Race Information: Vancouver International Marathon

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