St Lawrence Marathon

 

Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Saturday, April 27, 2024

When looking at a spring marathon for this year, I ran an online marathon search looking for flat or mostly flat, average starting temp < 50°F, > 100 runners, no later than April, and eliminated multi-loop and pure OAB courses.  There really aren't a lot of marathons fitting that narrow criteria.  I considered both Shamrock Marathon (Virginia Beach, VA) and St Lawrence Marathon.  Both are relatively flat and both typically have decent race day temps.  A number of race reports suggested that very often wind can be a factor for Shamrock, so ultimately I decided on St Lawrence as I clicked through the registration process on New Year's Day and paid a very inexpensive marathon fee of CAD 90 (~ US$ 65).

Goals:  

• "A" goal was to run a PR (2:47:55, Detroit Marathon, 2022).  This was a stretch goal that I didn't expect, but you have to push yourself, right?
• "B" goal was to run sub-2:55.  I DID expect to run this.
• "C" goal:  skipped this one.  I used to say "Boston Qualifier", but my BQ now is a 3:50!  Certainly not a reflection on others, but for me, if I'm not breaking 3:50, I'm having a really bad day!  (Only once have I ever finished a road marathon slower than 3:50, and that was Boston 2004 when the start was at high noon and it was a freak heat wave with an 86°F start.)

Race travel:  Being roughly a 7-hour drive from home to Cornwall, I opted to break up the trip in order to start the marathon well rested.  Drove as far as Lake Placid, NY on Thursday, leaving Friday a rest day with just under a 2-hour drive.

Great view and hotel grounds at the Crowne Plaza, Lake Placid

Older, but very nice and comfortable hotel,
quite reasonably priced (off-season)

The patio doors from our room onto a large grass field.
Very convenient, especially for taking Brady out for a walk
or to play ball.

Yes, of course Brady came for the trip!
(Rest stop I-87 Queensbury, NY)

Friday was mostly a rest day.  Slept in, easy run on Lake Placid roads with Brady, crossed into Canada, easy race check-in, and a pasta dinner with Jana at a nice Italian restaurant in Cornwall to cap the day off.

Race morning:  Race start at 7am.  Alarm went off at 5am.  Not terrible.  Much better than Honolulu marathon last December, where I was getting up at 3am for the 5am start!  Anyway, had my very usual breakfast of oatmeal and a bagel, and was out the door by 5:30am.  Being a point-to-point marathon, we were bused from the finish to the start, just like Boston.  But unlike Boston, you board the bus between 60 and 90 minutes before race start, not 3+ hours!  Jana dropped me off at the race start at 5:45am, and I immediately boarded the bus.

The bus ride went by quickly, mostly because I struck up a conversation with the guy sitting next to me.  Geoff (good name, right, despite the spelling?) from Ontario was wearing an Ironman Muncie [Indiana] cap, ran Tokyo Marathon last month (2:46), and had seemingly run many marathons all over.  No problem finding conversation there!

The bus arrived at the race start about 6:20am, and we all jumped into the long (but fast moving) line for the porta-potties.  Went for a short warm-up, came back to where I stashed my bag next to a tree, ate a Honey Stinger waffle, stripped down to my race gear, put 3 GU gels into my shorts back pocket, and changed into race shoes.  Lined up in the second row.  Found it somewhat comical that as the RD was counting down from ten, several participants were running towards the starting line and would not make it in time.  The RD was very clear that the race would start on time at 7am, and there was a digital clock displaying the time, so not sure what the issue was.  (NB:  Full disclosure that yours truly was a full twelve minutes late to the Blessing of the Fleet 2019.) 

Lined up ready to go, in a very rural environment

Start to 2KM:  Rough surface.  It was fully disclosed on the race website that the first 2km would be on dirt, and there was even a video showing this, but it was somehow rougher than I had expected.  It was a hard-packed surface with divets and tire tracks.  39°F at the start, so maybe those tracks had even frozen?  (conjecture on my part).  I got caught up in the fast runners taking off and ended up running a 6:07 first mile, before correcting back to my 6:20s target.  I settled into 6th place, where I would remain pretty much for the first half.

You can see the dirt surface here.
(Race IG site)

2KM to 14KM:  Waterfront Trail (paved bike bath).  I was feeling really good here (as I certainly should this early in the race!), and was hitting my 6:20s target.  There were water / Gatorade aid stations every 2-3 kilometers and the volunteers were cheery and friendly.  At one aid station I caught and passed the 5th place runner, who immediately sped up and repassed me.  This section was really scenic through pine forests and then along a canal.

8K mark (from race website course preview)

11K mark (from race website course preview)

14KM to 24KM:  Long Sault Parkway.  This was the only on-road section of the marathon.  We were told to stay in the left shoulder, so I was expecting a busy road, but the reality was that this was an extremely quiet road with almost zero traffic.  This was where I started my gradual slow down.  Mile 11 was my final mile in the 6:20s, and I would progressively and consistently slow from there.  I really don't have an explanation why, and was searching for one.  There was a hill climb, but it was only 40'!  The terrain was open now, and there was a very slight but perceptible "headwind", but it was only 5mph!  All excuses.  

14K:  start of the Long Sault Parkway
(race website course preview)

I told myself if I could stay in the 6:30s, I might still break 2:50.  I hit the half split at 1:24:59, and the first of a number of runners passed me.  I knew sub-2:50 was out the window.  Sub-2:55?  By the end of this section, I had drifted into the 6:40s.  Ouch.  Maybe things would get better for me once I got off the road and onto the next bike path.  (Spoiler alert:  they wouldn't.)

Waterstop along the Long Sault Parkway. I really do appreciate
the volunteers here, but I am just very focused.
(Free photo from race photographer Captured Moments)

24KM to Finish:  Waterfront Trail (paved bike path).  Unlike the earlier section of bike path, the next few kilometers were not nearly as attractive as they were along a road.  By the time I hit the 30KM mark (each kilometer was marked), I was just mentally checked out.  I was warm, I had small bugs in both my eyes that I couldn't get rid of, and I was running high 6:50s.  It was frankly really depressing to see several more runners pass me, but I had zero response, and just had to feign support and enthusiasm as I said "Good job" to each of them.

30K  (from race website course preview)

After Mile 20, I was running north of 7-minute pace.  I knew my "B" goal of sub-2:55 was out the window, and I was worried I wouldn't even break 3 hours.  Now that would be really depressing.  The half-marathon started at 9am and it was an OAB on the same bike path, so soon I saw the half-marathoners coming at me.  At that point, they stayed to my left on the bike path, and marathoners finishing stayed to the right, and there was really plenty of room for us to maneuver.  This helped divert my attention and the kilometer markers seem to come up quickly.  The mid-pack half-marathoners were especially supportive and some even lied and said I looked really strong!  

37K (race website)

39K - Seaway International Bridge (race website)

The 10K and 5K races would start at 10am sharp.  I remember thinking:  please let me finish before then.  I feared I would soon be running 8-minute miles or worse, but my slowest mile was 7:28 at Mile 23, and by then we were so close to the finish that I was able to dig down and finish without further slowing down.  The last few kilometers were back directly along the St Lawrence River, running through greenway and quite scenic.

Nice pic coming off the bridge in final kilometers

(Race photographer Dick Budge)

I really like this photograph.  Both feet off
the ground, with the St Lawrence River in the
background.  I believe about 1km to go in the photo.
Form looks much better than I expected.
(Free race photo)

Final strides to the finish,
at St Lawrence College.
(Photo by Jana)

Done.  Crossed the finish line.

Final result:  Chip time 2:57:48.  13th overall (of 223), 1st in age group.

Immediately after finish,
with one of my biggest fans, Brady!
(Photo by Jana)

Interesting note that this was my first race ever in the M60+ category (see screenshot below).  At first, I thought this was some kind of mistake, as I'm "only" 59 years, 9 months.  But I later Googled and learned that in Canada, your age group is based upon your age at the end of the calendar year (much like triathlons here).

What went well:

• Did I mention the entry fee?!  US$65 is probably the lowest price I've ever been charged (other than comp entry of course).
• Pre-race e-mail was very detailed and informative.
• Course was very well marked.
• Course was scenic (forests, greenway, canals, lake, St Lawrence River).
• Each kilometer was marked.
• Volunteers were supportive, engaged, and friendly.
• Starting weather (calm, 39°F) was conducive.
• The first ten miles of my race went according to my plan and target splits.
• Abundant post-race food (water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, yogurt, bagels, orange slices, etc.)
• Free race photos!
• First name on bib.
• Jana and Brady at finish line!

What could've gone better:

• The first 2KM on dirt track was rougher than I expected, and I had to be really careful with my footing.
• I ran well for 10 miles, but then just progressively slower and slower.  It just wasn't my day.
• Warm and sunny in finishing miles (60°F).
• Annoying little bugs that we ran through, and got stuck in my eyes, irritating me.  Talking to one competitor just at finish, I noticed he had them all over his face and upper chest.

Post-race, I received a lot of supportive comments through texts and Strava.  The perspective was helpful, and in retrospect a 2:57 marathon at age 59 isn't that bad.  Matthew told me it equated to a 2:26 age-graded.  While I can't call it a well run race, as I dropped a full minute in pace time from 6:20s to 7:20s, it could have been much worse.  

I'll have to perform some more analysis and introspection on how I could have better prepared in training (and I know much of that already), but for now, I'm OK with the race and am moving on.  A couple of trail races coming up short term, and looking forward to summer racing season, which will bring me into training for road marathon #27!  Onwards!