After a nap, fried rice, and now chocolate milk I feel almost back to normal. The Guam International Marathon (Half, 10K, & 5K) has turned into a great race that draws a ton of Japanese and Korean runners to our little island. With 2900 runners in all races combined, the race organizers have out done themselves with growth in numbers and with the talent of overseas. I felt good for the 430 am start that allowed me to jog from home, but immediately I knew I was surrounded by a few runners much stronger than I. As the gun went off, one racer was off the front with a 5:00 flat first mile (uphill) while a group of six of us settled in at 5:35. The next two were 5:30 and 5:22 as the course drops into the flats. it was clear after the pace didnt slow at 6K I was going to redline and make for a long day. I dropped off to 5:40s and settled into 5:50 until the turnaround. I came back under 6 min pace and picked up one of the Japanese runners that fell off the lead group. In the past, the last three miles of hills have always tore my race apart. It was smooth this year and I only faded to 6:15-20 for those miles. I crossed the line in 6th at 1:17:22 that is four minutes faster than last year and bests my Guam PR (high heat and humidity) by two minutes. Ive come to realize that we can run back-to-back races without losing too much speed, but you must accept it is going to hurt from the beginning!!! Ryan Matienzo, Derek Mandell, and Steve Melanie Kibbee all looked great in the marathon. The format of the race allows the half and marathoners to runner together in the later stages, so I got to see them as they neared 23 miles. Stocked for all the impressive times I see as I scrolled through the results... John Attao Aquino IV, Shin Miyagi, Napu Castro, Amy Atkinson, Kristina Ingvarsson, Sherwin Paet, the Blas twins, Diobelkis Rivera, John S Wigsten, Ayuri Sugahara (and sis), Way Brown, Stan Ragon, Chris Magatoto and of course Elaine and many many more I have forgot to mention. Big thanks to Elaine Kwok, Rodney/Myra, and Way Brown that took care of my truck on Friday as I boarded a 7am flight to race in Saipan. The battery died as loaded up my bike and was rushing out to catch the flight. I was forced to leave them to sort matters out.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 02:54:01 +0000
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