I had yet to meet in person).  He had competed in a Half Ironman in Palm Springs, CA that morning and was going to get into Tucson wayyyy too late to pick up his packet-I think he is officially crazier than me!

We chatted with some people at the expo, I picked up both packets and my stick and posed for a picture next to Mt Lemmon.  Thankfully, we weren't running up THAT the next day.  We were staying with Chris's aunt and uncle that night, which was nice because we don't get to see them very often.  We took them out to dinner, went to Frank's hotel to drop off his packet and said hi to some of our other friends staying there.  Jim and Mitzi were running the half, but had run the full the year before and were giving me tips on the course and elevation changes.  When we got back to Chris's family's house, I began analyzing the elevation chart and developing a strategy for the next day.  My thoughts were to bank a little time on the downhills to have a cushion on the uphills and allow for walking through the water stops.  The last thing I needed was runners snorting water by my forcing them to drink on the run!  Towards the end of the evening, I started getting really nervous.  I had paced halfs, but so much more can go wrong in double the distance and people were relying on me-Eeeeek!!!

Ironically, I was pacing the 4:30 group and I had a 4:30AM wake up call the next morning.  The last bus left for the start at 5:30 and I wanted to make sure I was on it.  My biggest nightmares for this race consisted of missing the bus and having what happened in Vegas happen again-which would let my runners down.  I made it to the bus with ten minutes to spare.

I chatted with some people on the bus while we were heading to the start.  One thing that cracked me up was people looking at my sign and saying I was either too fast or too slow.  I had figured 4:30 would be a goal for many people, but evidently being in the middle is not always the most desirable pace!  I am so thankful I got to see my Cholla Chick, Amy, before the start.  I told her I better not see her on the course as she was aiming for a PR.  She held true to that and the only time I did see her was at an out and back section where she was ahead of me by a significant distance.  She ended up PR'ing that day!


As we lined up at the start, people began to flock to me, which made me feel a little better.  I finally got to meet Frank in person as he was going to try to stick with me for the duration of the course.  My goal pace was 10:17/mile.  We took off and I had to be careful almost immediately because we were on a downhill and I was already going too fast.  I slowed it down and people began passing me.  I promised everyone that was with me that I would bring them in just under 4:30 so they could all say they went sub-4:30.  That seemed to ease a lot of fears.

I had a pretty large group for the first five or six miles, before people started falling back or speeding up.  By then, it was Frank, an elderly guy who was very friendly and chatty and a couple of girls.  I knew that the crowd would disperse as people settled into pace or decided they wanted to die.  It can go either way with any race  :-)

I was surprised with how many rollers (hills) there were.  I knew there were some out by the Biosphere and two big hills around mile 23, but some of the hills were not depicted in the elevation chart.  Frank stuck with me until he had to go to the restroom, but then caught back up.  On the out-and-back part of the Biosphere, I met up with a teenage fellow Marathon Maniac.  I was shocked that someone had that much dedication at such a young age.  I know when I was his age, all I cared about was going to the mall, clothes, friends, boys and school activities.  I DEFINITELY never thought of running a marathon!

As with any pacing job, I had people run with me off and on throughout the race.  On the out-and-back portion, I saw my friend Mark, who was the 5:00 pacer.  He made me laugh when he said every time he passed someone, they were like, "Oh crap!"  Evidently pacers have that effect on people.

Somewhere around mile fourteen, I caught up with a girl who ran with me until mile twenty three.  Her previous PR was 4:40 and I was determined to get her under that.  The guys started slipping back around mile twenty, but we kept pressing on.  I had a time to meet.  The mile markers were 0.17 off the entire way, but Frank had said it was that way the year before and mile 23 marker was a little short, so it would balance out.  When I got to mile 23 and I was still 0.17 off, I had to kick it in.  This is when I lost my new friend, but I knew if she had stuck with me that long, she would PR.  Mile 23.5 aid station and a spectator yells at me, "Seems a little slow for a 4:30 pacer!"  Not going to lie, I wanted to stop and punch him, but I was on a mission, so I turned around and yelled, "Supposed to be at a 10:17 pace and I'm running a 10:14 thank you very much!"  I kept up that 10:14 average until mile twenty five and I realized even that wasn't going to beat the 4:30 time, so I had to kick it in even more.  Right about then, a lady in a Fifty States Marathon Club jersey saw me and took off.  She was happy and singing and determined to stay ahead of me.  I passed a guy that had left me around mile five.  He saw my sign and cursed under his breath.  I pushed on.

I ended up coming in with a chip time of 4:29:34-I couldn't do anything but tear up and repeat over and over again, "4:29:34-perfect!"  Over 26.37 miles, one can't really pace a better time than that.  I had done it.  My first full pacing gig was a success  :-)

That girl that stayed with me until mile 23?  I waited for her and she ended up coming in with a chip time of 4:32.  She had an eight minute PR and she told me afterwards she couldn't have done it without me.  That right there is why I pace.  There is nothing more worthwhile than helping others reach their goals!