2016 Mount Desert Island Marathon

Celebrating My 70th Birthday

This was more a celebration than a race. I was turning 70 and wanted to do something special for my birthday. Since my birthday was on a weekday, I wanted to choose a race after that rather than the weekend before when I would be the oldest in my age group. In searching various race calendars primarily for marathons and ultras, this one stood out. I've been wanting to visit Acadia National Park for a number of years now. The marathon was the weekend after my birthday, so I would most likely be the youngest in my new age group. At that time of year there was a good possibility that fall foliage colors would be at or near their peak. And it was within driving distance. It wasn't until several weeks or more after I registered that friends on one of the running forums started talking about getting together for the Ultra Trail Fest in Utah the week of the MDI Marathon. I began to have second thoughts about my choice, but having made motel reservations as well as registering for the race, and with the possibility of a friend also running it, I didn't feel I could change my mind and back out. Later in the summer my daughter said she and her husband would like to fly up for the weekend, watch me race, and help me celebrate my birthday. This settled the matter and also ensured that I would run the course to enjoy the scenery and not exhaust myself going for time on a hilly course.

Training leading up to the race left much to be desired. I lost some of my motivation after North Coast 24, then was sick for almost a week resulting in weeks of 21, 27, 16, and 9 miles heading into the race. I wouldn't have been able to run a good, hard race even if I had wanted to. In planning the trip I wanted to arrive well ahead of time, so I drove up Friday, a 12 hour trip after encountering heavy traffic near Boston due to road construction. I left at 3:00 AM and was checking into the Bar Harbor Villager Motel a little before 3:00 PM. I couldn't have picked a better place to stay. Besides finding a little gift in my room for staying there for the marathon, the start of the race was literally at the turn in to the motel. I made good use of that on race day by staying warm in the breakfast room until I needed to line up for the start. After asking directions to race headquarters, I picked up my packet and made arrangements to meet my daughter and son-in-law for dinner. We chose to try one of the restaurants on the motel's recommended list. It was a nice walk down Main Street almost to the water. We were early enough that I was able to order the Early Bird Special which had everything I had wanted to order anyway: lobster, clam chowder, and salad. Rice and veggies were included too. After dinner we made plans for Saturday sightseeing.

Saturday we decided to first drive the marathon course to get an idea of what the hills would be like. Once we realized there were premanent yellow arrow markers painted on the road along with all the water stop locations and every mile marker, it was easy to follow. The whole island seems to get behind the events to support them. After starting in Bar Harbor in front of my motel, the course heads south, then follows the road around what I was told is the only fjord on the east coast of the US before finishing in Southwest Harbor. The scenery is every bit as spectacular as I had hoped and really deserves the reputation it has as one of the best marathons in the country. After that we stopped for a short hike down to one of the beaches before heading to Bernard for lunch at Thurston's Lobster Pound. Besides sitting on the water for great views of the harbor, I was surprised by the appearance of a member of my local running club who was there to close up her cottage for the year. She also claimed Thurston's had the best food in the area. The rest of the day was spent driving around Acadia National Park including stops at the visitors center and Cadillac Mountain where we had great views of Bar Harbor. Despite it being the end of the season, and perhaps because of the marathon and a couple of cruise ships in the harbor, Cadillac Mountain was crowded. Not surprisingly that carried over to dinner. We couldn't get early reservations at our first choice of restaurants and the pizza places were mobbed with no seating available. Out final fallback choice was a Thai restaurant, but rice is still a source of carbohydrates. Pre-race meals don't have to be pasta.

Race day morning I was awake by 5:00 AM and saw no good reason to lay in bed waiting for the alarm. I dressed for the race, donned my jacket and headed over for a breakfast of pastries, croissants, and coffee. Once it was late enough I dropped off my bag to be taken to the finish, then focused on keeping warm until it was time to find the 5:30 pacers and line up at the start. My thought was to start with them then adjust my pace after seeing what that effort felt like. The early starters set off at 7:00 AM; we didn't start until 8:00 AM. By then the temperature was probably in the mid to high 40s with a headwind.

With about 800 runners in the marathon it took us almost a minute to reach the starting line. The half marathon would start 30 minutes later at the half marathon point of the race, so only the fastest marathon runners would be catching up the the slower half marathoners. The pacers were about 10 seconds fast each of the first two miles, so I dropped back to a more comfortable pace. Shortly after that I had my first setback. I stopped to take what should have been the first of many photos along the route - but my camera wouldn't turn on. It would start, then die. Later that evening it worked fine. I think being in the cold temperatures affected the battery. The result was that the only photos I have of the course are those I took on Saturday.

With runners moving at different paces and occasionally walking, I spent most of the race taking in the scenery and once in a while chatting with the other runners. My daughter and son-in-law met me at about 8.5 miles and again at about 18.6 miles before heading to the finish to wait for me. They did get some photos and a hug for my daughter. The second half of the course had more hills so I warned them that I was slowing down and walking the hills. I would be longer than I had initially planned because I had no intentions of pushing the pace or effort. There was one stretch from about 11 miles until I started catching the early starters at 15 miles when I rarely saw another runner, but after that I was never out of sight of other runners. I was mildly surprised that I was starting to pass other runners at this point that had started with me. Eventually I caught up to Rachel whom I'd met before the start while talking with the 5:30 pacers. I'd had a longer conversation with her husband who was hoping to run 4:00. She was walking even on the downhill portions so I slowed to walk with her. It being her first marathon, and a hilly one at that, she was hurting by 21 miles when I caught up. Since I was in no hurry I continued to walk with her. We were occasionally joined by other runners for short periods. The last few miles went by a lot quicker with the company and it took her mind off her discomfort most of the time. When we could finally see the finish line we broke into a slow run and finished together. The announcer called our names and my age as we ran down the chute. She said she would never have made it without me, but I'm sure she would have.

After I collected by bag and grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and a root beer, I went to get my official time and place. We tried looking it up both by name and number but nothing was found. Eventually we walked over to the van by the finish where all the times had been recorded to find out why my results weren't appearing. Someone had turned off the data because no one's results were appearing. Once that simple matter was taken care of I got my official time of 6:27:19, gun time of 6:28:17, and 722nd place of 768 finishers. I was much surprised to find I was also 3rd in my age group because there were only 3 of us. I fully expected it to take a sub-5:30 or better to place. So I was presented with my award, a wine goblet. After dropping me off at the motel, we said our goodbyes. I was ready to crash after cleaning up and they were starving since they'd missed lunch watching for me along the course then waiting for me at the finish. After a good nap I was able to find a restaurant that was still serving food and had a salad and more clam chowder before hitting the sack for the night. I got an early start the next morning and had an uneventful drive home.

For the next few months I may run some local races but have no plans for any marathons or ultras in the near future. The only race definitely planned for the next 12 months is the 10K at the Illinois Marathon Weekend on April 22, 2017.