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Vancouver International Marathon
May 2, 1999
Race Report by Bob Dolphin
The start of the Vancouver Marathon was scheduled for 7:00 a.m. on
Sunday, May 2, 1999, but it was delayed for about fifteen minutes.
Although I was shivering, I was happy. It was my kind of day.
The
temperatures were in the mid 40's, and it was raining with a thick
cloud cover overhead. After a sunny and warm Boston Marathon two
weeks
earlier, I was looking forward to a cool run. As luck would have
it,
the rains persisted, and the temperature didn't rise above the
low 50's.
With these ideal (at least for me) conditions I was able to hold
a nine
minute pace and ran a half hour faster than my Boston time. At
the
half marathon mark, I predicted that I might finish in the
4:00-4:05
range. I tried to get under four hours but had to settle for
4:01:00,
(8:58), 1,517th of 3,323--at mid-field and 7th of 21 in the 65-69M
division.
I had several brief conversations along the way. My friend Ken
Bonner,
55+ (3:45:45) of Victoria, BC, chatted in Mile 2 about recent and
up-
coming marathons that we had run or planned to enter. Ken is
going to
Interlaken, Switzerland, for a hilly marathon later this year and
has
some long distance bike races planned. In Mile 3, fellow member
of the
50 States & DC Club, John Lent, 45+ (3:39:12) of Augusta, New
Jersey,
introduced himself when he saw my club singlet. John has run all
50
states and DC and is now working on running in all Canadian
provinces.
At Mile 10 Jodi Higginbottom, 25+ (3:57:41) of Victoria, BC,
started
talking to me about marathoning. It was her first marathon and
her
enthusiasm was contagious. At a long out-and-back section in the
latter
miles, my long-time friend Mel Preedy, 66, of Ravensdale, WA, and
I
greeted each other as we ran in opposite directions. Mel had a
great
run and finished with a time of 3:33:45. He took home the first
place
plaque for 65-69M.
At 20 miles our friend and local host, Karl Jensen, 49, of
Richmond, BC,
and I said "hi" as we saw each other. Karl was probably the only
one
in the race who had run an ultra marathon the day before! On
Saturday,
May 1st, he ran the Elk/Beaver Lake 50K near Victoria, BC., in
about
five hours. It was his 7th ultra in 1999. In the marathon, he
ran a
4:01:52 which was quite respectable considering the cumulative
running
effort. Karl is going to run six classic 100 mile trail
ultra marathons
in 1999. This feat, known as The Final Run, includes Western
States,
Wasatch, Leadville, Angels Crest, Old Dominion, and Vermont. My
wife
Lenore and I wish him the very best in this remarkable
undertaking.
In the 24th mile, Harvey Nelson, 66 (4:03:30) of Langley, BC,
exchanged
"hellos", but we didn't get to visit until the award ceremony.
After
we returned to Karl's home, we exchanged anecdotes with him and
John
Bandur, 61 (4:11:04) of Federal Way, WA. John has run more
marathons
and ultras than anyone else in the Northwest. His count of 248
includes
about 130 ultras of which many are 100 mile trail races. He has
quite
an impressive record!
The race was won by Atsunari Saito, 30+ of Tokyo, Japan, in a
time of
2:21:33 (5:16). Krystyna Pieczulis of Poland was the first woman
to
finish with a time of 2:43:46---l5th overall finisher.
An unusual phenomenon in the Vancouver Marathon was the large
numbers
of runners who took walking breaks. Lone runners or groups up to
six
checked their watches and walked for a period of time and then ran
again until the next walk break. I suspect that this is a
Galloway
influence--and it appears to be positive. Those following this
regimen
seemed to be more rested in the last 10K than others who had wall
problems.
It was a good marathon, and I'll return next year even if it
doesn't
rain.
Written by Bob Dolphin
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