Indianapolis Marathon

Indianapolis, IN

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Signed up for the Indianapolis Marathon just a few strokes after Midnight on New Year's Eve and secured the special pricing of just $85!  Booked our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn Downtown) back in January through the marathon site as well, as hotels book very quickly.

Fast forward ten months and we started our trip on Thursday, getting most of the drive out of the way that day.  With a 14-hour drive each way from Rhode Island, why didn't we just take the logical way of flying?  1) Brady (our black lab) was along for the fun, 2) I wanted to visit relatives in Ohio on our way back, and 3) I'm retired; what's the rush?!

Pre-race day:  After spending Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio, I went for an easy morning shakeout run with Brady on the paved and deserted Alum Creek Trail there, and then after a relaxed breakfast, we were off to Indianapolis!  Arrived with plenty of time in the afternoon to leisurely go to the expo being held about 1/2 mile away in the Indiana Convention Center.  Valet service was the only parking option when we checked in, which worked very well and we didn't need the car again (well, except to get home of course!) as the compact downtown is very easy to walk around.

This was just outside the front door of our hotel!
Monument Circle with its fountains and war memorials,
was certainly not what I would have expected in
Indianapolis!  And we will run past here in Mile 2.
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Pic of Brady and me by Jana,
as well as all other photos in this post.

Race day:  With the race start at 8am, I set my alarm for 6am, with my customary time to eat breakfast two hours before a marathon.  Unfortunately the hotel breakfast opens at 6am weekdays, but not until 7am weekends.  Couldn't they make an exception with the marathon?!  Two small containers of Quaker instant oatmeal microwaved and half a bagel from the coffee shop across the street the night before, but had turned hard now.  Not an enviable breakfast, but it will work.

Laid back in bed until 7am, but never fell back asleep.  Went for a half-mile warm-up with Brady as he had to go out anyway.  Returned Brady to the hotel room, ate one Untapped maple waffle, stuffed five GUs in my zippered back pocket, and off for another half-mile warm-up to the start.   It was 45°F so I felt fine with my decision to skip the added hassle of the gear check (it went great at Detroit, but was a disaster at Philly, and unlike those two races, Jana would be at the finish with my clothes).

After a few strides on a street that was already closed, I went into Corral A (there were five corrals, A through E, corresponding to separate waves).  As with Boston, you had to show your bib to be allowed entrance into the corral.  With about 5,000 runners in the full and 6,000 in the half, I guess that equated to about 2,000 runners per wave.  There was also an elite section just ahead of us.  I went into the corral with about twenty minutes to go, and there was plenty of room for me to easily walk up to the front of the corral just behind the elite section.  I asked one of the attendants if we would be starting at the same time as the elites, and he said no, several minutes after.  At fifteen minutes before the race start, you can still maneuver around but it was getting full.  At ten minutes before, it was packed solid.  I have been in races before where you literally had to push and weave your way to move forward, and thankfully I had avoided that.

With five minutes to go, there were a few speakers, including gold medalist Cole Hocker.  It was also announced that there were runners here today from all 50 states and also 30 countries.  The national anthem played, and just before race start, the rope separating elites from Wave A was taken down.  Despite the advice given me on separate starts for elites and Wave A, this was clearly false news and I readied myself to start, which was just several seconds later.

Goal:  The primary goal I was chasing was to take down the M60+ course record.  This seemed doable at 2:57:07, yet earlier this year I ran 2:57:50 at St Lawrence Marathon as I fell apart in the 2nd half, so certainly not a shoo-in.

I had modeled three pace tracks to get me to the finish:

• 6:15 pace for 20 miles, then 6:30 pace fading to 7-minute pace for final two miles => 2:49
• 6:20 pace for 20 miles, then 6:30 pace fading to 7-minute pace for final three miles => 2:52
• 6:30 pace for 20 miles, then 6:45 pace fading to 7-minute pace for final two miles => 2:55

Why project that I will fade before I even start?  Because after 27 marathons, I know myself.  For those that can negative split a marathon, very impressive, but that's not me.  Not even close.

I held 6:15s for 17 miles at Philadelphia three years ago, and for 21 miles at Detroit two years ago, so it seems fair to attempt it here at Indianapolis.

1st half:  The first mile was a little crowded, and I had to be careful as I weaved in and out a bit, as I saw one guy fall in front of me, another awkwardly careen into me, and I got elbowed several times causing me to defensively put out my own elbows to the side.

One mile in to the race, none of the above was an issue any more and I just focused on running my own race, as I was both passing people and getting passed.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was hitting my target splits (1st pace track of 6:15) pretty evenly early on.  Just last year at the Providence Marathon I got sucked in and went out stupidly fast in 5:50 first mile, but none of that nonsense here with first 5 miles of 6:13, 6:11, 6:15, 6:16, 6:14.  

In blue singlet, Mile 2, at the fountain.

Starting at about Mile 6, my pace slowed slightly into the 6:20s and stayed there.  That's OK.  A PR is probably not happening today (or perhaps ever again after Detroit), but still well on track for AG CR.  

In Miles 7-9, we were running along a river, not a particularly attractive one, but it broke up the scenery.  We were running northeast at this point, with a breeze out of the east at about 8mph, so nothing terrible, but could definitely feel it.  

The half-marathoners split off from us at about Mile 8, and it was so clearly marked and well in advance that I can't imagine anyone would have gone the wrong way.  Having half marathoners start and run with the marathoners at the same time can be a mixed blessing, and it was no issue at all here.  I've run in plenty of marathons where the half marathoners far outnumbered the marathoners, and once you passed the split, you were running in "no man's land".  Not the case here at all with over 5,000 marathoners and I could see runners around me the entire way.

At Mile 11, three fast looking much younger guys caught right up to me, and we ran together for the better part of a mile.  Two of them were hosts of a local podcast "Life in Stride" and very friendly and chatty.  I asked them if they were looking for low 2:50s (my most realistic goal at this point) and they said more like 2:45, so I wished them well and they were off.

Continued on my own in this mostly due-north section for the rest of the first half, before the course turned and headed south back to the finish.  We no longer had the full roads closed in this section, but always had at least a full lane coned off, so no issue.

Half marathon split:  1:23:44 (average 6:24 pace)

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2nd Half:  I'm very happy with the half split, even knowing that there is no way this will hold.  "Putting miles in the bank" is not a great strategy, but that's exactly what I've done, and I'm hoping this will work for me to get the CR.  

I'm able to hold on to two more miles of 6:20s, and after Mile 15 I continued my slide of getting progressively slower.  By Mile 16, I just felt really off, and thought to myself this is not good to be having problems so early in the marathon.  I started thinking negative thoughts as I feared a repeat of St. Lawrence Marathon, where every mile after Mile 20 was slower than 7 minutes and I slowed to about a 7:30 pace.

In Mile 19, we had a small downhill to the White River, which we would run along for the next couple of miles.  This is where the pain began, which certainly didn't help my pessimism as my pace slowed further to 6:48.  At Mile 20, we were running on an uneven paved road with many potholes.  That was tough to run on, especially this late in the game.  Mile 21 and 22 were both just slightly north of 7-pace at 7:01 and 7:02, respectively.  The pain intensified, but I saw the following sign which resonated with me:

"Pain is temporary, but your Strava post is forever."

Cliché, but true!  I have four miles left, and I'm going to push through them.  I drove all the way out here to Indianapolis to attempt to take down the CR, and I'm not going down without a fight.  I pushed through the pain, stopped the "bleeding" of slowing paces as I dipped back south of 7-minute pace for the remainder of the race, and started passing some runners again.

The final four miles were kind of a blur.  In Mile 24, we rejoined the half-marathoners for the trek to the finish.  Of course, since they started together with us, this was really the back-of-the-pack half marathoners.  However, it was no issue, as unlike at Providence Marathon where the full and half join together and you have to weave around them, at Indianapolis Marathon for the final two miles where half and full share the same course, they have dedicated separated coned-off lanes!  Indianapolis does it right!

Coming down the straight as an arrow stretch of North Meridien Street, you can see the famed monument for over 2 miles, and the closer you get to it, the closer you are to the marathon finish.  I pushed through this stretch, as we finally turned off just before the monument, we have about a half-mile to go at most.  

Monument that you see for miles
and miles

Somehow for that final half-mile I manage to drop my pace down to a 6:33 pace as the euphoria of the crowd lining both sides of the streets brings me home.

Great pic by Jana of
my finishing strides

Final result:  2:53:26, 343rd overall (of 5,647), 1st in age group (of 104), 6:37 average pace, new M60+ course record!  Full results here

The clock may show 2:53:31, but my official
chip time is 2:53:26

I did it!  I broke the record!  I have a feeling now of exhilaration of hitting my goal (breaking the record by almost four minutes, actually!) as well as unfortunately just extreme pain.  So extreme that I have seemingly uncontrolled screams and physical tears over the next fifteen minutes or so, especially as I try to move and/or sit down.  

M60-64 age group winner, and new course record holder

I have no appetite for food at all, but instead drink so many fluids, including the amazing chocolate milk they provide, which tastes heavenly!

We were each handed an Indianapolis
Marathon branded winter hat at finisher line

Finishers' medal was just OK.
But really, they just go in a box anyway.

What went well:

• "Resolution" pricing for first 1,000 runners on New Year's Day.  $85 for a major marathon is practically unheard of.
• Multiple follow-up communication e-mails, including the important ones just prior to the race.
• Great organization at expo, check-in, starting line, and finish.
• Separate coned off 2+ mile finishing lanes for marathoners versus half-marathons was brilliant!
• Marathon-specific shirt! (Half and 5K received separate shirt in separate color)
• Chocolate milk!

I love this shirt!
Besides being my favorite color,
it's not often that I get a short-sleeve
marathon shirt.

What could have gone better:

• Uneven pot-holed road at about Mile 20.  Certainly not the fault of the race, BUT maybe with 11,000 runners between the half and the full and all the money brought into the city, the race committee could have some sway to influence the city to repair this dilapidated section of the race.
• They ran out of coffee drinks at the finish.  (You had your choice of a beer or some coffee drinks from a local coffee purveyor.)  Again, not the fault of the race committee, but it could have gone better.  (I know the majority would prefer and take the beer, but that's just not how I roll, especially after a marathon.)
• I really can't think of any flaws attributable to the race itself.
• For my own race, while I am happy with my time and position, and certainly happy with breaking the course record, I feel like I deal with a lot of self-induced negativity during major goal races.  Something I need to work on.

And that's a wrap on Marathon #28!